Questions_&_Answers_

Now, in this present time, man has created a very, very secure state of affairs, so he can be just like a robot. There is no need to be alert. That is why the sharpness, the alertness, the awareness, has to be chosen again, and you have to put yourself into new dangers. If you move into a jungle or you begin to live with a wild animal, that is not real danger. You can accustom yourself to it; it can become part of your inner robot mechanism. The only danger for man now is to live from moment to moment without the help of the past, to live from moment to moment in the present – alert, aware, conscious. That is going to be your choice, without any cause.

Look at it in another way: science is causal. That means it is past-oriented. If something is to be found, science will go to the past. If you are ill, science will go to your past history, your case history, to see why this illness happened. Science cannot move to the future; it always moves to the past. If you are blind, science will go to your past, to your parents’ past. It moves to the past; it goes to find out the cause. Then the effects can be explained.

Religion is future-oriented, not past-oriented, so ”why” cannot be answered in scientific terms. It is future-oriented; you can understand it. It is not that something is causing you to be spiritual. Rather, something is calling you to be spiritual – not causing you, but calling you.

Always certain spiritual persons have said, ”A certain call has come to me.” The call comes from the future, not from the past. It is end-oriented, not origin-oriented. Freedom is there to choose. You can choose whatsoever is going to be your destiny; you can choose whatsoever you are going to achieve and to be. If you feel hungry, you seek food: this is caused. If you feel inner tensions and then choose meditation, this is caused. Then your meditation is a scientific effort.

But it is uncaused if you say. "I do not know why, but there is a certain calling – a call toward you. I have to move in this direction. I feel an unknown scent. It is not coming from my past, but it is something from the future inviting me, something unknown inviting me. I will move. It is dangerous because I do not know what is going to happen; I cannot be sure what the consequence will be. But I will move.” Then it is a jump. And, remember, this is not so only in this age. This has always been so and this always will be so.

I am also asked: 'whether I feel the present generation is capable of creating Enlightened Ones like Krishna, Lao Tzu and Christ.' 

Spirituality is not concerned with time at all – time or age. A Lao Tzu is born not because of a particular time; a Buddha is born not because of a particular age. There were so many in Buddha’s age, but only one became the Buddha. The age was the same to all, time was the same to all.

Time is irrelevant for spirituality because spirituality exists in eternity, not in time. Any moment is as good as any other. You can be a Buddha this very moment. Time is absolutely irrelevant. Time neither helps nor hinders. It will not say what you are, what you are going to do, or that Enlightenment cannot happen, or that because this is the twentieth century it cannot happen in this century. Time has no determining capacity for spirituality.

For other things it has. For example, you could not fly in the sky in an aeroplane in Buddha’s age. You had to move in a bullock cart because only after a certain period of evolution was the aeroplane possible. Now you can move in an aeroplane, but you cannot yet go to other solar families. Whatsoever you do, you cannot go just now. We have moved only as far as the moon. It will take at least twenty centuries more to go to another solar system. To go beyond the family of this sun it will take at least twenty more centuries. It is a gradual process.

Many things will have to be developed. A bullock cart will become an aeroplane, but many steps will have to be taken. So you could not do certain things in Buddha’s age as far as the outside world was concerned. But as far as the inside world is concerned, any moment, any time, is as good as any other, because when you move inside time disappears. This has to be understood.

A Buddha is meditating: he has gone deep inside. There is no time. Time ceases; he is not even aware of time. Time stops. If you move inside, time will stop. Buddha meditating twenty-five centuries before will drop out of time; meditating just today, you will also drop out of time. And there will be no difference between you and Buddha because all differences are time differences.

You wear certain clothes which Buddha cannot wear; you know many things which Buddha cannot know. You belong to a different world, a different education, a different culture, and Buddha belongs to a different world. But when you move in, you move outside – outside of culture, outside of society, outside of education. When you go in – you go into a different world uncreated by the society, and then you can move. But it is a human tendency to think that our own age is bad, evil, that our own time is bad. This is a human tendency!

And this is not only the case today. It has always been so. The most ancient record has been found in Babylon. It is at least 7,000 years old, but if you publish it in any of tomorrow’s morning newspapers as an editorial, it will do. You need not change anything in it. It says, ”This is the age of darkness; this is the age of corruption; this is the age of immorality and sin. Everything good has disappeared, everything wise has disappeared. Youth has gone rebellious; the wife will not listen to her husband; the son will not listen to his father; the teachers are no more respected by their students.” This is a 7,000-year-old document!

Every age thinks that it is the worst one. Why? Because we are only aware of our own age and everything around us, and we begin to compare our neighbour with Buddha. We do not know what neighbours were like then. Buddha was not your neighbour. Buddha is only one. So we compare the best one of the past with the worst one of the present. That is the problem; that is why every age appears to be the age of sin.

Devadatta tried many times to murder Buddha.

We think of Jesus: we do not think of Judas. We think of Ram: we do not think of Ravan. We think of Buddha: we do not think of Devadatta. He was Buddha’s cousin and he tried many times to murder Buddha. He was jealous, simply jealous of why this man should be honoured and respected so much. He was just a cousin to him and nothing more. When he felt that this would not do, he renounced the world. He renounced it because it seemed to him that people honour only that one who renounced the world. So for this reason he renounced the world, and he went into deep austerity. He practised meditation, yoga, everything, just to become higher than Gautam.

That also did not do because you cannot force yourself to be a Buddha, you cannot imitate. But Devadatta is forgotten and Buddha remains. The whole age is forgotten; only Buddha remains. Everything has disappeared; only Buddha remains. And then we compare Buddha with our own age. Because of that, this problem arises over whether a Buddha or a Jesus can be born today. It looks impossible. How is it possible in "this age of darkness, corruption, immorality”? How is this possible!

Another factor also enters: whenever a person is dead for twenty centuries, we forget how we behaved with him when he was alive. Jesus was crucified not because he was a great Teacher or a great Enlightened One, but only because he was "immoral, undisciplined – against the code and against the tradition”. This behaviour was not that of a respectable man. And when he was killed, it was a unanimous resolution.

Few, very few, were with him, and the whole country was against him. He had only twelve disciples, and they too left when the moment came for him to be crucified. They left! They also were doubtful inside. When everyone is against him, something must be wrong! Jesus was crucified as a hippie, as a vagabond.

You may be surprised that there is no record of his crucifixion. Jews have not even recorded the incident. It was such a minor incident, no Jew has recorded it in the Jewish history. Romans have not recorded it. If you go to find any historical record to indicate whether Jesus existed, you cannot find one. There is nothing. The Bible recorded by his disciples is the only record.

So there have been certain persons who have doubted the very existence of Jesus. They say he never existed. They say, rather, this Jesus Christ was a drama which was played in every village – that this was only a drama, not a real historical fact, and later on, by and by, people forgot that this was a drama and it became a history. If the Bible is lost, there is no record that Jesus ever existed. If he was a very significant, prominent person, if the age was influenced by him, then it is impossible to conceive why there is no record.

It is as if he was not. He was unknown; nobody knew about him. Later on only, when disciples gathered and created an organization, by and by he became known. Otherwise he was an unknown carpenter’s son. If Jesus meets you, you will not recognize him. If Buddha meets you somewhere suddenly and no one introduces you to him, you will not recognize him – because this inner flowering is such a subtle, hidden force, that unless you are a fellow traveller, unless you are also moving in the same dimension, you cannot recognize him.

So when you ask whether it is possible now, in this age, for a Buddha to be or a Christ to be, you again ask a meaningless question.

Anywhere, in any time, Christ is possible, Buddha is possible, because the possibility belongs to the innermost realm of your being, not to the procession of events which we call history. It doesn’t belong to history, it doesn’t belong to time. It belongs to the innermost realm of Being which is in eternity, not time. You can be a Buddha. Take the jump and you will be! And time will not hinder you so that you cannot take the jump. This factor about time is irrelevant.

It must be understood deeply and pondered over because we are very cunning and very self-deceiving. If someone says that in this age to become a Buddha is not possible, then you begin to feel, ”It is not my responsibility to transform.” And there are religions which say that in this age becoming a Buddha is not possible, and in a way every religion says it. Any organized religion will say that a Jesus is born only once: "He is the only begotten son of God, and now no one can be a Jesus again. You can only be a Christian, not a Christ.”

Jains say you cannot be a teerthanker, you cannot be a Mahavir. The quota is finished. Only twenty-four persons can be teerthankers. There can be no twenty-fifth. Mohammedans will not allow you to be a prophet – a paigamber – because Mohammed is the last paigamber and he has brought the complete and the final message from God. No alteration is possible now, and there is no need, they say. Every organized religion will say to you that now you need not bother to be a Mohammed or a Mahavir, so just follow. You can only be a follower.

Why? Why do they say this? For two reasons: deep down you like it very much, and the responsibility is not upon you to transform yourself. The time is bad, so you are not a Jesus. It is not your responsibility. Religions will say, "In this kaliyuga, in this age of sin, no one can be a Christ, so, therefore, you are not one.” Then it is not your responsibility. "It is the very times which hinder you; otherwise you could flower like a Jesus at any moment. You are ready, but the time is not helpful.”

Everyone likes this deep down, appreciates it. Then you can be whatsoever you are. There is no burden on you to flower into a Buddha. Because of this deep satisfaction and deep, cunning deception, we are happy. We think that we can only be criminals, we can only be weak human beings. "That is all that the age allows!”

And, secondly, every religion thinks that if a Buddha is going to be born again and again, then you cannot have an organized church for Buddha because every other Buddha will disturb the whole thing. Christians cannot allow anyone to be a Christ again. Another Christ will disturb the whole Christian kingdom, because such persons are bound to be non-traditional, such persons are bound to be non-sectarian, such persons are bound to be absolutely free, independent. They will destroy any organization if they are born.

So no religion would like or appreciate a Jesus to be again in any form. The Pope is the representative and he is enough; Jesus is no more needed. So every religion goes on insisting that nothing can be done at this moment. All that you can do is to follow, worship and follow: "Just be a follower in the crowd; do not try to be an individual.”

Buddha was an individual: he was not a Buddhist. He was born a Hindu, and then the organization could not contain him. No organization could. Jesus was born a Jew, he died a Jew. He was not a Christian. But because the Jews could not contain such a seed, because he could not be contained, they threw him out. And because he was thrown, the seed sprouted into Christianity.

Buddha was a Hindu. He lived as a Hindu and he died as a Hindu: he was not a Buddhist. But Hindus could not absorb him, because if you want to absorb a Buddha you will have to transform the whole society. He could not be absorbed so he was thrown out.

If a Buddha is born now into a Buddhist society he will also be thrown out. If Jesus is born now into a Christian society, he will be thrown out. It is not that Jews or Hindus are against Buddhas and Christs: any organization will be against them – even their own organizations – because organizations live in tradition. They exist because of tradition, and these persons are absolutely anti-tradition; rather, they are ”traditionless”. They move every moment in freedom; you cannot say what they will do.

That is why it is very difficult to create a sect with a living Enlightened person. It is very difficult! You are never at ease with what he is going to do, what he is going to say. When the Teacher is dead, a sect can be created. Now you know what the Teacher wants, how he behaves. Now you can categorize everything. Now you can separate, divide, analyze; now you can make a doctrine and principle out of it. Now a creed is possible.

Only a dead Teacher will allow a creed to be there. With a living Teacher, the seed is every day growing, changing, transforming, moving into the unknown. You are never certain with him. So only with a dead Teacher are creeds born. And when creeds are born, you begin to think in high terms about Jesus and Buddha. They were not thought of so highly in their own day.

So remember these two things: one, religion is a continuous process; it never stops in any age. And, secondly, spirituality is an individual phenomenon. If you choose it, it will happen to you. But no one can buy it. It needs a total decision.

Buddhas and Christs are not bound to any age. At this very moment there are persons who are Enlightened – but you cannot recognize them. It will take hundreds of years for society to recognize them. When they are long dead then the society will come to feel that they were rare, that something unique had happened in the past.

I will tell you a story.

Nietzsche has written one of the most wonderful books in the world – "Thus Spake Zarathustra.” In this book he has given a parable. A madman comes to the market and asks everyone, stares in their eyes and asks everyone, "Have you seen God? Where is God? I am
searching; I am seeking. Where is God?”

Everyone laughs. Of course, they are all believers, but, as believers are, it is a formality with them. They think that this man has gone mad. Someone says, ”Of course, there is God and He created the world. Now He is finished with us and we are finished with Him. Why are you seeking? For what purpose? Are you insane? These things are good to talk and write about – that God is, so seek Him – but are you really seeking Him?”

And that man stares in everyone’s eyes and he says, ”Have you heard anything about God? Where is He?”

Then the whole crowd gathers around him and they tell him, "We have not heard about Him since long. You go somewhere else. Do not disturb the market.”

The man says, "I have come to deliver some news to you. I am not seeking Him. I have come only to know whether you have heard anything lately about Him. Do you know that He is dead?” Now they feel that certainly he is mad. He was mad when he was seeking, but he is still more mad if hem says God is dead.

We believe in a dead, yet alive God – dead so that he may not touch us and alive so that we can worship him on Sundays. But this man is mad. Either he thinks that He is still alive and He can be found or he thinks that He is dead. So they ask, ”Who has told you?”

He says, "I have seen it for myself. And a still more mysterious thing is this – that you have killed Him. But it seems that the news has not yet reached you. It will take time. You yourselves have killed Him! He is dead! But it seems that the time is not yet ripe, and I have come early. The news has not reached to the market-place, but you have killed Him. I must take this news back. The time is not ripe; I have come early. The news will take time to reach you.”

Even sunrays take time. Even star-rays take time to reach you. There is thunder and there is lightning in the cloud, but it takes time to reach you – even when you have seen it – because there is a gap. Light travels faster than sound. And when there is thunder and lightning in the clouds you have seen the lightning, but you will hear the thunder later on. So the madman says, ”He is dead, and you have killed Him. But it seems the news has not reached you yet. It will take time.”

It takes time to recognize that a Buddha is a Buddha. It takes time! And it takes so much time that when Buddha is no more you recognize him, when Jesus is no more you recognize him. And when he is, you not only do not recognize him, but if someone says that he is, you will deny it. It takes time! This is one of the most unfortunate tendencies of the human mind. Because of this we miss
much.

There are stories.

People have come to ask Buddha, "Someone said you are an Enlightened One. Are you really? Have you attained the unattainable?” If Buddha says, "Yes, I have attained,” then they will go and say that he is an egoist. If he says, "I have not attained,” they will say, "We knew it already.” If he remains silent, they will say that he knows nothing.

There are hundreds and hundreds of stories.

Pilate asked Jesus, "Really, you think that you are the Son of God? Really, you think so?” If Jesus says, "Yes, I am the Son of God,” he is a madman. If he remains silent, he is afraid. If he denies, then they think, "We knew already that you were not.” So what can a Buddha say? What can a Jesus say? But if he has been dead for twenty or twenty-five centuries you cannot go to him and ask, ”Are you an Enlightened One? Really, you do not think that you are deceived by yourself? Are you not in a self-deception?”

You cannot ask it. During this long death, you cannot reach him. You begin to recognize it, but then it is useless. That recognition will not help. And if Buddha comes, you will again raise the same questions.

Why is this so? When a Buddha is present amongst you, he looks just like you. He lives like you, he eats like you, he falls ill like you, he dies like you, so how can you think: "A person just like me is Enlightened and I am not?” It is humiliating. It is deep down a hurt to the ego. Because it hurts the ego, because you feel humiliation, you deny. When you deny, you feel good.

So I will say to you that whenever you are in contact with someone who may be an Enlightened One, if you feel the tendency of the mind to deny, remember this: because of this tendency you have missed many Buddhas, and because of this tendency you will never be able to recognize one. And unless you recognize this something which has happened in someone, it is not going to happen to you. When you go on denying, and thinking that no one is a Buddha, ultimately you will come to believe that you cannot become one yourself. When no one can become one, how can you become one?

When you recognize Buddhahood in someone else, deep down you have recognized your own Buddhahood in the future. To recognize a Buddha in the present is to recognize your own future, your own future possibility, your own destiny.

 

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