“God is not an argument … nirvana is not an argument, it is not a conclusion; it is an experience,” says Osho. From our series 1001 Tales, compiled by Shanti.
Once it happened that a blind man was brought to Buddha. And the blind man was no ordinary blind man: he was a great academician, he was a great scholar – very skilled in argumentation.
He started arguing with Buddha. He said, ’People say light exists and I say no. They say I am blind, I say they are deluded. If light exists, then, Sir, make it available to me so that I can touch it. If I can touch it or, at least, if I can taste it or I can smell it, I will believe. Or if you beat the light like a drum so that I can hear it… These are my four senses, and the fifth sense which people talk about is just imagination. People are deluded, nobody has eyes.’
It was very difficult to convince this man that light exists, because light cannot be touched, cannot be tasted, cannot be smelled, cannot be heard. And this man was saying that others were deluded – ’They don’t have eyes.’ He was a blind man, but a great logician. He said, ’Prove that they have got eyes. What proof have you got?’
Buddha said, ’I will not say anything, but I know a physician and I will send you to the physician. I know he will be able to cure your eyes.’
But the man insisted, ’I have come to argue about it!’
And Buddha said, ’This is my argument. Go to the physician.’
The man was sent to the physician. His eyes were cured; within six months he was able to see. He could not believe it. He was ecstatically happy. He came dancing to Buddha. He was mad.
He fell at his feet and he said, ’Your argument worked.’
Buddha said, ’Listen, it was no argument. If I had argued I would have failed, because there are things which cannot be argued about, but can only be experienced.’
God is not an argument, is not a syllogism. Nirvana is not an argument, it is not a conclusion; it is an experience. Unless you experience it, there is no way to even understand it – what it is. If you don’t experience it, it is just absurd, meaningless.
Osho, The Tantra Vision – Speaking on the Royal Song of Saraha, Vol 2, Ch 7 (excerpt)
Series compiled by Shanti
All excerpts of this series can be found in: 1001 Tales
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