“A puzzle… can be solved. The mystery cannot be solved.”
Maneesha has asked a question:
Beloved Osho, what is the difference between a puzzle and a mystery?
Maneesha, a puzzle is solvable. However difficult it may be, you can find the solution. The mystery becomes more mysterious the more you search. You cannot solve the mystery, you can only dissolve into it.
I have heard about a professor of mathematics. It was New Year’s Day and he wanted to purchase some toy for his child. Being a mathematician, he looked for some kind of mathematical puzzle.
The owner of the shop said, “I have got absolutely the right thing for you. I know you are a great mathematician and this is the latest toy. But before giving it to your child, please try to solve it yourself.”
The mathematician tried to solve it, this way and that way – in every way it was wrong. Desperate and perspiring, because it was looking very awkward… other customers gathered, the salesmen gathered, the owner was watching. With tremendous interest, everybody was watching to see whether a professor of mathematics could solve a simple child’s puzzle or not. Finally he gave up.
He said to the owner, “I don’t see any way to solve it.”
He said, “You need not be so sad, and don’t perspire and don’t be worried. This toy is made in such a way that any way you try, you will be wrong. This toy is meant for a certain purpose: to teach children that this is how life is. You try it any way, and you will end up in a wrong place.”
You can ask anybody. Everybody has ended up in the wrong place. It is very rare to find a buddha who ends up in the right place; otherwise everybody is trying hard, but always reaches the grave with empty hands.
A puzzle, Maneesha, can be solved. The mystery cannot be solved. That is the difference. The mystery becomes more mysterious as you try to solve it, and sooner or later you find that the mystery is so big, by and by you are dissolving into it rather than solving it.
Kabir, one of the most important mystics of India, made a statement worth remembering: Herat, herat, he sakshi Kabir Raha herai. He is saying, “My friend, I was searching and searching, and rather than finding I have lost myself.”
The mystery is that in which you will be lost. It will dissolve you. You will become part of the mystery itself. But the puzzle is a small thing, it can be solved.
Osho, Joshu: The Lion’s Roar, Ch 8, Q 1 (excerpt)
Series compiled by Shanti
All excerpts of this series can be found in: 1001 Tales
Featured image by Hans-Peter Gauster on Unsplash
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