Manly Palmer Hall
"The lost key is the mastery of emotion. Through each one of us courses the fiery rays of human emotion, a great seething cauldron of power behind each expression of the dynamic energy of human experience. Through the perversion of human emotions there comes into the world untold sorrow, which through reaction, manifests in the mental and physical bodies. The Great Work of the Master can be called the art of balance. It can be truly said of the Master that through suffering she or he has learned to be glad; through weeping, has learned to smile; and through dying, has learned to live. The Master is not ordained, but is the natural product of cause and effect, and none but those who live the cause can produce the effect." [Manly Palmer Hall]
Hazrat Khan
"Divine knowledge has never been taught in words, nor will it ever be so taught. The work of a mystical teacher is not to teach, but to tune, to tune the pupil so that she may become the instrument of God. For the mystical teacher is not the player of the instrument; he is the tuner. When he has tuned it, he gives it into the hands of the Player whose instrument it is to play. The duty of the mystical teacher is his service as a tuner." [Hazrat Khan]
Back to Osho
Masters and Mystics
- OSHO, GAUTAM BUDDHA, MAHAVIRA, J. KRISHNAMURTI WERE TRAVELING FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER FOR THEIR WHOLE LIVES. IT WAS REPORTED ABOUT J. KRISHNAMURTI THAT BEFORE HE LEFT INDIA FOR CALIFORNIA FOR THE LAST TIME HE TOLD SOMEONE THAT IF THE DOCTOR IN CALIFORNIA SAID, "NO MORE TRAVEL, NO MORE TALK," THEN ALL WOULD BE FINISHED; HE WOULD BE GONE IN FOUR WEEKS - AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED. OSHO, WHAT IS THE INSIGHT OF ALL THE MASTERS WHO WERE TRAVELING ALL THE TIME AND DIDN'T STAY IN ONE PLACE LIKE RAMAN MAHARSHI?
Raman Maharshi is a mystic, but not a master.
The mystics have never traveled because the mystics are not making any effort of any kind to transfer their experience to others. They have decided that what they have experienced is untransferable, that it cannot be communicated.
So the mystics all through the ages have remained in one place. What is the point of moving around, going from village to village or country to country - for what?
The mystic's experience is expressed in the ancient saying that "The well remains in its own place; it is the thirsty who should go to the well, the well cannot go to the thirsty."
Buddha, Mahavira, Bodhidharma, Shankara, Nagarjuna, Mohammed, Jesus, J. Krishnamurti, they were all traveling, going continuously....
Mohammed has countered the proverb about the well and the thirsty, and countered it in such a beautiful way. He says, "If the mountain cannot come to Mohammed, then Mohammed will go to the mountain."
These are masters....
Not that they are against the mystics; basically they agree that it is difficult, almost impossible to communicate, to say anything about the truth, about self realization. It is beyond words, beyond language; they agree on that point.
But still the masters say that some indirect ways can be always tried, and there is no harm.
There is no direct way of translating the inner experience into the outer languages, but ways can be found, devices can be created in which something may be said, may not be said, but may be heard.
The emphasis is not that the truth can be said. On that, the mystics and the masters agree: it cannot be said.
But the masters disagree with the mystics on one point: that it may not be said but it can be heard - through the eyes of the master, through the presence of the master, through his love, through his compassion, through his silence, just being with him. Nothing is said, but somebody's heart may start dancing, a song may arise.
In the presence of the master, the disciple may become aware that the ordinary human life is not all there is; there is something more. Even to make them aware that there is something more - greater peace, deeper silence, overflowing ecstasy - perhaps they may start searching for it, perhaps they may become seekers. And what is the harm? If nobody listens, then too the effort is worth making.
The mystic and the master both have the same experience, but they have different views about its transfer - and both seem to be right.
My own understanding is this: that the mystics are of a more ordinary variety. They come from the categories of human beings who are not articulate, who are not poets, who are not painters, who are not musicians, who are not dancers. They come from the common masses.
And the master is more articulate, more talented. If he cannot say, he will paint; if he cannot say, he will sculpt; if he cannot say, he will dance; if he cannot say, he will sing - and singing, dancing, painting or any other creative art may become a vehicle for that which language is not capable of. [See Russell]
And there are people who are articulate with language too; they can speak in such a way that through the words they can send the wordless message to you. The words will be only the packages; the content will be the wordless. The words will be only the containers. But for that, a very articulate person is needed, who can use language in such a way that it becomes music, that it becomes poetry, that it becomes silence... that it becomes not only that which it says but also that which remains unsaid.
Language can become a vehicle - now the emphasis will be on those who are listening. Much will depend on those who are listening.
So the basic function of the master is first, to create disciples who can understand the wordless through the words... who can sit in silence but can become filled with immense serenity. Just in the presence of the master, something can start opening up in them - as if the sun has risen and the birds start singing; nobody informs the birds that it is sunrise. There are no alarm clocks for poor birds, but just the light... the darkness is gone, the night is over, and there is a celebration all over nature. Flowers suddenly start opening, there is fragrance all over.
The mystic has achieved, is fulfilled, has completed his journey. But he is not a very talented genius.
The master is doing overtime. His work is finished, but his genius, his talents demand expression.
J. Krishnamurti said, "If I have to follow the doctor's advice and not speak and not travel then I cannot live more than four weeks." And within exactly four weeks he died. His work was complete; now he was living only for others. And if even that cannot be done then what is the point of being here unnecessarily? His boat had arrived long ago. He had been delaying his departure - somebody may listen, somebody may hear, somebody may be touched. But if he cannot speak and cannot travel, then there is no reason at all for him to go on breathing. He is not an idiot.
Why did he say four weeks? - because it is just the old momentum. For breathing and heartbeats to slow down and disappear, it takes near about three to four weeks. And the older the man, the longer time it takes. If he had been younger, it may have been just one week.
It is a very strange phenomenon - it is because the younger person's heart runs fast, it can exhaust the momentum quickly. The older man is already slow; his heart has become accustomed to a slow pace so it will take three to four weeks.
To be a mystic is rare, but to be a master is very rare. And to be a successful master... you will have to come to me!
Beyond Enlightenment
Chapter #26
Chapter title: The alchemy of enlightenment
29 October 1986 pm in
See Also