Truth Can Only Be Caught
A sage always
refuses to teach. The reason? - because truth cannot be taught. The
sage is never a teacher. He is a Master, but he is never a teacher.
First, the truth cannot be taught, it can only be caught. You can
catch it like an infection from the Master. You can allow yourself
to be close to him, and one day you can catch the truth, but it
cannot be taught. It is not a kind of information that can be
delivered to you, it is an existential experience. You can partake
of it but it cannot be given to you. Nobody can give you truth. And
I'm not saying that the Master cannot give you truth because he
doesn't have it, no. Even if he has it, he cannot give it. It is not
a thing and it is not information. It is not knowledge, it is a
lived experience - you will have to live in the Master with the
Master.
It will happen. In a very mysterious way it happens. Strange are the
ways of God. Only untruth can be delivered, truth cannot be
delivered. So the sage is never a teacher. This is the difference
between a teacher and a Master. He is available to give to you, but
the giving is very subtle, the giving is very esoteric, it is very
occult, it is very hidden. It cannot be given as scientific
knowledge is given to you. You cannot make any education out of it.
You cannot put it into words, theories, clear-cut principles. It is
so vast. The moment you put it into any principle, you can
immediately see that something has disappeared from it; it is no
longer alive.
Principles are like photographs. A bird on the wing is one thing. If
you take a photograph, the photograph shows the bird on the wing -
but it is just a photograph. The bird is no longer flying,
everything has stopped. It is not alive.
The bird on the wing is alive. The flower on the tree is alive. My
hand in a gesture is a bird on the wing, it is alive. You can have a
photograph of it but something very essential will be missing from
it. It will be only the outline of the hand; the soul will be
missing from it.
So it happens with truth. Truth is aliveness. It is eternal life.
The moment you put it into words, you have photographs.
So a sage cannot teach the truth, he can only show you where you can
go and see the bird on the wing for yourself. He cannot teach you
principles, he can only indicate the way. He cannot inform you about
truth, he can only inform you about the methods that can clean your
heart, that can clarify your mind, that can subdue your inner
turmoil, that can help you to stop your constant inner talk so that
you are in a silent state of mind and you can see truth - because
truth is all around, just the silence of the mind is needed. The
Master cannot teach you but he can inspire you. The Master cannot
teach you but he can invoke you. The Master cannot teach you but he
can invite you. A Master is a finger pointing to the moon.