Osho I Am the Gate

Whatsoever I said may not be what I mean, and what I mean may not be what I said. So do not confuse my sayings with my meanings, but always look into the deep. Always listen to that which has not been said, but indicated. There are things which cannot be said, but shown, indicated. All that is deep, and all that is ultimate, can only be shown and never said. And I am saying

things which cannot be said. So do not think of my words. Always throw the words as meaningless; then go deep down to the wordless meaning, to the silent meaning. It is always there behind the word.

The words are always dead, the meaning is always living. One can be open to the words, but one can never be open through the intellectual understanding. You can be open with your total being, not with only your intellect. It is not that the intellect sometimes misunderstands -- the intellect always misunderstands. It is not that the intellect sometimes errs -- the intellect is the error. It always errs.

So whatsoever is being said, be sympathetic with it. Do not try to understand it, let it go deep in you. Be vulnerable, open to it. Let it go deep into the heart. Do not create intellectual barriers to it. Then with your full being in participation, you will know. You may not understand, but you will know. And understanding is not enough, knowing is needed. Sometimes you understand or think that you have understood, thus you create a barrier to the knowing. The intellect understands; the being knows. The intellect is just a part, it is your being that is the real.

When you know, you know with your blood, you know with your bones, you know with your heartbeats. But if you understand, you understand only with the mechanism of the mind, which is not so deep. It is only a device, a utilitarian device which is needed to survive, which is needed to be related, but which becomes a barrier toward oneness and toward spiritual death and resurrection. It is only a natural device to survive. It is not meant to reveal the ultimate truth. It is not meant to know the hidden mysteries -- and the mysteries are hidden.

So whatsoever I am saying, do not think about it. Go home and sleep over it. Just let it go in, let it penetrate. Do not guard yourself; be open. Each guarding is against knowing.

And only when it has reached your innermost being will it be known and really understood. That is what is meant by shraddha, faith. It does not mean belief. Belief is intellectual. One can believe intellectually, one can disbelieve intellectually -- both are intellectual. Faith is not intellectual at all. It is the total mystic participation. It is being one with the hidden mysteries. It is a jump.

So whatsoever I am saying, I am not interested in any theory at all, I am not interested in any philosophies at all. I am interested in the existential jump. When I say something, it is only to lead you to that which cannot be said. And when I use words I use them only to lead you toward silence. When I assert something, it is only to indicate the unassertable.

My expression is not really to express something, but to indicate the inexpressible.

So be sympathetic, because only sympathy can be the opening. Let whatever I said drop into you; it will have a flowering. If the seed goes into the depths, it will have its flowering. When the flower comes, you will know that which has been said, but could not be said. You will know that which has been said, but yet remains unsaid.


Osho I Am the Gate