Life is a riddle to you because you look through the mind; if you look through the no-mind, life is a mystery. Life is already dead if you look through the mind; and life never dies if you look through the no-mind. Mind cannot feel the alive. Mind can only touch the dead, the material. Life is so subtle and mind is so crude – an instrument not as subtle as life. And when you touch with that instrument it cannot catch the throbs of life. It misses. The throbbing is very subtle – you are the throbbing.

Chuang Tzu is on his deathbed, and when a man like Chuang Tzu is on his deathbed the disciples should be absolutely silent. This moment is not to be missed, because death is the peak. When Chuang Tzu dies, he dies at the peak. It happens rarely that consciousness reaches its absolute fulfillment. The disciples should be silent; they should watch what is happening; they should look deep into Chuang Tzu. They should not interfere with their minds, they should not start asking foolish questions. But the mind always starts asking. They are worried about the funeral and Chuang Tzu is still alive. But the mind is not alive, it is never alive; the mind is always thinking in terms of death. For the disciples the master is already dead. They are thinking about the funeral – what to do, what not to do. They are creating a problem which doesn’t exist at all because Chuang Tzu is still alive.

I have heard…

Three old men were sitting in a park, discussing the inevitable, death. One old man of seventy-three said, “When I die I would like to be buried with Abraham Lincoln, the greatest man, loved by all.”

Another said, “I would like to be buried with Albert Einstein, the greatest scientist, humanitarian, philosopher, lover of peace.”

Then they both looked at the third, who was ninety-three. He said, “I would like to be buried with Sophia Loren.”

They both felt annoyed, angry and they said, “But she is still alive.”

That old man said, “So am I!”

This old man must have been something rare. Ninety-three, and he said, “So am I!” Why should life be worried about death? Why should life think about death? When you are alive, where is the problem? But the mind creates the problem. Then you get puzzled.

Socrates was dying, and the same thing happened as happened with Chuang Tzu. The disciples were worried about the funeral. They asked him, “What should we do?”

Socrates is reported to have said, “My enemies are giving poison to kill me and you are planning how to bury me – so who is my friend and who is my enemy? You are both concerned with my death, nobody seems to be concerned with my life.”

Mind is somehow death-obsessed. The disciples of Chuang Tzu were thinking what to do – and the master was dying, a great phenomenon was happening right then.