Enough of the words. Enough of the theories, dogmas. Enough of the doctrines. And this I call a great moment in the life of an inquirer. Everybody has to pass through words because we have been trained for words. Everybody has to pass through theories; we have been given theories from our very childhood. We have been brought up according to prejudices, doctrines, churches, schools. Somebody is a Christian and somebody is a Mohammedan and somebody is a Hindu, and we have been brought up, conditioned. So the moment you start asking “What is truth?” your mind starts supplying words; it knows the answers. Those answers are all false, those answers are all borrowed, but it gives you beautiful answers. They satisfy you for a while, and if your inquiry is not great, they may satisfy you forever. Only a great inquirer sees the point that words are meaningless.

Language is not the door towards reality, but silence. The inner talk must cease, only then will you have clarity. Only then reality reveals itself to you. You go on chattering inside, and your mind goes on functioning, constantly, obsessively, like a maniac. And the mind is a maniac: it goes on creating new words, new combinations, new theories; it goes on speculating. It is a great inventor as far as theories are concerned and it does not allow you even a single interval, a gap, to look at what is there. The inner talk must cease…then suddenly there is no barrier; there never has been.

The Zen monks say: From the very beginning the truth is unhidden, the truth is in front of you.

What are you seeking? Where are you running? But your eyes are closed through prejudices.

Tzu Kung grew weary of study…

He has learned much and now he realizes that learning has not nourished him. It has not strengthened him, it has not delivered anything, it has not made him feel more real than he was before. He is not yet anywhere, he is yet hollow. There is no integration. He does not know in fact who he is. He became weary. He must have been a great inquirer – even Confucius could not deceive him.

Confucius is a great scholar: he can supply answers for every question possible, and he can invent beautiful answers. All those answers are fabricated, home-made, but they can befool fools. They can make many people feel that they know. They can become consolations. And his knowledge, his respectability, his impeccable character…. He is a man of virtue, remember, a very moral man…a man of character, of great mannerism, etiquette…a gentleman. The “gentleman” is the goal of all Confucian philosophy: a man must become a gentleman. He is impeccable, you cannot find a loop-hole in his character; all virtues have become real in him. A moral man with great knowledge, supported by the tradition. convention, scripture – respected by the kings and the queens, respected all over the country – but even he could not deceive Tzu Kung.

Tzu Kung grew weary of study…

When you become weary of study, the great moment has come when a student becomes a disciple. When you are weary of study, then you take a hundred and eighty degree turn. Then you are no longer interested in theories, you want the real; you want the food to eat so that you can be nourished. And you don’t want any more recipes, you don’t want any more cookery books; you want the real food.