A monk came from Joshu Osho’s assembly to Ukyu, who said to him, “What do you find in Joshu’s teaching? Is there anything different from what you find here?”
The monk said, “Nothing different.”
Ukyu said, “If there is nothing different, why don’t you go back there?” and he hit him with his stick.
The monk said, “If your stick had eyes to see, you would not strike me like that.”
Ukyu said, “Today I have come across a monk,” and he gave him three more blows.
The monk went out. Ukyu called after him and said, “One may receive unfair blows.”
The monk turned back and said, “To my regret, the stick is in your hand.”
Ukyu said, “If you need it, I will let you have it.”
The monk went up to Ukyu, seized his stick, and gave him three blows with it.
Ukyu said, “Unfair blows! Unfair blows!”
The monk said, “One may receive them.”
Ukyu said, “I hit this one too casually.”
The monk made bows.
Ukyu said, “Osho! Is that how you take leave?”
The monk laughed aloud and went out.
Ukyu said, “That’s it! That’s it!”

Maneesha, this tremendously silent assembly of seekers of truth and love is still being misunderstood by spectators – by journalists who, out of sheer compassion, we allowed in.

Just today, I received from Germany the Bunte magazine’s article about us; a beautiful article because I have given good hits to the journalist.

I had prevented in advance so that no negative article should be written. “Just see the facts and report them without any prejudice covering your eyes.”

The article is ninety-nine percent factual and I thank the journalist and the editor. But on a few points they could not resist showing their stupidity.

I simply cannot understand how blind people are! They can’t see this silence. They can’t feel the presence of so many hearts beating together. Even the bamboos can understand, but Bunte remains German. I have to reply to a few things in the article before I take up the beautiful anecdote and discuss it.

The Bunte magazine says that I speak with an Indian accent. What do you want me to speak with – with a German accent? English is nobody’s monopoly. The American speaks with an American accent, the Australian speaks with an Australian accent. The German speaks with the worst accent! What is wrong in having an Indian accent?

Secondly, he says that I use gutter language. Obviously, if you have to speak with gutter journalists, you have to speak the language they can understand. Rather than feeling the spiritual climate, not a single journalist forgets that the podium is made of marble, that the Buddha Auditorium is made of marble.

How poor the world is! Nobody criticizes the Taj Mahal because it is made of marble. Nobody criticizes the great palaces and temples and cathedrals. Everybody appreciates them. But anything that is connected with me…

They cannot argue against what I am saying; they don’t have anything with which to oppose my understanding of things. So then they start being stupidly interested in things which prove only their poverty and nothing else.

Do they come here to know whether the podium is made of marble or not? Are they some kind of experts in marble? This is all that they see. They don’t see the silence and the music and the dance and the high-rising peaks of consciousness of thousands of people.

And these blind people go on spreading their stupid opinions, polluting the mind of the masses. I would like Bunte to send the same representative here again. He has missed the point.

These stone walls do not matter. What matters is this precious consciousness. What matters is this cuckoo calling, the joy, the peace – a peace that passes understanding.