A buddha, Chuang Tzu, was reaching the ultimate peak there. It happens rarely, once or twice in millions of years. The flame was burning. His life had come to a point of absolute purity where it is divine, not human, where it is total, not partial, where the beginning and the end meet, where all the secrets are open and all the doors are open, where everything is unlocked. The whole mystery was there… And the disciples were thinking of the funeral – blind, absolutely blind, not seeing what was happening. Their eyes were closed.

But why does it happen? These disciples, do you think that they knew Chuang Tzu? How could they? If they were missing Chuang Tzu in his supreme glory, how can we believe that they didn’t miss him when he was working with them, working on them, moving with them, digging a hole in the garden, planting a seed, talking to them, just being present with them?

How can we think that they knew who this Chuang Tzu was? When his total glory was missed, it is impossible not to think that they had missed him always. They must have missed. When he was talking, then they must have been thinking: “What is he talking about? What does he mean?”

When an enlightened person speaks, meaning is not to be discovered by you; it is there, you have simply to listen to it. It is not to be discovered, it is not hidden, it is nothing to be interpreted. He is not talking in theories, he is giving you simple facts. If your eyes are open, you will see them; if your ears can hear, you will hear them. Nothing more is needed.

That’s why Jesus goes on saying again and again, “If you can hear, hear me.” If you can see, see. Nothing more is expected – just open eyes, open ears.

Buddha, Chuang Tzu or Jesus are not philosophers like Hegel, or Kant. If you read Hegel the meaning has to be discovered. It is very arduous, as if Hegel is making every effort to make it more and more difficult, weaving words around words, making everything riddle-like. So when you first encounter Hegel he will look superb, a very high peak, but the more you penetrate and the more you understand, the less of a man he becomes. The day you understand him, he is just useless.

The whole trick is that you cannot understand him, that’s why you feel he is so great. Because you cannot understand, your mind is baffled, because you cannot understand, your mind cannot comprehend, the thing seems to be very mysterious, incomprehensible. It is not, it is only verbal. He is trying to hide, he is not saying anything. Rather, he is saying many words without any substance.

So persons like Hegel are immediately appreciated, but as time passes appreciation of them disappears. Persons like Buddha are not immediately appreciated, but as time passes you appreciate them more. They are always before their time. Centuries pass, and then their greatness starts emerging, then their greatness starts appearing, then you can feel it. Because their truth is so simple, there is no garbage, there is no rubbish around it. It is so factual you can miss it if you think about it.

When you are listening to a Chuang Tzu, just listen. Nothing else but a passive receptivity, a welcome, is needed on your part. Everything is clear, but you can make it a mess, and then you can get confused by your own creation. These disciples must have missed Chuang Tzu – they are missing him again. They are worried about what is going to be done.