They simply imitated, with no idea what they were doing, with no idea why this man was throwing his cap. They simply did it to outdo him, with no thought but how to be on top of him; he could not be allowed to do something that they could not do.

He had defeated them by giggling, by laughing louder, by screaming, by making faces; and this was too much. Now they were not going to let him throw his cap while they just sat there ashamed, feeling impotent that they could not do anything. This is the quality of the monkey’s mind; whether it is in man or in animals does not matter.

The curious mind is monkeyish, the lowest kind of mind.

The second, a higher category, is the student.

He has an intellectual involvement. When he asks something it is not only out of curiosity, it is genuine interest. He wants to know, he is really in search of an answer, but it is still not very deep; it is intellectual, deeper than curiosity. Curiosity is not even intellectual; even idiots can be curious – in fact only idiots are curious. A man of intelligence will not waste his time and energy on unnecessary curiosity.

A Sufi mystic, Bayazid, lived for twelve years with his master. His master used to live behind a very big hall in a small cottage. The hall was for meetings, but Bayazid was continually coming to the master just to sit by his side.

In Sufism this is one of their methodologies: For years the master will not even ask, “Who are you? What is your purpose? Why have you come?” That sorts out the curious without any wastage of time. If the man is such that you go to him and he does not even ask, “Who are you? Sit down; why have you come?” then the curious are not going to remain there for a year or two years.

Twelve years is a long time. After twelve years the master asked the first thing of Bayazid. He said, “My son, just go in the hall. You must have observed that on the right hand there is a shelf containing a few books. You have to bring me this book and he gave its name.

Bayazid said, “I had no idea that on the right side there is a bookshelf because I have never looked to the right or to the left; I was just looking towards you. I was coming to you, I had no interest in looking at anything else. Why should I waste my energy in any way? My whole purpose was just to look at you as much as I could, just to be here with you as much as I could – just to drink your silent presence.”

The master was happy, and he said, “You are accepted. If you had brought the book you would have been rejected.” Very strict, too hard, too inhuman it seems…. The curious person has no place in the world of religion. He should go to circuses, carnivals, movies, television – and there are thousands of things all around the world football matches, volleyball matches, hockey matches, bullfights, boxing. For the curious, the whole world is available. He should not bother about truth, he should leave truth alone; that is not his business.