It is true. I can say anything if it directs you towards truth. Of course truth cannot be said, it can only be pointed at. I can use anything that points towards it. Perhaps for different people different pointers are needed. To me it does not matter what I say. What matters is whether it leads you in the right direction – towards your illumination.

Yes, my definition is exactly the same: truth is that which works. It is pragmatic, and Gautam Buddha was a very pragmatic man, very scientific. This definition can be called scientific also.

All definitions of science are nothing but proof for this definition. We don’t know what electricity is, we only know how it works. We don’t know anything about atomic energy, what it is, but we know how it works. And that knowledge of how it works is the whole science of it.

The ultimate truth is not different. And the master’s function is to lead you, to direct you, to push you in a direction where you will find the truth. He cannot give it to you, but he can create devices which will lead you to it. In a very subtle way what the master says is not meant to be understood; it is meant to be drunk so that it reaches to your blood, to your bones, to your marrow, and you start moving in a certain direction – not knowing where you are going, but the master knows where you are going.

If you are going on the right track, you will find his blessings and his love showering on you. That will be the only indication that you are on the right path. One day you will find the truth and then you will laugh, because what was said had nothing to do with it. But it certainly turned your attention towards it.

I have always told this story: A house is on fire and small children are in the house playing. They are so involved in their play that the whole neighborhood is shouting, “Come out! The house is on fire!” But they are enjoying that too. The flames are all around and the children are in the middle of the house – they have never seen such fireworks.

And they are not listening to the crowd. Then comes the father who had gone to the market, and people say, “Now do something. All your children will be dead. The house is almost going to collapse.”

The father went close and shouted, “I have brought your toys – all the toys that you have asked for. Come out.” Just the back door of the house was not burning yet.

They all rushed out and asked the father, “Where are the toys?”

And the father said, “You will have to forgive me. I have not brought them today, but tomorrow I will bring them certainly.”

They said, “Why did you unnecessarily disturb our game?”

He said, “I have not disturbed your game. You do not understand. The house is on fire; you would have been dead. I simply lied to you about the toys, because I knew that it was the only thing that could bring you out.”