But by chance even if you meet him, what are you going to ask? A new wife, a new husband, another place to live, a little longer life, youth…? What are you going to ask? – money, power, prestige? Whatsoever you ask will be stupid.

A black man worshipped God, praying every day for six years. He was always asking for this or that problem to be resolved.

God became very fed up with him and decided to pay him a visit. So one day while the man was praying, God came to his side in living flesh and said, “Hey man, here I am! What do you want to know? Ask!”

The man could not believe his eyes, but he finally asked, “Ah my God, why is my skin so black?”

God answered, “Because the sun in your country is very hot and you must survive.”

“And why is my hair so short and kinky?”

“Because in the jungle you have many trees and your hair would get caught.”

“And why am I so thin and fast?”

“So that you can fight with lions and other animals in the jungle.”

“Then, God, what the fuck am I doing in New York?”

That’s going exactly to be the case with you. What are you going to ask God? All your questions will come out of your unconscious. In fact, all questions will be absurd. That’s not the way to encounter reality. One has to be silent, utterly silent.

Hence Buddha says, don’t be bothered about God. Be concerned with your own preparation, be prepared. The emphasis is totally different. All the religions emphasize God, the object of search; Buddha emphasizes you, the subject. All other religions emphasize the sought; Buddha emphasizes the seeker. And it is certainly more significant to change yourself and prepare yourself for the ultimate encounter with reality – call it God, existence, truth, liberation, or whatsoever you would like to call it. The real thing, the essential thing, is to be prepared for that encounter.

And if you are ready, if your heart is flowing with love and your head is no longer crazy, no longer full of rubbish, and your eyes have clarity and your ears are ready to listen, then the whole reality turns into God; then everything is divine. Buddha does not say anything about it; he goes on emphasizing your inner change.

These sutras are simple but immensely beautiful. Truth is always simple; it is untruth which is complicated. The untruth has to be complicated so that you don’t find that it is untrue, so that you can’t find it. Truth is simple, utterly simple and naked.

Buddha says: