Pythagoras lived in Alexandria for years. He studied; he was initiated into the mystery schools of Egypt, particularly the mysteries of Hermes. Then he came to India, was initiated into all that the Brahmins of this ancient land had discovered, all that India had known of the inner world of man.

For years he was in India, then he traveled to Tibet and then to China. That was the whole known world. His whole life he was a seeker, a pilgrim, in search of a philosophy, philosophy in the true sense of the word: love for wisdom. He was a lover, a philosopher – not in the modern sense of the word but in the old, ancient sense of the word. Because a lover cannot only speculate, a lover cannot only think about truth; a lover has to search, risk and adventure.

Truth is the beloved. How can you go on only thinking about it? You have to be connected with the beloved through the heart. The search cannot be only intellectual; it has to be deep down intuitive. Maybe the beginning has to be intellectual, but only the beginning. Just the starting point has to be intellectual, but finally it has to reach the very core of your being.

He was one of the most generous of men, most liberal, democratic, un-prejudiced, open. He was respected all over the world. From Greece to China he was revered. He was accepted in every mystic school, with great joy he was welcomed everywhere. His name was known in all the lands. Wherever he went he was received with great rejoicing.

Even though he had become enlightened, he still continued to reach to hidden secrets, he still continued to ask to be initiated into new schools. He was trying to create a synthesis; he was trying to know the truth through as many possibilities as is humanly possible. He wanted to know truth in all its aspects, in all its dimensions.

He was always ready to bow down to a master. He himself was an enlightened man, so it is very rare. Once you have become enlightened the search stops, the seeking disappears – there is no point.

Buddha became enlightened; then he never went to any other master. Jesus became enlightened, then he never went to any other master, nor did Lao Tzu, nor Zarathustra, nor Moses. Hence Pythagoras is something unique. No parallel has ever existed. Even after becoming enlightened, he was ready to become a disciple to anybody who was there to reveal some aspect of truth.

His search was such that he was ready to learn from anybody. He was an absolute disciple. He was ready to learn from the whole of existence. He remained open, and he remained a learner to the very end.

The whole effort was – and it was a great effort in those days – to travel from Greece to China. It was full of dangers. The journey was hazardous; it was not as easy as it is today. Today things are so easy that you can take your breakfast in New York and your lunch in London, and you can suffer indigestion in Pune. Things are very simple. In those days it was not so simple. It was really a risk, to move from one country to another country took years.