The more his memory becomes filled with knowledge the less and less he lives in his being. The more and more he moves into the head, becomes a part, a fragment, the less and less he is joined to the vast being and the universe and existence. He becomes in a way non-existential. He is no more a part of this existence, alive, radiant, vibrating. He is a frozen phenomenon; he no more flows with life. He is like an iceberg, frozen and stuck somewhere – stuck in the head.
Consciousness, when it becomes knowledge, becomes frozen; when consciousness becomes wisdom it becomes a flow. A wise man lives, lives totally, but knows only one thing – that he doesn’t know. To learn from a wise man is very difficult. To learn from a man of knowledge is very easy. He can give you all that he knows, he can transfer it very easily, language is enough of a vehicle. All that he has gathered he has gathered through the mind, through language; it can be communicated easily.
A man of knowledge becomes a teacher. He can teach you, and he can teach beautifully, things which he has not known at all. Maybe that’s why he is not as hesitant as a man who knows. Because when a man knows, he also knows the opposite polarity of life. When a man really understands and knows, he also knows that everything is joined with its opposite, everything is meeting and melting into its opposite. Nothing can be said definitely because the moment you say anything definitely you have stopped its flow, you have made it a frozen fact. It is no more part of the river, it is an iceberg. Now you can accumulate it in the storehouse of the mind.
A man who is wise is not a teacher – he can be a master but not a teacher. What is the difference between the two? A teacher is ready to teach – a master is never ready to teach. A teacher is aggressive, active – a master is non-aggressive, inactive. A teacher will go and follow you and force you, so that you can carry his knowledge on your shoulders. A master waits. You have to snatch from him, you have to partake of him. He will not follow you, he will not force you. He will not even knock at your doors – he will simply wait. You can partake of his being. You can enter his inner emptiness, the inner palace of his being, his inner kingdom, but that is up to you. You will have to do all the work. The master is only a presence. If you are attracted, you fall into the presence.
A teacher calls, a teacher tries, a teacher makes all the effort so that you can understand. A master simply is there – open of course, not closed, absolutely open for you to come in. But he doesn’t make even a gesture, because that gesture may be aggressive, that gesture may force you to come in without your own will. And then it will be bad, then you have been put on a wrong path.
A master is a silent presence. You can learn from him, but he will not teach. With a teacher you will be a student. There exists a relationship, a two-way relationship. With the master you can be only a disciple, it is one-way – you have to learn. If you don’t learn you don’t learn, if you learn you learn. A master is so happy with his own being he does not bother. If you learn he blesses you; if you don’t learn he also blesses you – he is a blessing, a benediction.