Now, Mahavira has no control over preventing a system…. One day he dies, but the system goes on growing; the system takes on its own life. Now, Jesus was not even aware that there was going to be Christianity – -and such a huge system! The biggest organization on earth is that of which Jesus was not even aware. Something, a very small fragment of truth, is bound to be there. Even in the biggest lie there is some truth, because the lie cannot move on its own; it has no legs. It has to borrow legs from truth. That’s why every lie tries to prove, “I am true.”
Truth needs no evidence. But the lie needs a thousand and one pieces of evidence, and still it is a lie.
There is an ancient story: when truth and lie were sent to earth, the first night when they went to bed, the lie was very embarrassed because she had no legs. But a lie after all is a lie – -cunning, clever. Truth was sleeping – -snoring, relaxed: that’s the way of truth. The lie cut off the legs of truth, and since then she has been running on those stolen legs. Now, truth tries to catch hold of her and get his legs back, but without legs how can truth catch hold of the lie?
Truth is truth, but feels helpless. And the lie, although it is a lie, feels tremendously powerful. And I don’t see any way truth will be able to get his legs back. In the first place, how is he going to catch hold of the lie? She is always ahead of him, far ahead.
All the scriptures of the world say that in the end truth is always victorious. Whenever I have read this I have said, “Yes, in the end, but never before that. Before that, the lie is going to be victorious.” In the end…and when is it going to be the end? And what is the point in being victorious in the end, when all is finished? All the way along the lie was victorious, and in the end, when there is nowhere to move, the lie may give the legs back with a “Thank you. You can take your legs and do whatsoever you want.” Her purpose is fulfilled. The truth remains without legs for the whole way, embarrassed, knowing that it is truth but it still cannot race and be victorious against the lie.
Every lie at least has some truth: those legs, those two legs. If you look closely at any lie you will always find a fragment of truth without which it cannot stand. And if you look at any truth, you will always find it surrounded by lies, because without those lies it cannot feel complete; something remains missing.
The first book in the whole history of mankind which accepts this truth was written by P.D. Ouspensky, on the philosophy of George Gurdjieff. The name of the book is In Search Of The Miraculous; the subtitle is Fragments Of An Unknown Teaching. But Ouspensky must have had tremendous courage. If you read the book you will think there was no need to put that subtitle: it is a complete system.
Why did Ouspensky put that subtitle? If you remove that subtitle you will never be able to think that these are fragments of an unknown teaching, because he is making the teaching known; and reading it you will find it is a complete system, nothing appears to be missing. But why did Ouspensky add a subtitle? He was really a very sincere man.