Osho - How will you discriminate between a master and a teacher?

Osho - The line is very fine. I will tell you one story to make it clear.

One great philosopher, in the days of Gautam Buddha, came to Gautam Buddha to challenge him for a debate. He had been moving all over the country, defeating many many famous, well-known teachers but he had not come across a master. He had no first-hand knowledge, of what a master is.

He thought master and teacher were synonymous terms – they are not. They may be synonymous in the dictionary, but not in reality. He was a famous man – five hundred disciples of his own always followed him.

Buddha looked at him. There were ten thousand sannyasins of Buddha. There was a great silence because this was the first time that any man had dared to challenge Buddha for a debate. The man must be blind! Buddha said to the philosopher: ”You have been traveling all over the country. You have been asking questions, answers have been given to you. Have you received any answer?”
The man said, ”No, my questions are still there.”

Buddha said, ”I can also answer you but your questions will still be there, because the questions are yours, the answer is mine – there is no bridge, no connection. Your question needs your answer.”
The man said, ”Then what am I supposed to do?”

Buddha said, ”You are really in search of truth? Then for two years, sit by my side. No question – just be silent and watch whatever goes on happening.”
The man was certainly sincere. And looking at Buddha, his charismatic presence, his authoritative words, his penetrating eyes... he said, ”I am ready. Can I ask my questions after two years?”

Buddha said, ”Absolutely! You will have to! If you don’t ask, I will remind you.” He sat down by the side of Buddha. At that very moment, an old disciple of Buddha – Mahakashyap – sitting under a tree just nearby, started laughing madly.

The philosopher said, ”What has happened to this man?”
Buddha said, ”You can ask him; it has never happened before.”

The philosopher asked Mahakashyap, ”What is the reason? Why did you burst into laughter?”
He said, ”The same is my story. I had also come here to challenge Gautam Buddha, but this man played a trick. He said, ‘Sit two years by my side and then you can ask whatever you want.’ I said,‘It is worth it.’ But after two years, all my questions had disappeared! So I want to tell you, if you are really interested in asking your questions, this is the time. Ask! After two years, you are finished. You will be sitting under that other tree.”

For two years he sat, and forgot all about time, that two years had passed. And watching, for two years continuously, the beauty, the grace, the sincerity, the authenticity of Gautam Buddha, he became more and more silent. He fell into a certain kind of love, in tune with the heart of Gautam Buddha – his heart also started dancing.

And exactly after two years, Buddha said, ”Now it is time. You can ask your questions.”
He had only tears of joy in his eyes. He touched Gautam Buddha’s feet and he said, ”Mahakashyap was right, I am going to the tree.” A master is a totally different phenomenon. He does not teach you anything, he transforms you. He does not give you doctrines, he gives you a totally new level of consciousness. He gives you a new birth.

So if you want to become knowledgeable, this is not the place. But if you want to be awakened, to be enlightened, then you have come to the right place, perhaps accidentally.

A master imparts something invisible. His vibe enters your being. The teacher only plays with words which cannot reach beyond your mind. Your mind is only a mechanism. Your being is your reality. The first thing you have to ask yourself is whether you want to become an Encyclopedia Britannica or you want to fall into the celestial music of existence and become an immortal part of it. You are already part of it, you just have to be reminded.

The master only makes you remember who you are. The teacher gives you many theories, many philosophies, many doctrines. The master only gives you to yourself.

Source: “ Sermons in Stones "- Osho