"All words do injustice to the master because words are meant to describe the ordinary and the master has transcended the ordinary. Words belong to the world; the master is in the world and yet he is no more of it. He exists here and still he does not exist here. He is only a reflection in the lake. He is only a shadow lingering on this shore; the real one has already reached the other shore.

"If you can remember this, then even these words will be of great help; otherwise you are bound to misunderstand them. I have been telling you again and again that life is a mystery to be lived, not a problem to be solved. And Prem Mukta informs me, 'Osho, this really happened: I overheard an Italian sannyasin enthusing after the lecture, 'Osho really knows what life is like. It is so true what he says, that: Life is not a problem to be solved but a misery to be lived.''

"Words are dangerous! You can hear in them something which is not there. You can project into them something which is your own, and it is impossible to detect what you are doing. It is good that the sannyasin was saying it to somebody else, but if you don't say it to anybody elseand there are a thousand and one things that you will never say to anybody else – then they simply remain part of your inner world. And if you have utterly misunderstood them in the first place, then you can start making a foundation out of them for your life. Words can be dangerous.

"A true story:

"Two mothers were overheard talking about their sons.

"'My boy has taken up meditation,' said one.

"The other replied, 'Well, I suppose it's better than sitting around doing nothing.'

"But that's exactly what meditation is: sitting around doing nothing – really nothing, not even inside, not even thinking, not even feeling. When action as such stops in toto, meditation begins. When doing ceases utterly, categorically, when there is no movement in your being, then for the first time there is the flowering of meditation.

"So listen to these words."