"You are doomed to fail, because unconsciousness fails. Only consciousness succeeds, because it is only through consciousness that you become part of the divine cosmos. Unconscious, you remain apart. Unconscious, you are confined by your ego, you are like an island. Conscious, the ego melts, you become one with the whole, the harmony of the whole.

"The part is going to fail. The part cannot succeed. Only the whole succeeds.

"That is the meaning of the ancient statement: Satyameva jayate – it is only truth that wins. Why is it only truth that wins? Because to be true is to be with God; to be true is to be with the ultimate law of existence, is to be in tune with Tao. And the whole cannot fail.

"The individual is bound to fail. And unless you remember, you will remain an individual. The moment you remember, the miracle happens, the paradox happens: in self-remembering, self disappears; only remembering is left. In non-self-remembering, there is no remembering, but the self continues. The self and remembering cannot exist together; their coexistence is not possible.

"Sufism can be reduced to a single method: self-remembering. A man who remembers himself functions in a different way. Never imitate anybody, because by imitation you are not going to reach. If by chance you are fortunate and blessed and you come across a buddha, learn how to remember. Don't imitate him. If you imitate a buddha, you will be just a dummy buddha, a false entity, of no worth. And you will become more and more stupid – imitators always become stupid.

"Intelligence never grows by imitation: intelligence grows by experimentation. Intelligence grows by taking challenges. Intelligence grows by accepting questions and endeavoring to find their answers. Imitation means the question has not yet even arisen, and you have accepted the answer. If the question has not arisen then the season is not ripe – don't sow the seeds, they will die. It will be sheer wastage.

"But it happens: if you come across a buddha, his being, his presence is magnetic – you would like to be like him. His grace enchants you. You would like to learn his way of life."