"Ultimately they are all lies; at the most, approximate reflections, but a reflection is a lie. The moon in the sky and the moon reflected in the lake are not the same. The face in the mirror is not really your face; it is just an illusion. There is nothing in the mirror.

"But small children become very concerned about the face in the mirror – their own face. When a small child is put before a mirror for the first time, he thinks he is seeing somebody sitting in front of him. He tries to catch hold of the child. If he cannot – and certainly he cannot catch hold of the child – he tries to go behind the mirror. Maybe the child is hiding behind.

"And this is the situation of people who believe in words. But in a way the mirror is useful. By saying that the reflection is a lie I am not saying that it is of no use. If you understand, it says something about the truth; not the truth itself – it indicates. A finger pointing to the moon is not the moon, but it has tremendous utility: it can point to the moon. If you become too obsessed with the finger, that is your fault, not the fault of the finger. If you forget the finger – and you have to forget it if you want to see the moon – then the finger has served its purpose.

"Even lies can help you reach to the truth; otherwise buddhas would not have spoken at all. Unless lies can help you in some way to reach to the truth, words would not have been used at all. No Bible, no Koran, no Gita, no Dhammapada, would have existed.

"When Buddha became enlightened, he remained silent for seven days, thinking, 'What is the use of saying things to people which cannot be said? – and even if you say them, which are bound to be misunderstood? Moreover, if somebody is capable of understanding your words, he is bound to be capable of finding truth on his own.'

"The story says the gods from heaven then descended. They touched the feet of Buddha and they prayed to him that he should speak."