"And sooner or later one is bound to come out under the sky. One will remain grateful to the master forever because without the window there was no sky, there were only walls. But one has to go through the master and go beyond. One should not cling to the window; the window frame should not become a hindrance.

"Hence the perfect master is one who helps you to surrender through him to existence, not to him. Of course, in the beginning it appears as if you are surrendering to the window because you don't have any other acquaintance with the sky; you may even start worshipping the frame of the window. That is what has happened again and again in the history of human consciousness.

"Buddha is a window, so is Mahavira, so is Christ, so is Mohammed. But then you forget about the sky. You close your eyes and you start worshipping the window. You have missed the point.

"I am not to be worshipped.

"The real master's work is to become gradually useless for the disciple. Buddha says: If you meet me on the way, kill me immediately. The master would not like to stand between you and the divine, and if the master wants to stand between you and the divine he is not a master at all. If he teaches you clinging, then he is teaching you the world; if he teaches you unclinging, then he teaches you godliness.

"The function of a master is really a very delicate one, because in the beginning he has to help you to surrender to him, knowing the danger – but the risk has to be taken. As the disciple comes closer, as he becomes a devotee, the master helps him to understand the point.

"The beginning of disciplehood is not its end. The beginning is bound to be a little false for the simple reason that you live in a world of lies. You only understand language, you don't understand that which is beyond language; hence you have to be spoken to in words. Now to speak in words to persuade you to be silent is very paradoxical work! You understand relationship; you don't understand love."