"I can only at the most indicate – just like a finger pointing to the moon – but it is not saying anything about the moon.'

"And the danger is that unconscious people may start clinging to the finger, rather than looking at the moon; that has happened in almost all the religions. They are holding their scriptures, holy scriptures. They are only fingers pointing to the moon – where is the moon? Everybody is looking into his holy scripture.

"'Secondly,' Gautam Buddha said. 'Even if I manage somehow to figure out a way to express the inexpressible, there is almost a ninety-nine percent guarantee that it will be misunderstood.

"'And a third point,' he said. 'I am willing even to speak for that one percent of the intelligentsia – people of the heart, people who are open, not closed. But there is no certainty or guarantee that they will not misinterpret me. And once I have said something, I am no longer master of it. I am master of it while I am silent.'

"His arguments are valid. And the people who were persuading him felt that what he was saying was right, but somehow he had to be convinced to speak. It is very rare that once in a while a man comes to this highest peak of consciousness, and if he remains silent humanity will not be enriched by him. He could shower the whole world with his blessings. He could bring the whole world into a deep silence where understanding blossoms. No opportunity can be lost, and a buddha is a great opportunity for the transformation of the whole world.

"So they insisted, 'Your arguments are all right, we agree with you. But one thing we want to say to you: that, after millions of people, a single person reaches to such heights, such depthseven if he is misunderstood, misinterpreted, it does not matter; at least one percent, probably, will understand him – and that is a big percentage as far as humanity is concerned. You cannot deny that one percent the great opportunity that has arisen in you. There may be a few people just on the verge of awakening – a little push and they may be on the same height, as awake as you are."