"A beautiful person passes by, the mirror does not become beautiful either. And when there is nobody to reflect, the mirror is still the same. Reflecting, not reflecting, reflecting good, reflecting bad, the mirror remains virgin. So is the consciousness of one who has awakened.

"Basho was a disciple of the Zen Master, Buko. The time this incredibly beautiful haiku was born, he was living in a small hut by the side of an old pond. One day, after a brief rain, Master Buko visited Basho and asked, 'How is your understanding these days?'

"Remember, the Master has not asked, 'How is your knowledge?' He has asked, 'How is your understanding?'

"Understanding is totally different from knowledge. Knowledge is borrowed, understanding is one's own. Knowledge comes from without, understanding wells up within. Knowledge is ugly, because it is secondhand. And knowledge can never become part of your being. It will remain alien, it will remain foreign, it cannot get roots into you. Understanding grows out of you, it is your own flowering. It is authentically yours, hence it has beauty, and it liberates.

"Truth can never be borrowed from anybody, and the borrowed truth is no longer truth. A borrowed truth is already a lie. The moment truth is said, it becomes a lie. Truth has to be experienced, not to be heard, not to be read. Truth is not just going to be a part of your accumulation, part of your memory. Truth has to be existential: each pore of your being should feel it. Yes, it has to be a feeling: each breath should be full of it. It should pulsate in you, it should circulate in you like your blood. When truth is understood, you become it.

"Hence the Master Buko asked his disciple, 'Basho, how is your understanding these days?' And don't forget those two beautiful words, 'these days.'

"Truth is always growing. Truth is a movement. It is not static, it is dynamic. It is a dance. It is like growing trees and flowing rivers and moving stars. Truth is never at any point, a static phenomenon. It is not a stasis; it is utterly dynamic, it is movement. To be alive it has to be moving."