Zen says truth cannot be transmitted, hence it can only happen in a Master-disciple relationship. It cannot be taught so there is no question of a relationship between a teacher and a taught — because there is no teaching so there is no teacher and no taught. But it is a transmission. Transmission means heart to heart: teaching means head to head.
When the disciple and the Master meet, merge, melt into each other, it is a love affair, it is a deep, orgasmic experience, far more deeper than any love, because even lovers go on carrying their egos and egos are bound to clash, conflict. The Master and the disciple exist without egos. The Master’s ego has evaporated — that’s why he is a Master — and the disciple surrenders his ego to the Master.
And remember, by surrendering the ego the disciple is not surrendering anything in particular, because ego is just an idea and nothing else. It has no substance; it is made of the same stuff dreams are made of. When you surrender your dreams, what are you surrendering?
If you come to me and you say, “I offer all my dreams to you,” YOU are offering, but I am not getting anything! And you may be thinking that you are offering great dreams of golden palaces and beautiful women and great treasures… you are offering great dreams, but I am not getting anything.
When you offer your ego to the Master you are offering something as far as you are concerned, because you think it is very substantial. very significant. When you surrender you think you are doing something great. As far as the Master is concerned he is simply laughing at the whole thing, because he knows what is your ego — just hot air! nothing much to brag about.
But device, a simple device, can help immensely. It is a device. The Master says, “Surrender the ego.” When he says, “Surrender the ego,” he is saying, “Give me that which you don’t have at all but you believe that you have. Give me your belief — I am ready to take it. Let this excuse help you.” You may not be able to drop it on your own, but in love with the Master you may be able, you may gather courage to risk. Love encourages you to risk. In love you can go to any lengths. When you are in love with the Master and he says, “Give me your ego,” how can you say no?
To be with a Master means in a state of saying yes, yes, and again yes! It is an absolute yes, unconditional yes. So when he says, “Give me your ego,” you simply give your ego to the Master. To you it is very important; to him it has no meaning, no substance, no existence, but he accepts it.
The moment you drop your ego the meeting starts happening. Now two zeros start moving into each other. Two lovers enter into each other’s bodies; that is a physical phenomenon and the orgasm that happens is a physical thing. The Master and disciple are lovers of the spiritual plane: two zeros, two egoless beings enter into each other. In that merger something is transpired. Not that the Master gives you something, not that you take something, but because of the meeting something happens, out of the meeting something happens — something which is greater than the Master and greater than the disciple, something more than the meeting of these two, something transcendental.
That part is missing in Krishnamurti. He says truth cannot be taught, but he has missed the other point. Yes, it cannot be taught… but he is a logical person and that is his problem. He is trying to put his enlightenment very logically; he does not want to bring any illogicality in it, any paradox in it.
Now Zen people don’t bother about logic; they live the ultimate paradox. They go on saying there is no teaching and truth cannot be taught, and still Zen Masters are there and Zen disciples are there. And people have raised questions, skeptical people have always raised questions that: “What is this? On the one hand you say truth cannot be taught, and on the other hand why you initiate, why you accept people?” And the Zen Masters have always laughed, because this paradox cannot be explained. If you want to know it really you have to become a disciple, you have to become a participant, you have to become part of the mystery; only then you will have the taste of it. It is a taste; no explanation can help. If you have tasted sugar you know it is sweet, but no explanation can give you the idea of sweetness. If you have seen the light you know what it is, but to the blind man you cannot explain; it is utterly futile. Zen Masters have never bothered, hence their statements are very paradoxical.
One Zen Master, Ikkyu, was staying in a temple, just an overnight stay, but it was a cold night and he was shivering. In the middle of the night he got up and found one of Buddha’s statues, a wooden statue, and burned it, and was very happy with the fire and the warmth.
The priest of the temple, seeing the light and the fire inside the temple, could not believe what is happening. He was a little suspicious when he had allowed this Ikkyu to stay for the night in the temple, but he had not thought that he will do such a thing — “He will put the whole temple on fire!” He rushed in and he found he had burned one of the most beautiful statues of the Buddha. And he was, of course, angry and he shouted at Ikkyu that, “What you have done? And you think you are a Buddhist? And you are wearing the yellow robes of the Buddhist monk! And I have even heard that not only that you are a Buddhist monk, you are a great Master and you have many followers! And what have you done?” The statue was completely burned!
Ikkyu took his staff and started searching in the ashes for something. The priest asked, “What are you looking for?”
He said, “I am looking for Buddha’s bones.”
In the East we call the bones “flowers”. When a man dies we collect his bones after the body is completely burned; those bones are called “flowers”.
So he said, “I am looking for Buddha’s flowers.”
Even the priest could not resist laughing. He said, “You are crazy! How can you find flowers in a wooden statue?”
Now was the turn of Ikkyu to laugh, and he laughed and he said, “Then you are not so stupid as I thought! Bring… there are two more statues in the temple and it is still a long night. And why don’t you also join? It is so warm, and we will burn those two other statues also. When there are no bones in it, certainly it is not a real Buddha — just wood.”