Tao: The Three Treasures Vol 1

CHAPTER 1

On The Absolute Tao
11 June 1975 am in Buddha Hall

ON THE ABSOLUTE TAO
THE TAO THAT CAN BE TOLD OF
IS NOT THE ABSOLUTE TAO
ON THE RISE OF RELATIVE OPPOSITES
WHEN THE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH ALL KNOW BEAUTY AS BEAUTY,
THERE ARISES (THE RECOGNITION OF) UGLINESS.
WHEN THE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH ALL KNOW GOOD AS GOOD,
THERE ARISES (THE RECOGNITION OF) EVIL.
THEREFORE:
BEING AND NON-BEING INTERDEPEND IN GROWTH;
DIFFICULT AND EASY INTERDEPEND IN COMPLETION;
LONG AND SHORT INTERDEPEND IN CONTRAST;
HIGH AND LOW INTERDEPEND IN POSITION;
TONES AND VOICE INTERDEPEND IN HARMONY;
FRONT AND BEHIND INTERDEPEND IN COMPANY.
THEREFORE THE SAGE:
MANAGES AFFAIRS WITHOUT ACTION;
PREACHES THE DOCTRINE WITHOUT WORDS;
ALL THINGS TAKE THEIR RISE,
BUT HE DOES NOT TURN AWAY FROM THEM;
HE GIVES THEM LIFE, BUT DOES NOT TAKE POSSESSION OF THEM;
HE ACTS, BUT DOES NOT APPROPRIATE;
ACCOMPLISHES, BUT CLAIMS NO CREDIT.
IT IS BECAUSE HE LAYS CLAIM TO NO CREDIT
THAT THE CREDIT CANNOT BE TAKEN AWAY FROM HIM.
ON THE ABSOLUTE TAO

I SPEAK ON MAHAVIR as a part of my duty – my heart is never with him. He is too mathematical.
He is not a mystic, he has no poetry of being. He is great, enlightened, but like a vast desert; you
cannot come across a single oasis in him. But because I was born a Jaina I have to pay some debts.
I speak on him as my duty but my heart is not there; I speak only from the mind. When I speak on
Mahavir I speak as an outsider. He is not inside me and I am not inside him.

The same is true about Moses and Mohammed. I don’t feel like speaking on them; I have not
spoken on them. If I had not been born a Jaina I would never have spoken on Mahavir either. Many
times my Mohammedan disciples or my Jewish disciples come to me and say, ”Why don’t you speak
on Mohammed or Moses?” It is difficult to explain to them. Many times, just looking at their faces, I
decide that I will speak; many times I look again and again into the words of Moses and Mohammed,
then I again postpone it. No bell rings in my heart. It would not be alive – if I spoke it would be a
dead thing. I don’t even feel a duty towards them as I feel towards Mahavir.

They all belong to the same category: they are too calculative, extremist; they miss the opposite
extreme. They are single notes, not harmonies, not symphonies. A single note has its beauty – an
austere beauty – but it is monotonous. Once in a while it is okay, but if it continues you feel bored;
you would like to stop it. The personalities of Mahavir, Moses and Mohammed are like single notes
– simple, austere, beautiful even, once in a while. But if I meet Mahavir, Moses or Mohammed on
the road I will pay my respects and escape.

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