enemies! We want to uproot you and your doctrine completely. And you are feeling sorry for us?”
And Buddha said, “Yes. You may be hostile from your side. For example,” Buddha said, “you can throw a burning torch into the river — it remains fire TILL it touches the river. The moment it touches the river, it cools down. I am cool. You throw fire at me — it remains fire from your side, but the moment it touches me it becomes cool. It disappears! I am not hurt, you cannot hurt me — because the one who used to be hurt is no more. That ego is gone.
”| have searched for it, and it has not been found. There is nobody inside me — how can you be hostile to me? I am not — how can you be hostile to me?”
THE DISCIPLE SAID, “THESE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN HOSTILE.”
THE PEOPLE EXCLAIMED, “THAT IS NOT TRUE: WE WERE, ON THE CONTRARY, DOING HIM HONOUR FOR YOUR SAKE.”
“WHAT DID THEY SAY?” ASKED THE MASTER.
“THEY SAID, HAIL, GREAT SCHOLAR!’ | WAS TELLING THEM THAT IT IS THE IGNORANCE OF THE SCHOLARS WHICH IS OFTEN RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONFUSION AND DESPERATION OF MAN…
“And they told me, ’Hail, Great Scholar!’ And | was condemning scholars — as Sufis have always been doing — | was condemning scholars and scholarship. And these foolish people, they say, ‘Hail, Great Scholar!’ This is an insult. This is being hostile towards me.
”lam saying that scholars are the persons who have created the misery in the world, and they called me a scholar! These people have to be put right.”