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Chapter 2: There Is No Self, No Other

The first question:

What is the difference between a master and a psychotherapist?

A master is not: a psychotherapist is. The master is a hollow bamboo, a mere passage, for the divine to descend. He is not on his own. He has nothing to say, he has nothing to do - but much happens through him. But it is always through him. He is not the doer of it. He is just a watcher. He allows it, he does not hinder it. He cooperates with it, but he is not the originator of it. He is just a vehicle.

The psychotherapist is. He is a doer, knowledgeable. He has all the expertise available. He is not a hollow bamboo. He is not an absence. Hence much cannot happen through him. He can only do a patchwork: here and there a little polishing, a little whitewash, a little adjustment - that’s all. His work is trivial. Man’s work is bound to remain trivial. Only God is great. And only that which comes from God is vast.

Man’s doing is bound to remain petty, small - of no significance in fact, or only of momentary importance. But when God descends, something of the eternal reaches into your being.

The psychotherapist knows about the mind and the workings of the mind. But man in his deepest core is not a mind at all. That’s the problem. Man’s disease, man’s illness, is not only that of mind - it is spiritual, it is metaphysical, it is existential.

The physiologist, the physician, can help you about the body; and the psychologist, the psychotherapist, can help you about the mind - but these are just your surfaces. You are not your surface: you are your depth. Neither the physician can touch that depth, nor the therapist can touch that depth. That depth can only be touched by a master - because he is that depth.

A master is a no-mind. And that is the greatest difference that is possible. The psychotherapist knows about the mind, is a very cultivated mind, cultured, educated, efficient. Technologically he knows the know-how.

The master is a no-mind. He has no know-how. He makes his nothingness available to the disciple, but that nothingness is a healing force. The psychotherapist tries to heal, but never succeeds. The master never tries to heal, but always succeeds. His love is his therapy. Out of his absence flows his love.

And that love is God’s love in fact.

When Jesus says again and again, I and my father are one, this is exactly what he is saying: Don’t think of me as myself. I only represent. I am just a symbol. I am just a door. look through me and you will find the beyond.

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