Faith Is For The Blind

I have told you the story: in Buddha's time there was a blind man who was a great logician. There is no difficulty; eyes are not needed for a logician. And because he was a great logician, nobody could prove to him that light exists. He argued, and argued so clearly, "You are either just befooling yourself, or you want me to be humiliated as a blind man. But I say there is no light."

And his reasoning was very clear, crystal clear. He said, "I am ready for every experiment. I want to touch it – bring me to where there is light. I want to taste it. I am ready to smell it, I am ready to hear the sound of it."

Naturally the people were at a loss. What to do with this man? He is blind but he is a great debater. As far as arguments are concerned he is always a winner, because nobody can manage to make the sound of light; nothing like that exists, the taste of light, or the touch of light.

Once Gautam Buddha was just on the way towards the capital city of Vaishali, and he passed the village where the blind man lived. People thought, "This is a good opportunity. Perhaps this is the last opportunity – if this man can even defeat Buddha through his argumentation, then we are finished! Perhaps light does not exist. Perhaps we are dreaming about light."

That's what he used to say to people, "You are dreaming. Just cool down, be alert: there is no light, all is darkness."

They brought the man to Buddha. They thought that Buddha would argue with him, but instead of arguing, Buddha said, "You brought him to the wrong person. He does not need more argumentation, because no argumentation can prove light. He needs a physician, a surgeon."

Buddha had his own personal physician, the best physician of those days, given him by the king of Vaishali. The physician followed him continuously for forty-two years, till his last breath, just like a shadow taking care of him; he was fragile.

He said to his physician, "Take this case in your hands. I will be leaving tomorrow morning, but remain behind until you are finished with this case."

The physician looked into the man's eye's and he said, "It will not be long. I will soon catch up with you. His eyes are only covered with a thin layer which can be removed. Within a few weeks, he will be able to see light."

And after six weeks the physician came with the man to another village where Buddha had gone. The man came dancing. He fell unto the feet of Gautam Buddha and said, "Just forgive me. I could not believe something which was not my experience; I am not a man of faith. But now that I can see light, a tremendous trust has arisen in me. In your compassion you did not argue about it but you simply diagnosed the case and handed me over to the physician."

Faith is for the blind; trust is for one who has tasted something of the ultimate. The faithful are the followers. I don't want anybody to believe or to have faith. I want you to trust in yourself; that if Gautam Buddha can become an Everest of consciousness, he has proved the point that every human consciousness has the same potential. Trust in it, trust in yourself.

This distinction has to be remembered. Belief is always in somebody else's ideology, and faith is in somebody else's personality.

Trust in your own potentiality.

---Osho---