Chapter 6: Just Shadows Lingering
Revolution is against the past and for the future - both are non-existential. The past is no more and the future is not yet. And revolution consists only of past and future: against the past and for some future utopia. The word utopia is very beautiful; literally it means “that which never comes.”
Rebellion consists of the present and only the present. It has no concern with the past, it has no concern with the future. It loves, lives, dances, sings, but its space is here, and its time is now. And then you can be feminine, and then you can be receptive, and then you can be yea-saying.
The second question:
I once read somewhere that when Buddha was asked by a disciple to describe life briefly, the Buddha replied “Misery.” Is this true?
It is true. But if a buddha had asked Buddha, “What is life? - describe briefly,” he would have said, “Bliss.” The answer has nothing to do with the question; the answer has something to do with the questioner. The answer depends on the questioner. A man like Gautam Buddha does not answer questions, he answers questioners. He is not saying anything about life, mind you - he is not saying anything about life. He is saying something about the life of the man who had asked the question.
Buddha is not saying about his own life that it is a misery; certainly it is not. Nobody has seen such grandeur, such bliss; nobody has walked on this earth with such grace, such utter celebration. Nobody does humanity remember who has been more beautiful. How can Buddha say that life is misery? You should remember: he is not talking about life as such; he is talking about the life of the man who had asked the question.
And then it becomes a problem, because for forty-two years Buddha continued answering people, and different people required different answers, and sometimes contradictory answers. A Buddha has to contradict himself almost every day.
Once it happened:
In the morning a man asked Buddha, Is there a God?” and Buddha said, “No.” And in the afternoon another person asked, “Is there a God?” and Buddha said, “Yes.” And by the evening a third person asked, “Is there a God?” and Buddha kept quiet, didn’t answer, remained silent.