Who lives in the house if Zen is the path and you are the gate?

Osho, the true master Tosotsu devised three barriers and would have the monks pass through them. First barrier: the study of Zen. The purpose of studying Zen is to behold your own true nature. Now, what is your true nature?

Second: when someone realizes their true nature, they will be free from birth and death. Now, when you hide the light in your own eyes and live like a corpse, how can you liberate yourself? Third: if you free yourself from birth and death, then you should know—where are you? Now your body separates into the four elements. Where are you? Osho, please be compassionate and clarify these Zen barriers for us. But he had a prepared answer—why bother thinking? Never memorize answers. No other thing safeguards ignorance more than answers. Only madmen memorize scriptures. If you have memorized the Gita, forget it. If the Quran is by heart, let it go. Avoid scriptures. Fixed answers will not let you enter the Divine’s gate. You will be thrown back into the world. Your own answer must come—from your very life—authentic, resonant with your whole being, tasting of you. Which means…

Question: First question: Osho, The destination is nameless and far; the dawn— no companion, no friend; I am alone. What is the world’s way? What is that thing without which this boat will not move? What is the song of love? What is the music of life, without which this night will not wane! The river’s current says the feeling of living never dies. Who burns in one’s own fire? No one loves like that! You tell me—Is there really no path? The obstacle is that there is no distance whatsoever. Where you are, as you are, you are already at the goal. You have never moved even an inch away from it. But we don’t stop; if we stopped, we would arrive. We are obsessed with movement, so we keep moving. Even now you ask for “the path.

Beloved Osho, with my friend, meditation, I clean the skeletons from the closet. With my friend, trust, I enter the dark basement and sweep it clean of ancient dust. With my friend, the heart, I open all the windows and allow the fresh breezes in. With my friend, awareness, I light candles in every room. In the kitchen, my friend, patience, prepares the tea. In the garden, I sit with my friend, the master, and wait silently, for I know that the guest will soon be here. Osho, when the doorbell rings, will I be there to answer it?

The guest always comes; its coming is certain. The bell also rings. The door is also always opened, without fail. But the moment you open the door, you are not there. Existence is, being is, but you are not. The way you have known yourself up to now is no longer there, and what is there cannot be named, cannot be defined. It is all and everything... it is the very essence of existence. You will not be there as you think yourself to be. If you are there, then the guest cannot enter in. In fact, the guest can come only when it becomes a certainty that you are ready to disappear. Your disappearance is the appearance of that which you have been seeking all along. This is a paradox: when the sought is found, the seeker is lost. There are these words of Jesus -- in some sense…

About a year ago I heard of an enlightened buddhist master south of korea and walked three days to his temple from the nearest town. He was ninety-four years old, with a face like a child, a smile like a baby, and most compassionate eyes. His first question was, 'how did you get here since there is no road?' I sit here often and wonder how I got to you, Osho, since there is no road.

The old man must have asked you, 'How did you get here since there is no road?' like a zen koan. In fact there is no road to reach to god, because god is where you are. The goose is already out, the god has never been missed. And now you ask, I SIT HERE OFTEN AND WONDER HOW I GOT TO YOU. You may have forgotten me, but I have been always there. I am not separate from you. If I am separate then I am worthless. If I am separate from you and you have to come to me, and there is a path that connects you to me, then you will never reach to me. Then I will be like a mirage. You will be coming and coming and you will never reach to me. One day you will understand that you are just sitting here, doing…

Question: BELOVED OSHO, WHO IS IN THE WAY? WHEN MASTER JUI YEN WAS DWELLING CONSTANTLY IN HIS ROOM, HE WOULD CALL TO HIMSELF, "BOSS!" AND ALSO RESPOND TO HIMSELF, "YES?" "BE ALERT!" "I WILL." "HEREAFTER, DON'T FALL FOR PEOPLE'S DECEPTIONS." "I WON'T." JUST AROUSE YOURSELF RIGHT HERE, AND SEE WHAT IT IS. THE ONE WHO DOES THE AROUSING ISN'T ANYONE ELSE, HE'S JUST THE ONE THAT CAN RECOGNIZE DIMNESS AND DULLNESS. HE'S YOUR OWN FUNDAMENTAL IDENTITY. THIS IS ME GIVING MEDICINE TO SUIT THE DISEASE, HAVING NO OTHER ALTERNATIVE; BRIEFLY POINTING OUT THE ROAD FOR YOU TO RETURN HOME AND SIT IN PEACE, AND THAT'S ALL. IF YOU STICK TO DEAD WORDS, AND SAY IT REALLY IS YOUR FUNDAMENTAL IDENTITY, THEN YOU'RE ACKNOWLEDGING THE CONSCIOUS SPIRIT AS YOUR SELF, AND THIS HAS EVEN LESS TO DO WITH IT.