The Genius of the Buddha

The way Buddha laid out his Sutras is one of the greatest expression of Genius.

He didn't start with God (Ishvar) or Soul (Parmatma) or any such concepts which can be believed or disbelieved. Many awakened beings invoked devotion or belief which lead to an experience. He invoked Reason. And when one HAS an experience, they transcend the reason. But they won't become angry at Buddha. They would become thankful.

He started with addressing the human suffering. Anyone with slightest depth of understanding cannot deny the suffering in life. And he displayed the qualities of the one who has transcended the realm of suffering. For good. A living and embodied example. And nobody could deny that too.

He didn't talk at all about how the destination feels like. He met people where THEY were. And laid out methods and a map of understanding to show how the suffering is self created. He just told that this suffering can be alleviated. Didn't even promise that it could be permanently rooted out. Inch by inch he moved them closer and closer to the experience but never talked about the experience directly. He only spoke of the way!

How beautiful. How clever. He knew that people who are used to live a life of bondage will get scared if he starts telling them about the open skies of freedom. He did not reveal the Glorious just in the beginning as it is really an insult of the people who are struggling even in the mundane plane. He knew that they are bound to deny any such thing exists because if they accept it, that would mean they have spent their whole life in a false world. In illusion. 

And what an impact has this had in the last two thousand years. How many people have been led. Without aggressiveness and without cleverness/deception. People have followed Buddha solely on the basis of the power of his reasoning. Makes one bow down in love and admiration!

And it has become even more significant for the current times. Where one cannot be moved by faith. One demands reason and rightly so. People are thinking for themselves and people are more honest. They don't want phony gestures of religiousness. They want a solid logical foundation and a detailed analysis which satisfies and addresses the complexity of their problems. And a solution that works! 

~ Based on a talk of Osho about Buddha 

~ Dedicated back to Osho to whom I am eternally grateful 

~ In service to the earnest seeker