~~ FROM SOUND TO INNER SILENCE 1 ~~

Tantra is not a philosophy. Rather, it is a science with one difference: science is objective, tantra is subjective. But still, it is a science and not a philosophy. Philosophy thinks about the truth, the unknown, the ultimate; science tries to discover what is. Science enters the immediate; philosophy thinks of the ultimate. Philosophy is always looking toward the sky; science is more down to earth.

Tantra is not concerned with the ultimate. It is concerned with the immediate, the here and now.

Tantra says, the ultimate is hidden in the immediate, so you need not worry about the ultimate. By worrying about the ultimate you will miss the immediate, and the ultimate is hidden in the immediate.

So by thinking about the ultimate you will miss both. If the immediate should be missed, because of it you will miss the ultimate also. So philosophy is just smoke. The approach of tantra is scientific, but the OBJECT is different from that of so-called science.

Science tries to understand the object, the objective world, the reality that is before your eyes. Tantra is the science of the reality that is behind your eyes, the subjectivity, but the approach is scientific.

Tantra doesn't believe in thinking, it believes in experimenting, in experiencing. And unless you can experience, everything is just a wastage of energy.

I am reminded of one incident. Mulla Nasruddin was crossing a street. Just in front of a church he was knocked down by a hit-and-run driver. He was an old man, and a crowd gathered. Someone was saying that "That man cannot survive." The priest of the church ran out. He came near and he found out that the old man was just going to die, so he prepared to administer the last rites. He came near and asked the dying Mulla, "Do you believe in God the Father? Do you believe in God the Son? Do you believe in God the Holy Ghost?" Mulla opened his eyes and said, "My God! I am dying and he is asking me puzzles!"

All philosophy is like this: it is asking puzzles while you are dying. Every moment you are dying, every moment everyone is on his deathbed - because death can occur at any moment. But philosophy goes on asking and answering puzzles. Tantra says, it is good for children to philosophize but those who are wise will not waste their time in philosophy. They should try to know - not to think, because through thinking there is no knowledge. Through thinking you go on webbing words, creating patterns of words. It leads nowhere, you remain the same - no transformation, no new insights. The old man just goes on gathering dust.