"The present is so narrow that the mind cannot catch it. The moment the mind catches it, it has already become the past. So the mind can remember the past, can desire the future, but cannot see the present. The past is vast, the future also is vast; the present is so atomic, so subtle, that by the time you become aware, it is gone. And you are not so aware! A very great intensity of awareness is needed, only then will you be able to see the present. You have to be fully alert; if you are not totally alert, the present cannot be seen. You are already drunk with the past or with the future.

"The other day it happened, Mulla Nasruddin came to see me. He hailed a taxi, entered it and said, 'Driver, take me to the Osho Meditation Resort.'

"The driver came out of the car very much annoyed because the taxi was standing before 17, Koregaon Park. He opened the door and said to Mulla Nasruddin, 'Fellow, we have reached the Meditation Resort. Come out!'

"Nasruddin said, 'Okay, but don't drive so fast next time.'

"The mind is drunk. It cannot see the present, that which is before you. The mind is filled with dreams, desires. You don't have a presence. That's why Jesus is missed, Buddha is missed, Krishna is missed, and then for centuries you weep and cry, then for centuries you feel guilty. For centuries you think, pray, imagine, and when Jesus is there you miss. Jesus can be met only if you attain to a presence of mind, such a presence that has no past, that has no future. Only such a presence can look into the present, and then the present is eternal. But eternity is in depth, it is not a linear movement; it is not horizontal, it is vertical.

"The second thing to remember: you can understand the past, because to understand anything you need time to think, theorize, philosophize, systematize, argue. Then intellectually you can sort things out. But when a Jesus is present you cannot think, you have no time to think. Mind needs time to think. It gropes in the dark."