"Hence, my feeling is that Ko Hsuan cannot commit this mistake. It must be that the translator has missed the point; the point is very subtle. It seems simply to the ordinary mind to make no difference whether one says, 'I have heard the master say,' or 'The venerable master said.' But when you say, 'The venerable master said,' you are making an absolutely certain statement as if you can report it authentically. It is not possible: you can report only what you have heard.

"Now, here you are listening to me, nearabout three thousand sannyasins. Each sannyasin will listen according to his own conditioning, according to his own state of mind, according to his own prejudices, concepts, ideologies, philosophies, according to his own background. If you don't have any background, if you have transcended all concepts, ideologies, philosophies, religions, if you are no more in the mind, then you can hear exactly that which is said. But then there is no need to hear it; then you yourself know it. Then Ko Hsuan will not say, 'The venerable master said,' he can simply state the sutras. Then it will be his own experience. He is very close to the peak and finally he reached to the peak, but these notes were made before he himself became an enlightened master. These notes are of a disciple, and you should remember it.

"Whenever you report me, always remember that you have heard. You cannot be certain whether it was said exactly the way you have heard or not.

"In Italy, on the bus next to the driver there is the following note: 'Do not talk to the driver.'

"In Germany there is: 'It is forbidden to talk to the driver.'

"In England: 'It is not polite to talk to the driver.'

"In Scotland: 'What will you gain in talking to the driver?'

"The moment a master says something it comes from his innermost core. When you hear it, it is heard on your circumference. By the time it reaches to your innermost core – if it reaches at all, if you are fortunate enough to allow it to sink in to the very core of your being – then too the meaning will not remain the same."