I am indebted to Aaron Bartlett who conriibuted material for this
conversation.
A good friend of mine, a very powerful individual (he's actually one of
the most powerful people I know) had a meeting with a great master, a
guru
to many hundreds of thousands of devotees around the world. The meeting
was a respectful,
generous
two-way conversational street. My friend wore a downplayed Wilkes
Bashford appropriate-to-the-moment sport coat and slacks,
no tie. The
guru
was dressed in traditional robes ie a dhoti crafted from
hand-woven silk. The mere being together of these two great men was the
miracle of the moment, a miracle that was palpably tangible for a few
assistants
and sannyasins who were also present in the room.
As the meeting's allotted time drew to a close and goodbyes were
imminent, the
guru
turned to my friend and said "Before you go, as my gift to you, I will
answer any question you want to ask me, any question you
like, about anything - living,
God,
the
universe,
the
meaning
of Life - ask me anything, and I will answer", and he smiled
- respectfully and
generously.
There was barely a pause, and my friend, equally respectful and equally
generous,
said "I have no questions for you.". And briefly, very
briefly, the
guru
stopped smiling (I could have deployed the colloquial metaphor "the
gurublinked" rather than he "stopped smiling", but saying he
"stopped smiling" is
good enough for
jazz).
Now I'm no mind-reader. I have no special
access
to what people think, although my ears do give me
access
to what people say. With that distinguished, I'll bet good money
that something new, something not-known-before opened up for that great
master, that
guru
to many hundreds of thousands of devotees around the world, something
he didn't know that he didn't know, something he didn't see
coming yet which opened up something new, like a sudden, unexpected
"A-Ha!" experience.
As my friend was leaving, the
guru
gave him a copy of a book he'd written, which my friend graciously
accepted. Then, having exited the meeting room, he handed the book to
one of the sannyasins in attendance, whose eyes and mouth opened wide
in shock and delight upon being gifted such a sudden, unexpected
treasure.
I don't want to ask questions in order to be told
the answers
(oh, good old
"the answers",
right?). What I want to do in the company of great people, is ask
questions coming from being already
whole and complete,
the purpose of which would be to open up the space for new
possibilities. The value for me in being around great people isn't so
much in their answering. It's in their listening. It's in the
space of their listening that new openings for action call me, without
giving me
the answers.
In meetings like these, there's certainly the joy, the love, and the
privilege
of being in great company. And in
honor
of that opportunity ie in
honor
of that joy, that love, and that
privilege,
I prepare ahead of time very carefully. I note down
possible topics of conversation,
shares,
ideas etc worthy of both the opportunity and the occasion. They're all
carefully chosen words. My commitment is to end the meeting when
our time is up or when my list is complete - whichever comes soonest.
Now there's
nothing wrong
with questions. Look: if I happen to include questions to ask among my
carefully chosen words and ideas to
share,
they're questions with possibility in mind not questions with
"the answers"
in mind, of which "What's the
meaning
of Life?" is the antithesis of the former, and a good example of the
latter.