The Art of Active Listening in Communication

Trust And Doubt

A man of discretion, a man who is wise, will use doubt if his search is concerned with matter. If his inquiry is about the outside, the other, he will use doubt as the method. If his search is towards the inner, towards himself, then he will use trust. Science and religion are two wings.

The perfect man is a man who has a deep harmony between doubt and trust. A perfect man will look inconsistent to you, but he is not inconsistent. He is simply harmonious – contradictions dissolve in him. He uses everything. If you have doubts, use it for scientific inquiry. And look at great scientists: by the time they reach their age of understanding and wisdom, by the time their youthful enthusiasm is gone and wisdom settles, they are always very deep in trust.

Eddington, Einstein, Lodge – I’m not talking about mediocre scientists, they are not scientists at all – but all the great pinnacles in science are very religious. They trust because they have known doubt, they have used doubt, and they have come to understand that doubt has its limitations.

Nothing is wrong in doubt, don’t be worried about it. Use it well, use it in the right way. If you use it in the right way and use it well, you will come to an understanding: you will come to a doubt of doubt itself. You will see – you will become doubtful of doubt. You will see where it works and where it doesn’t work. When you come to that understanding, the door of trust opens.

Identity And Guilt

For the children any act is not sinful or pious. They do everything for the sheer joy of it. But whenever they act we give them our judgement regarding their act. In the process if according to us the act is not good they will create guilt and if according to us if it is good they will create their identity. In both the cases as they right now don’t have maturity they become followers of our guidance. Either to create guilt or identity. For them guilt will be sin and identity will be pious.

Never be a follower because that means you are just a shadow, just moving in the footprints of somebody else, not trying to find your own path and your own being. Followers are weaklings.

A man of courage finds his own path. He can rejoice in the enlightenment of someone. He can love someone to the extent that he can call him his master, but the master can never call him a follower, only a friend who is just a little behind – a few steps more and he will also become a buddha. To reduce him to a follower is very insulting and humiliating.