A student once asked Zen Master Joshua, “Master, if I have nothing in my mind now, what shall I do now?” He meant that his mind was already empty, relaxed and without desire, lust or want of anything anymore. And the Master replied, “Throw it away!”

But the student insisted, saying, “I have nothing, Master! So how can I throw it away?” And the Master answered, “OK, then, keep it!” (Master and everyone laugh.) The student said that he had nothing, but then he insisted so much. So, the Master said, “OK, then keep it.” He had too much to throw out.

Many people think that they’re empty and that they’ve attained the Tao or realized Buddhahood and so on. They think they have no more desires - nothing, nothing, nothing - and that since they wear baggy clothes and shave their head, they’re OK, meaning they’re all empty.

But actually, it’s not so. Emptiness is not from the outside; it’s from within. So as soon as you realize that you’re empty, you’re not because there’s still a realization there. And the Zen smell is very strong. People call it “Zen sickness.” So in case you have that, you’d better go see a doctor and have it removed.

When we’re just ordinary people, we don’t know so much and we know we don’t know. Yet as soon as we meditate for just a short time, we think we do know. But after some more time, we know we don’t know again. So that’s the best time, when we don’t know; that’s the time when we do know best. Because if we’re still full of knowledge and knowing and so on, it means we’re really still only half-way realized.

So actually, all the things I’m telling you are just to amuse you and to pass our time together so that when you go home you feel that your emotions, your human mind and heart, have gotten something from the Master. But all this is garbage: Whether beautiful garbage or bad garbage, it’s all garbage. The things you realize are inside, not from my words. Of course my words of encouragement and reminders perhaps sometimes help comfort you in some situations and help change some of your undesirable personality traits. But that’s not enlightenment.

Enlightenment has nothing to do with personality, good or bad, moral or imperfect. Enlightenment is just our pure Self; it never changes, never becomes better, never becomes worse, has never been ignorant and never has to become enlightened again. It’s always there. It has always been, it will always be and it is now.

All these stories and explanations and all my so-called secular knowledge are just for amusement, just so that we have contact with each other on a personal level and so that we’re happier together. But don’t carry too much garbage with you; that’s not the true teaching. The true teaching is always without language, and you always know it. You know it inside: precisely, perfectly, without any explaining and without any words exchanged. But meanwhile, we both have to pretend. We need all this so that I have a job to do, so that you have a reason to come and you have some good memories to bring home with you. That’s all.