There are no followers of Tao
Tao is an energy field which is being transferred. And the moment it is transferred, one has his own field of energy. Energy is invisible; only its effects are visible. You can see light, but you cannot see electricity. Have you ever seen electricity? These lights are just the effects of electricity. Electricity can do a thousand and one things, but nobody has ever seen it and nobody will ever see it.
Energy is not something to be seen, but only felt. Have you seen love? You may have seen lovers -- even that is very difficult -- but to see love... You yourself may even be in love -- you can have a subtle feeling of a great change in your behavior. You walk differently, your eyes have a different gleam, you smile in a more understanding way, you relate with other people with grace -- but these are all effects. One can act all these effects without having love at all.
I have heard... Mulla Nasruddin's wife drags him to a movie house. And in the picture which is shown the hero hugs and kisses the heroine so gracefully, so sweetly, that immediately Mulla Nasruddin's wife turns to him and says, "You never do that to me."
Mulla Nasruddin said, "You don't understand -- he is paid. Am I paid?"
But the wife was also a rare personality. She said, "Paid or not paid, you don't know that in real life also they are husband and wife."
Mulla said, "My god! If in real life also they are husband and wife, then he is a great actor. I can certify that he is a great actor." Showing so much sweetness to one's own wife -- who has ever heard of it?
You can act. People have acted as if they are enlightened, knowing perfectly well inside that it is just acting. But followers are not possible. Gautam Buddha is reported to have said, "Watch me, feel me, but don't follow me." You have to find your own path alone. And that is a great beauty, that your enlightenment will be fresh and virgin, not second hand.
There are no followers of Tao, but believers are of philosophy where there are only followers. In Tao, in Zen, in Dhamma, there are only lovers... love at the highest peak, where you open your heart to the unknown realities, to the unknown invisible mysteries of your own being. It is a trust certainly, but not a following.
Remember, trust is not a belief. These things I have to remind of again and again, because all the dictionaries are misleading. I have not come across a single dictionary or encyclopedia which is not mixed up and confused about trust and belief.
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