He means he is not wanting a relationship with you! Believe him when he says he is not ready.

Why is that so hard to understand?

you got to understand guys, women need to be in denial to protect themselves. i wish girls could just understand but they thinks guys have mixed signals when in reality they can be simple...

When my boyfriend and I started seeing each other I was the one who told him I wasn't ready for a relationship and then he said he felt the same at that point in his life. Two months later we started getting pretty serious till I told him that I was getting pretty attached and if we kept going it would be for the long term and he totally agreed with me. All I can understand from this now is that he must have been lying in the first place. either that or he is stringing me along, id rather go with the former.

If a guy tells you he is not ready for a relationship....RUN.

Well, I can speak from experience on this. Met a guy IMMEDIATELY out of a 10 year marriage. We were both very honest about where we were emotionally. We had so much fun together we just kept hanging out, but I gave him a lot of leeway when it came to his behavior and how serious we took things.
We ended up moving in together (I don't really advise this) but still considered ourselves to be somewhat casual. But after a year of being together, a lot of understanding on my part, he looked at me, said he loved me and we have started the best life together.
So he is not ready for a relationship now, but if he likes you and you have the strength to let him work through his feelings and what ever that may look like, you could end up the other side together and him grateful and happy that you were there.
On the other hand he may decide you aren't the one really. You have to be honest with what you are willing to have out of your relationship and if you really believe there is something to build on there.