NOTHING MORE BLISSFUL THAN ENLIGHTENMENT.''OSHO''

BELOVED OSHO,

ONE OF THE THINGS I ENJOY MOST IN THIS LIFE IS HEARING YOU

DESCRIBE THE STATE OF ENLIGHTENMENT. FOR THOSE OF US WHO LOVE

TO LISTEN, CAN YOU ONCE AGAIN SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THE

UNSAYABLE?

It is true that there is nothing more beautiful, more blissful than enlightenment -- even the

talk of it, even the faraway echo, even the shadow of it. The moon reflected in the water

is not the real moon, but still it has tremendous beauty; and if the waters of your mind are

silent, then the moon reflected in those waters is exactly the same.

It is not your experience, but it is someone's experience you love, it is someone's

experience you trust. And just because you love and you trust, you start sharing the

experience in a subtle way.

It is certainly difficult to say anything about it, although my whole life I have been saying

things about it -- and only about it. Even if, though, I am talking about other things, I am

only talking to lead you towards an understanding of enlightenment.

It is your state of silence, it is your state of universal-hood.

It is you without the ego and its problems.

It is you without any questions and without any answer either -- simply silent.

And there is no joy which can transcend this silence.

It is pure light, it is pure delight.

I can understand your question. Just to hear about it again and again is a necessary need,

so you don't forget why you are here.

ARE YOU SURRENDERED OR DEPENDENT?''OSHO''

BELOVED OSHO,

HOW CAN WE KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SURRENDER AND

DEPENDENCY, NOT JUST WITH YOU BUT WITH ALL THAT COMES UP IN

OUR LIVES?

AR

Veereshwar, the difference is so absolutely clear that once you have experienced

surrender you will never miss understanding what is surrender and what is dependency.

Surrender is out of love, dependency is out of fear. Dependency is a relationship in which

you are hankering for something, desiring something; there is a motive. You are ready to

become dependent -- that's what you are willing to pay for something. Surrender has no

desire in it. It is sheer joy, it is trust, it is unmotivated.

It is like falling in love. In fact it is exactly falling in love -- a love that knows no bounds,

a love that is totally different from what you ordinarily call love. Your love is again a

kind of dependency. You become dependent on the person you love, because in fact you

don't love, you are simply finding somebody to cling to; otherwise you feel very lonely.

You want to avoid your loneliness, you want somebody to fill your inner black hole, your

emptiness.

But real love is not an escape from loneliness, real love is an overflowing aloneness. One

is so happy in being alone that one would like to share -- happiness always wants to

share. It is too much, it cannot be contained; like the flower cannot contain its fragrance,

it has to be released.

Surrender is the highest form of love, the purest form of love. You will not feel

dependent, because there will be no clinging in it. You will not feel dependent, because it

is not out of loneliness that you have surrendered. If you have surrendered out of

loneliness then it is not surrender at all, then it is something else.

Another thing: surrender always happens, it is not a doing. You cannot do it -- how can

you do surrender? If you do it, it is not surrender. You are the doer -- and if the doer is

there then it can be taken back any moment.

Surrender happens; the doer is not found. You simply find yourself melting into

somebody, into something. You may find yourself melting into a sunset, and it is

surrender. You may find yourself melting into the starry night, and it is surrender. You

may find yourself melting into a woman or man, and it is surrender. You may find

yourself melting into music, and it is surrender. Surrender has many dimensions, but the

taste is the same: you simply find yourself melting. You simply find yourself no more; a

kind of egolessness is felt.

You are... in fact you are very much, and yet you are not. Presence and absence both

together -- surrender is paradoxical. Presence, because the ego is not there, so you are just

awareness; and absence because the ego is not there, so you cannot say "I am."

Veereshwar, dependency is ugly, surrender is beautiful. Dependency will make you feel

reduced, surrender will make you feel enhanced, expanded. Dependency will create

reaction in you to revolt. Surrender will bring more and more trust.

But the distinction is delicate. Once known it is not difficult, but if you have not

experienced it yet then surrender will look like dependency, because dependency is what

you know.

I cannot explain it to you, I can only indicate a few directions. In the morning when the

sun is rising, just sit silently on the riverbank. Watch it. Doing nothing, just sitting

silently, watch it. And some time in some blissful moment it will happen: there will be no

observer, and nothing observed. The observer becomes the observed. It is not that you are

separate from the rising sun -- you are it.

Sitting by the tree, just close your eyes, feel the tree. Hug the tree, just be one with it, as

if you are with your beloved. And sometimes... and it is not predictable; I cannot say that

it will happen each time. Only once in a while it will happen -- because it has to happen

in spite of you, that's why only once in a while.

Or, loving your woman, melt into her warmth. For a moment forget sexuality, for a

moment forget all that goes on in your head, in your fantasy. For a moment just melt into

the real woman. Don't carry any pornography in your head, don't make sexuality

something cerebral. Let your sexuality be a deep sensuousness, sensitivity, a gut feeling.

Melt into the woman, as if you are again a child in the mother's womb. Unless you have

known this with your beloved, you have not known your beloved. A child again in the

mother's womb, absolutely together, all distances gone -- and in that moment you will

know what surrender is.

But the male ego creates trouble everywhere. Even being with your woman, you are

trying to control the situation. Even in our language, ugly expressions have entered: we

call it lovemaking. How can you make love? Nobody can make love. But it has come into

language not without any reason. People are trying to make love; even in love they are

doers. So the greatest opportunity of knowing surrender is missed.

And now you have manuals: How To Make Love, How To Attain Total Orgasm. And

people are reading these manuals and following the instructions. I know of some foolish

people who make love to their woman, and by the bedside is the manual and they go on

looking into it: how to make total orgasm.

Some moments in life when you are not a doer, not a knower, when you simply are, you

will have the taste. It can come through beauty, it can come through poetry, it can come

through music, it can come through so many doors. God has many doors to his temple.

But, Veereshwar, my feeling is that you know only dependency, hence the question has

arisen. One who has known surrender cannot ask the question. Be in relaxation a few

moments. It can be any kind of situations -- swimming in the river, relax with the river, or

sunning on the beach, relax with the sun -- anything. Life is full of opportunities.

Remember Atisha. He says life is full of opportunities, life is the opportunity. Don't wait

for the opportunity, the opportunity is already here.

But you will have to learn a totally different kind of consciousness -- not that of a doer,

but that kind of consciousness which is simply existing... that simple consciousness,

innocent.

And that happens so many times to you here while listening to me. In the pauses, when

sometimes I stop... it is there.

Drink it.

DO,BUT DON'T BECOME A DOER.''OSHO''

BELOVED OSHO, WHO IS A LAZY MAN?

Prem Nirvan, it depends. To a workaholic, the answer will be totally different. To a
workaholic almost everybody is lazy. But to the laziest, almost everybody is a
workaholic.
It happened: There was an emperor in Japan who was himself very lazy and loved lazy
people. Lazy people are good people, they have never been mischievous -- they cannot
be, because mischief needs activity. You have to be very active, only then you can be
mischievous. Just think, if Alexander the Great had been a little lazy, Adolf Hitler a little
lazy, Morarji Desai a little lazy, the world would have been so beautiful. All the mischief
comes from the active people. Lazy people have never done any harm, that much can be
absolutely said.

The king loved lazy people. He said to his prime minister, "Nobody has done anything
for these beautiful people called lazy. I want to do something. It is not their fault that they
are lazy, God has made them that way. And in a way they are very good because they
don't harm anybody. They need state protection. So you declare that whosoever is lazy
can come and be part of the palace. He has to be served as a government guest and he can live his lazy life without any worry and without any torture from the so-called active
people."
The prime minister said, "It will be very difficult, because many who are not lazy will
also come, and there will be great difficulty how to decide who is who."
And that's exactly what happened. Thousands of people started coming. The king was
puzzled, he had never thought that so many people are lazy. Then a device was made:
they were all placed in straw huts and in the middle of the night fire was put to the straw
huts. Almost everybody ran out, except four -- they simply went inside their blankets,
they refused to move out. They said, "If God wants to kill us, it's okay. If he wants to
save us, he will find some way."
So those four were accepted as royal guests. They were!
It is difficult -- how to decide? Alexander thought that Diogenes was lazy, and Diogenes
thought that Alexander was mad. Alexander tried to conquer the whole world -- this is
sheer madness -- and Diogenes was so lazy that he remained naked, because it was such a botheration to put the clothes on and off. And then sometimes you have to wash them,
and you have to look for Bahadur, and the soap, and this and that -- it is a long sequence
of things.
Diogenes had only one begging bowl. That too one day he threw in the river, because it
was such a botheration to clean it. And the day he threw it, he saw a dog that gave him
the inspiration. He was going towards the river, thirsty, with his begging bowl, and the
dog was also thirsty and he was also going to the river.
The dog ran fast, jumped into the river, drank to his heart's content. And Diogenes
thought, "So the dog is far more intelligent. Without any begging bowl, and he is doing
well. Why do I go on carrying this weight?" He threw the begging bowl, he thanked the
dog; they became friends. They became so friendly that they started sharing the place --
where the dog used to live Diogenes also started living. It was just a big pipe, the dog
used to live there; that became the house of Diogenes too.
When Alexander went to see Diogenes -- naturally, polar opposites are always attracted --
he was lying down on the sand by the side of the river in the early morning sun, warm,
naked, he was enjoying, singing a song. The dog was sitting by his side, also enjoying the
morning. Alexander came with all his paraphernalia, the generals and the prime
ministers, and they declared, as was part of the court mannerism, that "Alexander the
Great is here!"
Diogenes looked at the dog and laughed. Alexander could not understand why he looked
at the dog; he asked why. Diogenes said, "I looked at the dog because only he will
understand. These fools that you have brought with you, they will not understand at all.
This dog is very wise. In the first place he never speaks -- so wise, never utters a word,
just keeps everything secret. And he is the only one who can understand that one who
declares that he is great, can't be. Greatness need not be declared; it is there, or it is not
there."
Shocked, Alexander could not believe that this would be the way he would be received,
but still he was impressed by the man -- he was so joyous. He said, "I feel a little jealous
of you. Next time, if God asks me, 'Alexander, what do you want to become?' I will ask
to become Diogenes."
Diogenes again looked at the dog. And it is said that the dog smiled. Alexander could not
believe what was happening, what was transpiring. He said, "What is the meaning of it?"
Diogenes said, "It is so foolish to wait for the next life. We live moment to moment, me
and my friend, and you are hoping for the next life. If you are so jealous of Diogenes,
who is preventing you? Is God preventing you? Throw off the clothes -- and tell these
foolish people to go! And the bank is so big, we can share. That is our house. First only
the dog used to live here, then I became a part of it; you can also become a part of it. We
have nothing else, so there is no quarrel, no competition, nothing."
It must have been one of the greatest moments in history. Just to think of it.... Alexander
said, "I am happy that I came. I have seen a man worth seeing. Can I do something for
you?"
Diogenes said, "You just move a little to the left, because you are hindering the sun.
Nothing else is needed, because we don't need anything."
You ask me: "Who is a lazy man?"
It is very relative. My own suggestion is: act only when it is essential. And even while
doing things, don't become a doer, become a non-doer. Let God do things through you,
then action and inaction are one.
That's what Lao Tzu says: Wu-wei -- action through inaction. Then action and laziness
are no more opposite but complementaries. A real man will have both the capacities: he
can act; he can be lazy, he can rest.
What ordinarily happens is that people become addicted, either to work or to laziness --
and that is wrong. Don't become addicted. Do, but don't become a doer. And then even
while doing things you will remain at rest, perfectly at rest.
Alexander on the circumference and Diogenes at the center: that is my definition of a
total man.
Mulla Nasruddin once told me, "My uncle has the laziest rooster in the world."
"How can you tell?" I asked him.
"At sunrise, he just waits until some other rooster crows, then he nods his head."
Enough for today.

RACES, NATIONALITIES, ETCETERA, ETCETERA ARE ALL SUPERFICIAL.''OSHO''

BELOVED OSHO

IS THERE ANY REAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DIFFERENT RACES,

NATIONALITIES, ETCETERA, ETCETERA?

Ramananda, there are no real differences, there cannot be. All differences are superficial.

The Jew is not different from the Hindu, the Mohammedan is not different from the

Christian, the Chinese is not different from the American, the Negro is not different from

the English.

Man is one, differences are superficial. Yes, they are there, obviously. A Negro is a

Negro: he has black skin, he looks different from the white man. But the difference is not

a difference that makes a difference. The difference is so small: just a little more black

pigment in his skin, four ANNAS' worth more -- just that is the difference, four annas.

And remember, he is four annas more than the white man, not less -- richer by four annas.

But the difference of the color of the skin or the difference of the length of your nose is

not an important difference. Just because you have a long nose, a Jewish nose, you don't

become the chosen people of God. Or just because you are born in India you don't

become religious either.

These are all stupid ideas. But these stupid ideas have persisted in the world; and not only

persisted, have proved great calamities to humanity. They were very ego-gratifying. The

Hindu thinks he is the most religious in the world, his country the most sacred -- what

nonsense they go on talking!

Countries are separate only on the political maps; otherwise it is just one earth. Just thirty

years ago, Karachi and Lahore used to be holy land -- just thirty years ago. But now they

are in Pakistan and very unholy. Now Indians cannot think of a place which is more

unholy than Lahore or Karachi. Now they are the unholiest of the unholy, and they used

to be part of the holy land. Just a little change of politics, a line drawn on the map -- not

on the earth; the earth is still undivided.

I have heard a story: When India and Pakistan were going to be divided, there was a

madhouse just on the border, and nobody was particularly interested in having that

madhouse, neither India nor Pakistan. But it had to go somewhere -- and because

politicians were utterly uninterested, it was decided to ask the madmen themselves where

they want to go.

A great gathering -- one thousand madmen were gathered and they were asked, "Where

do you want to go?"

And they said, "We don't want to go anywhere, we simply want to remain here."

Again and again, in many ways it was explained to them, "You will not be going

anywhere, you will remain here. But still we want to ask where do you want to go -- to

India or to Pakistan?"

The madmen could not believe their ears. They said, "Now you are creating great

suspicion in us, whether we are mad or you are mad! If we are not going to go anywhere,

then why should we decide where we should go?"

There was no communication possible. And you see, the mad people were far more right.

They are always far more right than your so-called politicians.

Then the leaders decided, just divide it in the middle. And a wall was raised in the middle

of the madhouse. I have heard that still the madmen sometimes climb up on the wall and

they laugh. The whole thing seems to be so ridiculous. They are exactly in the same

place, but some have become Pakistanis and some have become Indians -- and just a wall

in between. And they still talk about it: "What happened? -- because we are the same, you

are the same, we don't see any difference! But now we are enemies -- we really should

not talk."

Differences are not there. Or, if they are there, very small differences like....

Do you know how many Indians it takes to screw in a lightbulb? Four. One to hold the

bulb, and three to screw him round.

Or, do you know many Californians it takes to change a lightbulb? Four. One to change

the bulb, and three to share in the experience.

THE ONLY THING IS HERE AND NOW.''OSHO''

BELOVED OSHO,

WHY DO YOU EMPHASIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF HERENOW SO MUCH?

Rahim, because there is nothing else. Here is the only space, now is the only time.

Beyond the herenow, there is nothing. Two thousand years ago, a great Jewish master,

Hillel, wrote a little poem in Aramaic. The poem is this:

"If I'm not for myself,

Then who can be for me?

And if I'm only for myself,

Then what am I?

And if not now,

When?"

It is a beautiful statement: if not now, then when? Tomorrow? But the tomorrow never

comes.

Hence I emphasize the herenow. Don't let this moment slip by unused, unlived,

unpenetrated; squeeze all that you can out of it. Live it passionately and with intensity, so

you need not repent later on that you missed your life.

It was after the Second World War; the war had ended. Joe Dink was still in Japan

waiting to be discharged. His wife, Irma Dink, was wild with anxiety and jealousy

because she read about the goings on between the American soldiers and the Japanese

girls.

Finally she could stand it no longer, and she wrote her husband, "Joe, hurry up and come

back. What do those girls have, anyway, that the American girls don't?"

"Not a thing," wrote back Joe. "But what they've got, they've got here."

And that is the most important thing. The question is of here and now.

TRUTH ITSELF IS CONTROVERSY THAT IS NATURAL.''OSHO''

WHY DOES SO MUCH CONTROVERSY SURROUND YOU AND YOUR
ASHRAM?

Krishna Prem, if it were not so, it would have been really a surprise, it would have been a
miracle, it would have been unbelievable. This is the natural course. This is what was
happening to Socrates. And what was his mistake? His mistake was that he was trying to
tell the truth as it is. His mistake, his only mistake, was that he was not ready to
compromise with the stupidities of the crowd. He lived in continuous controversy; he
died because of those controversies.
Do you think Jesus lived a noncontroversial life? Then why was he crucified? A reward
for a noncontroversial life? He lived continuously in controversy; it is bound to be so. So
it was with Buddha, so it was with Bodhidharma, so it has always been, and it seems so it
is always going to be.
Truth creates controversy, because it shocks people, it shatters their illusions. And they
want to cling to their illusions; those illusions are very consoling, comfortable,
convenient and cozy. They don't want to leave their dreams, they are not ready to drop
their investments in all kinds of foolish projects -- and that's what truth requires of them.
They feel angry, they want to take revenge.

It's absolutely natural. I am going to live in controversy -- and this is only the beginning.
Wait for the day they expel me from the world! I am really enchanted: where will they
send me? It will be worth it, worth all the trouble of going there and living out of the
world.
This is only the beginning, this is just the spark. Soon the whole forest will be on fire, and
this fire is going to spread all over the earth... because I am not fighting against Hindu
fanaticism, I am not fighting against Mohammedan fanaticism, I am simply fighting
against all kinds of fanaticism.
Socrates was only fighting against the lies that were prevalent in the small city of Athens;
it was a very small place. Buddha was against the Hindu beliefs, Jesus was fighting the
Judaic heritage. My fight is multidimensional: I am fighting with Jews, I am fighting with
Hindus, I am fighting with Buddhists, I am fighting with Jainas, I am fighting with
Mohammedans. My fight is not addressed to anybody in particular. Hence I am bound to
create so many enemies, more than anybody has ever done.
But certainly I am also going to create just as many friends, more than anybody has ever
done, because life keeps a balance. If you have so many enemies you will have as many
friends, if you have so many friends you will have as many enemies. Life always keeps a
balance, life never loses balance. So the more enemies there are, the more friends there
will be.
The whole thing seems to be very intriguing, very interesting. And remember, you cannot
satisfy all -- that is not possible, and I am not interested in it either.
Two thousand five hundred years ago, Aesop told this story:
It was a bright sunny morning in a mountain village. An old man and his grandson were
going to the market in the large town in the valley to sell a donkey. The donkey was
beautifully groomed and brushed and they set off happily down the steep path. In a while
they passed some people lounging by the side of the path.
"Look at that silly pair!" said one of the onlookers. "There they go, scrambling and
stumbling down the path, when they could be riding comfortably on the back of that surefooted
beast."
The old man heard this and thought it was right. So he and the boy mounted the donkey,
and thus continued their descent.
Soon they passed another group of people gossiping by the wayside. "Look at the lazy
pair, breaking the back of that poor donkey!"
The old man thought they were right, and since he was the heavier, he decided to walk
while the boy rode.
In a little while they heard more comments. "Look at that disrespectful child -- he rides
while the old man walks!"
The old man thought they were right, and it was only proper that he should ride while the
boy walked.
Sure enough, they soon heard this: "What a mean old man, riding at his ease while the
poor child has to try to keep up on foot!"
By this time the old man and the boy were becoming increasingly bewildered. When they
finally heard the criticism that the donkey would be all worn out and no one would want
to buy him after the long walk to the market, they sat down, dejected, by the side of the
road.
After the donkey had been allowed to rest for a while, they continued the journey, but in
a completely different manner. Thus it was, late that afternoon, that the old man and the
boy were seen gasping breathlessly into the marketplace. Slung on a pole between them,
hung by his tied feet, was the donkey!
As Aesop said: "You can't please everyone. If you try, you lose yourself."
I cannot please everybody, and neither am I interested in pleasing everybody. I am not a
politician; the politician tries to please everybody. I am here only to help those who really
want to be helped. I am not interested in the mob, in the crowd. I am only interested in
those sincere seekers who are ready to risk all -- all -- to attain themselves.
This is going to anger many, this is going to create much controversy, because I am a
very noncompromising person. I will say only that which is true to me, whatsoever the
consequence. If I am condemned for it or murdered for it, that's perfectly okay. But I am
not going to compromise, not an iota.
I have nothing to lose, so why compromise? I have nothing to gain, so why compromise?
All that could have happened has happened. Nothing can be taken away from me,
because my treasure is of the inner. And nothing can be added to it, because my treasure
is of the inner.
So I am going to live the way I want to live. I am going to live in my own spontaneity
and authenticity. I am not here to fulfill anybody's expectations. I am not interested in
being called a spiritual person or a saint either. I don't need any compliments from
anybody, I don't want the crowd to worship me. All those stupid games are finished.
I am in that state where nothing can happen any more; it is beyond happening. So I will
go on saying things which offend people. It is not that I want to offend them, but what
can I do? If truth offends them, then it offends them. I am going to live life the way it is
happening to me. If it is not according to their expectations, either they can change their
expectations or they can feel angry, miserable, and go on clinging to their expectations.
I am utterly free from their opinion, it does not matter to me at all.
So, Krishna Prem, the controversies will become more and more. And because I am
controversial, my people are bound to be controversial too. Because I am controversial,
you will also be offensive, you will also have to suffer. You will also have to be ready to
be persecuted in many ways.
But remember one thing. To live a life of compromise is worse than death. And to live a
life of truth, even if it is for a single moment, is far more valuable than to live eternally in
lies. To die for truth is far more valuable than to live in lies.

AWAKENING,HERE AND NOW.THERE IS NO ANYWHERE REACHING.''OSHO''

WHEN DOES THE BOAT REACH THE OTHER SHORE?

Deva Vigyan, there is no other shore, this is the only shore there is. And it is not a
question of reaching somewhere else, it is a question of awakening here and now. It is
never there, it is always here; it is never then, it is always now. This moment contains the
totality of reality.

The boat I am talking about is not really a boat. I am talking about becoming aware. Man
has fallen asleep -- man is already where he needs to be, where he is meant to be. Man is
in paradise. The garden of Eden has never been left, nobody can expel you from it. But
you can fall asleep, and you can start dreaming a thousand and one things. Then those
dreams become your reality, and the reality fades far away, becomes unreal.
You need not go anywhere. Meditation is neither a journey in space nor a journey in time,
but an instantaneous awakening. If you can be silent now, this is the other shore. If you
can allow the mind to cease, not to function, this is the other shore.
But the mind is very clever and cunning; it distorts every great teaching. It jumps upon
words, catches hold of the words, and starts giving meanings to them which are not real
meanings.
Yes, I talked about the other shore. And your mind must have caught the words "the other
shore, the boat." "Where is the other shore, and where is the boat, and how can I get to
the boat, how can I get into it, and when will I reach the other shore?"
You misunderstood the whole thing. Be awake, and this shore becomes the other shore,
and this very moment becomes eternity. This very body the buddha, and this very place
the lotus paradise.
And awakening does not need time; not even a split second is needed for it to happen. It
is only a question of a tremendous desire arising in you, of such a quality of intensity that
you become afire with it. In that fire, the old is gone and the new has arrived. The old was
never there in the first place, you only believed in it. And the new has always been the
case, you had only forgotten it.
I declare to you that this is the only world there is, and this is the only life there is. Don't
start thinking of some other life somewhere after death, beyond the seven skies, in
heaven. Those are all just mind dreams, mind trips, new ways to fall asleep again.
Hence my insistence that no sannyasin has to leave the world, because leaving the world
is part of a project, part of a dream of reaching to the other world. And because there is
none, all your efforts will be in vain. You are not to go to the monasteries or to the
Himalayas; you are not to escape from here. You have to become awakened here.
And in fact it is easier to be awakened here than in a Himalayan cave. Have you not
observed it? If you are suffering from a nightmare, awakening is easier. If you are having
a sweet dream, awakening is more difficult. If in your dream you are on a honeymoon
with your beloved, who wants to be awakened? In fact the person who tries to wake you
up will look like the enemy. But if you are followed by a tiger and it is a question of life
and death, and you are running and running and the tiger is coming closer and closer and
closer, and you start feeling his breath on your back, then suddenly you will be awake. It
is too much to tolerate, it is unbearable.
In a Himalayan cave you will be dreaming sweet dreams. That's what people are doing in
the monasteries -- dreaming beautiful dreams of God, of angels, of heaven, of eternal
peace and joy. In the world, people are suffering from nightmares -- the nightmares of the
share market, the nightmares of power politics. It is easier to be awakened here. If you
cannot awaken here, you cannot wake up anywhere else.
But remember, let me repeat it again, there is no other reality, there is only one reality.
But the one reality can be seen in two ways: with sleepy eyes, dreamy eyes, eyes full of
dust, and then what you see is distorted; and the same reality can be seen without sleep,
without dreaming eyes, without dust. Then whatsoever you see is the truth -- and truth
liberates.

MIND HAS BEGINNING AND END.BEYOND MIND IS BEGINNINGLESS.''OSHO''

MY MIND HAS DIFFICULTY UNDERSTANDING THE EXISTENCE OF
BEGINNINGLESSNESS. WOULD YOU PLEASE TALK ABOUT IT?

Prem Viraj, reality is indefinable. Reality simply is; there is no way to say what it is. It is
not a "what," it is not even a "that," it is this. It is this-ness: you can experience it, but it
cannot be explained.
And reality is beginningless and endless. The mind has a beginning and an end, hence the
mind and reality cannot meet. The mind cannot comprehend the eternal. The mind exists
in time, in fact the mind is time; it exists in the past and the future. And remember, time
consists of only two tenses, the past and the future. The present is not part of time, the
present is part of eternity.

Hence the mind is never found in the present. It is always wavering, either towards the
past or towards the future. It moves into that which is not, or into that which is not yet. Its
whole skill consists in dreaming. It is rooted in the nonexistential, hence it cannot
understand existence itself. It is like darkness. How can darkness comprehend light? How
can death comprehend life? If death can comprehend life then death will have to be life.
If darkness has to comprehend light then darkness will have to be light.
And so is the case with the mind. If the mind wants to comprehend reality, it will have to
come out of the past and the future. But coming out of the past and the future, it is no
longer the mind at all. Hence the insistence of all the great masters of the world that the
door to reality is no-mind.
Slip out of the mind, and you will know what it is: the beginningless, the endless. Remain
confined to the mind, and you will be puzzled; reality remains inconceivable.
I cannot explain it to you, because in explaining I will have to use the mind. Trying to
understand it, you will have to use the mind. I can be silent with you, and if you can also
be silent with me then there is understanding. Understanding is not of the mind. Then
there is great intelligence, great insight. Suddenly you know, and you know from a totally
different center of your being; you know from the heart. Your knowing has the quality of
love, not of knowledge. Your knowing has the quality of transcendence. It is no longer
scientific knowledge, reducible to concepts. It is poetic vision, it is mystic experience.
Viraj, if you really want to understand, you will have to lose the mind. You will have to
pay the price of losing the mind. But if you insist, "I have to understand through the
mind," then only one thing is possible. The mind will convince you, slowly slowly, that
there is nothing which is beginningless, nothing which is endless, nothing which is
indefinable, nothing which is unknowable.
The mind will reduce your experience to the measurable, the fathomable, the knowable --
and the knowable is ordinary, mundane. The unknowable is sacred. And only with the
unknowable does life become a benediction, only with the unknowable are you thrilled
with the wonder of life and existence. Suddenly a song is born in your heart -- a song that
cannot be contained, a song that starts overflowing, a song that starts reaching others. A
dance is born in you -- a dance that has to be shared, a dance about which you cannot be
miserly, a dance that makes you generous. A love is born in you -- a love that is so
infinite that it can fill the whole infinite existence. That is real understanding. But it
happens only when the mind is dropped.
Don't try to do the impossible. Trying to understand reality through the mind is like
pulling yourself up by your own shoestrings. Maybe you can hop a little bit, but that
hopping is not going to help; you will be back on the ground again and again, and it will
be very tiring. Just by pulling your own shoestrings you cannot fly into the sky; that is not
going to give you wings.
Slowly slowly, learn the art of contacting reality without the mind interfering. Sometimes
when the sun is setting, just sit there looking at the sun, not thinking about it -- watching,
not evaluating, not even saying, "How beautiful it is!" The moment you say something,
the mind has come in.
The mind consists of language. Don't use language. Can't you just see the sunset and its
beauty? Can't you be overwhelmed by its beauty? Can't you be possessed by its
grandeur? What is the point of bringing language in? Nobody is asking you to say
anything. The sun does not understand your language, the clouds that have become so
beautiful and luminous in the setting sun are unable to understand your language. Why
bring it in? Put it aside; be in direct contact, be thrilled. If tears come to your eyes, good.
If you start dancing, good. Or if you simply remain unmoving, stoned on the beauty of
the sun, intoxicated, you will have gained a little experience -- a little experience that
goes very far, a little glimpse of no-mind.
And there are a thousand and one situations every day. Holding the hand of your woman
or your man, there is no need to talk. People are continuously talking -- yakkety-yakketyyakkety.
And the reason why they are talking is that they are afraid to be silent, they are
afraid to see the truth, they are afraid to see their utter emptiness, they are afraid to
expose themselves, they are afraid to look deep into the other. Continuous talking keeps
them on the surface, occupied, engaged.
Holding the hand of your woman or man, why not sit silently? Why not close your eyes
and feel? Feel the presence of the other, enter into the presence of the other, let the other's
presence enter into you; vibrate together, sway together; if suddenly a great energy
possesses you, dance together -- and you will reach to such orgasmic peaks of joy as you
have never known before. Those orgasmic peaks have nothing to do with sex, in fact they
have much to do with silence.
And if you can also manage to become meditative in your sex life, if you can be silent
while making love, in a kind of dance, you will be surprised. You have a built-in process
to take you to the farthest shore.
People make love in such an ugly way that if children sometimes see their parents
making love, they think they are wrestling, fighting -- that Daddy is going to kill Mum!
Groaning, breathing in an ugly way, violent, their movements have no elegance. It is not
a dance; certainly it is not a dance.
And unless it becomes a dance it will remain very very physiological; it won't have any
spirituality in it. But it is impossible. Unless your whole life is saturated with those
moments that come when the mind ceases, your love life cannot move into silence.
The night is full of stars. Lie down on the earth, disappear into the earth. We come from
the earth, one day we will be going back to the earth to rest forever. At night sometimes,
lying on the lawn, disappear into the earth. Look at the stars -- just look, a pure look.
Don't start thinking about the names of the stars, the names of the constellations. Forget
all that you know about stars, put aside all your knowledge, just see the stars. And
suddenly there will be a communion; the stars will start pouring their light into you, and
you will feel an expanding of consciousness. No drug can do it.
Drugs are very artificial, arbitrary and harmful methods to know something which is
naturally available, which is easily available, beneficially available. Just watching the
stars, you will start feeling high, you will start soaring high.
Make as much as you can of all the opportunities that life and existence allow you. Never
miss a single opportunity when you can drop the mind, and slowly slowly you will know
the knack of it. It is a knack -- it is certainly not a science, because it has no fixed
methods.
Somebody may be thrilled by the stars, somebody may not be. Somebody may be thrilled
by the flowers, somebody else may not be affected at all. People are so different that
there is no way of determining it in a scientific way; it is not a science. It is not even an
art, because an art can be taught.
So I insist on the word knack. It is a knack. You have to learn it by doing a few
experiments with yourself. And once you have the knack... and everybody can have it,
because every child is born with it. Every child brings wondering eyes into existence.
Soon we force dust into his eyes; we cover his pure mirror with dust. Sooner or later, he
becomes knowledgeable -- and the sooner he does, the more happy we are. Our happiness
is really in poisoning the child.
If the child sees that the parents are very happy because he has become knowledgeable,
he starts gathering more and more knowledge. He starts forgetting the knack that he had
brought with him into this life, that was inborn. By the time he comes out of the
university he has completely forgotten one of the most beautiful things that was given to
him by God: the capacity to wonder, the capacity to see without thinking, the capacity to
contact reality without the mind continuously interfering, distorting.
You will have to regain it.
The sage is the person who regains his childhood; hence he is called "the twice born."
Jesus says, "Unless ye are born again, you will not be able to enter into my kingdom of
God." And the kingdom of God is here, but you have to be reborn -- reborn as a no-mind.
And I am not saying that when you are reborn as a no-mind you cannot use the mind. The
mind has its limited uses. Use it. When you are working in your office, I am not telling
you to be a no-mind. When you are working in your shop or in the factory, I am not
saying to be a no-mind. I am saying be perfectly a mind. Use the mind but don't carry it
continuously, twenty-four hours, day in and day out, with yourself. Don't go on dragging
it. Use it as you use a chair. You don't go on carrying your chair everywhere, wherever
you go, just because you may need it.
The mind is a beautiful instrument if you know how to be a no-mind too.
Viraj, the mind is impotent, incapable of knowing the beginningless and the endless. The
mind exists between birth and death; it knows nothing beyond birth and beyond death.
You were here before you were born, and you will be here after you are dead. The mind
has a very limited existence, very momentary -- one day it comes, another day it is gone.
You are forever. Have some experience of your forever-ness.
But that is possible only through no-mind. No-mind is another name for meditation.