"I am a very ordinary man, as ordinary as you are.
But I am celebrating myself.
I celebrate myself, I sing myself.
And I can remind you that you can also celebrate yourself,
and you can also sing yourself.
And if an ordinary man like me can celebrate,
that should give you a great joy
because you can also celebrate
you need not be special.
You can also be enlightened without walking on water.
If you understand, you will be rejoiced in me
because a man just like you has become a celebration.
It is a great promise: you can also become one.
Nothing special is needed.
All that is needed is already with you.
You just have to be reminded.
A True Master is nothing but a reminding.
Your celebration will bring you closer to existence,
because existence is in constant celebration.
Your joy, your blissfulness, your silence,
will bring the silences of the stars and the sky;
Your peace with existence will open the doors of all the mysteries it contains.
There is no other way to become enlightened."
~Osho
LOVE
"The moment you understand what love is, you experience what love is, you become love. Then there is no need in you to be loved, and there is no need in you to love. Loving will be your simple, spon-taneous existence, your very breathing. You cannot do anything else; you will be simply loving.
Now in return, love does not come to you, you will not feel hurt, for the simple reason that only the person who has become love can love. You can only give that which you have. Asking people to love you - people who don't have love in their life, who have not come to the source of their being where love has it's shrine - how can they love you? They can pretend. They can say, they can even believe, but sooner or later these things are going to... it is going to be known that it is only a pretension, that it is only acting, that is hypocrisy.
There may not be an intention to deceive you, but what can the person do? You ask for love, and the other person also wants love. Both understand that you are expected to love, that only then can you get love - so you both try in every possible way to take the posture of love. But the posture is empty. And both are going to discover it, and both are going to complain about it against the other, that is not right. From the very beginning it has been two beggars begging from each other, and both have only empty begging bowls.
Both are pretending that they can give, but their basic desire is to get. If you don't have it, you cannot give it.
And those who have it - this is to be understood very clearly - those who have found the source of love within themselves are no longer in need of being loved. And they will be loved.
They will love for no other reason but simply because they have too much of it - just as a rain cloud wants to rain, just as a flower wants to release its fragrance, with no desire to get anything. The reward of love is in loving, not in getting love.
And these are the mysteries of life, that if a person is rewarded just in loving people, many will love him. Because by being in contact with him, they will slowly start finding the source within themselves. Now they know one person at
least who showers love and whose love is not out of any need. And the more he shares and showers his love, the more it grows.
The same is true about understanding. If you are close to a person of understanding you will see that he shares; sharing is his joy, it is not his business. He gives wholeheartedly, knowing perfectly well that he will find many doors closed in his face, but his understanding is deep enough to understand these peolpe who misunderstand him.
Once you understand just yourself and have gone beyond all kinds of misunderstandings, your light is so clear and bright, your certainty is so absolute, that the whole world can condemn you but it will not in any way hurt you. It will simply create more compassion and more effort to make these people somehow come out of their darkness and see the light."
~Osho
Beyond Psychology
WISDOM
** Wisdom Is Not Knowledge **
"The knowledgeable person cannot see it, he is blind.
Only the innocent person can see it, only a child, one who knows nothing, one who
functions from the state of not knowing, can know what wisdom is. Wisdom has nothing to do with knowledge, not at all; it has something to do with innocence.
Something of the purity of the heart is a must, something of the emptiness of being is needed for wisdom to grow.
Knowledge comes from without, wisdom wells up within. Knowledge is borrowed, wisdom is original. Wisdom is your insight into existence - not Buddha's insight, not Atisha's insight, not my insight, but your insight, absolutely your insight into existence.
When you are able to see with no dust of knowledge on the mirror of your soul, when your soul is without any dust of knowledge, when it is just a mirror, it reflects that which is. That is wisdom. That reflecting of that which is, is wisdom.
Knowledge gratifies the ego, wisdom happens only when the ego is gone, forgotten. Knowledge can be taught; universities exist to teach you. Wisdom cannot be taught, it is like an infection: you have to be with the wise, you have to move with the wise, and only then will something start moving inside you.
The movment in the disciple is not caused by the master, it is not under the law of cause and effect. It is what Carl Gustav Jung calls "synchronicity." The master is so full of silence, so overflowing with innocence, that his presence triggers a process in you, simply triggers a process in you. Nothing is transferred: your inner being starts remembering that "I also have the same treasure as my master, I had simply forgotten about it.. I had moved into the without, keeping the within at the back. The treasure was not lost but only forgotten; I had fallen asleep."
And the asleep person at the most can dream that he is awake. But that too is a dream. That dream is knowledge. The person who is asleep and thinks that he knows... that is knowledge. But the person who really awakes is wise. Knowledge is false, plastic substitute for wisdom.
Wisdom is true knowledge - rather knowing than knowledge, because it has no full point to it. It goes on growing, it goes on flowing. The man of wisdom goes on learning; there never comes a stop.
Don't be knowledgeable, be wise."
~OSHO.
The Book of Wisdom
EGO
"If one is aware of the present moment
then one also becomes aware of the fact that
there is no ME inside.
The me is my past,
the me is the dead past.
The me is not my life because it is not living.
The ego can exist only in the past
or in the future –
which is nothing but a projection of the past;
that is why awareness, moment to moment awareness,
leads to egolessness:
because the ego cannot exist in the present
and because awareness cannot exist except in the present.
So they both cannot exist simultaneously.
Ego is unawareness
and awareness is egolessness."
Fearlessness happens if you go on being courageous and more courageous.
That is the ultimate experience of courage-fearlessness.
That is the fragrance when the courage has become absolute.
But in the beginning there is not much of a difference between the
coward and the courageous person.
The only difference is, the coward listens to his fears and follows them and the courageous person puts them aside and goes ahead. The courageous person goes into the unknown in spite of all the fears. He knows the fears, the fears are there. When you go into the uncharted sea like Columbus, there is fear, immense fear, because one never knows what is going to happen and you are leaving the shore of safety.
You were perfectly okay, in a way, only one thing was missing....adventure. Going into the unknown gives you a thrill. The heart starts pulsating again; again you are alive, fully alive. Every fiber of your being is alive because you have accepted the challenge of the unknown. To accept the challenge of the unknown in spite of all fears, is courage. The fears are there, but if you go on accepting the
challenge again and again, slowly slowly those fears disappear, because the experience of the joy that the unknown brings, the great ecstasy that starts happening with the unknown makes you strong enough, gives you a certain integrity, makes your intelligence sharp.
For the first time you start feeling that life is not just a boredom but an adventure. Then slowly slowly fears disappear; then you are always seeking and searching for some adventure. But basically courage is risking the known for the unknown, the familiar for the unfamiliar, the comfortable for the uncomfortable, arduous pilgrimage to some unknown destination. One never knows whether one will be able to make it or not.
It is gambling, but only the gamblers know what life is."
~ Osho
TRUST
But that trust cannot come by indoctrination; that trust cannot come by education, preaching, studying, thinking...
That trust can only come by experiencing life in all its opposites, in all its contradictions, in all its
Trust is a perfume of balance, the fragrance of balance.
If you really want to attain trust, drop all your beliefs... they will not help.
A believing mind is a stupid mind; a trusting mind has pure intelligence in it.
And the difference between belief and trust is simple.
I am not talking about the dictionary meaning of the words...
In the dictionary it may be so...
Belief means trust... Trust means
faith... Faith means belief...
I am talking about existence.
In an
existential way...
Belief is borrowed... Trust is yours."
~ Osho
THE EVENING AFTER OSHO LEFT HIS BODY, SWAMI AMRITO ADDRESSED THE WHITE ROBE BROTHERHOOD AND MOVINGLY DESCRIBED OSHO'S LAST MOMENTS, INCLUDING
HIS LAST MESSAGES TO HIS PEOPLE.
THE COMPLETE TEXT FOLLOWS:
As you know, over these last few days Osho's body has been becoming noticeably weaker. What you may not know is that He has also been in considerable pain. By the night of the 18th, the pain in His legs was so severe that He was not able even to come stand on the podium and be
with us. Over that night He became weaker and weaker. Every movement of the body was obviously agonizing. Yesterday morning I noticed that His pulse was also weak and slightly irregular. I said I thought He was dying. He nodded. I asked Him if we could call in the cardiologists and prepare for cardiac resuscitation. He said, "No, just let me go. Existence decides its timing."
I was helping him to the bathroom when he said, "And you put wall-to--wall carpet in here, just like this bath mat." Then He in-sisted on walking over to His chair. He sat down and made arrangements for the few items that He has in His room. 'Who should this go to?" He said, pointing to His small stereo. It is audio? Nirupa would like it?" He asked. Nirupa has cleaned His room for so many years. And then He went carefully around the room and left instructions for every item. "Those you take out," He said, pointing to the dehumidifiers which he had found too noisy recently. And always make sure one air conditioner is on," He continued. It was incredible. Very simply, in a very matter-of-fact and precise way, He looked at everything. He was so relaxed, as if He were going for the weekend. He sat on the bed and I asked what we should do for His Samadhi. "You just put my ashes in Chuang Tzu, under the bed. And then people can come in and meditate there." "And what about this room?" I asked. "This would be good for the Samadhi?" He asked.
"No," I said, "Chuang Tzu will be beautiful."
I said we would like to keep His present bedroom as it is. "So you make it nice," He said. And then He said He would like it marbled. "And what about the celebration?" I asked.
"Just take me to Buddha Hall for ten minutes," He said, "and then take me to the burning ghats -and put my hat and socks on me before you take my body."
I asked Him what I should say to you all. He said to tell you that since His days in the marshal's cell in Charlotte, North Carolina, in America, His body has been deteriorating. He said that in the Oklahoma jail they poisoned Him with thallium and exposed Him to radiation, which we only came to know when the medical experts were consulted. He said they had poisoned Him in such a way that would leave no proof "My crippled body is the work of the Christian fundamentalists in the United States government." He said that He had kept His pain to Himself, but "living in this body has become a hell."
He lay down and rested again. I went and told Jayesh what was happening and that Osho was obviously leaving His body.
When Osho called again, I told Him Jayesh was here and He said for Jayesh to come in. We sat on the bed and Osho gave us His final words.
"Never speak of me in the past tense," He said. "My presence here will be many times greater without the burden of my tortured body. Remind my people that they will feel much more they will know mmediately."
At one point I was holding His hand and I started to cry. He looked at me, almost sternly, "No, no," He said, "that is not the way." I immediately stopped and He just smiled beautifully.
Osho then spoke to Jayesh and talked about how He wanted the expansion of the work to continue.
He said that now that He was leaving His body, many more people would come; many more people's interest would show, and His Work would expand incredibly beyond our ideas.
[In a separate press statement Amrito said, "It was clear to Him that not having the burden of His
body would actually help His work to flourish."]
'Then He said, I leave you my dream."
Then He whispered so quietly that Jayesh had to put his ear very close to Him, and Osho said, "And remember,, Anando is my messenger." Then He paused, and said, "No, Anando will be my medium." At that point Jayesh moved to one side, and Osho said to me, "'Medium will be the right word?" I hadn't heard what had preceded it so I didn't understand.
"Meeting?" I said. "No," He replied, "for Anando, medium - she will be my medium."
He lay back quietly and we sat with Him while I held His pulse. Slowly it faded. When I could hardly feel it, I said, "Osho, I think this is it."
He just nodded gently, and closed His eyes for the last time.
BIOGRAPHY
1931 - 1953 Early Years
December 11, 1931: Osho is born in Kuchwada, a small village in the state of Madhya Pradesh, central India.
He is the eldest of eleven children of a Jaina cloth merchant. Stories of His early years describe Him as independent and rebellious as a child, questioning all social, religious and philosophical beliefs. As a youth He experiments with meditation techniques.
March 21, 1953: Osho becomes enlightened at the age of twenty-one, while majoring in philosophy at D.N. Jain college in Jabalpur.
In the East, enlightenment is described as a state of ultimate and total consciousness or awareness, as attained by Gautama Buddha, Socrates, and others. Western concepts of 'enlightened' connoting 'modern' and 'the Enlightenment' indicating 18th century European intellectual ferment are only linguistically similar.
1953 - 1956 Education
1956: Osho receives His M.A. from the University of Sagar with First Class Honors in Philosophy.
He is the All-India Debating Champion and Gold Medal winner in His graduating class.
1957-1968 University Professor and Public Speaker
1957: Osho is appointed as a professor at the Sanskrit College in Raipur.
1958: He is appointed Professor of Philosophy at the University of Jabalpur, where He taught until 1966.
A powerful and passionate debater, He also travels widely in India, speaking to large audiences and challenging orthodox religious leaders in public debates.
1966: After nine years of teaching, He leaves the university to devote Himself entirely to the raising of human consciousness. on a regular basis, He begins to address gatherings 20,000 to 50,000 in the open-air maidans of India's major cities. Four times a year He conducts intense ten-day meditation camps.
In 1970, the 14th of April, He introduces His revolutionary meditation technique, Dynamic Meditation, which begins with a period of uninhibited movement and catharsis, followed by a period of silence and stillness. Since then this meditation technique has been used by psychotherapists, medical doctors, teachers and other professionals around the world.
1969 - 1974 Bombay Years
Late 1960's: His Hindi talks become available in English translations.
1970: In July, 1970, He moves to Bombay, where He lives until 1974.
1970: Osho -at this time called Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh- begins to initiate seekers into Neo-Sannyas or discipleship, a path of commitment to self-exploration and meditation which does not involve renouncing the world or anything else. Osho's understanding of 'renunciation' is a radical departure from the traditional Eastern viewpoint. For Him it is not the material world that needs to be renounced but our past and the conditionings and belief systems that each generation imposes on the next. He continues to conduct meditation camps at Mount Abu in Rajasthan but stops accepting invitations to speak throughout the country. He devotes his energies entirely to the rapidly expanding group of sannyasins around Him.
At this time, the first Westerners begin to arrive and to be initiated into Neo-Sannyas. Among them are leading psychotherapists from the human potential movement in Europe and America, seeking the next step in their own inner growth. With Osho they experience new, original meditation techniques for contemporary man, synthesizing the wisdom of the East with the science of the West.
1974 - 1981 Poona Ashram
During these seven years He gives a 90 minutes discourse nearly every morning, alternating every month between Hindi and English. His discourses offer insights into all the major spiritual paths, including Yoga, Zen, Taoism, Tantra and Sufism. He also speaks on Gautam Buddha, Jesus, Lao Tzu, and other mystics. These discourses have been collected into over 300 volumes and translated into 20 languages.
In the evenings, during these years, He answers questions on personal matters such as love, jealousy, meditation. These 'darshans' are compiled in 64 darshan diaries of which 40 are published.
The commune that arose around Osho at this time offers a wide variety of therapy groups which combine Eastern meditation techniques with Western psychotherapy. Therapists from all over the world are attracted and by 1980 the international community gained a reputation as "the world's finest growth and therapy center". One hundred thousand people pass through its gates each year.
1981: He develops a degenerative back condition. In March 1981, after giving daily discourses for nearly 15 years, Osho begins a three-year period of self-imposed public silence. In view of the possible need for emergency surgery, and on the recommendation of His personal doctors, He travels to the U.S.
This same year, His American disciples purchase a 64,000-acre ranch in Oregon and invite Him to visit. He eventually agrees to stay in the U.S. and allows an application for permanent residence to be filed on His behalf.
1981 - 1985 Rajneeshpuram
A model agricultural commune rises from the ruins of the central Oregonian high desert. Thousands of overgrazed and economically unviable acres are reclaimed. The city of Rajneeshpuram is incorporated and eventually provides services to 5,000 residents. Annual summer festivals are held which draw 15,000 visitors from all over the world. Very quickly, Rajneeshpuram BECOMES THE LARGEST AND MOST CONTROVERSIAL SPIRITUAL COMMUNITY EVER PIONEERED IN AMERICA.
Opposition to the commune and new city keeps pace with its success. Responding to the anti-cult fervor which pervades all levels of American society during the Reagan years, local, state and federal politicians make inflammatory speeches against the Rajneeshees. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), the Treasury Department, and the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Agency (ATF) are only a few of the agencies spending millions of dollars in taxpayers' money while harassing the commune with unwarranted and fruitless investigations. Similar costly campaigns are conducted in Oregon.
October 1984: Osho ends three and one half years of self-imposed silence, and begins speaking to small groups of people who gather at His residence.
July 1985: He resumes His public discourses each morning to thousands of seekers gathered in a two-acre meditation hall.
Sept. - Oct. 1985: The Oregon Commune is Destroyed
September 14: Osho's personal secretary and several members of the commune's management suddenly leave, and a whole pattern of illegal acts they have committed -including poisoning, arson, wiretapping, and attempted murder- are exposed. Osho invites law enforcement officials to investigate Sheela's crimes. The authorities, however, see the investigation as a golden opportunity to destroy the commune entirely.
October 23: A U.S. federal grand jury in Portland secretly indicts Osho and 7 others on relatively minor charges of immigration fraud.
October 28: WITHOUT WARRANTS, FEDERAL AND LOCAL OFFICIALS ARREST OSHO AT GUN POINT, and others in Charlotte, North Carolina. While the others are released, He is held without bail for twelve days. A five-hour return plane trip to Oregon takes four days. En route, Osho is held incommunicado and forced to register under the pseudonym, David Washington, in the Oklahoma County jail. Subsequent events indicate that it is probable that HE WAS POISONED WITH THE HEAVY METAL THALLIUM WHILE IN THAT JAIL and the El Reno Federal Penitentiary.
November: Emotions and publicity swell around Osho's immigration case. Fearing for His life and the well-being of sannyasins in volatile Oregon, attorneys agree to an Alford Plea on two out of 35 of the original charges against Him. According to the rules of the plea, the defendant maintains innocence while saying that the prosecution could have convicted him. Osho and His attorneys maintain His innocence in the court. He is fined $400,000 and is DEPORTED FROM AMERICA.
Among others, U.S. Attorney in Portland, Charles Turner, publicly concedes that the government was intent on destroying Rajneeshpuram.
1985 - 1986 World Tour
December 1985: The Indian government attempts to isolate Him by canceling the visas issued to his personal household staff.
January-February: He travels to Kathmandu, Nepal and speaks twice daily for the next two months. In February, the Nepalese government refuses visas for His visitors and closest attendants. He leaves Nepal and embarks on a world tour.
February-March: At His first stop, Greece, he is granted a 30-day tourist visa. But after only 18 days, on March 5, GREEK POLICE FORCIBLY BREAK INTO THE HOUSE WHERE HE IS STAYING, ARREST HIM AT GUN POINT AND DEPORT HIM. Greek media reports indicate government and church pressure provoked the police intervention.
During the following two weeks He visits or asks permission to visit 17 countries in Europe and the Americas. All of these countries either refuse to grant Him a visitor's visa or revoke His visa upon His arrival, and force Him to leave. Some refuse even landing permission for His plane.
March-June: On March 19 He travels to Uruguay. On May 14th the government has scheduled a press conference to announce that He will be granted permanent residence in Uruguay. Uruguay's President Sanguinetti later admits that he received a telephone call from Washington, D.C. the night before the press conference. He is told that if Osho is allowed to stay in Uruguay, the six billion dollar debt Uruguay owes to the U.S. will be due immediately and no further loans will be granted. Osho is ordered to leave Uruguay on June 18th.
June-July: During the next month He is deported from both Jamaica and Portugal. In all, 21 countries had denied Him entry or deported Him after arrival. On July 29,1986, He returns to Bombay, India.
1987 - 1989 Osho Commune International
January 1987: He returns to the ashram in Poona, India, which is renamed Rajneeshdham. The Indian government resumes its policy of denying visas to known friends of Osho.
July 1988: Osho begins, for the first time in 14 years, to personally lead the meditation at the end of each evening's discourse. He also introduces a revolutionary new meditation technique called The Mystic Rose.
January-February 1989: He stops using the name 'Bhagwan', retaining only the name Rajneesh. However, His disciples ask to call Him 'Osho' and He accepts this form of address. Osho explains that His name is derived from William James' word 'oceanic' which means dissolving into the ocean. Oceanic describes the experience, He says, but what about the experiencer? For that we use the word 'Osho'. Later, He came to find out that 'OSHO' has also been used historically in the Far East, meaning
"THE BLESSED ONE, ON WHOM THE SKY SHOWERS FLOWERS".
March-June 1989: Osho is resting to recover from the effects of the poisoning, which by now are strongly influencing His health.
July 1989: His health is getting better and He makes two appearances for silent darshans during the Festival, now renamed Osho Full Moon Celebration.
August 1989: Osho begins to make daily appearances in Gautama the Buddha Auditorium for evening darshan. He sits in silence while music is played, explaining: "That which cannot be said has to be experienced. This is a great experience of getting into an inner, meditative space". He also inaugurates a special group of white-robed sannyasins called the "Osho White Robe Brotherhood". All sannyasins and non- sannyasins attending the evening darshans are asked to wear white robes. Osho has said that "There is a mystical gathering of energy in these robes; day by day, they gather more potential".
On the second weekend of every month, three-day meditation camps are held, using the unique meditation techniques devised by Osho. All participants are asked to wear maroon robes. In a further development, Osho suggests that sannyasins working in the ashram should also wear maroon, so in the day the commune is filled with maroon- robed people and in the evening with white-robed people.
September 1989: Osho drops the name 'Rajneesh', signifying His complete discontinuity from the past. He is known simply as 'Osho' and the ashram is renamed "Osho Commune International".
1990 Osho leaves His body
January 1990: During the second week in January, Osho's body becomes noticeably weaker. On January 18, He is so physically weak that He is unable to come to Gautama the Buddha Auditorium. On January 19, His pulse becomes irregular. When His doctor inquires whether they should prepare for cardiac resuscitation, Osho says, "No, just let me go. Existence decides its timing". He leaves His body at 5 p.m. At 7 p.m. His body is brought to Gautama the Buddha Auditorium for a celebration, and is then carried to the burning ghats for cremation. Two days later, His ashes are brought to Osho Commune International and placed in His samadhi in Chuang Tzu Auditorium. In the days that follow, thousands of sannyasins and lovers fly in from around the world to celebrate and absorb the atmosphere of love and meditation that is the fragrance of Osho.
Just before His departure from the body,
Osho says: "NEVER SPEAK OF ME IN MY PAST TENSE...
My presence here will be many times greater without the burden of my tortured body. Remind my people that they will feel much more -they will know immediately". Osho also talks about how He wants the expansion of the work to continue. He says that now that He is leaving His body, many more people would come, many more people's interest would show, and His work would expand incredibly beyond our ideas.
Then He says: "I LEAVE YOU MY DREAM"
In 1980, in answer to the question, "What happens when you leave your body?" Osho replies, "I will be dissolved in my people. Just as you can taste the sea from any place and it is salty, you will be able to taste any of my sannyasins and you will find the same taste: the taste of the Blessed One... I am preparing my people to live joyously, ecstatically. So when I am not in my body, it won't make any difference to them. They will still live the same way -and maybe my death will bring them more intensity".
In 1989 He responded to a similar question from Italian TV, saying, "I believe and trust absolutely in existence. If there is any truth in what I am saying, it will survive. The people who remain interested in my work will be simply carrying the torch, but not imposing anything on anyone, either by sword or bread. I will remain a source of inspiration to my people and that is what most sannyasins will feel. I want them to grow on their own.
QUALITIES LIKE LOVE, AROUND WHICH NO CHURCH CAN BE CREATED, LIKE AWARENESS, QUALITIES WHICH ARE NOBODY´S MONOPOLY, LIKE CELEBRATION, REJOICING AND MAINTAINING CHILDLIKE FRESH EYES.
I WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW THEMSELVES NOT TO BE ACCORDING TO SOMEONE ELSE, AND THE WAY IS IN"
