How can one be born with awareness?

A friend has asked, Osho, one can die with awareness, but how can one be born with awareness?

Most fasters spend twenty-four hours repeating, “I am hungry; I have not eaten,” with their minds absorbed in planning tomorrow’s menu. Then the fast is wasted; it is merely a hunger-strike. That is the difference: a hunger-strike means not eating; upavasa means “dwelling nearer and nearer.” Nearer to whom? To oneself. Away from the body, closer to the self. Even the word upavasa carries no implication of starving; it means nearer-dwelling. Thus one could be in upavasa even while eating—if one knows the eating is at a distance and “I am elsewhere.” And one could not be in upavasa even while not eating—if one keeps thinking, “I am hungry; I’m dying of hunger.” Upavasa is a psychological knowing of one’s separateness from hunger. Other sufferings too can be invited voluntarily. A man can even lie on thorns, simply to see that the thorns do not pierce me; they pierce elsewhere,…

Osho, the awareness of one’s smallness before this vast universe can strengthen an inferiority complex in a person and cripple him. And feeling inferior is not egolessness. Please tell us how to dissolve the ego without falling into inferiority.

Understand this well. Many people keep on making effort without caring whether the feeling is pure, the heart is pure; the consequences can be dangerous. A man may not purify his heart and yet cultivate concentration—he can. Even the worst person can become concentrated; concentration has nothing to do with goodness. In fact, a bad man may find concentration easier, because one trait of the bad is that whatever he does, he does madly. He is stubborn; evil cannot be carried out without obstinacy. For such a person hatha yoga is easy: once he gets a notion, he clings to it. He can be cruel to others and to himself. If you practice hatha yoga you will feel, “Why torture this body? Why sit so long? Legs ache; eyes water.” The wicked don’t care. They can torment others and themselves equally. You will be surprised to know that more than…

One friend has asked: one can die fully conscious, but how can one be in full consciousness at birth?

Remember, the darker the night, the brighter the stars. The flash of lightning stands out like a silver strand, the darker the clouds are. Similarly, when, in its full form, death surrounds us from all sides, at that moment the very center of life manifests in all its glory -- never before that. Death surrounds us like darkness, and in the middle, that very center of life -- call it atman, the soul, shines in its full splendor; the surrounding darkness makes it luminous. But at that moment we become unconscious. At the very moment of death, which could otherwise become the moment to know our being, we become unconscious. Hence one will have to make preparations towards raising one's consciousness. Meditation is that preparation. Meditation is an experiment in how one attains to a gradual, voluntary death. It is an experiment in how one moves within and then leaves…

Hence, you don’t even know that you were ever born. Even your birth is news others gave you. If no one told you that you were born, you would have no memory of it. You were born—that much is certain. Whether you died before or not, who knows? But that you are now born is sure—and yet you have no memory of it. Your parents and others said so; you heard it from them. The news of your birth is hearsay for you. You have no proof. There is no memory in your consciousness. Why? You were born—what a tremendous event! And yet you know nothing of it. Notice: one who does not know his own birth will find it very difficult to remain aware at death. The two are linked. Death has happened many times, but you died unconscious. Leave death aside. Every day you sleep. Sleep happens daily.

Osho, you were more awake as an infant than I am now. How did this courage and awareness happen?

In India, in Punjab, if you are traveling in Punjab -- you can ask Neelam -- never ask anybody, "What is the time?" because if it happens to be twelve you will be beaten. And if you can escape alive it will be just a miracle. It is just for a very philosophical reason -- but when philosophy comes into the hands of fools, this is what happens. Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, has said that the moment of samadhi is just like two hands of the clock meeting on twelve, where they are no longer two. He was just taking an example -- that in the moment of samadhi the two-ness of your being dissolves and you arrive at oneness. The same happens in death too. He explained later on that the same happens in death. Again the two hands which have been separately moving come together and stop,…