What is the difference between the doer in a sleeping state and a pramadi?

Osho, a curiosity has arisen. You have said, in the context of apramad (alertness), that a pramadi (negligent) person does nothing; things happen without his will or choice. So please tell us: what is the difference between the “doer” in a sleeping state and the “doer” in an awakened state? Gurdjieff says that an awakened man becomes crystallized—what does that mean? And doesn’t the awakened man’s ego dissolve rather than crystallize?

The sleeping man is not a doer; things happen to him too. But the sleeping man thinks, “I am doing.” The sleeping man is not a doer, yet he believes he is. The awakened man also is not a doer, but he understands that he is not the doer. That is the only difference. The sleeping man thinks, “I am the doer.” He does nothing; it happens. The awakened man also does nothing; everything happens—but the awakened man knows that everything happens, I am not the doer. Between the sleeping and the awakened there is no difference in doing; the difference is in knowing. Their actions do not differ; what differs is the sense of doership. A Buddha walks, and a non-Buddha also walks. A man filled with awareness walks, and a man filled with unawareness also walks. The unawake walks from the center of “I”—“I am.” The awake walks…

Krishna tells Arjuna: “That which is night for all beings, therein the disciplined one is awake. That wherein beings are awake, therein the seer sleeps.” Where the ignorant are awake, the wise sleeps; where the ignorant sleeps, the wise is awake. You are awake in the senses and asleep in yourself; the knower is awake in himself and asleep in the senses. His senses quiet into emptiness. His witnessing awakes. It is the same energy. When witnessing awakens, the senses have no need to be lit; energy no longer flows into them. Where you are awake, the knower is asleep; where you sleep, he is awake. Your day is his night; your night, his day. “He neither wakes nor sleeps. He neither opens nor closes his eyelids. Ah! What an excellent, supreme state abides in the liberated consciousness!” Understand this.

Osho, when you speak of non-doing, people get the impression that in non-doing there are still dreams—of doing and non-doing. Such an impression tends to arise.

Many times it does. Many times this notion arises—many times this notion arises. Non-doing has nothing at all to do with outer doing. And the irony is that many people drop the outer doing and run away, yet continue the inner doing. Outwardly someone becomes a sannyasin—leaves the shop—but keeps the inner work going. That keeps running all the time. It is difficult, yes; but once the understanding dawns...

“In this world, knowledge is the essential meaning. Those who sleep lose their meaning. By remaining continuously awake, shake the previously accumulated karmas. It is better for the religious to be awake, and better for the irreligious to sleep.” So spoke Lord Mahavira to Jayanti, the sister of King Shatanika of Vatsa. “Pramada (heedlessness) is called karma (asrava), and apramada (heedfulness) is called akarma (samvara). By pramada a man is ignorant; by the absence of pramada he is wise.” “Pramada is karma.” Pramada means intoxication within; a stupefaction; a sleepy-so-ness. “Pramada is called karma.” It is not what you do—that is not the question—it is why you do it. The very same act can be done differently, can be done with awareness—and then it is not karma. Understand. You are involved with your children, steeped in attachment. You have placed great ambitions upon their shoulders.

Osho, before discussing the process of entering a conscious death, I would like to ask: what is the difference between stupor and awakening? What do we call the state of unconsciousness? In other words, in wakefulness and in unconsciousness, what is the state of the jivatma’s consciousness?

Religion is a search for attention; so, in their own way, are gambling, battle, hunting. The man who enters the forest to hunt a lion is also seeking attention; so is the yogi in a cave striving at the ajna chakra. The search may be noble or ignoble, desirable or undesirable, successful or futile—but the underlying hunger is one. Attention means: the knowing power within me becomes fully manifest—no part left potential or dormant. Whatever capacity to know I carry turns from potential into actual. In the moment a person is fully awake, in that very moment he fully is. Awakening and being happen together. Think of a seed: the tree is hidden in the seed, but only potentially. The seed can die without becoming a tree; the tree is not a necessity, only a possibility. When the tree manifests, it is the seed in its expressed form. Sleep is…