Consciousness

Osho, is it possible for a man's consciousness to become like that of a newborn child?

Certainly. A lake is all quiet. Then waves arise, gusts of wind come—the lake trembles. When the gusts pass, the lake again becomes still, becomes a mirror again. The lake is pure. Leaves fall, it becomes dirty. The leaves will settle to the bottom; the lake will again be fresh and clear. When the child is born, the lake is still clear—there are no ripples, no leaves of thoughts, no waves of desire. Then everything becomes wave-tossed—storms arise, the mind trembles, the mirror is lost. Youth comes; everything turns stormy; nothing remains settled; the wild, tempestuous surges of great desires arrive. Then old age comes; all the rubbish, the stones, the ruins lie about. But what was there at the source is still there. A little understanding—to let the leaves settle; a little understanding—to let the winds of desire stop. The lake will become the same again; the nature of…

A friend has asked: Osho, do all the enlightened have their consciousness become feminine?

It will, inevitably. But by “feminine” it doesn’t mean they become women. By “feminine” I mean their consciousness shifts from aggression to receptivity, from being aggressive to being receptive. Only when this receptivity arises can one open the inner doors to the divine.

Osho, are the insentient and the conscious two separate things, or two forms of one and the same reality?

There is a mention in the life of Bhoj: an astrologer came, looked at Bhoj’s hand, and said, “You are most unfortunate. You will carry even your wife to the cremation ground, your sons too. You will have to take each member of your household to the cremation ground; after all of them, you will die.” Bhoj was furious. He had the astrologer handcuffed and said, “Lock him up. What a man—speaking such ill-omened words!” Kalidasa was sitting quietly, laughing. He said, “The astrologer speaks no ill omen; he simply lacks the art of saying it—his emphasis is wrong.” When Kalidasa said this, Bhoj asked, “What do you mean?” Kalidasa said, “Let me see your hand.” After looking, he said, “You are greatly blessed! Your life span is very long. Blessed—in the sense that neither your wife nor your sons will ever be saddened by your death. No one will…

Beloved Osho, you spoke the other morning about rising through the different levels of consciousness and bringing light to their respective counterparts in the unconscious. Are special techniques needed for this, or will watchfulness of the mind, the body, and the emotions simply bring us through these different levels?

He said, "The woman you were talking about. I believe in ghosts; just this is enough. But no more than this! I have heard the sound, and I don't want to get into all that trouble that that other woman had" -- because the story had spread all over the city that that woman... She stopped coming to the house because she became so afraid. She had a constant fever for three or four days; even after she became conscious and went to her home she had a fever, the fear went so deep. And the old man said, "I don't want to get into that trouble. Just open the door and let me go to my home!" I said, "You are such a God-believing person. This is the time to test your God." He said, "I am not going to listen to you; you are a dangerous fellow. God?…