Chapter #1 The Sound Of One Hand Clapping #1

Date: 1981-03-01 (pm)
Place: Chuang Tzu Auditorium

Osho's Commentary

mind is just the opposite of meditation
it is the closing of the heart
meditation is the opening of the heart

man can live through the mind
but then life will not have any significance
any poetry, any song, any music
it will be trivial, mundane, superficial
ultimately frustrating
a sheer wastage of a great opportunity
a very ungrateful way to live
because god gives us such an opportunity to grow
and we only accumulate the non-essential
money, power, prestige

there is a famous book by napoleon hill: Grow Rich
that is not a way to grow
that is a way to remain retarded
but that's what has become the philosophy
of the common man all over the world
everybody is interested in the very superficial
the reason is that the door to the divine is closed
and the door to the mundane is open
our schools, colleges and universities
are in the service of the society
they are agents, their function is to close the heart
and to open the head

my work here is to reclaim the heart
once the heart starts opening
your life becomes a celebration

mind divides you from existence
gives you the idea of an ego
the heart unites
gives you the idea of oneness with the whole
and to feel one with the whole is the ultimate in joy
there is no higher joy
it is the ultimate in love
there is nothing higher than it
it is the ultimate truth itself
because it brings harmony, all conflict disappears
life becomes a rhythm
a rhythm
that goes on deepening every moment

the zen people call it

the Sound
of one hand
Clapping

now there are not two
the music is there but it is not a struck music
when you play on the sitar two things are needed
the instrument is needed and you are needed
you have to strike the strings, it is basically a conflict
and out of conflict
only mundane music can be born

there is another world of music, another dimension
in India we have called it anahat nad
unstruck music
the player and the played-upon are no more two
the musician has become the music
the dancer has become the dance
that is

the Sound
of one hand
Clapping

the rose cannot become a rose
because its whole effort is diverted
into becoming a lotus
and a lotus it can never become
in fact there is no need
if god wanted the rose to become a lotus
he would have created a lotus
he has created enough lotuses

just the other day i was reading
if god wanted homosexuality
he would have created adam and bruce
he didn't
it is so plain
but people are trying to improve upon god
he has made everybody what he wanted

so the best thing is to discover
who am i
once you know who you are
suddenly all perfectionism disappears
because you find you are perfect
there is no need to be perfect
just as you are, you are perfect

it happens only through meditation
because meditation
is simply settling into your centre
relaxing, resting in your being, to discover
who am i?

that very discovery is the only true spirituality
all else is mumbo-jumbo

once it is heard
all that is worth hearing has been heard

one can think about truth but that is not seeking
it is like a blind man thinking about light
he can go on thinking for eternity
just by thinking about and about
he is not going to find light

the word about is beautiful
it means around and around
he goes around in circles, never touching the centre
and that is the way of the mind
of philosophy, of theology
of all kinds of thinking

it happens only through meditation because meditation is simply settling into your centre relaxing. resting in your being, to discover

the seeker of truth has to stop thinking
he has to be utterly silent, in a state of no-thought
the whole energy that is involved in thinking
has to be released from thinking
so that it becomes awareness
it is the same energy: you can use it as thought
you can use it as awareness

we don't have many energies
we have only one energy
but there are different manifestations
of the same energy
meditation is not using your energy as thinking
but using your energy as awareness

just being silent -- watching, waiting, seeing

the more you become a seer, the less a thinker
the closer you are to the truth, to the light
the moment your seeing is absolute
you have arrived home

meditation is an inward journey
on the outside there are challenges
there are adventures
but they are nothing compared to the
inner challenges and inner adventures
there are enemies on the outside
but the inner enemies are far bigger
only one thing is different, and that is that
the inner enemies are our own creation
so the moment we decide to destroy them
in that very moment they can be destroyed
they are our make-believe
mind, ego, greed, anger, jealousy, possessiveness
all these enemies are there
but we have been feeding them, nourishing them
we can chop off their heads in a single blow
a whole army can be uprooted
in a single moment of insight
and that's what meditation is

a moment of insight in which you can see
how you have been creating your own enemies
and that very seeing
becomes the death of all your enemies
one reaches to the ultimate truth
by using these inner enemies as stepping stones
of course only their corpses
can be used as stepping stones
while they are alive they will create trouble
they will pull your legs in every direction
they will not easily give way
hence just fighting won't help
understanding is the key
try to understand the inner enemies
and a miracle happens
any enemy totally understood
evaporates in that very understanding
try to understand jealousy and it is no more
try to understand the ego and it is no more
understanding functions like a light
you bring the light into the dark room
and darkness is no more

meditation is a bridge between you and the whole
mind is a wall between you and the whole
and the same bricks are being used
you can make a bridge
you can make a wall

sannyas means
dismantling the wall and using the same bricks
in creating a bridge
it is a simple phenomenon
it is not as difficult as people have been told

the people who have been saying that it is difficult
are basically on ego trips themselves
of course if it is difficult and you have attained it
only then can your attainment be ego-fulfilling
so the so-called saints
have been trying to say to people
that it is very arduous, that it is almost impossible
that only very rare people
after lives of effort and virtue attain to it
and that too only by god's grace
not only you and your effort are going to make it
unless god wills it so... god willing
that is a necessary condition to it
and who knows when he will will it
whether he will or not?

these so-called saints
have been trying to prove to humanity
that meditation is very difficult
that is the only way to pretend
that they are holier-than-thou
that they have attained
and you are lives away from that attainment
all that you can do is worship them

my approach is totally different
meditation is the most simple phenomenon in life
there is nothing holy about it
there is nothing special about it
it is just a small understanding

the same bricks have to be used
but arranged in a different way of course
and it becomes a bridge

thoughts have the same energy
as the state of no-thought
desires have the same energy

lust has the same energy as love
there is no fundamental difference
only the manifestation, the form, has to be changed
and that can be easily done
if i have been able to do it
then anybody can do it
because you cannot find
a more unholy man in the world

meditation makes you aware
of your kingdom of god
it is always there
you have never lost it
it is just that you are not looking at it
you are looking outwards and it is inwards
you are keeping it at your back
it is always there, it cannot go anywhere
it follows you like your shadow
or even more than that
because your shadow disappears in darkness
but your inner kingdom is always with you
in your misery
in your dark nights of the soul
even if you go to hell it is with you
it is your intrinsic nature
but because we don't look at it we remain beggars

everybody is moving with a begging bowl
and the moment you turn inwards --
a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn --
suddenly the begging bowl drops from your hands
the moment you see what inexhaustible treasures
are given to you from the very beginning
all desires disappear of their own accord

religions have been telling people just the opposite
they have been telling people
to first become desireless
then they will attain the kingdom of god
that is putting everything upside-down
that is putting the horses behind the cart
neither the cart can move nor the horses can move
all movement stops
it is just a wrong arrangement
one cannot drop desiring unless one finds
the inexhaustible treasures of one's being

so my statement is just the opposite
i say forget all about desiring, it is natural
the begging bowl is bound to be there
because you don't know
that you are a king or a queen

so first become acquainted with your nature
then it is up to you
if you still want to carry the begging bowl
it is perfectly okay
but i have never heard
of anybody carrying a begging bowl
once he has seen his infinite treasures

so i don't say become desireless
then you will become a master
i say be a master and you will become desireless
desirelessness will be a consequence, a by-product
hence my insistence on meditation
because that is the art of turning around
one-hundred-and-eighty degrees

you can stand in the sun with closed eyes
the sun cannot force your eyes to open

existence is very non-violent
it never shouts
it only whispers
it never knocks on your doors
it simply stands there
it waits, it has patience
it trusts that one day, sooner or later
you will open the door
you will open your eyes and you will see the light

meditation means opening your eyes
opening your doors
to see the light that is always there
once you have seen it
your whole being is transformed
illuminated, enlightened
because suddenly you recognize
that you are not separate from the source of light
that It Is the same light
that they are both joined together
that feeling of being one with the source of light
brings immense freedom
fearlessness, desirelessness
and after that experience whatsoever you do is right
hence I don't give you any commandments
do this, don't do this -- no shoulds, no should-nots
i don't give you any discipline
i only give you a simple call to open your eyes
and to see the light

and after that
it is impossible to do anything wrong
then a self-discipline comes of its own accord
and when discipline comes of its own accord
it has a beauty of its own
it has a spontaneity, it has joyfulness
it has a dancing quality in it
it is festive, playful, innocent, unpretending
it does not make you a saint
it simply makes you very simple
extraordinarily ordinary

meditation is the discovery
of the perfect centre within ourselves

the moralists, the priests
the politicians, the puritans
all kinds of so-called leaders of humanity
have been teaching people for thousands of years
to be perfect
they have driven almost everybody crazy
they have created a great fever for perfectionism,
and perfectionism
is the fundamental source of all neurosis
once a person becomes obsessed with being perfect
he is a goner

i don't tell anybody to be perfect
perfection is not something that you have to attain
it is your nature
it has not to be attained but only discovered
and the methods of attainment and discovery
are totally different
the method of attainment is cultivation
become more perfect, become more perfect
go on improving
go on dropping flaws, errors, mistakes
go on polishing your ego

the method of discovery is not of cultivation
it is becoming silent
so that you can feel

who you are
before one tries to be perfect
one should know who am i? where do i stand?
what is my nature?
if without knowing that you are a marigold
you start trying to be a perfect rose
you will go crazy

to become perfect roses
roses have the desire to become perfect lotuses
this is how the whole world
goes on becoming more and more cuckoo
everybody is chasing something
which is not his nature
so all that happens is that the marigold
cannot become a marigold
and it cannot become a rose either
so there is simply misery

every man, every woman, every tree
every bird, every flower
has its own uniqueness
it is incomparable
but we are continuously taught to compare
this is how the society creates a hierarchy
somebody is superior to you
somebody is inferior to you
of course with the inferior you behave in one way
with the superior in another way
you are constantly trying
to rise higher in the hierarchy
and you are constantly preventing others
from rising higher than you
this is our whole unnecessary life
our whole mess, confusion, chaos
and all depends on a simple thing
the idea of comparison

comparison brings competition
comparison brings wounds and ego
on the one hand wounds
because there are people who are superior to you
and wounds are bound to be
and on the other hand it brings ego
because there are people who are inferior to you
and you are crushed between these two rocks
and the whole thing is invented

you are simply yourself
you don't belong to any hierarchy
nobody is higher than you
and nobody is lower than you
because nobody is like you
hence comparison is impossible
and competition is futile

one has just to be oneself
that's my basic message
the moment you accept yourself as you are
all burdens, all mountainous burdens
simply disappear
then life is a sheer joy
a festival of lights

this discovery of one's uniqueness happens only
when you become a little silent
calm and quiet
and you drop out of all those imposed ideas
which the society has been throwing upon you
from the very childhood

these do-gooders
they may be parents, they may be teachers
they may be priests...
and i don't suspect their intentions
their intentions are good
but they are unconscious people
and unconscious peoples' good intentions
also bring bad results
they may like you, they may love you
they may desire for you a beautiful life
but they have lived in ugliness
they have lived in suffering
they can only impart their suffering to you
they will teach you the same strategies
that they have followed
they will teach you the same ideas
that they have lived by
they will give their lifestyle to you
and they are enough proof
that their lifestyle has been an utter failure
but still they will go on giving you the same thing
each generation gives its diseases
to the other generation
generations die, diseases seem to be immortal
people come and go but diseases remain
and if you decide to get out of that bondage
they feel betrayed
they would like you to just repeat their life
although they have been miserable

so i don't suspect their intentions
but intentions don't mean anything at all
all that has significance is consciousness
not unconscious good intentions --
and there are very few people who are conscious

to be in tune with a conscious person
is to be a disciple
to be a sannyasin

a conscious person can help you
to discover yourself
he does not impose anything upon you
he does not programme you
he simply deprogrammes you
and leaves you open, available, a clean slate
so you can make your own signature
you can write your own song
and you can dance your own dance

and the greatest experience in life is
the experience of one's uniqueness

meditation is not something serious
it is a very very long tradition
that says meditation is very serious --
it is not
it is very playful
it is closer to song than to anything else
closer to dance than anything else
closer to love than anything else
meditation cannot be serious by its very nature
seriousness is part of the mind
playfulness is part of the heart.
and meditation means slipping out of the head
and entering into the heart
it is getting out of the serious affairs of life
into an attitude of playfulness

the head is old
the heart is always new, fresh
like dewdrops in the early morning sun
as fresh as new roses opening
as fresh as the stars in the night
it is not old like the old testament
it is not old like the ancient vedas
it is very young like a just-born baby
with fresh eyes
unburdened, uncluttered, with no dust
a mirror

so that has to be remembered

being here with me simply means being
playful
non-serious
joyous

i don't teach renunciation
i teach rejoicing
and the more you rejoice
the more you become capable of receiving
new gifts from the divine
the more you are playful
the more god is with you
the more you are fresh, young, alive
the more stars come down towards you
they start filtering into your very being
they start reaching your very heart

the serious person is a dead person
he has already committed suicide
he will live
but his life will be only a kind of vegetation
he will be a cabbage, a cauliflower, a potato
but these people have become saints in the past
remember...
saint potato, saint cauliflower
very serious people
look at a potato
you will never find a potato non-serious

so beware of seriousness
it is the greatest sin
live your life as fun
and that is the greatest virtue