Chapter #18 The Sound Of One Hand Clapping #18

Date: 1981-03-18 (pm)
Place: Chuang Tzu Auditorium

Osho's Commentary

the moment one becomes blissful
one becomes simultaneously
a beloved of the whole existence

the miserable remains separate from the whole
misery creates a kind of boundary
it creates a prison
blissfulness is nothing but melting, merging
disappearing in the whole
misery is centered in the ego, bliss is egolessness

and the ego can never be the beloved of existence
because it is a false entity
the existence does not give any recognition
to false entities
hence the egoist suffers, he lives in hell
only egolessness brings paradise to you

to be initiated into sannyas
means basically, essentially
initiation into egolessness
bliss comes naturally
and one becomes the beloved of the whole
without any effort
it is our birthright
but we have to drop the false
to be in tune with the real

the experience of bliss
needs as a basic requirement courageousness
and nothing else

the miserable is always a coward
for the simple reason
that he cannot drop even the false
he clings to the false -- the ego
not only that, he clings even to his misery
he cannot even renounce his misery

remember a basic law: misery does not cling to you
it has no interest in you --
it is your investment in misery
it is your clinging with misery
that keeps you imprisoned, keeps you in hell
courage simply means
dropping all that is ugly, all that is false
and that creates unnecessary suffering
yes, there is some necessary suffering also
but that is a totally different phenomenon
necessary suffering
is that which one has to pass through
if one wants to reach to the heights
then one has to go uphill
that is necessary suffering
but it is worth it, it is a joy, in fact

people are clinging to unnecessary misery
which is absolutely not needed at all
it does not help your growth -- it hinders
but courage is needed to drop it
why is courage needed to drop it?
because we have some investment in it
the miserable person is getting
attention through his misery
sympathy through his misery
compassion through his misery
the more he gets people's sympathy
attention, kindness, compassion
the more he becomes clinging to his misery

he knows it is because of misery
that he is the centre of everybody else's attention
this is fulfilling his ego
but on the other hand it is nursing his misery
it is keeping his wound alive
it does not allow the wound to heal

a simple courage is needed to drop all this
because sympathy is not love
compassion is not love
getting attention for wrong reasons
you cannot really be contented
and what can attention give to you?
it can simply give you a bigger ego
which will be more heavy to carry -- that's all
you will be burdened with it
crushed under its weight

gather courage to drop all this
and the moment you drop it
immediately there is bliss
because bliss is our nature
it has not to be created, it is already there
we just have to remove the hindrances

that's the whole art of sannyas
removing the hindrances
eliminating the obstructions
the moment those rocks are no more there
the river of bliss starts flowing

it starts moving towards the ocean
towards the ultimate bliss of merging with the whole

bliss is always young, always fresh, always green
as far as bliss is concerned it is always spring
the fall never comes, the death never comes
bliss is eternal life
hence the longing of everyone
is to search and seek bliss, to find it

everybody is trying in his own ways to find it
of course, out of a hundred ways
ninety-nine are wrong
hence very few people attain it
but this is the way life functions
this is the way life gives you an opportunity
to be intelligent, to be aware, to experiment
to make mistakes and errors
because that is the only way to learn
you have to knock on ninety-nine doors
before you can find the right door
even those ninety-nine doors are helpful
don't think of them as enemies
because they help you to find the hundredth door
they are all pointing towards the hundredth door

life is a trial and error experiment
that's the only way to grow

to sharpen one's intelligence
if there was only one door
then there would be no difference
between the stupid and the intelligent
both would enter from the same door

the stupid is one who gets stuck in a wrong door
the intelligent also knocks on the wrong door
but never gets stuck there -- he goes on moving
he goes on searching until he finds the right door
it is a beautiful exploration
a tremendously thrilling adventure

enjoy the search, rejoice in the seeking
and the person who can enjoy
the very search, the very pilgrimage
is not far away from the right door
he is bound to find it

pleasure gives you the appearance of bliss
but it is not bliss -- it tricks you, it tickles you
for a moment it befools you, but only for a moment
and again you are back to the same state of despair

happiness also is another hallucination
pleasure is physiological, happiness is psychological
for example, a person taking some drug like lsd
feels a certain happiness but it is not bliss

even a man like aldous huxley was deceived
a very intelligent man but he believed
that he had attained through Lsd
the same experience
as the buddha, as jesus christ, as lao tzu
it is not possible through chemicals
chemicals can only create a dreamworld
and when their effect is lost you are back
on the same earth, in the same state
even in fact far more miserable than before
because now you have seen a dream
beautiful dream
and you will miss it
but this is not new
not only aldous huxley is deceived
it has been one of the most ancient things
from the ancientmost scripture of the world, rigveda
up to now, people have been deceived by drugs

in rigveda it is called soma
but it is exactly something like
marijuana, Lsd, pscilocybin
one can feel a dreamworld,
a beautiful dreamworld but it does not last
and the definition of bliss
is that it begins but it never ends
if it ends then it is either pleasure or happiness
either physiological or psychological
but it has nothing to do with the spiritual
the spiritual is the dimension of eternity

bliss is homeless
hence it is ever green, always young, always fresh
the only way to attain it is meditation
the body cannot give it to you
the mind cannot give it to you
only the state of no-mind
that's what meditation is: a state of no-mind
the moment you enter into the state of no-mind
in that immense silence, that profound virgin silence
you have entered into bliss, into the world of bliss

samo is a word that means balance, stillness, silence
it simply means coming to an inner space within you
where there is no disturbance at all, no distraction
where past is no more hovering over you
where future is no more pulling you
where only the present exists
where only this moment is all
in that silence, in that stillness, one hears

the Sound
of one hand
Clapping

the eternal music of existence
and that's what bliss is
to become part of that eternal silence
which is also an eternal song, but a song of silence

unuttered, unexpressed
a dance at the innermost shrine of your being
with no movement

it is one of the most mysterious experiences
a song without any words
a dance without any movement
a music which cannot be heard
but can only be tasted, experienced

the ordinary science
is concerned with everything except bliss
it is concerned with the whole existence
except the consciousness of the scientist itself
it is a very strange phenomenon that the scientist
is interested in all kinds of things
except in his own consciousness -- who he is
that is not his problem at all, that is not his quest
the knower remains unknown to him
and he goes on accumulating knowledge
about everything else

vigyan means a special science
special in the sense that it is concerned with
the knowing of the knower itself
its only concern is to know the knower
who am i? is its only quest

and the moment you know who you are
simultaneously you know bliss too
because you are made of the stuff called bliss
you consist of only one thing -- that is bliss

gautam the buddha used to say
if you taste sea water from any place
it is always salty
if you taste your consciousness
from any door, from any method, from any path
you will always taste bliss

bliss takes you beyond time
without bliss you remain a slave of time

time is continuously changing
hence to remain in time
means constantly being uprooted
from one place to another place
you cannot grow, it is impossible to grow in time
it is just continuously replanting
there is no opportunity to grow roots
to be centered, to be grounded
time is fleeting so fast
and you have to keep pace with time
you have to go on running
you have to go on being more and more speedy
to keep your pace with time
otherwise you will be left behind

to live in time means
to live a life of continuous change, movement
you cannot find even a moment's rest
even in your sleep you are dreaming
that means even in your sleep you are running

bliss is beyond time, hence instead of a slave
it makes you a god, a god of time
time starts serving you
ordinarily people serve time
and time ultimately takes you to death
it cannot take you anywhere else
the grave is the goal
it makes you run faster and faster and faster
till you fall in your own grave
then only it leaves you
it goes on pushing you towards the grave

in sanskrit we have one word for both
time and death -- kal
for the simple reason that time means death
kalesh means god of time
and the moment you become a master of time
you also become a master of death
then time serves you, death serves you
both become your servants
but the whole secret lies in transcending time
and it is possible, the key is there within us
the key is to get out of the mind

mind is within the grip of time and death
the moment you slip out of the mind
you are outside time and death
and to slip out of the mind
takes you into the world of bliss
then there is only rejoicing and eternal life

bliss is multi-dimensional
it has many aspects to it
one of its aspects is it is a flame, a light
once the flame is lit within you
all darkness disappears
the darkness cannot exist with the flame
and when there is no darkness within you
your whole life is transformed
because your whole life was dominated by darkness
now it is dominated by light

darkness within
whatsoever you do is going to be wrong
even the right, with all good intentions
is going to be wrong -- that is inevitable
and one can experience it
parents want to do everything right for their child
of course they think they love the child
but they only think
deep down they are so full of darkness

love is not possible
and with all the good intentions
they start crippling the child, paralysing, poisoning
with all their superstitions and stupidities
they go on burdening the child
they are trying to make the child live
exactly the same life as they have lived
and they have never tasted bliss
yet they want the child
to be just a carbon copy of themselves
it is absolutely unconscious
with all good intentions
they are creating hell for the child
their parents created hell for them
and now they are doing the same to their children
and the children will go on doing the same
to their children
that's how from generation to generation
man is being poisoned from the very source
the teachers are trying to do something good
but all that they manage to do
is stuff your mind with borrowed knowledge
they themselves are not wise
how can they help you to be wise?
the priests are doing everything good for you
and they are the greatest mischievous people
in the world, not knowing at all
they have destroyed the whole human past
in the name of religion
all kinds of crimes have been committed

murders, people have been burnt alive
and not one or two, millions of people
in the name of god, in the name of christianity
in the name of islam, in the name of hinduism
beautiful names but the reason is simple
unless you have your inner light
whatsoever you do is going to be wrong
hence my emphasis is not to do right
my emphasis is to be right
then whatsoever you do is going to be right
that is secondary
then there is no need to be worried about it
and to be right means to be full of light

bliss is a light, misery is darkness
and that light is not far away
you are not to travel to a star to find it
you have just to go within -- it is just so close to you
just a little turning, a hundred-eighty-degree turning
just changing your focus from the outside
and looking in is enough

once you start looking in
you are bound to find the flame
it is already there -- neglected, ignored
once you pay attention to it, it starts burning bright
your attention becomes its food
its nourishment, its fuel
hence meditation is nothing but the art
of becoming attentive, aware, alert

our whole education is rooted in a false notion
of creating the ego in the child
even the psychologists go on emphasising
that the ego has to be strengthened
these psychologists also don't know
the experience of egolessness
they are as unaware as anybody else
as unenlightened as anybody else
and in their ignorance
they think unless you have a very strong ego
you will not be able to compete in life
and it is a tough competition
you have to be strong to give a good fight
it is a struggle, the survival of the fittest
so you have to be fit to survive

that's what our education is
it is in fact miseducation
because its whole foundation is wrong
it is rooted in the idea of the ego

real education will help you to dissolve the ego
to drop the very idea of conflict
struggle, fight, war
in fact one has to be in a deep communion
with the whole -- relaxed, restful, at home
to me that is religiousness
and the reward is bliss
and there cannot be any greater reward

dissolve the ego, let it evaporate
and only then will you find a tremendous explosion
of such joy
that you could not have even dreamt of it before
when it happens for the first time
it is absolutely unbelievable, it is so vast
it is so infinite that one cannot believe
that one is capable of it
one tries
perhaps i am dreaming, perhaps i am imagining
but the miracle is such that once it happens
it goes on deepening

sooner or later you have to trust it
sooner or later you have to come to understand
that this is what you were missing
this is what
you were always seeking and searching
unconsciously

ego is the only barrier
and egolessness is the only bridge to god

one has to become a nobody, a nothingness
only then bliss happens
because only then there is a space enough
for the infinite to become a guest in your being
otherwise we are so much cluttered
with all kinds of rubbish, junk, crap
that the infinite cannot be a guest
we cannot be a host to the divine
and bliss is divine, another name for god

one can invite bliss
only if one has prepared one's being
and the preparation means
if one has emptied oneself out completely
all the ideologies have to be thrown out
all the scriptures have to be burned
not literally, not the scriptures on the outside
they have nothing to do with you

but nothing inside should remain
no ideology, no religion, no theology

one should become utterly empty of all ideas
and then the miracle is bound to happen
exactly at the moment you are totally empty
it happens
and it does not happen
as if something is coming from the outside
it happens exactly at the centre of your being
as if something has suddenly blossomed in you
it was always there as a potential; it becomes actual

we have only to create space
and any limited space won't do
it has to be unlimited
hence i say one has to become a zero
the moment the zero is there
perfection happens on its own accord

bliss and wisdom are two sides of the same coin
only a blissful person is wise
and only a wise person is blissful
they happen together

the fool cannot be blissful
howsoever scholarly he is

howsoever knowledgeable he is
he cannot be blissful
and the blissful person
howsoever uneducated he is, uninformed
cannot be other than wise
he cannot be otherwise

jesus is not a knowledgeable person
neither is mohammed nor is kabir
all the three are uneducated, absolutely uneducated
not great scholars or philosophers
not knowledgeable in any way
just innocent people
but immensely wise, absolutely wise
their wisdom knows no bounds
their wisdom is as vast as the whole sky
their wisdom is infinite
hence wisdom has to be understood
what actually it is
it is knowing your own being
it is an experience of your own innermost core
it is entering into your own centre
the moment you enter your very centre
the innermost shrine of your being
a miracle happens
you are innocent and yet
you have such tremendous insight into everything
it is not knowledge, it is insight
your life is lived now in a wise way
your each step is full of wisdom

your each word contains scriptures
even your silence is a sermon

and the miracle of this blissfulness, this wisdom
happens through a simple art
of watching your mind

mind is knowledge
if you can watch your mind in all its functions
if you can watch all its knowledge
you become separate from it
the watcher becomes separate from the watched
and that very separation
is the beginning of bliss and wisdom
when you are totally aware that you are not the mind
you have prepared yourself
for the miracle to happen
it inevitably happens
just we have to be ready for it

sannyas is a preparation for wisdom, for bliss
for freedom, for love -- for all that is really valuable