the phenomenon of awareness is paradoxical half of it, the first half, is human effort the other half, the second half, is a divine gift one has to do the utmost one can do to attain it but it is not attained only by that it is not attained without it either the human effort prepares you to receive the gift if you are unprepared and the gift comes you will not even be able to recognise it there is no question of receiving it, welcoming it so the first part is absolutely necessary
but one should not get the idea that one attains it through effort the effort only removes the barriers it is negative the moment the barriers are removed the door is open, the heart is available the gift comes, it is a happening, it is not a doing hence one should not get egoistic about one's efforts because ultimately it happens effortlessly it simply showers on you and the moment it showers one comes to know that whatsoever i have done has nothing to do with-it i was simply removing the stones the rocks on the way the guest was always ready to come i was only opening the door the guest is not my creation the guest was already there just waiting at the door all that i have done is open the door which is not much but without opening the door the guest cannot enter either hence it is called the effortless effort
one has to be really diligent
it is an uphill task, you have to move upwards when you are coming down the hill there is no effort when you are going up the hill immense effort is needed the higher the altitude the more effort is needed but when you reach the peak what you see there has nothing to do with your effort of course your effort has got you to the peak but the vision, the vast sky and the immensely beautiful valleys all around the stars they are not your creation but you would have missed them if you had not come to the peak
hence one has to continuously balance between effort and no-effort something has to be done and something has not to be done they appear contradictory they are not -- they are complementary you have to do your part the moment your part is fulfilled existence does its own part but if you have been half-heartedly doing then existence will not do its part you have to be in your effort totally without holding anything back when you risk all, existence comes with immense blessings, benedictions existence loves and respects a person who has put everything to the stake and awareness is something that can happen only when you are totally devoted to it sannyas is nothing but an initiation first into effort and then into effortless receptivity
existence is basically made of awareness science may never be able to discover it because science's very methodology prevents it but still science has come very close to it
just thirty years ago
science was absolutely certain that existence consists of matter now it is no more so matter is dead, matter has evaporated matter exists not now science says we were deceived because of our limited instruments existence does not consist of matter but of pure energy but the energy is revolving with such speed that it creates the illusion of matter it is just like an electric fan going with great speed and you cannot see its three blades it looks like a wheel that wheel is only illusory if it really goes with the speed of light you can sit on it and you will not feel those blades moving the speed will be so much one hundred eighty-six thousand miles per second that you can sit on it and you will not feel that anything is moving it will be absolutely static for you that's actually what is happening when you see the wall it seems to be so solid -- nothing is solid just the speed is so fast otherwise you can walk through it it is just the speed
if it can be lowered a little bit you can walk through the wall through the mountain there is no problem because it is pure energy there is nothing solid any more this is a great advance that science has to concede reluctantly they conceded because to say that existence consists of energy is to come very close to the mystics they have always been saying existence is energy they say something more too they say that energy is awareness science may never be able to know that for the simple reason it has no way to experience awareness it can be experienced only through meditation and the moment you experience awareness the whole existence is immediately revealed to you as awareness not only that, it starts converging on you immediately, instantly you become the centre of it you become the beloved of the whole and to be beloved of the whole is to be blissful, is to be ecstatic because that is the only love that can be eternal
the more aware you become, the more loving the less aware, the less loving
the unconscious person is absolutely incapable of love neither can he give nor can he receive and everybody is hankering longing to love and to be loved but everybody is unconscious it is not possible it is like a blind person trying to see the light and trying to see the colour of the flowers and trying to see the stars because people talk so much of their beauty but how can the blind man see the colours of the flowers and the rainbow and the stars and the moon? it is impossible what is needed is not any effort to come to come to the flower, to look at the sky because those blind eyes even if turned towards the sky will not see the stars the blind person needs his eyes to be cured he needs a physician, he does not need to be led by poets, by philosophers he needs a physician
and a true master is a physician not a philosopher he tries to give you something that is already in you but unopened he gives you a third eye, that is awareness he helps you to become aware
and as you start becoming aware you are surprised love starts happening of its own accord and you have always been longing for it and now it is coming of its own accord one simply becomes pure love when awareness has blossomed when the flower of awareness is there there is the fragrance of love it is inevitable
awareness is the seed -- it is there it just needs the right soil the right climate, a right gardener and soon the day will come when the seed will dissolve into the soil and the hidden will become real the heart of the seed will start growing then flowers are not far away the first leaves herald the coming of the flowers sannyas is only a climate, a soil the master is a gardener you have all that you need but it is in the potential, it has to be actualised there is no real difficulty in its realisation one just has to dissolve one's ego in the soil that ego is just like the hard shell that surrounds the seed it is protective -- that is its function
but if that hard shell surrounding the seed rejects dissolving into the soil then it is no more protective, it is destructive
the ego is a necessity in the world otherwise you will not be able to survive there are so many egos all around they will crush you they will use you as a stepping stone you will be destroyed by all those egos your own ego gives you a certain protection a certain safety it creates a hard barrier between you and the others they cannot penetrate you it is not easy to go deep into you and hurt you ego helps you not to be hurt by others as far as the world is concerned it is okay the moment you start moving inwards the ego has to dissolve otherwise it won't allow your reality to blossom
that's what sannyas is a readiness on the part of the disciple to dissolve the ego and once the ego is dissolved miracles start happening it is a miracle those first two leaves coming out of the ground one could not have imagined that the seed contains these two green leaves
and then the tree goes on becoming bigger, gathering greater foliage it can become a big tree almost whispering with the clouds it can blossom, it can become flowers, fruits and only then one is fulfilled
that is the state of buddhahood the awakened state of consciousness
awareness is a method a means to attain consciousness one has to become aware of the outer world
when you are watching something be alert don't just behave like a zombie that's how people are behaving they are looking at a thing and not looking at all because their mind is somewhere else their eyes are empty, there is no attention they are hearing something but they are not listening their awareness is not there behind their ears so this is the first thing to be done become aware of the outside world
this noise of the train
or an aeroplane passing by or the traffic never think of these things as distractions they are not use them as objects for becoming alert and aware and you will be surprised everything can be used and then there is no distraction then the whole life is helping you to become aware nothing can distract you you can go into the marketplace and you can use every noise every nuisance that is going on as an object for becoming more alert in fact it is easier to be aware in a marketplace than in a monastery the second thing to be aware of is your own body and its acts, what you are doing just becoming more aware of each movement each gesture and that will release an even greater awareness than the outside world then become aware of your thoughts and you are coming closer to home and the closer you come more and more release of awareness will be there then watch your emotions, your moods and you have come very close for the explosion of consciousness
when you are capable of watching the outside world
the physiological activities the activities of the mechanism of the mind and the mechanism of the heart you are ready for the quantum leap then you can simply jump into yourself you will suddenly find yourself centred, grounded rooted in your own being and that is the flowering of consciousness that's the ultimate goal of all religions
there is no other truth truth is not something outside you it is the very innermost core of your being it is the explosion of consciousness awareness, watchfulness the moment your inner being explodes all becomes light then life is lived in a totally different way of course one lives in the same ordinary life but with such extraordinary delight with such extraordinary intensity, love, joy that one cannot imagine it it is not comprehensible by the mind mind is always wishy-washy it cannot conceive the total intensity of the state of no-mind and awareness is the state of no-mind it is pure silence, profound silence depthless, bottomless, abysmal silence
the Sound of one hand Clapping
that's our truth; that's the truth philosophy is incapable of finding it because it only goes on thinking about it it has to be found in a state of no-thought, no-mind in a state of absolute clarity consciousness, transparency
no other beauty can be compared with it because it is not one of the beauties amongst others it is the very source of the experience of the beautiful the moment one is aware the whole existence becomes beautiful to look at it with awareness is a transformation not only the person is transformed through awareness but the whole universe
it remains the same universe but because you are no more the same your perspective is no more the same your attitude is no more the same your understanding is no more the same then in a sense it is the same universe but in another sense it is a totally different universe you have never known it before then everything starts having a tremendous beauty a luminous quality then everything is surrounded by a beautiful aura then everything has a tremendously graceful vibe about it one starts living in the mysterious, the miraculous then the whole life is poetry the whole existence is a song
the whole universe is nothing but dance and celebration
knowledge needs no awareness you can remain as unconscious as you like still you can go on accumulating knowledge because it is borrowed, it needs no awareness you are simply functioning like a computer you are using your mind as a machine a memory machine and it has the capacity to carry imprints to contain memory it has immense capacity, almost infinite they say that a single brain system can contain all the libraries of the world and one need not be aware
in soviet russia they have developed a system of education so that children can be taught even while they are asleep they will just have earphones while they are sleeping and in a very silent way almost in a whisper they will be fed knowledge and their minds will record it and they will be asleep
they will not know what is being recorded but in the morning if you ask them they will be able to answer your questions they will be themselves surprised because they had never learned as far as they know but they learned during their sleep if it is possible during sleep then there is no problem people can be unconscious that's what they are and they can go on gathering knowledge but wisdom is a totally different phenomenon
the first the most basic requirement is to be aware because wisdom means experiencing the truth of your being it cannot be experienced while you are asleep unaware, unconscious all knowledge is borrowed, hence ugly, a burden wisdom has beauty because it is your own knowledge is a bondage, wisdom is a freedom and because it comes through awareness it makes you more and more full of light at the ultimate peak of wisdom one and one's wisdom are not two separate things one is simply wise there is no wisdom separate one's very existence is wise
then whatsoever one does is right then one need not follow any commandment any morality, any ethics one can drop all these burdens one's wisdom is enough to give him every moment the right response the right approach the right vision
a wise man lives unburdened because he need not depend on any ready-made answers he is capable of responding to any challenge he is just like a mirror reflecting every situation and acting accordingly that's how a sannyasin has slowly slowly to grow into wisdom
awareness is the way, wisdom is the goal
christ is not a christian he had never heard the word even he never belonged to the church there was no church to belong to he was a man of awareness that is true religion buddha had never heard of buddhism either but he lived the true religion the religion of awareness and that is true about all the really authentic religious people of the world others are only phony: the polack pope and ayatollah khomaniac and the shankaracharyas these are all phony people they have not tasted from the well of awareness they have not gone in they are simply repeating like parrots the scriptures that have been handed over to them by tradition i don't give any doctrine to my sannyasins any dogma, any cult, any creed -- i have none i only insist on one thing be aware, be alert in whatsoever you are doing just do it watchfully, consciously and that is enough because consciously one can never do anything wrong consciousness is bound to result in right actions and unconsciously one cannot do anything right one can try to do right but the total result will always be wrong so there is no need to bother about your small acts it is better to come to the very source and that is awareness discover it and live out of it and then your life will be just a festival of lights
friendliness is the highest peak of love sex is the lowest love is just in the middle friendliness is the peak in sex only two bodies meet in love two hearts in friendliness two spirits the first is animal the second is human the third is divine but the third can happen only through awareness in fact the whole transformation from sex to love from love to friendliness happens through the ladder of awareness if you bring your awareness if you focus it on your sexuality you will start transcending sexuality awareness is always a transcendence no other effort is needed just watching your sexuality just understanding it, observing it is enough and you can see its animality you can see the biological bondage you can see that you are being used by nature for its own purposes -- and this very seeing takes you to a new altitude to love love is not natural hence animals don't know about it
it is a transcendence of nature it is going a little above nature it is supranatural but something of sex still remains in it as a hangover, as a shadow of the past if you watch your love if you become aware of your love then the third thing happens friendliness i don't call it even friendship because friendship reminds one of relationship love is a relationship but friendliness is free of all kinds of bindings friendliness is just like fragrance absolutely free to go with the wind, to rise towards the sky it has no confinement
love is a little bit possessive, jealous friendliness is beyond possessiveness beyond jealousy one can be friendly to many people, to millions one can be friendly to the whole existence it is awareness that brings you to that ultimate peak and once your sex is transformed into love and your love is transformed into friendliness you have come home then one can relax the journey is over
Osho's Commentary
half of it, the first half, is human effort
the other half, the second half, is a divine gift
one has to do the utmost one can do to attain it
but it is not attained only by that
it is not attained without it either
the human effort prepares you to receive the gift
if you are unprepared and the gift comes
you will not even be able to recognise it
there is no question of receiving it, welcoming it
so the first part is absolutely necessary
but one should not get the idea
that one attains it through effort
the effort only removes the barriers
it is negative
the moment the barriers are removed
the door is open, the heart is available
the gift comes, it is a happening, it is not a doing
hence one should not get egoistic
about one's efforts
because ultimately it happens effortlessly
it simply showers on you
and the moment it showers
one comes to know that whatsoever i have done
has nothing to do with-it
i was simply removing the stones
the rocks on the way
the guest was always ready to come
i was only opening the door
the guest is not my creation
the guest was already there
just waiting at the door
all that i have done is open the door
which is not much
but without opening the door
the guest cannot enter either
hence it is called the effortless effort
one has to be really diligent
it is an uphill task, you have to move upwards
when you are coming down the hill there is no effort
when you are going up the hill
immense effort is needed
the higher the altitude the more effort is needed
but when you reach the peak what you see there
has nothing to do with your effort
of course your effort has got you to the peak
but the vision, the vast sky
and the immensely beautiful valleys all around
the stars
they are not your creation
but you would have missed them
if you had not come to the peak
hence one has to continuously balance
between effort and no-effort
something has to be done
and something has not to be done
they appear contradictory
they are not -- they are complementary
you have to do your part
the moment your part is fulfilled
existence does its own part
but if you have been half-heartedly doing
then existence will not do its part
you have to be in your effort totally
without holding anything back
when you risk all, existence comes
with immense blessings, benedictions
existence loves and respects a person
who has put everything to the stake
and awareness is something that can happen only
when you are totally devoted to it
sannyas is nothing but an initiation
first into effort
and then into effortless receptivity
existence is basically made of awareness
science may never be able to discover it
because science's very methodology prevents it
but still science has come very close to it
just thirty years ago
science was absolutely certain
that existence consists of matter
now it is no more so
matter is dead, matter has evaporated
matter exists not
now science says we were deceived
because of our limited instruments
existence does not consist of matter
but of pure energy
but the energy is revolving with such speed
that it creates the illusion of matter
it is just like an electric fan
going with great speed
and you cannot see its three blades
it looks like a wheel
that wheel is only illusory
if it really goes with the speed of light
you can sit on it
and you will not feel those blades moving
the speed will be so much
one hundred eighty-six thousand miles per second
that you can sit on it
and you will not feel that anything is moving
it will be absolutely static for you
that's actually what is happening
when you see the wall
it seems to be so solid -- nothing is solid
just the speed is so fast
otherwise you can walk through it
it is just the speed
if it can be lowered a little bit
you can walk through the wall
through the mountain
there is no problem because it is pure energy
there is nothing solid any more
this is a great advance that science has to concede
reluctantly they conceded
because to say that existence consists of energy
is to come very close to the mystics
they have always been saying existence is energy
they say something more too
they say that energy is awareness
science may never be able to know that
for the simple reason
it has no way to experience awareness
it can be experienced only through meditation
and the moment you experience awareness
the whole existence
is immediately revealed to you as awareness
not only that, it starts converging on you
immediately, instantly you become the centre of it
you become the beloved of the whole
and to be beloved of the whole
is to be blissful, is to be ecstatic
because that is the only love that can be eternal
the more aware you become, the more loving
the less aware, the less loving
the unconscious person
is absolutely incapable of love
neither can he give nor can he receive
and everybody is hankering
longing to love and to be loved
but everybody is unconscious
it is not possible
it is like a blind person trying to see the light
and trying to see the colour of the flowers
and trying to see the stars
because people talk so much of their beauty
but how can the blind man see
the colours of the flowers
and the rainbow and the stars and the moon?
it is impossible
what is needed is not any effort to come
to come to the flower, to look at the sky
because those blind eyes
even if turned towards the sky
will not see the stars
the blind person needs his eyes to be cured
he needs a physician, he does not need to be led
by poets, by philosophers
he needs a physician
and a true master is a physician not a philosopher
he tries to give you something
that is already in you but unopened
he gives you a third eye, that is awareness
he helps you to become aware
and as you start becoming aware you are surprised
love starts happening of its own accord
and you have always been longing for it
and now it is coming of its own accord
one simply becomes pure love
when awareness has blossomed
when the flower of awareness is there
there is the fragrance of love
it is inevitable
awareness is the seed -- it is there
it just needs the right soil
the right climate, a right gardener
and soon the day will come
when the seed will dissolve into the soil
and the hidden will become real
the heart of the seed will start growing
then flowers are not far away
the first leaves herald the coming of the flowers
sannyas is only a climate, a soil
the master is a gardener
you have all that you need
but it is in the potential, it has to be actualised
there is no real difficulty in its realisation
one just has to dissolve one's ego in the soil
that ego is just like the hard shell
that surrounds the seed
it is protective -- that is its function
but if that hard shell surrounding the seed
rejects dissolving into the soil
then it is no more protective, it is destructive
the ego is a necessity in the world
otherwise you will not be able to survive
there are so many egos all around
they will crush you
they will use you as a stepping stone
you will be destroyed by all those egos
your own ego gives you a certain protection
a certain safety
it creates a hard barrier between you and the others
they cannot penetrate you
it is not easy to go deep into you and hurt you
ego helps you not to be hurt by others
as far as the world is concerned it is okay
the moment you start moving inwards
the ego has to dissolve
otherwise it won't allow your reality to blossom
that's what sannyas is
a readiness on the part of the disciple
to dissolve the ego
and once the ego is dissolved
miracles start happening
it is a miracle
those first two leaves coming out of the ground
one could not have imagined
that the seed contains these two green leaves
and then the tree goes on
becoming bigger, gathering greater foliage
it can become a big tree
almost whispering with the clouds
it can blossom, it can become flowers, fruits
and only then one is fulfilled
that is the state of buddhahood
the awakened state of consciousness
awareness is a method
a means to attain consciousness
one has to become aware of the outer world
when you are watching something
be alert
don't just behave like a zombie
that's how people are behaving
they are looking at a thing and not looking at all
because their mind is somewhere else
their eyes are empty, there is no attention
they are hearing something
but they are not listening
their awareness is not there behind their ears
so this is the first thing to be done
become aware of the outside world
this noise of the train
or an aeroplane passing by or the traffic
never think of these things as distractions
they are not
use them as objects for becoming alert and aware
and you will be surprised
everything can be used
and then there is no distraction
then the whole life is helping you to become aware
nothing can distract you
you can go into the marketplace
and you can use every noise
every nuisance that is going on
as an object for becoming more alert
in fact it is easier to be aware in a marketplace
than in a monastery
the second thing to be aware of
is your own body and its acts, what you are doing
just becoming more aware of each movement
each gesture
and that will release an even greater awareness
than the outside world
then become aware of your thoughts
and you are coming closer to home
and the closer you come
more and more release of awareness will be there
then watch your emotions, your moods
and you have come very close
for the explosion of consciousness
when you are capable of watching the outside world
the physiological activities
the activities of the mechanism of the mind
and the mechanism of the heart
you are ready for the quantum leap
then you can simply jump into yourself
you will suddenly find yourself centred, grounded
rooted in your own being
and that is the flowering of consciousness
that's the ultimate goal of all religions
there is no other truth
truth is not something outside you
it is the very innermost core of your being
it is the explosion of consciousness
awareness, watchfulness
the moment your inner being explodes
all becomes light
then life is lived in a totally different way
of course one lives in the same ordinary life
but with such extraordinary delight
with such extraordinary intensity, love, joy
that one cannot imagine it
it is not comprehensible by the mind
mind is always wishy-washy
it cannot conceive the total intensity
of the state of no-mind
and awareness is the state of no-mind
it is pure silence, profound silence
depthless, bottomless, abysmal silence
the Sound
of one hand
Clapping
that's our truth; that's the truth
philosophy is incapable of finding it
because it only goes on thinking about it
it has to be found in a state of no-thought, no-mind
in a state of absolute clarity
consciousness, transparency
no other beauty can be compared with it
because it is not one of the beauties amongst others
it is the very source
of the experience of the beautiful
the moment one is aware
the whole existence becomes beautiful
to look at it with awareness is a transformation
not only the person
is transformed through awareness
but the whole universe
it remains the same universe
but because you are no more the same
your perspective is no more the same
your attitude is no more the same
your understanding is no more the same
then in a sense it is the same universe
but in another sense
it is a totally different universe
you have never known it before
then everything
starts having a tremendous beauty
a luminous quality
then everything
is surrounded by a beautiful aura
then everything
has a tremendously graceful vibe about it
one starts living in the mysterious, the miraculous
then the whole life is poetry
the whole existence is a song
the whole universe
is nothing but dance and celebration
knowledge needs no awareness
you can remain as unconscious as you like
still you can go on accumulating knowledge
because it is borrowed, it needs no awareness
you are simply functioning like a computer
you are using your mind as a machine
a memory machine
and it has the capacity to carry imprints
to contain memory
it has immense capacity, almost infinite
they say that a single brain system
can contain all the libraries of the world
and one need not be aware
in soviet russia
they have developed a system of education
so that children can be taught
even while they are asleep
they will just have earphones
while they are sleeping
and in a very silent way
almost in a whisper
they will be fed knowledge
and their minds will record it
and they will be asleep
they will not know what is being recorded
but in the morning if you ask them
they will be able to answer your questions
they will be themselves surprised
because they had never learned as far as they know
but they learned during their sleep
if it is possible during sleep
then there is no problem
people can be unconscious
that's what they are
and they can go on gathering knowledge
but wisdom is a totally different phenomenon
the first
the most basic requirement
is to be aware
because wisdom means
experiencing the truth of your being
it cannot be experienced while you are asleep
unaware, unconscious
all knowledge is borrowed, hence ugly, a burden
wisdom has beauty because it is your own
knowledge is a bondage, wisdom is a freedom
and because it comes through awareness
it makes you more and more full of light
at the ultimate peak of wisdom
one and one's wisdom are not two separate things
one is simply wise
there is no wisdom separate
one's very existence is wise
then whatsoever one does is right
then one need not follow any commandment
any morality, any ethics
one can drop all these burdens
one's wisdom is enough to give him every moment
the right response
the right approach
the right vision
a wise man lives unburdened
because he need not depend
on any ready-made answers
he is capable of responding to any challenge
he is just like a mirror
reflecting every situation
and acting accordingly
that's how a sannyasin has slowly slowly to grow
into wisdom
awareness is the way, wisdom is the goal
christ is not a christian
he had never heard the word even
he never belonged to the church
there was no church to belong to
he was a man of awareness
that is true religion
buddha had never heard of buddhism either
but he lived the true religion
the religion of awareness
and that is true about all
the really authentic religious people of the world
others are only phony: the polack pope
and ayatollah khomaniac
and the shankaracharyas
these are all phony people
they have not tasted from the well of awareness
they have not gone in
they are simply repeating like parrots
the scriptures that have been handed over to them
by tradition
i don't give any doctrine to my sannyasins
any dogma, any cult, any creed -- i have none
i only insist on one thing
be aware, be alert in whatsoever you are doing
just do it watchfully, consciously
and that is enough
because consciously
one can never do anything wrong
consciousness is bound to result in right actions
and unconsciously one cannot do anything right
one can try to do right
but the total result will always be wrong
so there is no need to bother about your small acts
it is better to come to the very source
and that is awareness
discover it and live out of it
and then your life
will be just a festival of lights
friendliness is the highest peak of love
sex is the lowest
love is just in the middle
friendliness is the peak
in sex only two bodies meet
in love two hearts
in friendliness two spirits
the first is animal
the second is human
the third is divine
but the third can happen only through awareness
in fact the whole transformation from sex to love
from love to friendliness
happens through the ladder of awareness
if you bring your awareness
if you focus it on your sexuality
you will start transcending sexuality
awareness is always a transcendence
no other effort is needed
just watching your sexuality
just understanding it, observing it
is enough
and you can see its animality
you can see the biological bondage
you can see that you are being used by nature
for its own purposes -- and this very seeing
takes you to a new altitude
to love
love is not natural
hence animals don't know about it
it is a transcendence of nature
it is going a little above nature
it is supranatural
but something of sex still remains in it
as a hangover, as a shadow of the past
if you watch your love
if you become aware of your love
then the third thing happens
friendliness
i don't call it even friendship
because friendship reminds one of relationship
love is a relationship
but friendliness is free of all kinds of bindings
friendliness is just like fragrance
absolutely free
to go with the wind, to rise towards the sky
it has no confinement
love is a little bit possessive, jealous
friendliness is beyond possessiveness
beyond jealousy
one can be friendly to many people, to millions
one can be friendly to the whole existence
it is awareness
that brings you to that ultimate peak
and once your sex is transformed into love
and your love is transformed into friendliness
you have come home
then one can relax
the journey is over