the most significant thing to remember is that contentment and satisfaction are not synonymous satisfaction is a false coin it pretends to be contentment but it is not it is really just the opposite of contentment one feels discontented but to remain in discontentment hurts to cover that wound one creates a pseudo climate around oneself of satisfaction
and that's what the so-called religious people have been doing for centuries this is not the way to find truth
the only way to find truth is to go through your discontent without hiding it, without escaping from it the very understanding of your discontentment brings contentment and then there is a totally new being, a new birth the noble one is born
satisfaction is a deception contentment is a resurrection but before the resurrection can happen one has to go through crucifixion if one avoids crucifixion then one will be avoiding finally the ultimate rejoicing of being resurrected
i teach contentment not satisfaction and the way to contentment is to encounter all your discontents without any fear, without any hiding to know your discontentment in its total nudity is the beginning of a new life
man can create in two ways either out of a state of discontentment frustration, failure or through a state of absolute contentment the quality of the creativity is going to be totally different picasso may be a great painter but his painting shows his discontentment with life not contentment it shows his innermost insanity as if he has vomited his insanity on the canvas of course he is a great artist but whatsoever he is creating is a little bit insane he is simply catharting it helps him, he becomes unburdened but it doesn't help others they will become burdened the whole of modern art is rooted in discontentment hence it has lost the ancient glory, the classic glory of creativity
there is a vast difference between the people who made the taj mahal or the temples of khajuraho or the pyramids of egypt and the people who are creating modern art the gap seems to be unbridgeable because the sources are different
it is said in zen that before you can create you have to come to a point of absolute silence
then whatsoever you do will bring something of the divine into the world you will become a vehicle then it will not be just a mind product it will be something transcendental
and that's my effort here i am all for creativity but not this kind of creativity that is going around the world, neurotic, psychotic i would like my sannyasins to become so peaceful so silent so utterly at home with existence that there is no complaint in their being but only gratitude
out of that gratitude flows real creativity and that is the greatest joy in life to contribute something to existence to make it a little more beautiful than you had found it to spread a few more smiles in the world to make the world more blessed, blissful in a state of better celebration, festivity if this can be done then the man is religious to me religion has nothing to do with churches and temples and rituals it has something to do with the energy called creativity but before it can happen one has to prepare one's being and contentment is the preparation
be contented -- whatsoever is, is good whatsoever is, is perfect, don't ask for more relax into it, rejoice in it and you will be surprised the more vou relax, the more you rest in it the more you become insightful of the mysterious of the miraculous that surrounds you a moment comes when you simply disappear in your own immense contentment and when you are not, god is when you are not, creativity is
to me god is not a creator but only the energy called creativity
the cowardly is always complaining to complain, intelligence is not needed to complain, courage is not needed to complain is a very mediocre activity anybody can do it hence everybody is doing it but to be contented, to feel grateful, to feel blessed great intelligence is required courage is required, insight is required
and the moment you start looking into the depths of life a great surprise arises you cannot believe it, it is incredible what has been given is simply beyond our comprehension and we have not earned it either it is a sheer gift from the whole to see life, love, freedom, joy as gifts from the divine makes one feel contented and the atmosphere of inner contentment is the atmosphere of a real temple
temples don't exist on the outside one has to become a temple and the only way to become a temple is to create in your interiority an immense gratitude for all that has happened to you for all that is happening to you and it is incalculable, immeasurable but certainly one has to be courageous for it courageous because the whole crowd is complaining it is always asking for more it needs guts to say, i don't ask for more that in fact whatsoever is given to me is more than i could have asked for in the first place
and from that very moment a transformation starts happening your life becomes more and more attuned to existence it becomes more and more a dance
and that has to be the flavour of my sannyasins a deep inner contentment and on the outside the manifestation of that contentment in celebration, in celebrating the day-to-day life the moment-to-moment life the ordinary life
once you are ready to celebrate the ordinary life it is no more ordinary at all
there are people who think that unless you attain to the ultimate bliss you cannot be contented they have taken a wrong standpoint from the very beginning they will remain discontented forever
contentment has to be the first step of the journey contentment simply means a non-egoistic attitude
the ego is always asking for more it always needs more and more decorations it is never satisfied it is not in its nature to be satisfied the ego is a beggar and the ego can go on begging in this world it can start begging in the other world too
a sannyasin has to start as an emperor not as a beggar that has to be his first step and that's what i mean by contentment the moment you say i am immensely happy with whatsoever is with the stars and the clouds and the trees and the people and with myself i have no grudge, no guilt no desire to be somebody else no desire to be somewhere else i rejoice whatsoever is the case. immediately you are transformed into an emperor and then bliss is not far away in fact it will come following you you need not search for it
anutosh means contentment dhyan means meditation they are equivalent, synonymous there exists a subtle synchronicity between them if you are contented there is no need to meditate at all contentment will become your meditation naturally, spontaneously or vice versa -- if you are meditative, silent then contentment will become a by-product one can begin from either end it is in fact one phenomenon two ends of the same line the easiest is to begin with contentment because there is so much to be contented with the whole universe provides millions of opportunities to be contented with those who cannot do it they have to start by meditating meditation is an effort you have to sit silently, watchfully, relaxedly to calm down your mind, your whole inner noise but if one starts with contentment it is far more simple looking at the sky full of stars suddenly you feel so contented -- what more can there be? it cannot be improved upon the starry night is so breathtaking the sunset for a moment stops your heartbeat
a bird on the wing and suddenly your mind is not there these are natural glimpses of meditation
my suggestion is watch life and its beauties get more and more merged into existence and meditation will come naturally if it is not possible then only make an effort, a deliberate effort to be silent but that has always to be the second thing when the easier course is available don't follow the arduous; it is unnecessary follow the watercourse way there is no need to go upstream, go with the river and this very moment you can feel contentment if i say meditate you will have to decide when to start tomorrow, tomorrow morning fix the alarm and tomorrow morning... but if you understand what i am saying about contentment then it is there, right now this very moment is so full, so overwhelmingly full that one can easily get lost in it
anutoshi means one who is absolutely contented so i am not leaving anything for you i am simply declaring you can relax into it, nothing has to be done
the very idea of doing is an invention of the mind otherwise all is happening but mind is so cunning that even when things are happening it goes on translating them as if he is doing them for example people say i am breathing you see the stupidity? nobody is breathing; breathing is happening if people were breathing then it would be impossible for them to die they may continue breathing death may go on knocking on the door and they may go on doing the dynamic meditation then what to do? they may even start breathing faster
we are not breathing in fact just the opposite is the case we are being breathed, existence is breathing us and that is true about everything when you are hungry you are not hungry it has nothing to do with you, it is simply there and when you eat and you digest it has nothing to do with you it is not that you are digesting it just try for twenty-four hours to digest food and you will have indigestion remember constantly where the food has gone now
and where it is moving and go on touching your belly and find places now it must be here and now the bread is being churned into blood you will go crazy within twenty-four hours
everything is happening that is one of the fundamentals of my approach to life we are not doers we are just part of an immense happening so all that is needed on our part is to relax, rejoice, be in tune that's what i mean by absolute contentment then each moment brings so much ecstasy and the moment one feels contentment all problems disappear as if they had never existed in the first place
uncontainable so immense that one can simply dance in sheer gratitude
my sannyasins are not dancing to attain to god they are not dancing to attain to heavenly pleasures they are dancing just out of sheer contentment there is nothing else to do it is not a means to some end in fact it is the recognition that all is already the case
and we are here just to celebrate it
we are asleep our sleep consists of discontentments the only way to wake up is to drop discontentments and it is very easy to drop them because they are futile even if you carry them you will never be able to fulfil them ]nobody has ever been able to fulfil his discontentments it is an exercise in sheer futility so the intelligent person simply drops the whole trip he does not waste his present for any future he does not sacrifice this moment for another moment who knows about the next moment? in fact the tomorrow never comes so why waste the time that is available to you for something which is not going to come? but the discontented man lives int he future and the contented man lives in the present
and to live in the present is to be awakened there is no other secret to it to live now
to live here is to be awakened
the unconscious person lives in dreams he goes on creating new dreams when old dreams fail he immediately substitutes new dreams for them his life is made not of realities but only of desires the same stuff as dreams are made of he lives in a cocoon of false notions hallucinations, desires, expectations and this is simply a way of committing suicide
a sannyasin has to come out of the cocoon he has to drop all nonsense of the mind and be in contact with reality, with that which is and the reality is really fulfilling just a single moment of the contact with reality is far more valuable than the whole eternity of dreaming it is so nourishing
the method to come in contact with reality is consciousness because it is unconsciousness that prevents us so the whole work of a sannyasin is to move from unconscious states to conscious states
slowly slowly changing every fibre of one's being from unconsciousness to consciousness and even if you can change a single moment then you have got the key you can change your whole life
only the first moment is a little bit difficult because of our old habits for that first moment to happen a certain energy field is needed where many people are trying to become conscious their very fervour creates a subtle whirlpool of energy around you it starts moving you
that's the whole purpose of a buddhafield that's the purpose of this commune so many people trying to be loving trying to be meditative, trying to be alert create a certain vibe which can possess anybody and once you have tasted a single moment then there is no problem then you can move on your own
the experience of contentment is not a dull experience it is one of the most brilliant experiences of life just shining like the sun
hence your so-called saints who look dull, stupid, dead are giving enough proof that they have not tasted contentment they are simply suffocating themselves they have created a certain kind of satisfaction around themselves but satisfaction is always dull because it is a fabricated thing a manufactured thing it has no life, it has no song to it but when contentment explodes thousands of songs grow in you
so that has to be the criterion of whether you are on the right road or not whether you are moving in the right direction or not if your song starts becoming deeper if your joy becomes more and more intense if your life starts taking a tremendous passionate love quality to it then that is enough proof, ample proof that you are coming closer to home
there is a music which is heard only when you have reached the innermost core of your being utterly contented
it is not ordinary music it is not heard by the ears it is heard by the soul itself but it is overwhelming there is nothing bigger than that the moment one has experienced it one has experienced the vastest expanse of space even the whole sky seems to be very small compared to it the millions of stars are nothing compared to the inner light and the expanding universe which goes on expanding every moment with infinite speed is nothing compared to the inner expansion it can only be called music there is no other word which can adequately describe it
the zen people call it
the Sound of one hand Clapping
it has to be heard without hearing it life is futile, meaningless one can only vegetate but one cannot really live life begins only with
the Sound of one hand Clapping
then for the first time you know what it is all about before it you were just like a robot or a sleepwalker after it your eyes are open your being is open and that opening is the opening of the eternal temple of god it takes you to the innermost shrine of existence and it reveals to you all that is mysterious it makes you capable of releasing your own hidden splendour and we are all carrying a world, a beyond within and unless it is released one can never feel at ease something will go on missing
sannyas is only a scientific endeavour to release the hidden splendour of your being to bring that which you have contained all along to fulfilment to flowering it is an invitation for the spring
Osho's Commentary
is that contentment and satisfaction
are not synonymous
satisfaction is a false coin
it pretends to be contentment but it is not
it is really just the opposite of contentment
one feels discontented
but to remain in discontentment hurts
to cover that wound one creates
a pseudo climate around oneself of satisfaction
and that's what the so-called religious people
have been doing for centuries
this is not the way to find truth
the only way to find truth is
to go through your discontent
without hiding it, without escaping from it
the very understanding of your discontentment
brings contentment
and then there is a totally new being, a new birth
the noble one is born
satisfaction is a deception
contentment is a resurrection
but before the resurrection can happen
one has to go through crucifixion
if one avoids crucifixion
then one will be avoiding finally
the ultimate rejoicing of being resurrected
i teach contentment not satisfaction
and the way to contentment
is to encounter all your discontents
without any fear, without any hiding
to know your discontentment in its total nudity
is the beginning of a new life
man can create in two ways
either out of a state of discontentment
frustration, failure
or through a state of absolute contentment
the quality of the creativity
is going to be totally different
picasso may be a great painter
but his painting shows his discontentment with life
not contentment
it shows his innermost insanity
as if he has vomited his insanity on the canvas
of course he is a great artist
but whatsoever he is creating is a little bit insane
he is simply catharting
it helps him, he becomes unburdened
but it doesn't help others
they will become burdened
the whole of modern art is rooted in discontentment
hence it has lost the ancient glory, the classic glory
of creativity
there is a vast difference between
the people who made the taj mahal
or the temples of khajuraho
or the pyramids of egypt
and the people who are creating modern art
the gap seems to be unbridgeable
because the sources are different
it is said in zen
that before you can create
you have to come to a point of absolute silence
then whatsoever you do will bring
something of the divine into the world
you will become a vehicle
then it will not be just a mind product
it will be something transcendental
and that's my effort here
i am all for creativity
but not this kind of creativity
that is going around the world, neurotic, psychotic
i would like my sannyasins to become so peaceful
so silent
so utterly at home with existence
that there is no complaint in their being
but only gratitude
out of that gratitude flows real creativity
and that is the greatest joy in life
to contribute something to existence
to make it a little more beautiful
than you had found it
to spread a few more smiles in the world
to make the world more blessed, blissful
in a state of better celebration, festivity
if this can be done then the man is religious
to me religion has nothing to do
with churches and temples and rituals
it has something to do
with the energy called creativity
but before it can happen
one has to prepare one's being
and contentment is the preparation
be contented -- whatsoever is, is good
whatsoever is, is perfect, don't ask for more
relax into it, rejoice in it
and you will be surprised
the more vou relax, the more you rest in it
the more you become insightful of the mysterious
of the miraculous that surrounds you
a moment comes when you simply disappear
in your own immense contentment
and when you are not, god is
when you are not, creativity is
to me god is not a creator
but only
the energy called creativity
the cowardly is always complaining
to complain, intelligence is not needed
to complain, courage is not needed
to complain is a very mediocre activity
anybody can do it
hence everybody is doing it
but to be contented, to feel grateful, to feel blessed
great intelligence is required
courage is required, insight is required
and the moment you start looking
into the depths of life
a great surprise arises
you cannot believe it, it is incredible
what has been given is simply
beyond our comprehension
and we have not earned it either
it is a sheer gift from the whole
to see life, love, freedom, joy
as gifts from the divine
makes one feel contented
and the atmosphere of inner contentment
is the atmosphere of a real temple
temples don't exist on the outside
one has to become a temple
and the only way to become a temple
is to create in your interiority an immense gratitude
for all that has happened to you
for all that is happening to you
and it is incalculable, immeasurable
but certainly one has to be courageous for it
courageous
because the whole crowd is complaining
it is always asking for more
it needs guts to say, i don't ask for more
that in fact whatsoever is given to me is more
than i could have asked for in the first place
and from that very moment
a transformation starts happening
your life becomes
more and more attuned to existence
it becomes more and more a dance
and that has to be the flavour of my sannyasins
a deep inner contentment
and on the outside
the manifestation of that contentment
in celebration, in celebrating
the day-to-day life
the moment-to-moment life
the ordinary life
once you are ready
to celebrate the ordinary life
it is no more ordinary at all
there are people who think
that unless you attain to the ultimate bliss
you cannot be contented
they have taken a wrong standpoint
from the very beginning
they will remain discontented forever
contentment
has to be the first step of the journey
contentment
simply means a non-egoistic attitude
the ego is always asking for more
it always needs more and more decorations
it is never satisfied
it is not in its nature to be satisfied
the ego is a beggar
and the ego can go on begging in this world
it can start begging in the other world too
a sannyasin has to start as an emperor
not as a beggar
that has to be his first step
and that's what i mean by contentment
the moment you say
i am immensely happy with whatsoever is
with the stars and the clouds and the trees
and the people and with myself
i have no grudge, no guilt
no desire to be somebody else
no desire to be somewhere else
i rejoice whatsoever is the case.
immediately
you are transformed into an emperor
and then bliss is not far away
in fact it will come following you
you need not search for it
anutosh means contentment
dhyan means meditation
they are equivalent, synonymous
there exists a subtle synchronicity between them
if you are contented
there is no need to meditate at all
contentment will become your meditation
naturally, spontaneously
or vice versa -- if you are meditative, silent
then contentment will become a by-product
one can begin from either end
it is in fact one phenomenon
two ends of the same line
the easiest is to begin with contentment
because there is so much to be contented with
the whole universe provides
millions of opportunities to be contented with
those who cannot do it
they have to start by meditating
meditation is an effort
you have to sit silently, watchfully, relaxedly
to calm down your mind, your whole inner noise
but if one starts with contentment
it is far more simple
looking at the sky full of stars
suddenly you feel so contented --
what more can there be?
it cannot be improved upon
the starry night is so breathtaking
the sunset for a moment stops your heartbeat
a bird on the wing and suddenly
your mind is not there
these are natural glimpses of meditation
my suggestion is watch life and its beauties
get more and more merged into existence
and meditation will come naturally
if it is not possible then only
make an effort, a deliberate effort to be silent
but that has always to be the second thing
when the easier course is available
don't follow the arduous; it is unnecessary
follow the watercourse way
there is no need to go upstream, go with the river
and this very moment you can feel contentment
if i say meditate
you will have to decide when to start
tomorrow, tomorrow morning
fix the alarm and tomorrow morning...
but if you understand
what i am saying about contentment
then it is there, right now
this very moment is so full, so overwhelmingly full
that one can easily get lost in it
anutoshi means one who is absolutely contented
so i am not leaving anything for you
i am simply declaring
you can relax into it, nothing has to be done
the very idea of doing
is an invention of the mind
otherwise all is happening
but mind is so cunning
that even when things are happening
it goes on translating them
as if he is doing them
for example people say i am breathing
you see the stupidity?
nobody is breathing; breathing is happening
if people were breathing
then it would be impossible for them to die
they may continue breathing
death may go on knocking on the door and
they may go on doing the dynamic meditation
then what to do?
they may even start breathing faster
we are not breathing
in fact just the opposite is the case
we are being breathed, existence is breathing us
and that is true about everything
when you are hungry you are not hungry
it has nothing to do with you, it is simply there
and when you eat and you digest
it has nothing to do with you
it is not that you are digesting it
just try for twenty-four hours to digest food
and you will have indigestion
remember constantly where the food has gone now
and where it is moving
and go on touching your belly and find places
now it must be here
and now the bread is being churned into blood
you will go crazy within twenty-four hours
everything is happening
that is one of the fundamentals
of my approach to life
we are not doers
we are just part of an immense happening
so all that is needed on our part is
to relax, rejoice, be in tune
that's what i mean by absolute contentment
then each moment brings so much ecstasy
and the moment one feels contentment
all problems disappear
as if they had never existed in the first place
uncontainable
so immense
that one can simply dance in sheer gratitude
my sannyasins are not dancing to attain to god
they are not dancing to attain to heavenly pleasures
they are dancing just out of sheer contentment
there is nothing else to do
it is not a means to some end
in fact it is the recognition that
all is already the case
and we are here
just to celebrate it
we are asleep
our sleep consists of discontentments
the only way to wake up is to drop discontentments
and it is very easy to drop them
because they are futile
even if you carry them
you will never be able to fulfil them
]nobody has ever been able
to fulfil his discontentments
it is an exercise in sheer futility
so the intelligent person
simply drops the whole trip
he does not waste his present for any future
he does not sacrifice this moment
for another moment
who knows about the next moment?
in fact the tomorrow never comes
so why waste the time that is available to you
for something which is not going to come?
but the discontented man lives int he future
and the contented man lives in the present
and to live in the present is to be awakened
there is no other secret to it
to live now
to live here is to be awakened
the unconscious person lives in dreams
he goes on creating new dreams
when old dreams fail
he immediately substitutes new dreams for them
his life is made not of realities but only of desires
the same stuff as dreams are made of
he lives in a cocoon of false notions
hallucinations, desires, expectations
and this is simply a way of committing suicide
a sannyasin has to come out of the cocoon
he has to drop all nonsense of the mind
and be in contact with reality, with that which is
and the reality is really fulfilling
just a single moment of the contact with reality
is far more valuable
than the whole eternity of dreaming
it is so nourishing
the method to come in contact with reality
is consciousness
because it is unconsciousness that prevents us
so the whole work of a sannyasin
is to move from unconscious states
to conscious states
slowly slowly changing every fibre of one's being
from unconsciousness to consciousness
and even if you can change a single moment
then you have got the key
you can change your whole life
only the first moment is a little bit difficult
because of our old habits
for that first moment to happen
a certain energy field is needed
where many people are trying to become conscious
their very fervour
creates a subtle whirlpool of energy around you
it starts moving you
that's the whole purpose of a buddhafield
that's the purpose of this commune
so many people trying to be loving
trying to be meditative, trying to be alert
create a certain vibe which can possess anybody
and once you have tasted a single moment
then there is no problem
then you can move on your own
the experience of contentment
is not a dull experience
it is one of the most brilliant experiences of life
just shining like the sun
hence your so-called saints
who look dull, stupid, dead
are giving enough proof
that they have not tasted contentment
they are simply suffocating themselves
they have created
a certain kind of satisfaction around themselves
but satisfaction is always dull
because it is a fabricated thing
a manufactured thing
it has no life, it has no song to it
but when contentment explodes
thousands of songs grow in you
so that has to be the criterion of
whether you are on the right road or not
whether you are moving in the right direction or not
if your song starts becoming deeper
if your joy becomes more and more intense
if your life starts taking a tremendous
passionate love quality to it
then that is enough proof, ample proof
that you are coming closer to home
there is a music which is heard only
when you have reached
the innermost core of your being
utterly contented
it is not ordinary music
it is not heard by the ears
it is heard by the soul itself
but it is overwhelming
there is nothing bigger than that
the moment one has experienced it
one has experienced the vastest expanse of space
even the whole sky seems to be very small
compared to it
the millions of stars are nothing
compared to the inner light
and the expanding universe
which goes on expanding
every moment with infinite speed
is nothing compared to the inner expansion
it can only be called music
there is no other word
which can adequately describe it
the zen people call it
the Sound
of one hand
Clapping
it has to be heard
without hearing it life is futile, meaningless
one can only vegetate but one cannot really live
life begins only with
the Sound
of one hand
Clapping
then for the first time you know
what it is all about
before it you were just like a robot or a sleepwalker
after it your eyes are open your being is open
and that opening is the opening
of the eternal temple of god
it takes you to the innermost shrine of existence
and it reveals to you all that is mysterious
it makes you capable of releasing
your own hidden splendour
and we are all carrying a world, a beyond within
and unless it is released one can never feel at ease
something will go on missing
sannyas is only a scientific endeavour
to release the hidden splendour of your being
to bring that which you have contained all along
to fulfilment
to flowering
it is an invitation for the spring