Disturbances

Beloved Osho, I have heard that some people claim to be doing the same work that you do. Is it not true that while others are trying to alter the major disturbances in people's programs, your only reason for living is to ensure the elimination of the programs altogether? In any case, could one program eliminate another, even if it wanted to? Are they not left behind on the shores of western maintenance-man psychology? -- tepid reformers, not revolutionaries?

He had a paralysis of the left side so he could not even hold a cup of tea with his own hands. His left hand was almost dead and his right hand was also trembling; he was old and weak so somebody would have to hold his cup. Even drinking the tea was difficult because half of his face was paralyzed. So tea would be flowing all over his robe and just in the middle... he lived only on tea. He would give the cup to somebody. half the tea he had taken himself, and half he would give to somebody -- whoever was present there. That was his prasad. Such a disgusting scene... because his saliva was going into it and people would drink that tea as if they had found nectar. And these were the people who had gone there for some desire to be fulfilled, some sickness…

A friend has asked: Osho, people often think that only those who are mentally disordered, overly emotional, or tormented by life's difficulties turn toward yoga or spirituality. Madness or frenzy is often assumed to be the starting point of spiritual practice!

Those who think so are right—up to a point. Their mistake is not in seeing that people troubled and tormented by the mind are drawn toward meditation, yoga, and spirituality; that much is true. But those who believe themselves to be mentally untroubled are just as afflicted—and they, too, should bow toward it. To be human is to be afflicted. The very way man is constituted carries pain. Human existence is sorrowful. So the truly foolish one is the person who imagines they will attain bliss without turning toward the spiritual. There is no other way to bliss. And the sooner one bows, the better. It is true that those who incline toward spirituality are mentally troubled. But note the other side: the very moment they bow, their mental pain begins to dissolve. With that bowing, the frenzy begins to disappear. Passing through the process of spirituality, they become healthy,…

Question: BELOVED OSHO, WHY IS IT THAT WESTERN SOCIETY REACTS SO STRONGLY TO ANY INDIVIDUAL DEVIATING FROM THE NORM, PARTICULARLY AS FAR AS HIS MENTAL STATE IS CONCERNED? IT LOOKS ON THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN BELOW THE MIND IN SUCH A WAY AS TO CAST A STIGMA ON THEM, AND REGARDS THE POSSIBILITY OF GOING BEYOND THE MIND -- ENLIGHTENMENT -- -WITH SKEPTICISM. IT DOES ALLOW A SLIGHT MARGIN OF DEVIATION IN ITS CREATIVE PEOPLE AND GENIUSES; HENCE SUCH PEOPLE ARE EXCUSED FOR THEIR "ECCENTRICITIES." IT IS AS IF THE MIND IS THE TOUCHSTONE OF ONE'S ADJUSTMENT TO SOCIETY, AND ANY ABERRATION THAT MIGHT THREATEN THE STATUS QUO IS REGARDED WITH FEAR. WHAT IS THAT FEAR? -- BOTH OF THE SICK MIND AND THE ENLIGHTENED NO-MIND? In the East we have tried for a breakTHROUGH, not for a breakdown.

Osho, what do those people mean who say that, so that there is no explosion, one should search within with a subtle, refined vision...

But the effortless awakening I speak of—once it arrives, there is no question of its departure, because you did not bring it; it came. Gradually you and awakening are not two; you are the awakening. You did not make even anger “the other,” so how would awakening be “other”? It becomes you. There is no question of its return. Whatever we have truly known cannot be unknown. You cannot undo knowing. Yes, what we have merely learned by rote can wobble. But what is known—like a child who comes to know love; once he knows, he cannot un‑know it. Knowing becomes part of you; it cannot fall away. Reading four books about love is different; that can be forgotten. Through the experiment of awakening, whatever happens in us reveals itself gradually. Awakening is not something that comes from outside; it is your inner being uncovering itself. If it were an…