Sthitaprajna

When no desire arises for objects worthy of being enjoyed, know this as the limit of nonattachment. When no I-ness arises, know this as the limit of knowing.

WHEN THE DISSOLVED DESIRES DO NOT ARISE BACK AGAIN, THIS IS THE LIMIT OF RELAXEDNESS, AND SUCH A STHITPRAGYA, A SEEKER, STABLE IN WISDOM, EVER REMAINS IN BLISS. HE WHOSE SELF IS ABSORBED ONLY IN BRAHMA, THE ULTIMATE REALITY, REMAINS DESIRELESS AND ACTIONLESS. WHEN PURIFIED BY ITS ONENESS WITH BRAHMA AND DROWNED IN THIS ONE SINGLE RAPTURE, THE ACTIVITIES OF MIND ARE CHOICELESS AND REMAIN ONLY AS THE CONSCIOUSNESS, THEN IT IS CALLED PRAGYA, THE WISDOM. HE WHO ALWAYS HAS SUCH A PRAGYA IS CALLED JIVANAMUKTA, THE ONE LIBERATED WHILE LIVING. ONE WHO HAS NO I-NESS FOR HIS BODY AND THE SENSES, AND NO MY-NESS FOR THE OTHER THINGS, IS A JIVANAMUKTA, THE ONE LIBERATED WHILE LIVING. WHEN NO DESIRE ARISES FOR OBJECTS WORTHY OF BEING ENJOYED, THEN KNOW THIS AS THE LIMIT OF NONATTACHMENT. WHEN NO I-NESS ARISES, KNOW THIS AS THE LIMIT OF KNOWING. People come to me…

Osho, before discussing the process of entering a conscious death, I would like to ask: what is the difference between stupor and awakening? What do we call the state of unconsciousness? In other words, in wakefulness and in unconsciousness, what is the state of the jivatma’s consciousness?

Religion is a search for attention; so, in their own way, are gambling, battle, hunting. The man who enters the forest to hunt a lion is also seeking attention; so is the yogi in a cave striving at the ajna chakra. The search may be noble or ignoble, desirable or undesirable, successful or futile—but the underlying hunger is one. Attention means: the knowing power within me becomes fully manifest—no part left potential or dormant. Whatever capacity to know I carry turns from potential into actual. In the moment a person is fully awake, in that very moment he fully is. Awakening and being happen together. Think of a seed: the tree is hidden in the seed, but only potentially. The seed can die without becoming a tree; the tree is not a necessity, only a possibility. When the tree manifests, it is the seed in its expressed form. Sleep is…

Osho, you just spoke about Krishna’s choicelessness. But the Gita mentions that if death occurs when the sun is in Uttarayana, there is liberation. If it happens during Dakshinayana, does one face any difficulty? And about the sthitaprajna and the bhakta as spoken of in the Gita—what is the similarity or difference between the two? A sthitaprajna remains unperturbed in pleasure and unperturbed in pain; isn’t there a danger that in such a state his sensitivity will get blunted? If he does not take pleasure as pleasure and pain as pain, how can we call his sensitivity human?

For example, I love someone. Then there is the lover, and there is the beloved. But in love moments come when neither the one who loves remains nor the one who is loved; only a wave of love remains that touches both. One wave remains that has two ends: on one end the lover appears to be, on the other end the beloved appears to be. Only a wave of love remains. And in the deep moments of love, lover and beloved do not remain—only love remains. These are moments of nonduality. Similar moments occur in witnessing—moments of nonduality. Subject and object vanish; only consciousness remains, with two poles—one far, one near. The near pole is what we have been calling “I”; the far pole is what we have been calling “Thou.” But now they are the two ends of a single wave. The day this state is attained in…

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…