Suchness

Beloved Osho, there is a word that has often touched me deeply. By just remembering it from time to time it feels as if it can heal wounds, and it brings stillness and contentment. This word is suchness. Would you like to talk about suchness?

Sadhan, it is certainly one of the most significant words in the whole language. It started with Gautam Buddha. The language that Gautam Buddha used was Pali. It has died; now it is no longer a living language. But a few words were so important that they have remained alive in other languages. The Pali word for suchness... because suchness is only a translation of that word; in English there has been nobody who has used that word or experienced the taste of that word. The Pali word is tathata. And because of the word tathata, one of the names of Gautam Buddha is tathagata. He was the first to use that word and give it so much meaning and depth. The English word suchness perfectly translates the Pali word tathata. If you understand its meaning, just the very understanding of the word is certainly going to bring great healing…

Question: BELOVED OSHO, ONE SUCHNESS TO TAKE UP THIS GREAT AFFAIR, YOU MUST HAVE A DETERMINED WILL. IF YOU'RE HALF BELIEVING AND HALF IN DOUBT, THERE'LL BE NO CONNECTION. AN ANCIENT WORTHY SAID, "STUDYING THE PATH IS LIKE DRILLING FOR FIRE. YOU STILL CAN'T STOP WHEN YOU GET SMOKE: ONLY WHEN SPARKS APPEAR IS THE RETURN HOME COMPLETE." WANT TO KNOW WHERE IT'S COMPLETE? -- IT'S THE WORLDS OF SELF AND THE WORLDS OF OTHERS AS ONE SUCHNESS. FAITH BUDDHA SAID, "FAITH CAN FOREVER DESTROY THE ROOT OF AFFLICTION; FAITH CAN FOCUS YOU ON THE VIRTUES OF BUDDHAHOOD." HE ALSO SAID, "FAITH CAN TRANSCEND THE NUMEROUS ROADS OF DELUSION, AND DISPLAY THE PATH OF UNEXCELLED LIBERATION.

Question: BELOVED MASTER, WHAT IS tathata -- TOTAL ACCEPTANCE? The story is that the first thing that Zarathustra did when he was born was, he laughed loudly. Can you think of a more rebellious child? Children are not supposed to laugh when they are born; they are supposed to cry, but not supposed to laugh. He must have shocked his parents and the neighborhood and the people who had heard his laughter. Why did he laugh? And such a person is not reliable, not reliable at all -- this is a dangerous man! He has done his first act of rebellion. He has already said that "I am not going to be a part of the crowd -- enough is enough. Many children have cried, I don't follow them. I will start my life with laughter." Whether it really happened or not is not the question.

[To a sannyasin, who had just arrived from the States, Osho recommended the Tathata group, describing it as 'suchness' -- just being totally in the moment... ] ... as if all bridges are broken and there is no past and no future. Time is only this moment, herenow. And whatsoever happens is the only way that life can happen to you. There is no 'should', no 'oughts', no goal, no ideal... just being existential, almost like an innocent animal: not knowing any memory, any imagination. Animals don't know that they have been yesterday and they don't know that they are going to be tomorrow. They just live this day. The only life they have is of the moment. Tathata is a group in which you have to live like an animal, in the immediate, in the pure present, and without any 'should', because all 'shoulds' bring in the future.