Osho on democracy

 

It is of critical importance that we do not let what’s happening in the world make us lose our capacity to love one another

I am having massive heart openings witnessing people from all different walks of life unite for freedom, and massive heartbreaks watching people dehumanize others, even their own families, over differences of belief and personal health decisions.

Since beginning of 2020, I’ve cried more times than I can count about how I’m experiencing what’s happening in the world. It breaks my heart. Crying helps me stay human. Knowing how to have a good cry helps free me so I can also have a good laugh. We need to keep being willing to FEEL what is happening and how this actually is for us— in order to stay HUMAN.

Nothing is worth losing your humanity over.

Nothing is worth hating another person over.

We will need to be able to grieve well to survive this Time of Transition. The grieving will help us to laugh, dance, sing, and create beauty, which will help us turn the darkness into light.

My point is, if we can stay in our human experience during these chaotic times it will give us the best chance to survive it—with our hearts still in tact.

It is of critical importance that we do not let what’s happening in the world make us lose our capacity to love one another.

It has been my life experience that trauma, when used as a catalyst for healing, can open our hearts to an even greater love than was ever possible before.

It breaks the armour around the heart right open.

I love you all. We will survive.

- Laura Matsue

—————————

“The problem is that, because you have repressed your tears of sadness, misery, pain — when you are joyful, rejoicing, then too your old repression continues; you go on holding your tears.”

“Don’t be uptight. Don’t live life according to principles. Live life in its totality, drink life in its totality! Yes, sometimes it tastes bitter—so what? That taste of bitterness will make you capable of tasting its sweetness. You will be able to appreciate the sweetness only if you have tasted its bitterness. The man who knows not how to cry will not know how to laugh either.”

- Osho

@timeoftransition

Let go of the past

There is only one courage

and that is the courage

to go on dying to the past,

not to collect it,

not to accumulate it,

not to cling to it.

We all cling to the past

and because we cling

to the past we become

unavailable

to the present.

~ Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

Walking in Zen, Sitting in Zen

Cannot be forced into a mechanical life

No society wants you to become wise: it is against the investment of all societies. If people are wise they cannot be exploited. If they are intelligent they cannot be subjugated, they cannot be forced into a mechanical life, to live like robots. They will assert themselves – they will assert their individuality. They will have the fragrance of rebellion around them; they will want to live in freedom.

OSHO

Rajneeshpuram & Healing (response to Wild Wild Country)

Counter-intuitive: Why "positive thinking" is terrible advice

Counter-intuitive: Why "positive thinking" is terrible advice

Why "positive thinking" won't help you out



When asked what he thinks of the "positive thinking" movement, Osho believes that it's doing more harm than good. Why? Because it means we're denying reality and being dishonest to ourselves:

"The philosophy of positive thinking means being untruthful; it means being dishonest. It means seeing a certain thing and yet denying what you have seen; it means deceiving yourself and others."

The negative is as much part of life as the positive. They balance each other.

zen-master-explains-positive-thinking-terrible-advice

Life is Not a Philosophy Class

To solve your problems means to give you an answer that intellectually satisfies you; and to dissolve your problem is to give you a method that makes you yourself aware that there is no problem at all: problems are all our own creations and there is no need for any answer.  ~ Osho

True freedom is always spiritual. It has something to do with your innermost being, which cannot be chained, handcuffed, or put into a jail.

Love is the lotus, lust is the mud the lotus arises out of.
~ OSHO

Atomic Moment

Buddha was searching for how to regain purity of consciousness, how to be free from the past, because unless you are free from the past you will remain in bondage, you will be a slave. The past is heavy on you and because of the past the present is never known. The past is known; the present is a very minute atomic moment. You go on missing it because of the past, and because of the past you go on projecting into the future. The past is projected into the future and both are false. The past is no more, the future is yet to be. Both are not, and that which is, is hidden between those two which are not.

Buddha was in search; he went from one teacher to another. He searched, and he went to many teachers, all of the known teachers. He consulted them, he allowed them to work upon him, he cooperated. He disciplined himself in many ways, but he was not fulfilled, and the difficulty was this: the teachers were interested in the future, in some liberated state somewhere beyond death, after the life is over. They were interested in some God, some Nirvana, some Moksha - some Liberated state - somewhere in the future, and Buddha was interested in the here and now, so there really was no meeting. He said to every teacher, "I am interested in the here and now." And they would say, "Apply 'this' method, do 'this', and if you do it rightly, someday i the future, in some future life, in some future state, you will attain."

Sooner or later he left every teacher, and then he tried by himself alone. What did he do? He did a very simple thing. Once you know it, it is very simple and obvious, but when you don't know it it is so arduous and so difficult, it seems impossible. He did only one thing: he remained with the present moment. He forgot his past and he forgot his future. He said, "I will be here and now. I will simply exist." If you can exist even for a single moment, you have known the taste - the taste of your pure consciousness. And once it is tasted you can never forget it. Then the taste, the flavor, remains with you, and that flavor becomes a transformation.

Osho -The Book of the Secrets Part 3

Techniques to Witness the Flux-Like Film of Life

a flower and the moon

THERE IS NOTHING YOU SEE THAT IS NOT A FLOWER;

THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN THINK OF WHICH IS NOT THE MOON.

Great statements, so condensed...

THERE IS NOTHING YOU SEE THAT IS NOT A FLOWER - it may be in the seed, it may be not yet manifest, but there is nothing that has not the potential to blossom.

THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN THINK OF WHICH IS NOT THE MOON - The moon has become symbolic in Zen because of Gautam Buddha. Gautam Buddha was born on a full-moon night, he became enlightened on a full-moon night, and he died on a full-moon night. Because of this coincidence the moon has become a symbol of Buddha. Wherever you are, whoever you are, you are the moon, the buddha.

- Turning In, Chapter #2 (OSHO)

osho-space

relaxation valley

Watch the waves in the ocean. The higher the wave goes the deeper is the wake that follows it. One moment you are the wave, another moment you are the hollow wake that follows. Enjoy both - don't get addicted to one. Don't say: I would always like to be on the peak. It is not possible. Simply see the fact: it is not possible. It has never happened and it will never happen. It is simply impossible - not in the nature of things. Then what to do? Enjoy the peak while it lasts and then enjoy the valley when it comes. What is wrong with the valley? What is wrong with being low? It is a relaxation. A peak is an excitement, and nobody can exist continuously in an excitement..

OSHO. Returning to the Source. Chapter 4.

one of the most difficult things for me to do

To forgive one's parents is one of the most difficult things, because they have given birth to you - how can you forgive them? Unless you start loving yourself, unless you come to a state in which are thrilled by your being - how can you thank your parent's? It is impossible. You will be angry - they have given birth to you, and they didn't even ask you first. They have created this horrible person. Why should you suffer because they decided to give birth to a child? You were not a party to it. Why have you been dragged into the world? Hence the rage. If you come to a point where you can love yourself, where you feel really ecstatic that you are, where you're gratefulness knows no limitation, then suddenly you feel great love arising for your parents. They have been the doors for you to enter into existence. Without them this ecstasy would not have been possible - they have made it possible. If you can celebrate your being -- and that is the whole purpose of my work, to help you to celebrate your being -- then suddenly you can feel gratitude for your parents, for their compassion, their love. You can not only feel grateful, you also forgive them.

OSHO - EVERYDAY OSHO.

guilt free humanity...

One thing has to be absolutely clear about my work: I don't want anybody to feel guilty about anything. I want humanity to be completely free from guilt. Now all the religions of the world have done just the opposite: they have made people feel very, very guilty. They have made all people feel like sinners. That's why the world is so miserable. The ceremony has lost its music, its dance. Everybody is so sad and the whole thing has become ugly because everybody is so guilty. If you eat this, you are guilty; if you drink that, you are guilty. If you make love to this woman, you are guilty. If you have some revolutionary ideas, you are guilty. If you have some eccentric sexuality, you are guilty.... a thousand and one traps to make you guilty! Unless you completely deaden yourself you cannot be respected. So society respects only dead people, and the alive people are all guilty and sinners. My whole approach is just the contrary, the diametrically opposite-I would like you to feel happy. Whatsoever you do, you are excepted!

OSHO - At the Feet of the Master.

trust

The person who follows others has no trust in himself, that's why he follows others. The man who has trust in himself learns from others but does not follow. He follows his own insight. Whatsoever the risk he never compromises.

OSHO

insensitive man

Everyone learns sooner or later that to be sensitive is to be vulnerable to many things. You pull yourself in; you create a barrier around you that is a safeguard – a safety measure. Then you can go on through the streets. Beggars are begging and there are dirty ugly slums, but you do not feel anything, you do not see really. In this ugly society, one has to create a barrier around himself, a wall – a subtle, transparent wall – behind which he can hide. Otherwise it will be very difficult to live.

That is why insensitivity sets in. it helps you to be in this ugly world without being disturbed, but then at a cost – and the cost is very much. You are at ease in this world without being disturbed, but then you cannot enter into the divine, into the Total, into the Whole. You cannot enter the other world. If for this world insensitivity is good and for that world sensitivity is good, that creates the problem. If you are really interested in entering that world, you will have to create sensitivity. You will have to throw all these walls, these securities.

Of course, you will become vulnerable. You will feel much suffering, but that suffering is nothing in comparison to the bliss you can reach through sensitivity. The more sensitive you become, the more you will feel compassion. But you will suffer because all around you there is hell. You are closed: that is why you cannot feel it. Once you become open, you will be open to both – to the hell of this world and the heaven of that world. You will become open to both! And it is impossible to remain closed at one point and open at another because, really, either you are closed or you are open. If you are closed, you are closed for both. If you are open, you will be open for both. So remember this: a Buddha is filled with bliss, but also filled with suffering.

That suffering is not of his own. It is for others. He is in deep bliss, but he suffers for others. And Mahayana Buddhists say that when Buddha reached to the door of Nirvana, the gatekeeper opened the door (this is a myth, and very beautiful), the doorkeeper opened the door, but Buddha refused to enter.

The doorkeeper said. “Why are you not coming? For millennia we have been waiting for you. Every day the news comes that Buddha is coming, Buddha is coming. The whole heaven is waiting for you. Enter! You are welcome!” Buddha said, “I cannot enter unless everyone else has entered before me. I will wait! Unless every single human being has entered, heaven is not for me.”

Buddha has a suffering for others. As for himself, he is now deep in bliss. See the parallel? You are deep in suffering, and you go on feeling that everyone is enjoying life. Quite the contrary happens to a Buddha. He is now in deep bliss, and he knows that everyone else is suffering.

Osho - The Book Of Secrets - Changing The Direction Of Energy

Bring out the faith in me

I sometimes find it hard to express myself and I find this quite frustrating. I sometimes think that people have the same perception as me and the same view on things. Obviously this is madness (hence my out-of-control mad states) because everyone has their own individual insight and that is an amazing thing.

I have a strange perception (personality INFJ) often clairvoyant, this can be rather freaky at times, I am also pretty introverted and this results in frustration at others not being on the same frequency, this can also result in me being rather demanding of others. I have to be very carefull what I share with others and be responsible with my mindstate.

Although there are many people very close to me that have no idea what's going on inside me and if I told them would only be worse off, I cannot ignore the fact that I have been blessed with a group of fantastic people. I have some quality friends, they are all kind of crazy, but I know that they care about me. They keep me alive while I'm dealing with my issues and healing my hurts and they are often the ones that bring out the faith in me. This post is for them. Peace.

Here's Osho:

Choose for thy friend, the friend of virtue; yield to his gentle counsels, profit by his life, and for a trifling grievance never leave him.…

Friendship has also disappeared from the world. What you call friendship has nothing to do with the ancient idea of friendship. Your friendship is just accidental. You work in the same office, so you have become friendly. Or you study in the same college, so you become friendly. This is not real friendship.

Pythagoras says: Choose for thy friend . You cannot choose your father, you cannot choose your mother, you cannot choose your family -- but you can choose your friend. You can choose your woman, you can choose your man -- that too is an extension of friendship.

Choose for thy friend, the friend of virtue….

...One who has some grace, who has some flowering, who has some quality around him, who has an energy field of virtue. By "virtue" is not meant the righteous, no. Not the holier-than-thou, no. By "virtue" is meant one in whose company you suddenly start feeling a tremendous well-being; in whose company, in whose vibe, something starts dancing in you; whose presence helps you to soar high.

Choose a friend, and then ultimately you will be able to choose a Master -- because the Master is the ultimate friend. If you cannot choose friends you will not be able to choose the Master either. Choose good friends, and then one day you will be able to choose the ultimate friend. Yield to his gentle counsels, profit by his life….

And when you choose a friend, listen to his counsels. He will not enforce them -- they will be gentle whisperings. He will not be very loud. He will not argue, he will not command -- he will only suggest, he will only hint, he will only indicate. And that is the case with the ultimate friend, the Master.

Buddha says: buddhas only point the way. They don't make it very loud because they don't want to be violent. They don't want to drag you according to themselves; they have no desire to dominate you. They simply express whatsoever they have known and understood -- now it is up to you to follow or not to follow.

And learn from his life, be profited by his life -- not only his words, but see the way the friend lives. See his actual life and watch it. This is the only way to learn in life. People are scriptures -- you have to learn how to read the language. People are great secrets, each person is carrying a great secret. If you know how to listen to it you will be tremendously benefited.

Osho, Philosophia Perennis, Volume 1, Number 1

Mysteries

We can live mysteries, we can become one with them, we can lose ourselves in them, we can have a totally difference existence, the very quality changes -- but nothing is solved, because nothing can be solved. And all that appears to be solvable, all that appears to be knowable, is only because we are taking it in fragments. If we look at the whole then nothing is knowable, we just go on pushing the mystery backwards. All our questions are temporary, they appear to be answers only to lazy minds. If you have a penetrating mind you will come again upon the same mystery, only it has been pushed back, a step back. Just behind the answers the question is hidden. You have simply created a facade of an answer, just a curtain over the mystery.

~ Osho

The Book Of Secrets

here

The 'truth' is only a way of speaking; there is not something labeled 'Truth,' that one day you will find and open the box and see the contents and say, 'Great! I have found the truth.' There is no such box. Your existence is the truth, and when you are silent you are in truth. And if the silence is absolute then you are the ultimate truth. But don't think of the truth as an object –it is not an object. It is not there, it is here.

Osho

self-actualized Buddha

by Osho

A buddha is a self-actualized person: that is why we picture Buddha, Mahavir and others - that is why we have made sculptures, pictures, depictions of them - sitting on a fully blossomed lotus. That fully blossomed lotus is the peak of flowering inside. Inside they have flowered and have becomed fully blossomed. That inner flowering gives a radiance, a constant showering of bliss from them. All those who have come even within their shadows, all those who come near them, feel a silent milieu around them.

There is an interesting report about Mahavir. It is a myth, but myths are beautiful and they say much what cannot be said otherwise. It is reported that when Mahavir would move, all around him, in an area of about 24 miles, all flowers would bloom. Even if it was not the season for the flowers, they would bloom. This is simply a poetic expression, but even if one was not self-actualized, if one were to come into contact with Mahavir his flowering would become infectious, and one would feel an inner flowering in oneself also. Even if it were not the right season for a person, even if he was not ready, he would reflect. He would feel an echo within himself, and he would have a glimpse of what he could be.

Self-actualization is the basic need. And when I say "basic" I mean that if all your needs are fulfilled, all except self-realisation, self-actualization, you will feel unfulfilled. On the contrary, if self-actualization happens and nothing is fulfilled, still you will feel a deep, total fulfilment. That is why Buddha was a beggar, but yet an emperor.

Buddha came to Kashi when he became enlightened. The king of Kashi came to see him and he asked, "I do not see anything with you. You are just a beggar, but yet I feel myself a beggar in comparison to you. You do not have anything, but the way you walk, the way you look, the way you laugh, makes it seem as if the whole world is your kingdom - and you have nothing visible - nothing! So where is the secret of your power? You look like an emporor. Really, no emperor has ever looked like that - as if the whole world belongs to you. You are the king, but where is your power, the source?"

So Buddha said, "It is in me. My power, my source of power, whatsoever you feel around me, is really within me. I do not have anything except myself, but it is enough. I am fulfilled; now I do not desire anything. I have become desireless."

Fulfillment Through Becoming Centered

- The Book Of Secrets

Self - Actualization

by Osho

"Is self-actualization a basic need of man?"

First, try to understand what is meant by "self-actualization". A. H. Maslow has used this term "self-actualization". Man is born as potentiality. He is not really actual - just potential. Man is born as a possibility, not as an actuality. he may become something. He may attain actualization of his potentiality or he may not attain. The opportunity may be used or it may not be used - and nature is not forcing you to become actual. You are free. You can choose to become actual; you can choose not to do anything about it. Man is born as a seed. Thus no man is born fulfilled - just with the possibility of fulfillment.

If that is the case (and that is the case), then self-actualization becomes a basic need - because unless you are fulfilled, unless you become what you can be or what you are meant to be, unless your destiny is fulfilled, unless you actually attain, unless your seed becomes a fulfilled tree, you will feel that you are missing something. And everyone is feeling, everyone is feeling, that he is missing something. That feeling is really because of this, that you are not yet actual.

It is not really that you are missing riches or position, prestige or power. Even if you get whatsoever you demand - riches, power, prestige, anything - you will feel this constant sense of something missing within you, because this "something missing" is not related with anything outward. It is related with your inner growth. Unless you become fulffiled, unless you come to a realization, a flowering, unless you come to an inner satisfaction in which you feel, "Now this is what I was meant to be," this sense of something missing will be felt. And you cannot destroy this feeling of something missing by anything else.

So self-actualization means a person who has become what he was to become. He was born as a seed and now he has flowered. He has come to the complete growth, an inner growth, to the inner end. The moment you feel that all your potentialities have become actual, you will feel the peak of life, of love, of existence itself.

Abraham Maslow who used this term "self-actualization" has also coined another term: "peak experience." When one attains to oneself, he reaches a peak - a peak of bliss. Then there is no hankering after anything. He is totally content with himself. Now nothing is lacking: there is no desire, no demand, no movement. Whatsoever he is, he is totally content with himself. Self-actualization becomes a peak experience, and only a self-actualized person can attain peak experiences. Then whatsoever he touches, whatsoever he is doing or not doing, even just existing, is a peak experience for him; just to be is blissfull. Then bliss is not concerned with anything outside. It is just a by-product of inner growth.

Fulfillment Through Becoming Centered

- The book of Secrets

Self-actualized Buddha