Thursday, January 03, 2008

There is a very old Egyptian saying: Even the right thing becomes wrong in wrong hands. And the contrary is also true; Even the wrong thing becomes right in right hands. Ultimately things are decided by the quality of your being- not what you do but what you are; that has to be remembered.

OSHO.
Far Beyond the Stars:
Darshan Diary.
Monday July 25. 1977.

Saturday, June 23, 2007


[A sannyasin said he had a problem with his homosexuality, and he is afraid to be here.]

The first thing: heterosexual or homosexual, the answer is not in sex -- so it is not the question of homosexuality. Even if you are a heterosexual, the answer is not there. Looking in the direction of sex there is no answer, so they are both the same.

The first thing: drop worrying about it! Just by being a heterosexual nothing better is going to happen -- it will be the same. So accept your homosexuality just as you accept other things -- hunger.... Now life's answer is not there in eating food -- every day you will feel hungry again, again full, and again hungry. The answer is not there, but that does not mean that because the answer is not there you stop taking food, otherwise you will die.

The answer is not in taking a bath, but that doesn't mean you should stop taking a bath, otherwise you will become dirty and nauseous. The answer is somewhere else, that is true, but to look somewhere else the basic requirement is to accept your normal things. Don't bother about them too much. If you feel homosexual it is perfectly good, nothing is wrong in it. That is also a way of relating -- nothing wrong in it... a little strange, but nothing abnormal about it.

[The sannyasin says: But I can't relate, that's the problem: I cannot relate to people.]

You think that heterosexuals are relating? Who is relating? Everybody is in the same boat! Relating is a great problem -- you cannot relate unless you are rooted in your being... you cannot relate. It has nothing to do with relationship to the other; it has something to do with your inner integration.

Only an integrated person can relate, and the paradox is that he does not bother! An integrated person is not bothered about relating or not relating: if it happens, good; if it doesn't happen, it's good. He is happy with himself, his happiness does not depend on relationship... but only he can relate. And the person who is not self-integrated cannot relate, is continuously bothered about how to relate, and thinks that everything will be good if he can relate.

You have to come to your consciousness, and I am saying that the first requirement is: don't be disturbed too much about your ordinary life, don't create any obsession. If you feel to be homosexual, it is good; if it changes some day and you become heterosexual, that too is good. If you again become homosexual, that too is good. These are ordinary things, nothing worth being worried about. You need not force your attention on them -- they should be taken for granted.

If you eat this type of food, that is good; if you eat another type of food, that too is good. The problem is not there. For example, somebody comes and he says, 'I smoke a certain brand of cigarettes -- now this is my problem.' The brand cannot be the problem: you can change the brand of cigarettes, but the problem will remain the same. That is exactly the thing with the heterosexual and the homosexual: you just change the brand of the cigarette, nothing else.

The first and very fundamental thing is to accept the way you are so there is no need to be bothered about it, no more energy is to be put there. Once that has happened, your energy is available to move inwards. Then you can put your energy more into meditation, not into thinking about how to relate. How to be, let that be your problem: not how to relate... because you can relate only when you are. How can you relate? -- because you can relate only when you are. How can you relate when you are not?

A man came to Buddha -- he was a very rich man -- and he wanted to serve humanity. He wanted Buddha to bless him so that he could open many charitable institutions, hospitals, colleges, schools, and serve humanity. Buddha looked at him with deep compassion -- as if he were very sorry for the man. The man became a little embarrassed. and he said, 'Why are you looking at me as if I am in some trouble? I am not in any trouble -- I have enough money, don't be worried about that!' Buddha said, 'I am not worried about that... I am worried about how you can help humanity. You are not, so whatsoever you will do will be harmful. Please, first be, then only do something!'

So shift the emphasis. It has nothing to do with heterosexuality, homosexuality; nothing to do with it. I accept it as it is: It is good; don't make a problem out of it. If you make a problem out of it you will be continuously stuck there. Not making a problem of it means that now your energy is available, you can move somewhere else.

And relationship remains difficult.... Only a very few people who have come home can relate. Those who are rooted, grounded in their being, only they can relate; otherwise communication is difficult. In fact there is nothing to relate to, nobody to relate from. With whom are you trying to relate? You are not and the person you are trying to relate to is not -- just two ghosts trying to relate, trying to hug each other, and passing through each other because they are not; so the hugging never happens. They are shadows.... First become substantial. So please accept your homosexuality -- it is perfectly normal, nothing is wrong about it. And this is my feeling: once you have known the world of the homosexual, the world of the heterosexual will never appeal to you. There are a thousand and one reasons for it....

A man easily understands the language of the other man -- the woman has a different attitude about everything. If you cannot relate with a man, it will be more difficult to relate with women, because they don't speak the same language.

I used to stay with a family and I watched the problem. Both the husband and wife are good people, very good people, but are constantly arguing and nagging and constantly at the edge, never at ease. I watched them and I saw what the problem was: they were not speaking the same language. In fact no woman speaks the same language as the man -- cannot! And no man speaks the same language as the woman -- he cannot! They are different types of creatures.

When a woman wants to think about something she talks about it. When a man wants to think about something he keeps quiet. When a man is thinking and the woman comes and disturbs him -- for small things: she may ask 'Would you like to have another cup of coffee?' -- he is angry and he says, 'If I need, I will ask!'

Now, she was very loving and he is very blunt. On the surface it seems that it is very ugly of the man to rebuff her in that way, but what is happening inside? He was thinking about something -- now she brings a cup of coffee and disturbs his whole track of thought. He thinks only when he is silent, and when the woman wants to think, she talks -- that is her way of thinking: she thinks aloud.

A husband sitting silently looks as if he is angry or something, sad or something, and when the wife continuously talks the husband thinks, 'She never thinks! What is the matter? She just goes on talking -- never thinks. She has nothing to say and goes on talking!' Two different kinds of psychologies... so remember that. Once you are interested homosexually you have found a relationship which is easier, less challenging, less risky, with less conflict. That's why homosexuals are called 'gay' -- they are gay! Heterosexuals are always sad, there is always some problem or other.

Homosexuals are really gay, happy people -- they understand each other. If you understand yourself a little bit, you understand the other man you love. There is a great ' understanding between the persons... and it is so with lesbians.

A woman understands another woman. Once a woman is a lesbian it is very difficult to turn her energy into heterosexuality, very difficult because she relates well -- better -- with a woman. She understands her heart -- it is her own heart; they belong to the same world and the same dimension.

So once it happens it becomes very difficult to change. But I am not saying that there is any need to move to the other -- there is no need: accept it, nothing is wrong in it. Accept yourself totally and be happy the way you are.

[The sannyasin says: Really, I want to just get up and dance all the time.... But I feel very restricted.]

No, no, nobody is restricting you. Be gay!


This Is It Chapter #4 4 May 1977

Monday, May 21, 2007

Homosexuality is not such a big problem, it is not a problem at all, in fact. It is part of human freedom. There is nothing wrong if two persons choose a certain style of sexual relationship; it should be nobody's business. But the priests and the politicians are poking their noses into everything! They create guilt in you -- absolutely unnecessary. If two men are in love, what is wrong in it? What harm are they doing to anybody? In fact, they look happier than the heterosexuals; that's why they are called "gay".... Homosexuals become more feminine and they start having a certain beauty, a certain "richness" about them, a certain roundness, a grace... Why make much out of a simple thing? If you are enjoying a relationship with a man, enjoy it! The Christian God himself seems to be homosexual -- the whole trinity consists of three men. How they are managing it nobody knows -- not a single woman! Only the Holy Ghost is a little suspect -- maybe the Holy Ghost is bisexual? Ghosts can do any kind of thing! Otherwise the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost -- what kind of trinity is this? It is very homosexual! They have not allowed a single woman to be in it, just to keep out of trouble. One woman would have destroyed the whole trinity; it would have become a real triangle! So homosexuality is not a problem. We should start looking at real problems and should not be concerned about unreal problems. There are real problems to be solved. And this is a trick of the human mind: to create unreal problems so that you become occupied with them while real problems go on growing. And this is an old strategy: politicians, priests, so-called religious leaders go on giving you pseudo-problems to solve so that you become occupied with the pseudo. The problem in itself is meaningless, the problem is not a problem at all, but how much fuss has gone on down the ages about homosexuality! There are countries where people are still killed for homosexual acts, murdered, sentenced to jail for their whole lives. Strange world! This is a 20th Century world? Homosexuality is not a problem at all; there are thousands of real problems to be solved. But man has to be kept engaged with toys. My effort is to withdraw all your attention from toys so that you can focus on the real problems of life; and if you focus on the real problems of life, they can be solved. Now, I don't see how homosexuality becomes a problem. How does it become a problem? Why should it be of concern to anybody? A love affair is two individuals' private concern; it is their intimacy, it is not a social phenomenon. And, in fact, it will help the world population if more people turned homosexual. It will be good, very good for the world: less people will be born, the earth will be less burdened, there will be less poverty. Of course, less orphans and less Mother Teresa’s! There will be less need for contraceptives, birth control methods, sterilization, and of course the whole business of the Polack Pope will go out of his hands. That is his whole business! For one year continuously, he has been talking against contraceptives, against birth control, sterilization, abortion. Homosexuality can solve all these problems simply! So I don't see there is much problem in it.... Don't make unnecessary problems for yourself, so that your whole energy can become focused on the essential problem. And the essential problem is only one: Know thyself!
OSHO.
The Goose Is Out, #3
It is possible that some day in the future psychoanalysts will say that in the past people had fixations -- somebody was a homosexual, fixed; somebody was a heterosexual, fixed -- now people are more free. That will become the normal, healthy consciousness -- freedom. That to is a freedom. Always look at things so that you can find something good to be happy about. Life is short, and happiness is very difficult, so don't miss any opportunity to be happy. Ordinarily we go on doing the opposite: we don't miss any opportunity to be unhappy -- everything makes us unhappy! Heterosexual are not happy and homosexuals are not happy. The homosexual is worried: how to get out of it? And do you think that heterosexual are very happy? They don't seem to be happy at all. They are burdened with a thousand and one problems. People who are bachelors are unhappy, they feel they are lonely. And people who are married are unhappy -- they think why did they get tied in the first place? Everybody is unhappy here; and my whole approach is to make you happy. Now there are two ways: either I should tell you' Do this, then you will be happy.’ Then you will never be happy -- this is what has been done to humanity. There have been people who have been saying’ You can be happy, but do this first. First be heterosexual then you will be happy.' Now they have created unhappiness for you. For the heterosexual they say' Become celibate, then you will be happy.’ They always have clues for people.’ Whatsoever you are not' they go on saying' be that and you will be happy.’ And you cannot be that, so you are never happy. And you never see the trick of it, that this is the whole process of making you unhappy. I want you to be happy right now, so I cannot say' Be that.’ I can simply say’ Whatsoever you are, be happy in it‘! If out of happiness it changes, good; if it doesn't change, very good. Relax!
OSHO. FOR MADMEN ONLY.
Price of Admission Your Mind.
DARSHAN DIARY. FRIDAY.APRIL 22 1977.
OSHO:How are you?

DIVYANANDA. Okay -- a little confused, but... There’s a part of me that keeps looking at the whole sexuality and wants to go' Agh! Enough!' But I don't know how to get out of it.

OSHO. [With a chuckle] There is no need to get out of anything.

DIVYANANDA. Okay.

OSHO. Enjoy it! Why get out of it? If, by enjoying it, one day you are out of it, that too his okay -- but there is no need to get out of it. Whatsoever comes natural is good -- easy is right.

DIVYANANDA. I was in the garden the other day, I was looking around, and suddenly there was something about it.... I was looking at it and suddenly something that isn't natural.... The homosexuality -- I suddenly looked at it as not being natural.

OSHO. No, no, no. The unnatural cannot happen -- that's my definition of nature. How can the unnatural happen, just tell me? If it happens it must be natural [With a chuckle] -- otherwise how can it be? And it is happening only to man because man is more alert and conscious, because man is more intelligent -- he finds out new ways to relate So nothing to be worried about! In fact when you are in love with a woman or a woman is in love with a man, it is a biological phenomenon. When a man is in love with a man or a woman is in love with a woman, it is more psychological than biological. In fact it shows that you have, in a way, gone beyond the ordinary biology. You have taken a step aside -- you are fed up with the ordinary biology, you want to relate in a certain new way which only man can do. So always look at things in a very positive attitude. It has happened to you, it must be something in you that has evolved into it. Now don't bother what others say -- nobody has the right to interfere with your life. It is your life, and if you decide to be homosexual it is perfectly okay. Accept it in deep love and gratitude. Always look at things so that you can find something good to be happy about. Life is short, and happiness is very difficult, so don't miss any opportunity to be happy.
OSHO For Madmen Only. Darshan Diary. Friday April 22.1977.
Remember: each human being, maybe the human being is Alexander the Great or just a beggar on the roadside, each human being is as fragile as anybody else. Deep down he is the same-the same consciousness, the same fear,the same death, the same lust, the same love: all exists the same.Accept yourself, allow your unconscious to be revealed to you. This is how each human being is. By knowing it, you become a different kind of human being. By accepting it, cherishing it, you bring a revolution to your life. And when you look at others with that understanding, you will not find strangers; you will find all are friends.Nervousness disappears; what is there to be nervous about? We are all in the same boat."
OSHO.
Tarot in the Spirit of Zen.
Page 198.
Your problem is that you don't have any problems-you create them. You have got into the habit of creating them-and you enjoy them. This is the problem: If one starts enjoying problems, it is very difficult to get out because you have much investment in them. Otherwise you can get out right this moment. Not for a single moment you need to wait, because they are your created problems.There are people who have real problems, there are people whohave imaginary problems. Your problems are imagination. There is nothing wrong in their being imaginative. You are an imaginative person, a creative person. You not only write novels,you have created a novel around you. It is just a fiction,all your problems are just fictitious, because I can see that your energy is absolutely pure; there is no problem at all. So in a way it is very simple to get out of them; in a way it is very difficult. If there is a problem, something can be done. But there is no problem so nothing can be done. You will have to get out of it.
OSHO
THE GREAT NOTHING.

DARSHAN DIARY.
Monday 20 September 1977.
What happens is that the mind gets into a double bind.For example if a person is negative, she suffers. But by being negative, she enjoys a few things that a positive person cannot enjoy. For example a negative person will be thought to be very intelligent. A positive person will not be thought to be very intelligent because the positive person will not criticize anybody.The positive person will look shallow, and the negative person will look very deep.So if you become negative, you suffer,but there is some pay-off, and that is that people think you're very critical, very intelligent, very logical, this and that,and all nonsense! You suffer inside, but you cannot lose this profit that comes out of negativity.All critical people suffer, but they become great leaders, they
become great thinkers. They suffer, they want to get out of their suffering, but they don't want to drop that profit comes out of being negative.
OSHO

THE GREAT NOTHING.
DARSHAN DIARY.
Monday 20 September 1977.


Just watch your mind for a few days and see what is the thing that takes most of your energy: jealousy? Lust for power? Ego? Just watch whatever takes most of your energy, and you will find what is your chief characteristic, and that is your number one enemy; and you have always thought that that is your number one friend....Gurdjieff had his own ways to find it. He will force his disciples to drink as much wine as possible. He will go enforcing them. And by midnight every body was flat on the floor, and then he will go listen to what each is saying.And this will continue for days, and then he will figure it out, what is the chief characteristic of that man, because in his unconscious that chief characteristic will surface...With me things are easier....My method is so simple. Just put down in your diary for seven days, noting everyday what it is that takes most of youre time, what it is that becomes your fantasy most of the time, where your energy always moves readily. And just watching for seven days,noting in your notebook, you can find your chief characteristic. In this finding is half the victory. It gives you a great strength,that you know the enemy.And then the second part is very simple: now be aware of it. When the enemy attacks, don't react. When it comes,you just remain cool. Just watch it, as if something is passing on the screen, and you have nothing to do with it.If you can remain detached, unaffected, suddenly a great energy will be released which was contained in your enemy,which you were putting into that enemy every day.You were watering it, you were caring about it. If anybody pointed at it, you were very angry; you protected it in every possible way. You have all kinds of rationalizations. Now you are simply watching. All the energy is simply released. You will feel revitalized. Your whole being suddenly becomes new.And then go looking for the enemy number two, then enemy number three, because you have to finish all the enemies.The day you don't have any enemy left in your mind,you have a grace, beauty, and a great energy that blossoms in thousands of flowers.
OSHO

The Transmission of the Lamp.
It is one of the greatest crimes to claim enlightenment when you are not-because this is the greatest deception you can give to humanity. It is the ugliest phenomenon. You can be a con man, cheat people out of their money, their belongings, their houses, their wives, their husbands, anything; that is immaterial that does not matter much. But a con man as far as enlightenment is concerned is cheating you about your consciousness, about your very being. He is doing some kind of violence, which is invisible, but which is the worst that can be done by any criminal..... All kinds of cheats, thieves can be forgiven, but the people who are playing with your consciousness, with your being, cannot be forgiven... Any claim about inner realization that is false is the greatest crime in the world.
OSHO.
The Rajneesh Upanishad.


Sunday, May 20, 2007

Remember, you're so-called saints have tried to be humble before God, but just in order to be higher in the eyes of people. But my idea of a religious man is that he does not even claim ordinariness-he claims not. He is simply ordinary, whatsoever he is. A Zen Master, Rinzai, was asked, "What did you do before you were enlightened?" He said, "I used to chop wood and carry water from the well." And the man asked, "Now, now that you are enlightened, what do you do?" He said, "The same thing-chopping wood and carrying water from the well." The man was puzzled. He said, "I cannot understand. Then what is the difference? Then what is the point of becoming enlightened? Before you used to chop wood and carry water, now you continue the same thing. Then what is the difference?" And Rinzai laughed. He said, "The difference is: before I was doing it because I had to do it, it was a duty. Now it is a joy. The quality has changed the work is the same." The small things of life have to be transformed by your inner transformation. This I call the religious quality; everything becomes sacred. Taking a bath, making love, eating food, going to sleep,everything becomes sacred.
OSHO.
Tarot in the Spirit of Zen.
It is easy to suppress: it is easy to express. We do both. We express if the situation allows, and if it is convenient and not dangerous for you. If you can harm the other, and the other cannot harm you, you will express the anger. If it is dangerous, if the other can harm you more, if your boss or whoever you are angry at is more strong, you will suppress it. Expression and suppression are easy, witnessing is difficult. Witnessing is neither; it is not suppressing, it is not expressing. It is not expressing because you are not expressing it to the object of anger. It is not being suppressed either. You are allowing it to be expressed-expressed in a vacuum. You are meditating on it. Stand before a mirror and express your anger and be a witness to it. You are alone, so you can meditate on it. Do whatsoever you want to do, but in a vacuum. If you want to beat someone, beat the empty sky. If you want to be angry, be angry: if you want to scream, scream. But do it alone, and remember your self as a point which is seeing all this-this drama. Then it becomes a psychodrama, and you can laugh at it and it will be a deep catharsis for you. Afterwards you will feel relieved of it and not only relieved of it, you will have gained something through it. You will have matured; a growth will have come to you. And now you will know that even while you were in anger, there was a centre within you which was undisturbed. Now try to uncover this centre more and more, and it is easy to uncover it in desire.
OSHO.
Vigyan Bhairav Tantra


You are all full of wounds, and they all need to be exposed to the sun, to the open sky. Unless you allow yourself to be exposed completely, you cannot get rid of those wounds. The normal way in the world is to hide the wounds so that nobody knows about them-go on hiding them deeper and deeper in the unconscious so even you forget them. But to work on the consciousness, cleaning it from all the wounds, is absolutely necessary. Those wounds have to be brought into the open.
OSHO.
Joshu: The Lions Roar.
So you are feeling yourself an outsider. This is good. This is the transitory period. Now you have to be alert not to fill yourself with pain and misery. Now that God is no longer there, who is going to console you? You don't need any consolation. Humanity has come of age. Be a man, be a woman, and stand on your own feet... The only way to be connected with existence is to go inwards, because there at the centre you are still connected. You have been disconnected physically from your mother. That disconnection was absolutely necessary to make you an individual in your own right. But you are not disconnected from the universe. Your connection with the universe is of consciousness. You cannot see it, so you have to go deep down with great awareness, watchfulness, witnessing, and you will find the connection. The Buddha is the connection!
OSHO.
God Is Dead: Now Zen is the Only Living Truth

Why do people want power? Because whatever they are doing is not respected. A shoemaker is not respected like the president of a country. In reality, he may be better as a shoemaker than the president is as a president. The quality should be praised,if a shoemaker is a better shoemaker, then he need not be interested in being a president. His own art, his own craft, will bring him dignity and the respect of people.
OSHO.
The Rebel.
It actually happened-because Lincolns father was a shoemaker, and Lincoln became the president. The whole American aristocracy was very much shocked that they had to live under a shoemaker's presidency. In the Senate they were all aristocrats, super-rich people. The first speech that Lincoln delivered on the inauguration of his first term was interrupted right at the beginning. A man, very arrogant and egoistic, stood up and showing his shoes said, "Mr. Lincoln, by accident you have become the president. But never forget that your father was a shoemaker. In fact, in my family your father used to come to make shoes for everybody. The shoes I am showing you were made by your father." The whole Senate laughed; they thought they had humiliated Lincoln. But it is difficult to humiliate people like Lincoln. There were tears in his eyes and he said, "I am immensely grateful to you for reminding me of my father. He was a perfect shoemaker, and I know I cannot be that perfect a president. I cannot beat him. But I will try my best to at least reach close to his greatness." "As for your family and the shoes my father has made, I can inform the whole Senate that there may be other aristocratic families that my father used to make shoes for. He has taught me a little bit of the art of shoemaking too. If the shoes are not working well,if they pinch you, if they are too tight, or to loose,I can always mend them. I am my own father's son. Never feel embarrassed,just inform me. I can come and do my best. Of course, it will not be the same as my father, but he is dead." There was great silence... the senators could not believe it,what mettle is this man Lincoln made of? You cannot insult him. He can turn your insult into great respect. And he is so humble, how can you humiliate him? Only arrogant people can be humiliated.
OSHO.
The Rebel.


Meditation is a science, not a superstition. Meditation says you experiment with your mind-it is to full of thoughts; thoughts can be disbursed, the clouds can be disbursed, and you can attain to an empty sky of your inner being. And it needs no trust-just a little courage, a little effort, a little daring, a little persistence and perseverance. A little patience, yes, but no trust. You don't believe in God? That is not a hindrance to meditation. You don't believe in the soul? That is not a hindrance. You don't believe at all? That is not an obstacle. You can meditate, because meditation simply says how to go with inward. We don't make any condition that you have to believe. We say only that you have to experiment. Just try. Then it is not something like a dogma; it is not a creed, it is an experience-self evident..
OSHO.
Come Followed To You.
The moment you understand that you are a lunatic, you go beyond it; the first step toward sanity has been taken. People never realize that they are mad, and because they don’t, they remain mad. Not only do they not realize it, but if you say it to them they will defend themselves. They will argue and try to tell you it is you who is mad, not they. Once you realize that you are a lunatic, sanity has started; it is already on the wing. By the very realization that you are insane, you have dropped your madness." Everyday OSHO.
Number 327.

It is not a question of giving everything. On the contrary, it is a question of recognizing the fact that you have nothing. This idea of how to give everything is egoistic. What have you got to give? You are beggars-everybody is. You have nothing to give, and you ask how to give everything. Every evening people come to ask me how to share. And my problem is that I don't see anything that they are going to share. There is nothing. When you don't have anything, this question arises: "How to share?” This question keeps you happy that you have something to share but you don't know how to share. This keeps you unaware of the fact that you don't have anything to share. When you have it happens spontaneously; you cannot resist it, it is inevitable."
OSHO
Take It Easy.
Buddha says:
"Everything arises and passes away. When you see this, you are above sorrow This is the shining way."
OSHO says: "
Life is a flux, nothing abides. Still we are such fools, we go on clinging. If change is the nature of life, then clinging is stupidity, because your clinging is not going to change the law of life. Your clinging is only going to make you miserable. Things are bound to change; whether you cling or not does not matter. If you cling you become miserable: you cling and they change, you feel frustrated. If you don't cling they still change, but then there is no frustration because you were perfectly aware that they are bound to change. This is how things are, this is the such ness of life.
OSHO.
The Dhammapada: The Way of the Bhudda.