OSHO: A weaponless man who scared all the priestly class on his spree to free the man from their clutches.

Born in Kuchwada, Madhya Pradesh, India on December 11, 1931*, Osho says of his parents, "I had chosen this couple for their love, their intimacy, their almost one-ness." Growing in an atmosphere of tremendous love, freedom and respect, Osho was an intuitive and adventurous child with the knack of penetrating to the very heart of a situation. Exploring life fearlessly and intensely, he insisted on experiencing life for himself rather than acquiring beliefs or knowledge given by others. "My childhood was certainly golden - not a symbol, absolutely golden; not poetically but literally, factually... Those years were unforgettable."

When he was seven years old, his maternal grandfather died with his head in Osho's lap as they traveled in the back of a bullock cart on the long journey to reach the nearest doctor. This had a profound effect on his inner life, provoking in him a determination to discover that which is deathless. "I learned much in that moment of his silence...," Osho said later. "I started on a new search, a new pilgrimage." This, and other stories in Glimpses of a Golden Childhood, give rich insight into Osho's early years, and the innocent spirit of the flame of rebellion and playfulness he brought to every endeavor in his life.
At the age of twenty-one, Osho became enlightened. "For many lives I had been working on myself, struggling, doing whatsoever can be done - and nothing was happening. The very effort was a barrier... Not that one can reach without seeking. Seeking is needed, but then comes a point when seeking has to be dropped... And that day the search stopped...it started happening. A new energy arose... It was coming from nowhere and everywhere. It was in the trees and in the rocks and the sky and the sun and the air - and I was thinking it was very far away. And it was so near..." A full account of his enlightenment can be found in The Discipline of Transcendence.

After his enlightenment on March 21, 1953, Osho graduated from the University of Saugar with first class honors in philosophy. While a student, he won the All-India Debating Championship. He was a professor of philosophy at the University of Jabalpur for nine years.

Meanwhile, he traveled throughout India giving talks, challenging religious leaders in public debate and meeting people from all walks of life. He read extensively, everything he could find to broaden his understanding of the belief systems and psychology of contemporary man.

Osho had now begun to develop his unique dynamic meditation techniques. Modern man, he said, was so burdened with the outmoded traditions of the past and the anxieties of modern-day living that he must go through a deep cleansing process before he could hope to discover the thought-less, relaxed state of meditation. He began to hold meditation camps around India, giving talks to the participants and personally conducting sessions of the meditations he had developed.

For more than thirty-five years Osho worked directly with people who came to him, sharing his vision of a "New Man" and inspiring them to experiment with a life based in meditation. Bridging the ancient truths of simpler times with the current reality of man, he created numerous meditation techniques which give seekers an avenue to experience the ultimate. Seeing that the complexities of life needed to be addressed, he worked closely with many prominent therapists from the West to create new therapies based in meditation.

After his initial work in India, Osho was invited to America where a bold communal experiment to translate his vision into a living reality began. Thousands of his disciples poured their love into a barren piece of land and began to transform it into a flowering oasis in the desert. But Osho's presence and the success of the commune revealed the hypocrisies inherent in the beliefs and prejudices of the current age, particularly in the religious and political establishment. The antagonism of these groups toward Osho and the commune mounted, and after only four years, he was forced to leave America.

Osho then began a World Tour. In the midst of a campaign of worldwide persecution orchestrated by the US Government, Osho responded with characteristic humor and uncompromising honesty, publicly challenging his persecutors and at the same time showering his love unconditionally, giving some of his most intimate talks to disciples who gathered around him wherever he went.

Finally, Osho returned to Poona, India, giving talks twice a day. Thousands of seekers from around the world came together again to be in the presence of this rare buddha and mystic, and a new commune grew around him. It was during this time that Osho announced that he did not want to be called Bhagwan again: "Enough is enough! The joke is over." In these years of his final discourses, Osho gradually began to withdraw from public activities. His fragile health often prevented him from giving discourses, and the periods of his absence grew longer. He introduced a new element into his discourses, guiding his audience into a three-stage meditation at the end of each sitting. Eventually he delivered his last discourse series, answering questions and commenting on Zen sutras.

After his failing health had caused him to stop giving discourses, a message came that the name Rajneesh was also being dropped. Many of his disciples had already collectively decided to call him Osho. He has explained that the word 'Osho' is derived from William James' expression 'oceanic experience' which means dissolving into the ocean. "Oceanic describes the experience," says Osho, "but what about the experiencer? For that we use the word 'Osho'."

In the following months, whenever his health permitted, he would appear in the evening to sit with his disciples and friends in a meditation of music and silence, after which he would retire to his room while the assembly watched one of his videotaped discourses.
Osho left his body on January 19, 1990. Just a few weeks before that time, he was asked what would happen to his work when he was gone. He said:

"My trust in existence is absolute. If there is any truth in what I am saying, it will survive... The people who remain interested in my work will be simply carrying the torch, but not imposing anything on anyone...

"I will remain a source of inspiration to my people... I want them to grow on their own - qualities like love, around which no church can be created, like awareness, which is nobody's monopoly; like celebration, rejoicing, and remaining fresh, childlike eyes...

"I want my people to know themselves, not to be according to someone else. And the way is in."

Osho on transformation of a Buddhu to Buddha

Osho has so far (at least to my knowledge) been the only man on this earth who respected a Buddhu as much as he respected a Buddha. And very lovingly he talked of the immense possibility every buddhu possesses in order to become a Buddha. On this phenomenal transformation, he had to say the following. The following text was shared by a fellow traveler.

At this moment you are the Buddha. Take care of the Buddha 24 hrs. Cultivate the Buddha 24 hrs. Not for a single moment forget to remember your Buddhahood.Just be a single pointed consciousness and you have taken the quantum leap from Mind to No Mind.You have been outside long enough. The bird has been in the cage for many many years. But today the bird opens its wings and moves in freedom in the inner sky. That is your real home. In this silence you are a Buddha. Remember it. Let this remembrance follow you like a shadow around the day. Slowly Slowly it will become Your very breathing, Your very heartbeat.Be a diamond thunderbolt. Cut everything that is rubbish in you. Reach to the clearance the pure space of your being. This moment is blessed. Because only this moment can blossom into a flower in you. Because only this moment can bring you closer to existence's very heart-beat. Don't be afraid and don't hold to anything. Just take the jump. It is Your own inner being.Deeper and Deeper without any fear because it is Your own sky and there are no clouds, no obstacles. Just go like an arrow....in and in. At this moment you are the Buddha. Remember it. guard it Because it is Your ultimate treasure. This is your height, this is your depth, this is you in your eternity.Deeper and Deeper. Don't spare anything. You have nothing to loose by going deeper in yourself, but everything to gain. At your very center of being is the door of the kingdom of God. You don't have to even open it...it is open...it is waiting. Come in... You are always welcome. Come inThis...... force Your needle of consciousness on the point. This...This is the quantum leap from mind to no mind. This space is you. And this moment is your only time. In these 2 words, here and now the whole religion is complete.This Silence is so blessed. In this Silence You are all Buddhas. It is another matter if you forget it again. Remember it.... remember it. This has nothing to with what your life work is. It is a inner light which can remain continuously 24 hrs like an underground current and it will change your whole life, its style, its pattern, its approach. Except this there is no way to a metamorphosis. Except this there is no way to eternity. In this moment you are beyond life and beyond death. Make it more clear that You are not the body nor the mind, but just a pure awarenessYou are just a watcher. A simple watchfulness and you reach to the beyond. You transcend life and death, you transcend duality, you come to feel the eternity, the immortality, your cosmic wholeness. You are not just a part. You are the cosmos.... that is the meaning of being a Buddha. This is your nothingness, this is Your emptiness, just pure space. And out of this pure space arises all kind of creativity, all songs, all joy, all dance. Only this experience, if it becomes like a wild fire around the world can save humanity from itself.Keep hold of the consciousness, experience you have reached because You have to keep it like an undercurrent 24 hrs so that every act reflects your consciousness, your compassion, your love, your meditation. It is not something to be done for a few minutes and be finished with it. It is something that has to become your very breathing, your very heart beat, Only then there is a possibility for a future humanity, for a new man whose mind will not be destructive, whose earth will not be divided in to nations. Whose whole energy will be devoted to make life as rich, as blissful, as peaceful, as loving... as poets have always dreamed of and only few mystics have experienced. Mediation is the way in. It is the way to wake up the master who can control the mind, who can change the mind, who can use the mind in the service of greater values of truth and joy.''

To miss a thing is to own it!!!

Couple of months ago, a friend brought a picture and asked me to have a look at it. I looked at it as asked and communicated to him my finding which was nothing but a huge field of grass. Then he asked me to look at it deeper and with concentration and I followed his advise. I held myself in awe when I found a beautiful painting hidden in the obscure looking picture. Later I found out that such a picture is called 3D Stereogram Image and also known as 3D optical illusions.

Believe me the statement "To miss a thing is to own it!!!" is just like a 3D optical illusion.

Human nature is a mystery to the science and in spite of putting in best of its efforts science has failed miserably to understand human nature and the fabric it is made up of.

I know that we are living in the age of science but of what use it has been to us is worth our time and effort to ask, understand and assimilate the findings in our lives.

You may be of belief that to understand a thing is to own it for easy access and the freedom to work upon it in the way one prefers. But just like 3D optical illusion picture, I would advise you to delve deeper and then try to decipher the fallacy in this approach. This delving deep wont come easy if you have never done it before. It's an art from which we are deliberately kept away so that we do not become a threat to the society (I will touch upon this topic some other time at length).

To make it easy for you, I will take up an example. Recall the time when for the first time you come across something of which you had no clue. Say a rose flower, before you came to know that its a rose flower, you were restless in finding what it is, you inquired about this from fellow beings, tried searching encyclopedia and when you came to know that it is called rose, you felt relieved. But interestingly nothing substantial has changed from what was the original situation. Just by attaching a tag to the flower, you have not come to know much of it rather in the belief that by attaching the name "rose" to the flower you have known the flower, you will stop further exploration to know more, to delve deeper into the being of the flower. The very quest to know more about the flower seems to have extinguished by attaching a tag "Rose" to the flower of which even the flower is unaware.

The strange part of human nature is that the thing from which it maintains a distance in order to avoid the unavoidable contains the very bridge to bridge the gap between the question and the answer. The unavoidable which today or tomorrow will surface and re-surface unless gets tackled with complete awareness, the unease feel will keep on existing there.

Time and again, I am being reminded by my well-wishers (at least they feel so and they do suggest me what they feel best for me) about the societal trends and one must give in to get accustomed to these societal trends to become happy. Strangely it is the same people who do not stop complaining about the so-called sources of pleasure and how measurably they have failed to extract any joy out of them.

In my experience, the moment a feel of security creeps in the person about anything be it living or non-living, the very possibility of knowing it in a real sense dies. It is only the insecurity which has the key of knowing a thing in a real sense. Security kills the very seed which could have evolved and helped the human consciousness in delving deeper and ascending the unprecedented heights. Unfortunately we have been understanding every aspect so superficially that day by day we are getting away from our own selves so much so that we don't even remember our real home. The one who is secured deep down does not keep ensuring the visible and tangible outside security.

We feel that to be secured of a thing is to own it and though it does seem to be the way to be secured but in reality it turns out to be opposite. The moment you own something you miss the very possibility of understanding it, knowing it. Owning a thing ensures the superficial security about it and security kills the very seed which could have fructified in bringing the inside of the thing, in opening up the deep secrets lying in the heart of the thing. This security in turn ensures that you miss the thing in a real sense.

Almost everyday I come across someone or the other who seemed to be in real love, prior to the marriage, with the woman who is now his wife and now the same woman has been accused of being the source of his pain and problems.

What converted an angel to a wicked lady is the security!!! What brought this security is the marriage!!! I am not accusing the marriage per se but in my view by marriage people mean an institution in which they are free to impose on the other undue burdens and uninvited problems.
I will not comment on marriage more here. Marriage brought a feel of owning the other partner and thus missed the whole possibility of knowing the other in a real sense.

The Gist of SANTMAT by Huzur Tulsi Saheb

Dil ka hujra saf kar, jana ke ane ke liye,

Dhyan gairo ka utha uske bithane ke liye.

Cleanse the chamber of your heart, so that the Beloved may enter,

Remove all the foreign impressions, so that He can take His seat there.

Chashme dil se dekh yaha jo jo tamashe ho rahe,

Dilsita kya kya hai tere dil satane ke liye.

See with the heart's eye the astonishing spectacle of this world,

What heart ravishing scenes appear there to entice you.

Ek dil lakho tamnna us pai aur zyada havis,

Phir thikana hai kaha uske tikane ke liye?

One heart, with many desires, and always the lust for more,

Where is there any place for the Lord to come and reside?

Nakali mandir masjido me jae sade aphosa hai,

Kudarati masjid ka sakin dukh uthone ke liye.

It is a great pity that, going in the false [imitation] temples and mosques,

The indweller of the true mosque [the human body] is made to suffer.

Kudarati kabe ki tu maharab me sun gaur se,

A rahi dhur se sada tere bulane ke liye.

We should listen with attention in the prayer niche of the true Kaaba,7

The sound is coming from the Court of the Lord and is calling you.

Kyo bhatkata phir raha tu e talashe yar me,

Rasta shah rag me hai dilvar pai jane ke liye.

Why are you wandering around lost in search of the Beloved?

The way to reach the charming one lies through the shah rag.8

Murshade kamil se mil sidak aur saburi se taki.

Jo tujhe dega faham shah rag ke pane ke liye.

O devotee, meet the Perfect Master with sincerity and patience.

He will give you the secret to find the shah rag.

Goshe batin ho kushada jo kare kuch din amal.

La ilaha allahu akbar pai jane ke liye.

If you do the practice for a few days, the inner way will open before you.

It is the path to reach Allah, the One God, the Most High.

Yah sada Tulsi ki hai amil amal kar dhyan de.

Kun kuran me hai likha allahu akbar ke liye.

This is the call of Tulsi: O practitioner, do the practice with concentration.

The kun [Shabd] described in the Koran, will take you to Allah, the Most High.