Osho Rajneesh – The Art of Living 1

Osho (This first one is a long one)

Q – You said recently that most of humanity is vegetating rather than living, please explain to us the art of living so that death may also become a celebration.

Man is born to achieve life but it all depends on him. He can miss it, he can go on breathing, eating, ageing… but it’s not life. It’s gradual death, 70 year long. And because millions are dying slow like this… you also start imitating them. Children learn from those around them and they are surrounded by the dead. So first we have to understand what I mean by life. It must not be simply growing old, it must be growing up. Any animal is capable of growing old. Growing up means moving every moment deeper into the principle of life, going farther away from death, not towards death. The deeper you go into life the more you understand the immortality in you. When you see death is nothing but changing of clothes, houses, forms… nothing dies. Death is the greatest illusion there is. For growing up just watch a tree… as the tree grows up, it’s roots are growing down, deeper, there is a balance… higher it goes, deeper the roots go. Growing up means growing deep within your self, where your roots are. To me the first principle in life is meditation, everything else comes second. And childhood is the best time. As you grow older you come closer to death, so it gets more and more difficult to go into meditation. Medatation is going into your imortality, eternity, godliness.

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The child is the most qualified for with, unburdened by knowledge, religion, education, all kinds of rubbish. He is innocent but unfortunately his innocence is being condemned as ignorance. They both have a similartity, like a state of not knowing. The great difference overlooked by humanity up to now … innocence is not knowledgable but it is not desirous to be knowledgable either. It is utterly content, fulfilled. A small child has no ambition, desires… he’s so absorbed in the moment… just a butterfly, beautiful colours and he’s enchanted and he cannot concieve that there can be anything more significant, richer. Innocence is rich, full, pure. Ignorance is poor, a beggar, wants this and that, wants to be knowledgable, respectable, wealthy, powerful. It moves on the path of desire. Innocence is a state of desirelessness. But because they bother are without knowledge we have remained confused about their nature. We have taken it for granted that they’re both the same.

The first step of the art of living is to create a line between innocence and ignorance. Innocence has to be supported, protected. The child has brought with it the greatest treasure that sages find about so much effort. They say they have become children again, they are reborn. The real Bhramin in india the real knower has called himself ‘dwij’ – twice born. Why? What happen to the first birth and what is he going to gain in the second birth. He is going to gain what was in the first birth but they people around him destroyed it. Every child is being stuffed with knowledge. His simplicity has be to somehow removed, because simplicity is not going to help him in this competitive world, it will look in the world as if he’s a simpleton. His innocence will be exploited in every possible way. Afraid of the society, of the world we have created. We try for every child to become clever, cunning, knowledgeable, being the powerful not the powerless/oppressed. And once he starts growing in the wrong direction, he goes on moving that way.

When you understand that you have missed life, the first priciple to be brought back is innocence. Drop knowledge, forget scriptures, forget religions, theologies, philosophies… be born again. Become innocent and it is in your hands. Clean your minds from what you don’t know for youself, all that is borrowed, all that has come by tradition, convention. Given by others, parents, teachers, universities… drop all that. Once again be simple, a child… and this miracle is possible by meditation. Meditation is simply a strange surgical method which cuts you away from what is not yours. Saves only that which is your authentic being and burns everything else, leaves you standing naked, alone under the sun, in the wind. As if you’re the first man, who knows nothing, who has to discover everything, who has to be a seeker, to go on a pilgrimage.

The second priniple is the pilgrimage. Life must be a seeking. Not a desire but a search. Not an ambition. Not to become a president or something but a search to find… who am I? It is very strange that people who don’t know who they are, are trying to become somebody. They don’t even know who they are right now, unaquainted with their being but have a goal of becoming. Becoming is a disease of a soul. Being is you! Time to discover your being is the beginning of life. Each moment is a new discovery, each moment brings a new joy, a new love starts growing in you, a new compassion that you have never felt, a new sensitivity about duty, goodness. You become so sensitive that even the smallest blade of grass takes an immense importance for you. Your sensitivity to you makes it clear that this blade of grass is as important as the biggest star and without it existence would be less than it is. And this small blade is unique, irreplaceable, it’s own individuality. This sensitivity will create new friendships for you. Friendships with trees, birds, animals, mountains, oceans, stars. Life becomes richer as love grows, as friendliness grows.

In the life of St. Francis, there is a beautiful incident… he is dying, he’s always travelled on a donkey from place to place, sharing his experiences. All his disciples are gathered to listen to the last words. Last words of a man are always the most significant ever uttered because they contain the whole experience. But what the disciples heard they could not believe. He did not address to the disciples, he addressed to the donkey. ‘Brother, I’m intensely indebted to you. You have been carrying me all over the place, never a complain. Before I leave this world all that I want is forgiveness from you, I’ve not been humane to you.’ As you become more sensitive, life becomes bigger. It is not a small pond, it becomes ocean. It is not confined to you and your wife and children. It is not confined at all. The whole existence becomes your family and unless it is your family… you have not known what life is. No man is an island, we are a vast continent joined in millions of ways. And if our hearts are not full of love with the whole in the same proportion our life is cut short.

Meditation will bring you sensitivity, a great sense of belonging to the world. It is our world, the stars are ours and we are not foreigners here. We belong intrinsically to existence, we are part of it, HEART of it. Secondly meditation will bring you a great silence because all rubbish is gone. Thoughts that are part of the knowledge are gone too. An immense silence and you are surprised that this silence is the only music there is, all music is an effort to bring this silence somehow into manifestation. The seers of the ancient east had been very emphatic on the point that all the great arts, music, poetry, dance, painting, sculpture… are all born out of meditation. They are an effort to bring the unknowable, in some way, into the world of the known. For those who are not ready for the pilgrimage, just gifts for those who are not ready to go for the pilgrimage, perhaps a song may trigger a desire to go in the search of the source. Perhaps a statue. Next time you enter a temple, of Buddha or Mahavir just sit silently, watch the statue because the statue has been made in such a way that if you watch it, you will fall silent. Because it is a statue of meditation, not concerning Buddha or Mahavir. That is why the statues look alike (he names lots of enlightened folks). All alike, exactly.

I used to ask my father in my childhood, can you explain to me… is it possible 24 persons same nose, same face, same body. And he was puzzled himself. But as my meditation blossomed I found the answer not from anybody else, I found the answer that the statues have nothing to do with the persons, they have to do something with what was happening inside the 24 that was exactly the same. What matters is that inside there is an ocean of silent. In that oceanic state the body takes a certain posture, you have observed it but you have not been alert. When you’re angry have you observed the certain posture, you cannot keep your hands open, you cannot smile. The body has to follow a certain posture with a certain emotion. So the statues are made in such a way if you just watch and close your eyes, and if a negative photo enters you start feeling something different. Those statues and temples were not built for worshipping, they were built for experiencing. They are scientific laboratories, they have nothing to do with religion. A certain secret science has been used for centuries, for the coming generations to come in contact with the experiences of older generations, not through books or words but through something which goes deeper. Through silence, meditation, peace. As your silence grows, your friendliness and love grows, your life becomes a moment to moment dance. A joy. A celebration.

You hear the fire crackers outside… have you ever thought about it… throughout the worlds in every society/culture there are few days in the year for celebration. These few days are just a compensation because these societies have taken all the celebration of your life, and if nothing is given to you in compensation, your life can become a danger to the culture. Every culture has to give some compensation to you so that you don’t feel that all lost into sadness/miseries. But they are false, outside fire crackers and lights cannot make you rejoice. For you it’s only for children, only a nuisance but in your inner world there can be a continuity of lights, songs, joys. Always remember that society compensates you, when you feel it is not compensated, the repressed my explode into a dangerous situation. Some way for allowing you to let off the repressed, but this is not true celebration and it cannot be true.

True celebration should come from your life, in your life and true celebration cannot be according to the calendar. That on 1st Nov you will celebrate, it’s strange the whole year you’re miserable then on 1st Nov you come out of misery dancing. Either the misery is false or the date is. And once 1st Nov is over you’re back in your dark holes, in misery, anxiety. Life should be a continuous celebration, a festival of lights, continuous. Only then can you grow up, blossom.

Make a small thing transform into celebration e.g. in Japan they have a tea ceremony. In every Zen monastery and house that can afford… they have a small temple for drinking tea. Now tea is no more an ordinary, profane thing, they have transformed it into a celebration. The temple for the tea is made in a certain way, beautiful garden with beautiful pond, swans, flowers, guests come, they have to leave their shoes outside. It is a temple, and as you enter the temple you cannot speak, you have to leave your thinking and speech with the shoes. You sit in a meditative posture and the host preparing tea, her movements are so graceful as if she’s dancing. Moving, preparing, putting,.. as if you are gods, with such respect. And you will receive it with such respect. And the tea is being prepared in a particular (something), which makes beautiful sounds. A music of it’s own. And it is part of the tea ceremony that everybody should listen to the music of the tea. Everybody is silent listening, birds chirping, and the tea is creating its own song, and a peace, and when the tea is ready and poured into everybody’s cup. You don’t drink it like we do everywhere. First they smell the aroma, they will sip as if it has come from beyond, they will take time, there is no hurry, somebody my play on the flute or sitar. An ordinary thing, just tea and they made it into a beautiful religious festival and everyone comes out refreshed, feeling younger, juicier.

What can be done with tea can be done with everything, your clothes, food. People are living almost in a sleep, otherwise every fabric has its own beauty, its own feel. If you are sensitive, then the cloth is not just to cover your body, then it’s something of the expression of your individuality. Something expressing your taste, culture, being. Everything that you do should be expressive of you, your signature on it. Then life becomes a continuos celebration. Even if you fall sick and you’re in bed you will make those moments in bed, moments of beauty and joy, of relaxation and rest, of meditation, listening to music, poetry. There is no need to be sad. You should be happy that everybody is in the office while you’re in the bed like a king relaxing, someone is preparing tea, a friend has offered to come and play flute for you, which are more important than any medicine. When you are sick, call a doctor, but more important call those who love you.

No medicine more important than love, call those who can create beauty, music, poetry around you because there is nothing like a mood of celebration. Medicine is the lowest form of treatment but it seems we have forgotten everything, just depend on medicine, be grumpy and sad, as if you’re missing some great joy that you were having in the office. In the office you were miserable, just one day off and you cling to misery too! You wont let it go. Make everything creative. The best out of the worst, and thats what I call the art. And if a man has lived life making every moment a beauty, a love, a joy… naturally his death is also going to be the ultimate peak of his whole life’s endeavour. The last touches, his death is not going to be ugly as it is ordinarily happening everyday to everyone. If the death is ugly then your whole life has been a wastage. If should be a peaceful acceptance, a loving entry into the unknown, a joyful goodbye to the old friends, old world. There should not be any tragedy in it.

Lin Chi was dying, 1000s of his disciples had gathered to listen to his last sermon but Lin Chi was just lying down. Joyous, smiling, but not saying a single word. Seeing that he’s going to die and not saying a word somebody reminded Lin Chi… an old friend who was a master in his own right, not a disciple, thats why he could say to Lin Chi. ‘Lin Chi, have you forgotten that you have to say the last word? I have always told you, your memory is not right. You’re dying, have you forgotten’. Lin Chi said ‘just listen’ and on the roof 2 squirrels were running. And he said ‘how beautiful’ and he died. And for a moment when he said ‘just listen’… there was absolute silence, they thought he was going to say something special… but only 2 squirrels. He smiled and he died, but he has given the last message. That don’t make things small and big, trivia and important, everything is important. At this moment, Lin Chi’s death is as important as the 2 squirrels running on the roof. There is no difference. In existence it’s all the same. That was his whole philosophy, his whole life’s teaching. Nothing great or small, it all depends on him, what you make out of it.

Start with meditation and things will go on growing in you. Silence, serenity, blissfulness, sensitivity, and whatever comes out of meditation… try to bring it out in life. Savour it because everything savoured grows fast, and when you have reached to the point of death, you’ll know there is no death. You can say goodbye, there is no need for any tears of sadness. Maybe tears of joy but not of sadness. You have to begin from being innocent, first throw out all the crap you are carrying. Everybody is carrying so much crap (Paras note: He says worse things than crap) and for what? Because people have been telling you these are great ideas, principles… you have not been intelligent with yourself. Be intelligent with yourself. Life is very simple, it is a joyful dance. And the whole earth can be full of joy and dance. But there are people who are seriously wasted their interest that nobody should enjoy life, nobody should smile, laugh. That life is a sin, punishment. How can you enjoy when the climate is such that you have been told continuously that it’s a punishment. That you are suffering because you’ve done wrong things, that it’s a kind of jail, where you have been thrown to suffer. I say to you life is not a jail, it is not a punishment, it is a reward. Given only to those who have earned it, deserved it. It is your right now to enjoy. It will be a sin if you don’t enjoy. It will be against existence if you don’t beautify it, if you leave it just as you have found it. Leave it a little more happier, more beautiful, more fragrant.