Prabhaker

Thinking is like the stick of a blind man which he carries to grope his way along. It is just as a blind man carries a stick in his hand, groping for his way. But if his eyes are cured, will he still grope with the stick? He will throw the stick away. If a blind man gropes with his stick when he walks; he can ask, “When one's eyes are cured does one carry a stick to grope, or not?”

Traditional methods of meditation have an appeal because they are so ancient and so many people have achieved through them in the past. They may have become irrelevant to most of us. We are in an altogether different situation now. The whole atmosphere, the whole thought-sphere, has changed. Every method is organic to a particular situation, to a particular mind, to a particular man. The fact that the old methods don't work doesn't mean that no method is useful. It only means that the methods themselves must change. As I see the situation, modern man has changed so much that he needs new methods, new techniques. A catharsis is needed because your heart is so suppressed, due to your brain. Your brain has taken over so much of your being that it dominates you. There is no place for the heart, so the longings of the heart are suppressed. You have never laughed heartily, never lived heartily, never done anything heartily. The brain always comes in to systematize, to make things mathematical, and the heart is suppressed. So firstly, a chaotic method is needed to push the center of consciousness from the brain toward the heart. Remember you have much madness within you. When the madness is released you will feel unburdened, you will feel weightless. You will feel a subtle newness entering in you, as if your childhood has come back. You are again a child: newborn, fresh…. This freshness is very essential; this innocence is very essential if you are to move further. Act out all your madnesses ! If you want to scream, scream. If you want to weep, weep. If you want to jump, jump. If you want to dance, dance. If you just want to be like a child – playing with your body, jumping, dancing, screaming – do it! Do it playfully; don't be serious about it. If you are serious you cannot be totally released. Be playful. Enjoy the madness that is coming out of you. Help it, enjoy it, cooperate with it. If you are really interested in going beyond your madness, this is the way. The second step is to go mad consciously. Those who are intelligent will go mad consciously; those who are stupid will go on holding. So don't be stupid – be a man of understanding and try it! Learn Osho dynamic meditation. http://www.oshodynamic.com/five-stages.html

The phenomenon of enlightenment is very rare. It should be just the contrary; most of the people should be enlightened, to find unenlightened people should be difficult. But that's not what has been happening down the ages. The society is not interested in enlightened people. They are dangerous, contagious. They cannot be enslaved - and all societies want people to be enslaved, exploited, oppressed. The enlightened person is rebellious, against all that man has been doing to other human beings. That's why all the societies from the very beginning start closing the doors and the windows from where any light can enter the child. They will start making him a Hindu or Christian. Now, no Hindu or Christian can be enlightened. He will have to drop his Hinduism or Christianity before he becomes enlightened. The same is true about Mohammedanism, Buddhism, communism, fascism. The enlightened person has no "ism." He need not be concerned with any ideology. He has his own eyes open, he can see; he need not think. Only a blind man thinks about where the door is to get out, where the road is to move on. Please understand the difference between seeing and thinking. Thinking is a very poor substitute for seeing. If you have not seen a lotus flower, howsoever you think about it, you will not be able to figure out what a lotus flower is. The moment you see it, thinking stops. There is nothing to think about; the thing itself is in front of you. And a lotus flower is so beautiful that it is bound to stop your thinking process at least for a second. Only in that second will you experience the beauty, the grandeur, the godliness of the flower. The world is divided into civilizations, societies, cultures. They all do the same thing to the visitors coming into the world, the new people - the children. Mankind has committed the greatest crime against its own children. The children are dependent on you, they think you know all - and you know perfectly well that you know nothing. The children are very curious about each and every thing. They are continuously asking, their enquiry is constant. You try to shut them up - not because their questions are irrelevant, but because you don't have answers. And you know perfectly well that by the time they reach your age, they will understand the situation - and they will do the same with their own children. This goes on and on, generation to generation; hence very rarely have there been enlightened people. Eighty percent of so-called enlightened people have been either Christians or Hindus or Mohammedans or Buddhists. A man is enlightened and is still a Mohammedan? Then what is the difference between blind people and enlightened people? At least he should renounce Mohammedanism, Hinduism, Christianity. He should simply say, "I am myself. I am not a sheep, and I don't need any shepherd. I am a man of my own consciousness, and I have a light of my own. An enlightened person cannot belong to any religion. He belongs to existence. So you can cut off eighty percent of your enlightened people without any difficulty. Ten percent of enlightened people remain silent. You never come to know about them, for the simple reason that you cannot understand silence. And to be enlightened is one thing; to give it an expression is totally different. And unless the enlightened person starts expressing his vision, his experience, his realization, how are you going to know about him? Why do ten percent choose to remain silent? It is because to be articulate is a different quality, it does not come in the same parcel as enlightenment. You don't expect an enlightened man to be a painter necessarily. You don't expect him to be a poet necessarily. Why should you expect that he will be able to be articulate with words? And it is a very difficult job. Perhaps the hardest job in the world is to tell you about something you know nothing about.

I have seen his YouTube channel , 'Discover how to ... Stop suffering and live in peace'.

A teacher teaches you, he has a doctrine, he has a philosophy. He argues, discusses, proves. A Master is himself the proof. He does not argue, he does not propose any philosophy, he does not give you any ethos. He has no commandments. He does not create any should, he does not give you any ideals. In fact, he takes all ideals away. He does not give you a scripture. He teaches you how to burn all scriptures, how to be free of the word, how to be free of theory – because once you are free of the word and the theory and the scripture, you are free to be. A Master is basically a presence. Even if he speaks, he speaks only to lead you towards the wordless. Even if he talks, he talks you out of language. He tries to talk so that you can be led into a world of no-thought. A Master’s teaching is a no-teaching. He does not propose any ideas so that you can cling to them. We need a Master.

None, Out of millions of men one becomes enlightened . Many people start the search and then drop out. It is arduous, it is moving into the unknown; nobody knows whether there is anything like enlightenment or just a fiction created by a few people like Gautam Buddha. Perhaps they are not lying, perhaps they themselves are deceived -- who knows? There is no guarantee. So many start, but very few remain. Most of them return to the world. Sooner or later, finding that they are going into an unknown territory without a map, without any guide, they start feeling crazy. Because the whole world is going in a totally different direction, and they are left alone. Their whole strength was in the crowd. Alone, a thousand and one doubts arise. Alone, one starts feeling that millions of people cannot be wrong, "And I am alone, thinking that I am right -- I must be getting crazy."

One of the most famous actresses, Marilyn Monroe, committed suicide. She was one of the beautiful women ever, one of the most successful. Even the President of America Kennedy, was in love with here, and she had thousands of lovers. One cannot think of what more you can have. She had everything. While she was at the top of her success and fame, she committed suicide. No beggar ever thinks of committing suicide. Logically it should be just the other way: every beggar should think of committing suicide, but no beggar ever thinks. Suicide rate has nothing to do with poverty. Even developed economies like Japan and South Korea have higher suicide rate than India.

Start some light aerobic exercises, walking , jogging etc so that you can feel good and build self confidence.

If you don´t escape, if you allow fear to be there, if you are ready to face it, if you are not trying somehow to forget it, then you are different. I faced it because I started living meditatively first. Now I prefer to live alone.

It can happen to other meditators too, don't resist , every meditator has to pass through catharsis. Many emotions are suppressed: they are uncoiling, they are coming up, bubbling up. And after the screaming you feel relieved, as if a burden has disappeared. You feel weightless; you feel more at ease, calmed down, slowed down. If you don't want to disturb others , you can do it at home, or at an isolated place. Learn catharsis. Watch this video at 2.30

@Frank B I do nothing, I have enough money. This forum keeps me busy all day. You can also do the same, enlighten world with your wisdom !

@harisankartj Everybody thinks about committing suicide in his life, few times, it's a momentary phase. Consult a psychiatrist, if you are really miserable. Why do you want to commit suicide? - death is coming on its own. Why are you in such a hurry?

Once it happened: Jesus was walking and a woman -- a very poor woman, afraid and apprehensive about whether Jesus would treat her or not, because he was always crowded by so many people -- the woman thought to herself, "Just touch Jesus' garment from behind." She did, and she was cured. Jesus looked back and the woman started thanking him. She fell at his feet and was very grateful. Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." The world was deep in trust; people were rooted in faith. Then just the idea that "If Jesus touches my eyes, they will be cured" -- the very idea becomes the root cause of the cure. His insistence is on faith. And remember the distinction between belief and faith: belief is in an idea; faith is in total reality, faith is a reverence for the whole. Belief is of the mind; faith is of your totality. Faith is not of the head. When you have faith, you have faith in your blood, in your bones, in your marrow, in your heart. In your whole being. Jesus told his disciples. "I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible." Jesus' miracles happened because the people were very trusting.

The real miracle is changing hate into love, changing your unconscious into consciousness - that is the real miracle, and that has to be done by yourself. Nobody else can do it. Buddhas can only show the way, they cannot do it on your behalf. There are things which cannot be done on your behalf.

May be you are right and I am utterly wrong, still I will do what I see from my intuition.

Every argument can't be replied through logic. If you state that , "Some people need up to 23,000 hours to achieve mastery in a skill. Enlightenment is no different. " How can I give you a logical reply? I have lived my whole life in company of mystics, I live in India. I also know many things which I have learned from my long journey. I am not a young person, who has learned mysticism from internet.

It is always difficult in the beginning , once you gather courage to encounter yourself, your painful memories, restless will not haunt you indefinitely. After every dark night there is a bright day. When I lived alone I listened http://osho.radio.net/ in the beginning for support, now I enjoy aloneness !

@Outer You are free to believe whatever you like. I am enjoying my journey , I hope you are also on right path.

@Annetta @Toby We are born alone, we live alone, and we die alone. Aloneness is our very nature, but we are not aware of it. Because we are not aware of it, we remain strangers to ourselves, and instead of seeing our aloneness as a tremendous beauty and bliss, silence and peace, at-easeness with existence, we misunderstand it as loneliness. Loneliness is a misunderstood aloneness. Once you misunderstand your aloneness as loneliness, the whole context changes. Aloneness has a beauty and grandeur, a positivity; loneliness is poor, negative, dark, dismal. Everybody is running away from loneliness. It is like a wound; it hurts. To escape from it, the only way is to be in a crowd, to become part of a society, to have friends, to create a family, to have husbands and wives, to have children. In this crowd, the basic effort is that you will be able to forget your loneliness. But nobody has ever succeeded in forgetting it. That which is natural to you, you can try to ignore -- but you cannot forget it; it will assert again and again. And the problem becomes more complex because you have never seen it as it is; you have taken it for granted that you are born lonely. The dictionary meaning is the same; that shows the mind of the people who create dictionaries. They don't understand at all the vast difference between loneliness and aloneness. Loneliness is a gap. Something is missing, something is needed to fill it, and nothing can ever fill it because it is a misunderstanding in the first place. As you grow older, the gap also grows bigger. People are so afraid to be by themselves that they do any kind of stupid thing. I have seen people playing cards alone; the other party is not there. They have invented games in which the same person plays cards from both sides. Somehow one wants to remain engaged. That engagement may be with people, may be with work.... There are workaholics; they are afraid when the weekend comes close -- what are they going to do? And if they don't do anything, they are left to themselves, and that is the most painful experience. People are playing cards, chess; people are watching television for hours. People are listening to the radio... just to avoid themselves. For all these activities, the only reason is -- not to be left alone; it is very fearful. And this idea is taken from others. Those who have known aloneness say something absolutely different. They say there is nothing more beautiful, more peaceful, more joyful than being alone. But you listen to the crowd. Millions of people agree that to be left to oneself is the worst experience in life; it is hell. First basic thing is to know your aloneness absolutely. This escape from yourself you have learned from the crowd. Because everybody is escaping, you start escaping. Every child is born in a crowd and starts imitating people; what others are doing, he starts doing. He falls into the same miserable situations as others are in, and he starts thinking that this is what life is all about. And he has missed life completely.

Enlightenment takes more than forty or fifty years of total commitment or sometimes many lives. I can enter a state of no-mind after few days of relaxation/ meditation.

It will divert the attention from the topic and content of the post. I will not stop posting , even after criticism. I don't want to waste time , when I can use same time on posting something useful. His words are not only to teach you, but they can you a glimpse of something from beyond if you are open and receptive.

@Outer I have mentioned many times that every thing I post are words of Osho. If I mention it in every post , people will start discussing and criticizing Osho. I have spend more than twenty years on spiritual journey, I have enough experience to judge, what should be done to spread spirituality. A blind man can't guide other blind man. Suggestions given by individuals from their own experiences can't help others too much, each individual is different . Only wisdom of an enlightened master can transform others. His language is poetic , it's impact is very deep.

Lust for reputation points is not a worldly desire, They are real indicators of your spiritual progress. Leo should rename them into 'Enlightenment Points'.

Ugliness has nothing to do with your body. Neither has beauty much to do with the body. The beauty or the ugliness of the body is very superficial; the real thing comes from within. If you can become beautiful within, you will become luminous. It has happened many times: even an ugly person, when he becomes meditative, starts looking beautiful. When they start meditating, when they start dancing, when they start singing, their faces relax. Their tensions drop. Their misery, which had become part of their face, slowly slowly wars off. They become relaxed like children. Their faces start gleaming with a new inner joy, they become luminous. Physical beauty and ugliness is not very important. The real thing is the inner. Your eyes will start shining with joy; your face will have a gleam, a glory. The form will become immaterial. When something starts flowing from within you, some grace, then the outer form is just put aside. Comparatively it loses all significance: don't be worried about it. Bring something higher into yourself, and the lower will be forgotten, because it is all comparative, it is all relative. If you can bring something higher into yourself... It is as if there is a small candle burning in the room: bring a bigger light into the room and the small candle simply loses all significance. Bring the beauty of the within, which is easier. A very ugly girl was sitting at the beach, when the waves washed a bottle at her feet. She opened it -- and out blew a huge genie in a billow of smoke. "I have been a prisoner in this bottle for five thousand years," cried the genie, "and now you have freed me. As a reward, I will fulfill any wish you make." Ecstatic, the ugly girl announced, "I want a figure like Sophia Loren, a face like Elizabeth Taylor, and legs like Ginger Rogers." The genie looked her over carefully, then sighed, "Baby, just put me back in the bottle."