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A person who desires is an escapist. It is very strange that meditators are considered escapists. This is complete nonsense. Only the meditator is not an escapist – unlike any other person. Meditation is not an escape from life: it is an escape into life. The mind runs away from life, desire runs away from life...
A person who lives in the future lives a false life. In reality, he does not live; he only pretends to live. He hopes to live, he wants to live, but he never lives. And tomorrow never comes; it is always today. And whatever happens, it is always here and now, and he does not know how to live here and now; he only knows how to run away from here and now. The way of escape is called "desire," tanha – it is with this word that Buddha designated the escape from the present, the escape from the real to the unreal.
A person who desires is an escapist.
It is very strange that meditators are considered escapists. This is complete nonsense. Only the meditator is not an escapist – unlike any other person. Meditation means getting out of desires, getting out of thoughts, getting out of the mind. Meditation means relaxing in the present, in the given moment. Meditation is the only thing in the world that is not an escape, although it is considered an escape. People who condemn meditation always condemn it on the pretext that it is an escape from life. They are simply talking nonsense; they do not understand what they are saying.
Meditation is not an escape from life: it is an escape into life. The mind runs away from life, desire runs away from life.
He never surrenders to desire... He meditates.
He brings himself back to the present again and again. Again and again, the mind begins to function, and he brings it back to the present again. Gradually, this begins to happen: a window opens, and for the first time you see the sky as it is. And for the first time, you feel the wind, the rain, and the sun in their immediacy, because you have become meditative. You begin to touch life. Life is no longer a word, but a tangible reality; then love is no longer a word, but an energy that fills you. Blessing is no longer a desire, a hope – you feel it, you possess it, you are it.
What is meditation? It does not mean thinking about something; the English word misleads you. In English, there is no word that exactly corresponds to the translation of Buddha's word sammasati. It has been translated as meditation, as right mindfulness, as awareness, consciousness, vigilance, observation, witnessing – but in reality, there is not a single word that has the quality of sammasati.
Sammasati means: there is awareness, but without any content. There is no thought, no desire, nothing stirs in you. You are not thinking about God and about great things... about nature and its beauty, about the Bible, the Quran, the Vedas, and their immeasurably important statements. You are not thinking! You are also not focusing on any particular object. You are not reciting a mantra, because all of this is the mind's belongings, the mind's content. You are not doing anything! The mind is completely empty, and you are here, in this emptiness. A kind of presence, pure presence, and there is nowhere to go – you are completely relaxed in yourself, you are at peace, you are at home. This is the meaning of Buddha's meditation.
No one has ever been able to express meditation as beautifully as Buddha did. Many people have attained it, but no one has been so expressive, no one has been able to convey the message so well as Buddha. He never surrenders to desire.
"He meditates. And in the strength of his determination, He discovers true happiness."
Bliss is true happiness. What you call happiness is only suffering and illusion. What you call happiness is nothing more than entertainment, pleasure. It is momentary – it cannot be true. Truth must have one quality, and that quality is eternity. If something is true, it is eternal; if something is untrue, it is momentary.
True happiness is found only when the mind completely ceases to function. It does not come from outside. It begins to flow within your being, it begins to fill you. You become radiant. You become a fountain of bliss.
OSHO
A person who lives in the future lives a false life. In reality, he does not live; he only pretends to live. He hopes to live, he wants to live, but he never lives. And tomorrow never comes; it is always today. And whatever happens, it is always here and now, and he does not know how to live here and now; he only knows how to run away from here and now. The way of escape is called "desire," tanha – it is with this word that Buddha designated the escape from the present, the escape from the real to the unreal.
A person who desires is an escapist.
It is very strange that meditators are considered escapists. This is complete nonsense. Only the meditator is not an escapist – unlike any other person. Meditation means getting out of desires, getting out of thoughts, getting out of the mind. Meditation means relaxing in the present, in the given moment. Meditation is the only thing in the world that is not an escape, although it is considered an escape. People who condemn meditation always condemn it on the pretext that it is an escape from life. They are simply talking nonsense; they do not understand what they are saying.
Meditation is not an escape from life: it is an escape into life. The mind runs away from life, desire runs away from life.
He never surrenders to desire... He meditates.
He brings himself back to the present again and again. Again and again, the mind begins to function, and he brings it back to the present again. Gradually, this begins to happen: a window opens, and for the first time you see the sky as it is. And for the first time, you feel the wind, the rain, and the sun in their immediacy, because you have become meditative. You begin to touch life. Life is no longer a word, but a tangible reality; then love is no longer a word, but an energy that fills you. Blessing is no longer a desire, a hope – you feel it, you possess it, you are it.
What is meditation? It does not mean thinking about something; the English word misleads you. In English, there is no word that exactly corresponds to the translation of Buddha's word sammasati. It has been translated as meditation, as right mindfulness, as awareness, consciousness, vigilance, observation, witnessing – but in reality, there is not a single word that has the quality of sammasati.
Sammasati means: there is awareness, but without any content. There is no thought, no desire, nothing stirs in you. You are not thinking about God and about great things... about nature and its beauty, about the Bible, the Quran, the Vedas, and their immeasurably important statements. You are not thinking! You are also not focusing on any particular object. You are not reciting a mantra, because all of this is the mind's belongings, the mind's content. You are not doing anything! The mind is completely empty, and you are here, in this emptiness. A kind of presence, pure presence, and there is nowhere to go – you are completely relaxed in yourself, you are at peace, you are at home. This is the meaning of Buddha's meditation.
No one has ever been able to express meditation as beautifully as Buddha did. Many people have attained it, but no one has been so expressive, no one has been able to convey the message so well as Buddha. He never surrenders to desire.
"He meditates. And in the strength of his determination, He discovers true happiness."
Bliss is true happiness. What you call happiness is only suffering and illusion. What you call happiness is nothing more than entertainment, pleasure. It is momentary – it cannot be true. Truth must have one quality, and that quality is eternity. If something is true, it is eternal; if something is untrue, it is momentary.
True happiness is found only when the mind completely ceases to function. It does not come from outside. It begins to flow within your being, it begins to fill you. You become radiant. You become a fountain of bliss.
OSHO