Astrall
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When a person simply plays, they are always a winner. Everyone becomes a winner. But when they take it seriously, it becomes impossible to win – everyone only loses.
Even when you meditate, you become too serious. Don't take everything so seriously. Meditation can only happen in a state of lightness, playfulness, only in utter playfulness, when you are not seeking anything, not expecting anything, when you are simply dancing or singing, or reciting poetry, when you are not asking about anything, when your action is just a response, there is no future, there are no ideas about the future... only then can meditation happen. Meditation is what happens right now. You cannot snatch this process from the hands of existence. You cannot desire it and be able to have it. You can only do one thing: become empty, to receive, to let energy flow through you – that is what happens when you are playful.
Meditation is fun! Does the combination of meditation and fun sound absurd? For centuries, we have been taught that spirituality is the most serious thing in life: go to church and become serious, and if there is no church nearby, then at least put on a serious face, pretend that you are going to church. Don't laugh, don't dance, don't have fun, don't play! Life is a serious matter, you are standing before God.
This God of yours is rather strange! He doesn't allow you to laugh. He doesn't allow you to dance. He doesn't allow you to love. He doesn't allow you to rejoice. The gods of the past are very vengeful, jealous, cruel, they are always ready to destroy you, tear you to pieces, send you to hell. Even the very idea of God is repulsive.
You need to learn a new language: meditation is fun, prayer is love and laughter, and temples, churches, mosques are places created specifically to enjoy life, to revel in life, to dance, to hold hands, to share what God has given you; places where you can be totally in the present, where you can immerse yourself in the present moment. That is the meaning of fun, laughter, joy – total presence here and now, as if there is no other moment. Then why think about the result? The result implies the future.
Be like small children – dance, sing, shout – and the divine will come to you on its own. At some point, you will discover that everything around you is divine, suddenly you will begin to understand that you are not holding the hand of a woman – your hand is being held by the Goddess; that you are not holding the hand of a man, but God. Looking into the eyes of another person with joy, with playfulness, you suddenly find yourself at a depth you never dreamed of. You dissolve into this depth.
That is what God is! God does not live in scriptures, he lives in the eyes of people, in flowers, in rivers, and in the moonlight. God is everywhere! You don't need scriptures. If you don't see God in living trees, green, red, gold, you won't find him in the Bible, the Quran, or the Vedas. How can you find him there if you don't see him here? Once you discover him here, you will feel his presence everywhere... Then everything will become divine.
Once you have experienced the divine, you will see it everywhere and in everything. But you must find it in life, in playfulness.
Playfulness makes you as alive as possible, to the maximum. Seriousness, on the other hand, disfigures you. You shrink, you turn into ice. You close yourself off and feel lonely. You become selfish. People strive to be serious because seriousness makes their ego grow, while playfulness takes away the ego.
Have you ever noticed this?
When you laugh, look inside yourself: "N" disappears. That is why people with egos cannot laugh – it is impossible for them! When you dance, there comes a moment when "N" disappears. But people with egos cannot dance, they cannot allow "N" to disappear. Naturally, they remain within narrow limits, living like prisoners. But that is your choice!
If you want to preserve your ego, you will have to live in a prison, you will have to accept the limitations. If you want your ego to become bigger and bigger, then you will find that the prison will become smaller and smaller, its walls will move closer and closer to you. If you want your ego to become the greatest in the world, then soon nothing will remain of you but the prison itself, on all sides you will be surrounded by the Great Wall of China, you will live in a straitjacket behind iron doors.
But if you want to be alive, you will have to give up your ego. The ego distracts you from life.
Osho
Even when you meditate, you become too serious. Don't take everything so seriously. Meditation can only happen in a state of lightness, playfulness, only in utter playfulness, when you are not seeking anything, not expecting anything, when you are simply dancing or singing, or reciting poetry, when you are not asking about anything, when your action is just a response, there is no future, there are no ideas about the future... only then can meditation happen. Meditation is what happens right now. You cannot snatch this process from the hands of existence. You cannot desire it and be able to have it. You can only do one thing: become empty, to receive, to let energy flow through you – that is what happens when you are playful.
Meditation is fun! Does the combination of meditation and fun sound absurd? For centuries, we have been taught that spirituality is the most serious thing in life: go to church and become serious, and if there is no church nearby, then at least put on a serious face, pretend that you are going to church. Don't laugh, don't dance, don't have fun, don't play! Life is a serious matter, you are standing before God.
This God of yours is rather strange! He doesn't allow you to laugh. He doesn't allow you to dance. He doesn't allow you to love. He doesn't allow you to rejoice. The gods of the past are very vengeful, jealous, cruel, they are always ready to destroy you, tear you to pieces, send you to hell. Even the very idea of God is repulsive.
You need to learn a new language: meditation is fun, prayer is love and laughter, and temples, churches, mosques are places created specifically to enjoy life, to revel in life, to dance, to hold hands, to share what God has given you; places where you can be totally in the present, where you can immerse yourself in the present moment. That is the meaning of fun, laughter, joy – total presence here and now, as if there is no other moment. Then why think about the result? The result implies the future.
Be like small children – dance, sing, shout – and the divine will come to you on its own. At some point, you will discover that everything around you is divine, suddenly you will begin to understand that you are not holding the hand of a woman – your hand is being held by the Goddess; that you are not holding the hand of a man, but God. Looking into the eyes of another person with joy, with playfulness, you suddenly find yourself at a depth you never dreamed of. You dissolve into this depth.
That is what God is! God does not live in scriptures, he lives in the eyes of people, in flowers, in rivers, and in the moonlight. God is everywhere! You don't need scriptures. If you don't see God in living trees, green, red, gold, you won't find him in the Bible, the Quran, or the Vedas. How can you find him there if you don't see him here? Once you discover him here, you will feel his presence everywhere... Then everything will become divine.
Once you have experienced the divine, you will see it everywhere and in everything. But you must find it in life, in playfulness.
Playfulness makes you as alive as possible, to the maximum. Seriousness, on the other hand, disfigures you. You shrink, you turn into ice. You close yourself off and feel lonely. You become selfish. People strive to be serious because seriousness makes their ego grow, while playfulness takes away the ego.
Have you ever noticed this?
When you laugh, look inside yourself: "N" disappears. That is why people with egos cannot laugh – it is impossible for them! When you dance, there comes a moment when "N" disappears. But people with egos cannot dance, they cannot allow "N" to disappear. Naturally, they remain within narrow limits, living like prisoners. But that is your choice!
If you want to preserve your ego, you will have to live in a prison, you will have to accept the limitations. If you want your ego to become bigger and bigger, then you will find that the prison will become smaller and smaller, its walls will move closer and closer to you. If you want your ego to become the greatest in the world, then soon nothing will remain of you but the prison itself, on all sides you will be surrounded by the Great Wall of China, you will live in a straitjacket behind iron doors.
But if you want to be alive, you will have to give up your ego. The ego distracts you from life.
Osho