Astrall
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Not a single revolution has ever succeeded in changing man, but it seems we still have not realized this. In our heads, ideas of revolution still live—changing society, changing the government, reforming the bureaucracy, altering legislation and political systems. Feudalism, capitalism, communism, socialism, fascism—all were revolutionary in their own way. But all failed, and failed miserably, because MAN did not change…
Osho
A person who has become enlightened sees the underlying causes. Buddha, Christ, Krishna looked at the root and tried to tell you: eliminate the root cause—a radical transformation is needed; ordinary reforms will not help. But this may be incomprehensible to you because I am talking about meditation, and you do not see the connection—you do not understand how meditation is related to war. I see the connection, but you do not. I will say this: if even one percent of all people living on Earth immerse themselves in meditation, wars will cease—and there is no other way. At least that amount of meditative energy is necessary. If one percent of humanity, that is one person out of a hundred, becomes meditative, everything will unfold completely differently. There will be less greed, and therefore less poverty. Poverty exists not because we lack something, but because people engage in hoarding, because of human greed.
If you live in the present moment, you will have enough of everything; the earth can provide you with all that is necessary in sufficient quantity. But we plan ahead and make reserves, and this is where the problems begin. Imagine if birds started hoarding… Then some birds would become rich, and other birds would become poor. American birds would become the richest in the world, and all others would suffer. But birds hoard nothing, therefore they know no poverty. Have you ever seen a destitute bird? The same applies to all animals in the forest—among them there are neither poor nor rich. In fact, you will never see a fat bird or a thin bird. All crows are almost identical; it is hard to distinguish them from one another. Why? They simply live and enjoy life; they hoard nothing. Even when you get fat, it means you are hoarding inside your body—this is how a miserly mind works. Miserly people often have constipation; they cannot even expel their waste. They hoard everything, controlling even defecation, hoarding all sorts of junk. Hoarding is a habit.
If you live in the present moment, live in the now, live with love, live in friendship, care for others… then the world will become completely different. Man as an individual must change, because the world is nothing other than a projection of individual souls. An enlightened person manifests interest—only such a person manifests interest—but his interest pertains to another dimension. This may be difficult for you to understand. People come to me and say: "What are you doing here? There is poverty and all sorts of troubles everywhere, and you keep teaching meditation. Enough. Do something to deal with poverty." But nothing can be done directly to poverty. Meditative energy is needed so that people can enjoy the moment. Then there will be no poverty. Communism will not eliminate poverty—it has eliminated it nowhere. It only created a new kind of poverty—harsher, more dangerous: now the Russian person is much MORE poor, because he has lost his soul. Now he is not even an individual—he has no opportunity to freely pray and meditate. This does not help; it is destructive. All these good intentions… avoid them.
When a person meditates, they begin to blossom. If a person is an artist, they will become a great artist. If they are a poet, suddenly stunning poems will be born in their soul. If they are a singer, for the first time a song will begin to flow from their very heart. No, no effort is needed. When you are silent, rooted in your being, centered, your talents begin to manifest automatically. You begin to do what existence wants from you, you begin to do what you were born for, you begin to do what destiny has intended for you. You become spontaneous. You begin to engage in your work—and now it doesn't even matter to you whether you receive something for it or not, whether it makes you more respected or not. It makes you happy, and that is enough. It brings you immense joy, and that is more than enough.
Meditation releases your energy, and nothing more is needed. A person who has achieved enlightenment has reached the summit—can one desire more?.. He acts as God. He is existence itself, manifested to the fullest. He has reached the highest blossoming—nothing else is required. Every moment of his life is creation, every gesture is creation, his very life is a blessing. But some people prefer to take detours: they want to change the whole world first, and only after that will they turn to themselves. Let me tell you: you will never come to yourself if you take such a long path. I heard…
An old man was sitting not far from the border of Delhi, and a young man drove past in a car. The young man stopped and asked the old man: "Is it far from here to Delhi?" The old man replied: "If you go in the direction you are going, then very, very far. You will have to drive around the entire globe, because you just left Delhi; it is two minutes' drive behind you." * * * If you turn back, the path will not be long—a matter of a couple of minutes. But if you set off to change the whole world and after that expect to change yourself, then you will never achieve your goal, you will never be able to return home. Start from where you are. You are part of this ugly world. By changing yourself, you change the world. Who are you? Part of this ugly world. Why try to change your neighbor? He might not like it, he might not want it; perhaps he is not interested in it at all. If you have come to the realization that the world needs substantial change, then you are the part of the world closest to you. Start with it. But some people consider themselves great philosophers. They reflect and take detours. I read a wonderful book by Leo Rosten, "The Joys of Yiddish". There he tells of a great Jewish philosopher named Sokoloff.* * *
Sokoloff regularly had lunch at the same restaurant on Second Avenue and always ordered chicken soup as a first course. Once he called out to his waiter: "Come here and taste this soup." "Now look here," grumbled the waiter. "Do you doubt the quality of our wonderful chicken soup?" "Come and taste it," Mr. Sokoloff repeated. "Fine, fine," agreed the waiter, "I'll taste it. But where is the spoon?" "Aha!" exclaimed Mr. Sokoloff. He simply wanted to say that they had forgotten to bring him a spoon, but he took a detour—"Taste this soup…" * * * Do not go in such large circles; do not pretend to be great philosophers. If you don't have a spoon, just say that you need a spoon. And that will quickly resolve the problem. All you need is a full spoonful of meditation.
Osho (Book of Awareness)
Osho
A person who has become enlightened sees the underlying causes. Buddha, Christ, Krishna looked at the root and tried to tell you: eliminate the root cause—a radical transformation is needed; ordinary reforms will not help. But this may be incomprehensible to you because I am talking about meditation, and you do not see the connection—you do not understand how meditation is related to war. I see the connection, but you do not. I will say this: if even one percent of all people living on Earth immerse themselves in meditation, wars will cease—and there is no other way. At least that amount of meditative energy is necessary. If one percent of humanity, that is one person out of a hundred, becomes meditative, everything will unfold completely differently. There will be less greed, and therefore less poverty. Poverty exists not because we lack something, but because people engage in hoarding, because of human greed.
If you live in the present moment, you will have enough of everything; the earth can provide you with all that is necessary in sufficient quantity. But we plan ahead and make reserves, and this is where the problems begin. Imagine if birds started hoarding… Then some birds would become rich, and other birds would become poor. American birds would become the richest in the world, and all others would suffer. But birds hoard nothing, therefore they know no poverty. Have you ever seen a destitute bird? The same applies to all animals in the forest—among them there are neither poor nor rich. In fact, you will never see a fat bird or a thin bird. All crows are almost identical; it is hard to distinguish them from one another. Why? They simply live and enjoy life; they hoard nothing. Even when you get fat, it means you are hoarding inside your body—this is how a miserly mind works. Miserly people often have constipation; they cannot even expel their waste. They hoard everything, controlling even defecation, hoarding all sorts of junk. Hoarding is a habit.
If you live in the present moment, live in the now, live with love, live in friendship, care for others… then the world will become completely different. Man as an individual must change, because the world is nothing other than a projection of individual souls. An enlightened person manifests interest—only such a person manifests interest—but his interest pertains to another dimension. This may be difficult for you to understand. People come to me and say: "What are you doing here? There is poverty and all sorts of troubles everywhere, and you keep teaching meditation. Enough. Do something to deal with poverty." But nothing can be done directly to poverty. Meditative energy is needed so that people can enjoy the moment. Then there will be no poverty. Communism will not eliminate poverty—it has eliminated it nowhere. It only created a new kind of poverty—harsher, more dangerous: now the Russian person is much MORE poor, because he has lost his soul. Now he is not even an individual—he has no opportunity to freely pray and meditate. This does not help; it is destructive. All these good intentions… avoid them.
When a person meditates, they begin to blossom. If a person is an artist, they will become a great artist. If they are a poet, suddenly stunning poems will be born in their soul. If they are a singer, for the first time a song will begin to flow from their very heart. No, no effort is needed. When you are silent, rooted in your being, centered, your talents begin to manifest automatically. You begin to do what existence wants from you, you begin to do what you were born for, you begin to do what destiny has intended for you. You become spontaneous. You begin to engage in your work—and now it doesn't even matter to you whether you receive something for it or not, whether it makes you more respected or not. It makes you happy, and that is enough. It brings you immense joy, and that is more than enough.
Meditation releases your energy, and nothing more is needed. A person who has achieved enlightenment has reached the summit—can one desire more?.. He acts as God. He is existence itself, manifested to the fullest. He has reached the highest blossoming—nothing else is required. Every moment of his life is creation, every gesture is creation, his very life is a blessing. But some people prefer to take detours: they want to change the whole world first, and only after that will they turn to themselves. Let me tell you: you will never come to yourself if you take such a long path. I heard…
An old man was sitting not far from the border of Delhi, and a young man drove past in a car. The young man stopped and asked the old man: "Is it far from here to Delhi?" The old man replied: "If you go in the direction you are going, then very, very far. You will have to drive around the entire globe, because you just left Delhi; it is two minutes' drive behind you." * * * If you turn back, the path will not be long—a matter of a couple of minutes. But if you set off to change the whole world and after that expect to change yourself, then you will never achieve your goal, you will never be able to return home. Start from where you are. You are part of this ugly world. By changing yourself, you change the world. Who are you? Part of this ugly world. Why try to change your neighbor? He might not like it, he might not want it; perhaps he is not interested in it at all. If you have come to the realization that the world needs substantial change, then you are the part of the world closest to you. Start with it. But some people consider themselves great philosophers. They reflect and take detours. I read a wonderful book by Leo Rosten, "The Joys of Yiddish". There he tells of a great Jewish philosopher named Sokoloff.* * *
Sokoloff regularly had lunch at the same restaurant on Second Avenue and always ordered chicken soup as a first course. Once he called out to his waiter: "Come here and taste this soup." "Now look here," grumbled the waiter. "Do you doubt the quality of our wonderful chicken soup?" "Come and taste it," Mr. Sokoloff repeated. "Fine, fine," agreed the waiter, "I'll taste it. But where is the spoon?" "Aha!" exclaimed Mr. Sokoloff. He simply wanted to say that they had forgotten to bring him a spoon, but he took a detour—"Taste this soup…" * * * Do not go in such large circles; do not pretend to be great philosophers. If you don't have a spoon, just say that you need a spoon. And that will quickly resolve the problem. All you need is a full spoonful of meditation.
Osho (Book of Awareness)