Posts from Life is a dream. Auto-translated

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As far as I can tell, all this teaching stems from the same old, vile, and completely incorrect idea that "man is created for happiness as a bird is created for flight." Osho promises some vague miracles that no one even asks for. People need to believe in the correctness of their thoughts and actions. Animals are content with food and mates. "Miracles" are not needed by anyone, and those who do need them will believe in them themselves and be satisfied.
All civilization, all progress, is built on desires. Without the eternal feeling of dissatisfaction, we would have remained at the level of primitive people, contemplating mammoth dung. Food is available, a mate is nearby, there is a roof over your head – basic needs are met. Why desire, why suffer?
And life is suffering by default, which is why this "axiom" about happiness is absurd, and therefore any ideology derived from it. And life is indeed meaningless and empty, but anyone who complains about it seriously is a pathetic brat, incapable of accepting the fact and drawing a conclusion, incapable even of believing in some comforting lie about the afterlife. One should not complain about life because everyone is afraid of death, no matter what they say. All philosophy, any religion, originates from the banal fear of death. This same fear of death gives rise to the desire to grab as much as possible while one can. Everything is normal, but absolute happiness does not exist. But everyone is free to invent and find relative happiness.
Osho wants to bring people down to some animal level of thoughtlessness and inaction in order to achieve "happiness." This is a normal idea for bipedal livestock, in general, the main thing is that they continue to go to work. After all, the average animal primarily desires peace, and such an ideology is quite capable of providing it to those who can believe in such nonsense.

Osho believes that people should be brought down to an animalistic level of thoughtlessness and inaction in order to achieve "happiness."

True meditation does not mean inaction at all, but rather learning to have a truly mature attitude towards every moment of life. Ultimately, in life, we always have only one moment, and true meditation is the ability to live that moment in the most sensible way, not becoming an unconscious child, but calm and mature, like a wise person, being as vigilant as possible in relation to that moment. Meditation = vigilance and awareness.

No one is saying that you need to completely abandon plans; the main thing is not to make life a problem, not to create unnecessary worries for yourself with constant thoughts about what has been or what might happen. The problem is when a person constantly gets lost in their own thoughts and experiences, and life itself, the given moment, fades from view, becomes clouded by thoughts, just as a clear sky is covered with clouds, and then the feeling of life gradually fades, becomes clouded by constant worries and problems created by one's own mind and its endless projections:


"The only thing you need to learn is observation. Observe! Observe every action you take. Observe every thought that passes through your mind. Observe every desire that overwhelms you. Observe even minor gestures – how you walk, talk, eat, take a bath. Keep observing, in everything, everywhere. Let everything become an opportunity to observe.

Don't eat mechanically, don't just keep stuffing yourself with food – be very observant. Chew carefully and mindfully... and you will be surprised at how much you have been missing so far, because every bite will bring great satisfaction. If you eat mindfully, the food will taste better. Even ordinary food will become the most delicious if you are observant; and if you are not observant, you can eat the most delicious food, but it will have no taste, because there is no one to observe. You just keep stuffing yourself with food. Eat slowly, mindfully; each bite should be chewed and felt.

Inhale the scent, feel the touch, feel the rush of the wind and the sun's rays. Look at the moon, and become simply a silent pool of observation, and the moon will be reflected in you in boundless beauty.
Move through life, remaining fully observant. Again and again you will forget. Don't become unhappy because of this; it is natural. You have never tried to observe for millions of lives, and it is so simple and natural that you keep forgetting again and again. But at the moment you remember, observe again.

Remember one thing: when you remember that you have forgotten to observe, do not regret it, do not repent; otherwise, you will waste time. Don't feel unhappy: "I missed it again." Don't start feeling: "I am a sinner." Don't start judging yourself, because that is a complete waste of time.

Never regret the past! Live in this moment. If you forgot, so what? It's natural – it's become a habit, and habits die hard. And it's not just a habit acquired in one lifetime;
these habits have been established over millions of lifetimes. Therefore, if you can remain observant for even a few moments, be grateful. Even these few moments are more than you can expect. He observes. He is clear.

And when you observe, clarity arises. Why does clarity arise from observation? Because the more you are in observation, the more and more your haste slows down. You become more graceful. As you observe, the chatter becomes less and less, because the energy that was becoming chatter begins to become observation.

— the same energy! Now more and more energy will be transformed into observation, and the mind will not be fed. Thoughts will become thinner and thinner, they will begin to lose weight. Little by little, they will begin to die. And when thoughts die, clarity arises. Now your mind becomes a mirror.

How happy he is! And when a person is clear, he is blissful. It is confusion that becomes the root cause of unhappiness; it is clarity that becomes the basis of bliss. How happy he is! For he sees that awakening is life.

And now he knows that there is no death, because awakening can never be destroyed. When death comes, you will observe it too. You will die, observing – observation will not die. Your body will disappear, the ashes will return to ashes, but observation will remain; it will become part of the cosmic whole. It will become cosmic consciousness.
In these moments, the prophets of the Upanishads declare:

"Aham brahmasmi – I am cosmic consciousness." In one of these moments, Al-Hillaj Mansur declared:

"Ana al-haq! – I am the truth!" These are the heights that rightfully belong to you. If you do not reach them, you are responsible for it, and no one else.
How happy he is! For he sees that awakening
is life.

How happy he is, following the path of the awakened!
With great persistence, he meditates
in search of freedom and happiness.


Listen to these words very carefully. With great persistence... Until you make a total effort to awaken, it will not happen. Partial efforts are useless. You cannot be half here, half there; you cannot be slightly warm. It won't help. Slightly warm water will not evaporate; slightly warm attempts to be mindful are doomed to failure.
Transformation happens only when you put all your energy into it. When you boil at 100 degrees, you evaporate, and an alchemical change takes place. Then you begin to rise. Have you noticed? – water flows down, but steam rises up. So it is here: unconsciousness flows down, consciousness rises up.
And one more thing: "up" is synonymous with "inward," and "down" is "outward." Consciousness moves inward, unconsciousness moves outward. Unconsciousness keeps you in complete darkness; your eyes remain constantly focused on others. This creates a kind of extroversion and keeps you outside. Consciousness creates an inner space. It makes you introverted; it introduces you inward, deeper and deeper.

Deeper and deeper also means higher and higher; depth and height grow simultaneously, just as a tree grows. You only see that it is moving upwards, but you do not see that the roots are moving downwards. But first, the roots must go down, and only then can the tree grow upwards. If a tree wants to reach the sky, it must put its roots to the very bottom, to the deepest depths. The tree grows simultaneously in both directions. In the same way, consciousness grows upwards... downwards, putting roots into the depths of your being."
Osho (from the book _Awareness_)

The foundation of happiness is unity with oneself, always. You must remember the main thing: accepting psychological pain opens the gates to transcending it. You must accept everything that causes you pain; you must engage in a dialogue with it. It is you. There is no other way to get rid of the pain; the only way is to accept it... People suffer, people are tormented – everyone seeks a state of happiness, a state of unity with life. A person feels lonely, unrooted. Hence, the desire to re-establish roots in existence, to become green again, to become blessed again. We need to understand something. Absolute unity with consciousness or life is unity with oneself. For this, we must not reject anything. This is the first thing to understand. Wholeness is the first step on the path to bliss. This is what all the wise men repeatedly insist on: wholeness is bliss. You need to accept everything. You don't need to reject anything. If you reject something, you create problems, and the problems become more and more complex.

• The first step is acceptance: The greatest desire in the world is the desire for inner transformation. Money, power, authority – nothing; the greatest desire is the so-called thirst for the spiritual. If you are consumed by this desire, you will never succeed. Transformation is possible. But not through desire. Transformation is possible through relaxation in the situation as it is. Transformation is caused by unconditional acceptance of oneself. We need to take this seriously, because this is the heart of the universal situation. People suffer, people are tormented – everyone seeks a state of happiness, a state of unity with life. A person feels lonely, unrooted. Hence, the desire to re-establish roots in existence, to become green again, to become blessed again. We need to understand something. Absolute unity with consciousness or life is unity with oneself. For this, we must not reject anything. This is the first thing to understand. For example, right now you are experiencing real fear. If you reject it, you suppress it, you wound your essence. You are afraid to face the truth. But this is a fact, this is reality. If you stop looking your fear in the eye, it will not disappear. You are acting like an ostrich. Seeing an enemy or mortal danger, the ostrich hides its head in the sand. But the enemy does not disappear because of this. The ostrich only becomes more vulnerable to the enemy. Thinking that there is no enemy – because it doesn't see anyone – the ostrich gets rid of fear. In fact, it exposes itself to even greater danger; an unseen enemy is more dangerous. If the ostrich did not hide its head in the sand, something could be done. People do the same. If you are afraid of something, you try not to notice it – but it is a fact, you are not accepting a part of your essence. You have divided yourself into parts. Then one day you will not want to accept anger, then you will not want to accept greed. And so on. Negative emotions do not disappear just because you do not want to perceive them. You yourself have destroyed your wholeness. The more you destroy yourself, the more unhappy you become.

• Wholeness is the first step on the path to bliss. This is what all mystics repeatedly insist on: wholeness is bliss. You need to accept everything. You don't need to reject anything. If you reject something, you create problems, and the problems become more and more complex. It's simple – if you are afraid, what do you do? You acknowledge: "Yes, I am afraid." That's all! If you acknowledge your cowardice, that is already courage! Only a brave person can admit their fear – you are already on the path to transformation. So, the first thing is not to reject anything that can be experienced. To achieve this, consciousness must stop identifying itself with obsessive, fixed ideas. This is the second. If your mind clings to ideas about who you are, it does not accept the reality that contradicts these ideas. If you have ideas about what you should be, you cannot accept yourself as you are. If you have the idea that you should be brave, it is difficult for you to accept your cowardice. If you have the idea of being a very compassionate person – like the Buddha – you cannot accept your anger. This is an ideal that creates problems. There is no ideal – there are no problems. If you are a coward, be a coward! Since you do not have the ideal of being brave, you do not judge yourself – you do not reject, you do not suppress your fear. If you drive fear into the subconscious, it will continue to create problems for you. This is like a disease driven inside. If it manifests, there is a chance that it will disappear. If the disease manifests, that is good. This is the path to healing – then it comes into contact with the sun and fresh air and can be healed. If you do not allow it to come to the surface, you drive it inside, it turns into cancer. Even a minor illness can become dangerous if you suppress it.

You should never suppress an illness. However, suppression is natural if you have an ideal. For example, if you have the ideal of maintaining celibacy, sex becomes a problem. This is easy to see. If you do not have the ideal of maintaining celibacy, you do not refuse sex. There is no separation between you and your sexuality. There is unity between them. This unity, this union, brings you joy. The foundation of happiness is unity with oneself, always. So, the second thing to remember is to give up ideals. Just think – if you have an ideal, you must have three eyes. Because you have two, not three eyes (as your ideal suggests), a problem arises. You want to have a third eye. You have created an unsolvable problem! The most you can do is draw a third eye on your forehead. But a drawn third eye is just a drawn third eye; it is a fake. Ideals make people fake. It turns out to be absurd: although people's ideal is not to be fake, it is the ideals that bring about falsehood. If all ideals disappear, falsehood will disappear.

Why does falsehood exist? It is a consequence of having ideals. The higher the ideal, the more falsehood. In India, there are more hypocrites than anywhere else in the world. Why? Because for many centuries, India has lived with great ideals. Crazy, strange ideals… For example, a Jain monk is unhappy if he cannot, like the mythological Mahavira, eat very rarely. It is said that out of twelve years, Mahavira ate only one year. That is, he ate once every twelve days. If this is your ideal, you doom yourself to great unhappiness. If this is not your ideal, there are no problems.

• The cause of the problem is the ideal. Understand this. A Christian monk is not worried about this problem. The Jain monk is constantly suffering – he cannot achieve the ideal; he fails. If you are truly, genuinely pure, you do not sweat. This is a Jain idea. Now you have this stupid idea! Your body will continue to sweat, you will continue to suffer. The more ideals you have, the more hypocritical you are – if you cannot achieve the ideal, you must pretend. This is where falsehood comes from. If we accepted reality as it is, there would be no hypocrisy in the world. If we live with what is, and not with what we "should" or "must," where can hypocrisy come from? Once, someone asked me: "Are you a hypocrite? You live in comfort, you have a beautiful house, a wonderful car. You live like a king." He does not understand what the word "hypocrisy" means. Everything I teach is to live as well as possible. I am not a hypocrite. I live in accordance with what I teach. Hypocrisy would be if I taught to live in poverty, and lived in a palace. But I do not teach to live in poverty; that is not my goal. I live naturally: living in comfort and convenience is very natural. Not living in comfort, if possible, is stupid. It's just that it may not be possible. Live comfortably in the conditions that are available to you...
Osho

.................I have had various situations in my life. But I always felt comfortable. When I was a student, I had to walk four miles to get to the university. And I liked it! Every day I walked those eight miles with great pleasure. After starting work as a teacher, I began cycling to the university. And I liked that too. It didn't matter what the situation was — whether I had a bicycle or a Mercedes-Benz. I felt comfortable. Comfort is a mental attitude, an attitude toward life. There were times when I lived very poorly. When I became a lecturer at the university, I lived in a room without windows or ventilation. I paid twelve rupees a month for it. And I experienced no problems. I even liked it. I extracted everything that was possible from the present moment. I drank it to the bottom. I desired nothing more and lamented nothing. I rejoiced in whatever happened. You cannot say that I am a hypocrite. I have no ideals, I have no categories of "ought" or "should." There is only what is. That is how I live. So, second — the abandonment of notions about oneself. People always have too many notions about who they should be. To be a coward if you want to be brave is terrible. But cowardice is reality. And an ideal is just an ideal, a fantasy. Abandon ideals and fantasies in favor of reality to find unity with yourself. Everything you rejected will return; everything you suppressed will come to the surface. You will feel like a whole.

For example, if I consider myself a "kind" person, I cannot accept or realize anger. "Kind" people do not get angry. To bring unity into my consciousness, I must understand that I am only a practical, momentary reality. Sometimes I am angry, sometimes I am sad. Sometimes I rejoice, sometimes I am jealous. Accept everything that happens. Then you can achieve wholeness. This is the most important thing. My task and goal are to rid you of all ideals. You came to me with ideals; you want me to support them. Perhaps that is why you came here. But that is not my job. My task is exactly the opposite: to help you accept what is and forget all your fantasies. I want you to become more practical and realistic. For you to put roots into the earth — in your thirst, your striving for the sky, you have completely forgotten about the earth. The sky is open only to those whose roots are deep in the earth. A tree, if it wants to grow high into the sky, whisper with the clouds and stars, and play with the winds, must put its roots deep into the earth. So, first — put roots in the earth. The stronger and deeper the roots, the higher the tree. All I am trying to do is help you put roots deep into the soil of truth. Truth is your essence. When this happens, changes will unexpectedly begin to occur; you will start to grow. The ideals that you always strove for and could never achieve will begin to be realized in life. If a person accepts reality as it is, tension disappears. Suffering, anxiety, despair dissolve. When there is no anxiety, tension, schizophrenia, division — joy unexpectedly arises.

Love unexpectedly arises. Compassion arises. This is very natural. The only thing necessary is to get rid of blocks, or ideals. The more idealistic a person is, the more blocks they have. Yes, fear, cowardice, anger bring you pain — these are negative emotions. Only by not rejecting but accepting negative emotions can harmony be achieved. By rejecting negative, painful emotions, you become weaker. You will be in a state of constant internal war, a civil war in which one hand fights the other and in which you simply waste your strength.

You must remember the main point — acceptance of psychological pain opens the gates to moving beyond it. You must accept everything that causes you pain; you must engage in a dialogue with it. It is you. There is no other way to get rid of pain; the only way is to accept it. In this way, you will unlock enormous potential. Anger and cowardice, as well as fear, are energy. Everything that happens to you possesses a huge amount of hidden energy. If you accept it, it becomes yours. You become stronger, you begin to become freer. Your inner world expands. Psychological pain ends as soon as you accept it in all its fullness. Psychological pain exists not because of the presence of what you call "painful." Pain is generated by your interpretation of reality. Try to understand this. Psychological pain is your own creation. It is not cowardice that causes pain, but the idea that cowardice is wrong. Cowardice condemns your ego. From this condemnation and interpretation, pain arises. Cowardice turns into pain. You cannot accept it, you cannot destroy or reject it. Nothing is destroyed simply because you reject it; sooner or later, you will have to face it. It will disrupt your peace again and again. You do not accept the facts of cowardice, anger, fear, sadness. In doing so, you cause yourself pain. Observe yourself. Become a huge experimental laboratory. Just imagine: you are alone, it is dark, there is no one around, you are afraid. You are lost in the jungle; you are sitting in a tree at night. Lions are roaring. You have two options. First — pull yourself together. This is the option where fear causes pain. Even if you keep yourself composed. Second advice: enjoy your fear. Let your fear become meditation. It is natural — dark night, lions roaring, deadly danger lurks. Enjoy it. Turn your trembling into a dance. Trembling, if you accept it, is a dance. You will be surprised: if you become the trembling, the pain disappears.

If you allow yourself to tremble, instead of pain you feel a huge surge of energy. This is exactly what your body wants. Why does trembling occur? Trembling triggers a chemical process in the body. It triggers the "fight or flight" reflex and releases energy. This gives a feeling of an enormous surge of energy. This is an extreme measure. You begin to tremble — it means you are beginning to warm up. That is why you shiver in cold weather. Why do you shiver? After all, you aren't afraid. The body automatically shivers from the cold to warm up. It is a natural reaction of the body. Internal tissues shiver from the cold to warm up. When, feeling the cold, you suppress the shivering, it becomes a painful reaction. The same goes for fear. The body tries to prepare. It prepares you to meet danger. It releases chemicals into the blood. "Fight or flight." Energy will be needed in any case. Observe the beauty of fear. Fear is an attempt to prepare you to accept a challenge. Instead of accepting the challenge and understanding the nature of fear, you reject it. You say: "You, such a great person, are trembling? Remember: the soul is immortal, there is no death. You are an immortal soul — and you tremble? Remember: death cannot destroy you, weapons cannot wound you, fire cannot burn you. Remember this and do not be afraid." You create conflict. To suppress fear, you introduce unnatural ideas into the natural process of fear — you introduce ideals into it. And since this causes conflict, it causes pain. Do not worry whether the soul is immortal or not. Right now, the truth is that you are afraid. Live in the present moment. This will rid you of pain. Fear is a subtle dance of energies. It is not your enemy; it is your friend. But your interpretation of what is happening does you a disservice. The Schism you created between your feelings and your "I" — between your "I" and fear, anger — divides you in two. You become simultaneously the observer and the object of observation; you say: "I, the observer, am here; pain, the object of observation, is there." This duality generates pain.

You are neither the object of observation nor the observer. You are the observer and the object of observation simultaneously. Do not say: "I feel fear." That is wrong. Do not say: "I am afraid." That is also wrong. Say simply: "I am fear. In this moment, I am fear." No duality! By saying "I feel fear," you separate yourself from it; you perceive your fear as if from the outside. This is the basis of duality. Say simply: "I am fear." If there is fear, you are fear. If you feel love, you are love. If anger — you are anger. This is what Krishnamurti says again and again: "The observer is simultaneously the object of observation." The same applies to experiences. Do not create a division between subject and object. This is the main cause of all unhappiness. Realizing everything as it is — is the key to unlocking the secret mystery of your essence. Do not say that this is good, do not say that this is bad. If you say about something that it is good, attachment arises. When you say about something that it is bad, rejection arises. Fear is fear; it is neither good nor bad. Do not judge it.
Osho

Everything is beautiful, even the ugly, whether you accept it or not. Rejection or acceptance affects nothing — everything is as it is. If you accept it, it brings you joy; if not, it causes pain. Reality does not change because of this. Psychological pain is your own creation.

Fear is fear; it is neither good nor bad. Do not judge it. Let there be fear! Through this awareness, all psychological pain vanishes like dew drops in the morning sun. A virginally pure space remains. This is oneness, Dao, or God. This is what remains when pain disappears and the observer becomes the object of observation — it is the experience of the state of love, or enlightenment; you may call it whatever you wish. In this state, there is no observer/judge/controller, no "I". There is only experiencing and experience, which change every second. It can be joy, compassion, destruction, fear, sadness, loneliness. You should not say: "I am sad." Rather, say: "I am sadness." The first statement implies that you are separating yourself from this feeling. There is no "I" experiencing this feeling. There is only the feeling itself. Meditate on this: this is feeling as such. There is no "I" that feels fear; "I" am fear. At other moments, it may be something else — you are not separate from the moment in which the emotion arises; there is only the emotion. Nothing can be done with it. There is no one who could "do" anything with it.

Everything is beautiful, even the ugly, whether you accept it or not. Rejection or acceptance affects nothing — everything is as it is. If you accept it, it brings you joy; if not, it causes pain. Reality does not change because of this. Psychological pain is your own creation. By rejecting the truth, you place yourself in a prison. The truth sets you free, but you rejected it, and that is why this happened. You continue to lock yourself in prison by rejecting the truth. The truth does not change because of this. Whether you reject it or accept it does not matter. Only your psychological reality changes. There are always two options — joy or pain, health or sickness. If you reject the truth, it is discomfort and sickness. You cut away a huge piece of your essence; this leaves wounds. If you accept the truth, it is health, joy, and wholeness.
Truth does not deprive anyone of freedom; that is not its quality. But when you reject the truth, you close yourself off. It is a kind of paralysis. But remember: the very idea of liberation is already an ideal. Freedom is not an ideal; it is a consequence of accepting yourself, whoever you may be. It is a consequence; it is not the goal. Its achievement does not require enormous effort. It happens naturally. If you cannot accept your cowardice, how can it happen naturally? You cannot accept love, you cannot accept fear, you cannot accept sadness. Why can't people relax? What is the main reason for their constant chronic tension? This is the main reason — for many centuries, your so-called religions have taught you to reject. They taught you to renounce: you must change this, you must change that. Only then can God accept you. You cannot accept the people you live with, you cannot accept yourself. How then can God accept you?

Life has already accepted you. That is why you are here. Otherwise, you would not be here. This is my main instruction to you. Life has already accepted you. You do not have to do anything to deserve it. You no longer need to. Relax and enjoy what nature has made of you. If nature implanted cowardice in you, perhaps there is something to it. Trust it and simply accept it. What is wrong with cowardice? Or with fear? Only idiots do not feel fear. Seeing a snake on the road, you immediately jump aside. Only a fool or an idiot would not be afraid. If you are smart, you will jump aside as quickly as possible. This is absolutely normal. It helps you protect yourself. But you continue to insist. You do not listen to what I say. Accept everything I say; acceptance is the key to transformation. I am not saying that you must accept yourself in order to transform — it is impossible to accept yourself if deep down you want transformation. You say: "Fine, if it will help the transformation, I accept myself." But this is not acceptance; you are missing the main point. You still want transformation, just as before. Where is the acceptance here, if I guarantee it to you? You are using acceptance as a means. The goal is freedom, transformation, the achievement of self-realization, nirvana. Where is the acceptance here? Acceptance must be causeless, unmotivated, unconditional. Only then will it make you free. It brings great freedom and joy. But freedom is not the goal.

Acceptance is another name for freedom. If you truly, genuinely accept, if you understand what I mean by acceptance — that is freedom. Instant and immediate. You do not receive freedom after you have once accepted yourself, no. Self-acceptance is already freedom. Psychological pain disappears immediately. Try it. This is verified in practice. It is not a question of faith. You have struggled with your fear for a long time — try to accept it, and you will see what happens. Sit quietly, accept it, and say: "I am afraid, therefore I am fear." In this meditative state, freedom will begin to descend upon you. If the acceptance is complete — you attain freedom.
Osho (from the book "On Feelings")

Death does not contradict life; it does not signify the end of life; it merely leads life to a beautiful culmination. Life continues even after death. It existed before birth, and it will continue after death. Life is not limited to the brief interval between birth and death; rather, birth and death are merely small episodes in the eternity of life. There is nothing bad about death; it is beautiful – but one must know how to live and how to die. There is an art of living, and there is an art of dying, and the latter art is more valuable than the former. Only those who know how to live properly know how to die properly…
Osho

From the day my grandfather died, death became my… constant companion. On that day, I also died, for I clearly realized: it doesn't matter if you live for seven years or seventy – he was seventy years old – you will still die someday. (c) Osho

He was a good, wonderful man, and he simply died. What was the meaning of his life? This question continued to torment me: what was the meaning of his life? What did he achieve? For seventy years, he remained a good man, but what was the meaning of all this? Life vanished without a trace, leaving nothing behind. My grandfather's death greatly puzzled me. I began to think about serious questions even before his death. At the age of four, I began to contemplate problems that people usually only begin to consider towards the end of their lives. But I didn't want to waste time. I began to ask questions to my maternal grandfather. He usually answered:
Oh, these questions! You have your whole life ahead of you; you are still very young; don't rush. – Grandfather, I have seen boys in the village die: they never asked such questions; they died without finding an answer. Can you guarantee that I will not die tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? Can you guarantee that I will only die after I receive answers to my questions?

I cannot guarantee this, because death is not subject to me, just as life is not. – Then don't suggest that I wait until I grow up. I want to know the answer immediately. If you know the answer, please tell me. If you don't know, then just tell me honestly. Soon, he realized that it would be different with me. Saying "yes"... you start having a hard time, because you have to answer follow-up questions, delve into the topic – you can't fool me. Grandfather honestly admitted that he did not know the answers to my questions. I said to him:
You are old and may die soon. What have you been doing all your life? On the threshold of death, you will only be left with your ignorance. I am not asking you simple questions; they are very important to me. You go to the Temple. I ask you: why do you go there? What do you find there? You have been going there all your life and are trying to persuade me to go there with you. He built this Temple. One day, he realized that the whole answer was that "I built this Temple. If even I don't go there, then who will? But I will tell you frankly: yes, it was all in vain. I went there all my life, but I found nothing there." Then I said:

Try something else. Don't die with a question; die with an answer. But he died with a question. When we last spoke – and that was ten hours before his death – he opened his eyes and said: – You were right: don't put anything off until tomorrow. I am dying with many questions. I admit that I gave you bad advice. You were right: you shouldn't put things off until tomorrow. If you have a question, look for the answer as soon as possible.
Osho

Death remains the only exception: everything else in the world has already been spoiled by man. (c) Osho

When someone dies, when someone you knew, loved, lived with, and who became a part of your life dies, something in you also dies. Of course, you will miss them; you will feel a void – this is natural. But that same void can be transformed into a door. After all, death is a door to God. Death is the only thing that man has not yet spoiled. Man has already spoiled everything, desecrated everything. Only death remains untouched, unspoiled, unsoiled by human hands. Man would gladly take on death too, but it remains unconquered, it does not yield to him. Death is elusive; it remains a mystery. Man is confused. He doesn't know what to do with death. Man does not understand death; it does not lend itself to scientific analysis, which is why it still remains unspoiled. Death remains the only exception: everything else in the world has already been spoiled by man. Make use of these moments. When death unexpectedly penetrates your consciousness, all of life seems meaningless. It really is meaningless. Death reveals the truth. When you unexpectedly encounter death, it seems that the ground is slipping out from under your feet. Suddenly, you realize that the death of this person also means your own death. Every death is the death of each of us. (c) Osho

http://www.klex.ru/9f

Death does not contradict life; it does not signify the end of life, but rather brings life to a beautiful culmination. Life continues even after death.

I didn't read any further. Oh, these insecure monkeys who can't even accept the fact of non-existence.

I didn't read any further.

but that was a mistake...

When a person meditates, they begin to blossom. If the person is an artist, they will become a great artist. If they are a poet, suddenly amazing 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, there is no need to make any effort. When you are silent, rooted in your being, centered, your talents begin to manifest automatically. You begin to do what existence wants you to do, you begin to do what you were born to do, you begin to do what destiny has in store for you. You become spontaneous. You begin to engage in your work – and now it doesn't even matter to you whether you will receive anything for it or not, whether it will make 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 that is all you need. A person who has attained enlightenment has reached the peak – can one desire more?... He acts like God. He is existence itself, fully manifested. He has reached the highest flowering – nothing more is needed. Every moment of his life is creation, every gesture of his is creation, his very life is joy and blessing.
Osho

You become so sensitive that even the smallest blade of grass acquires infinite meaning for you. Your sensitivity reveals to you that this small stem of grass is as important for existence as a giant star; without this stem, existence would be less than it is. And this tiny stem is unique, irreplaceable, and possesses its own individuality. And this sensitivity will bring you a new kind of friendship – friendship with trees, with birds, with animals, with mountains, with rivers, with oceans, with stars. As love grows, as friendship grows, life becomes richer...(Osho)

And this miracle is possible through meditation. Meditation is simply an unusual surgical method that cuts you off from everything alien and leaves only what is your true essence. It burns away everything superfluous and leaves you naked, alone under the sun, in the wind. You become like the first person who came to earth, who knows nothing, who must discover everything, who must be a seeker, who must embark on a journey.

The second principle is the journey. Life should be a search – not a desire, but an exploration; not a claim to be something, to be this – the president of a country or the prime minister – but a search for the answer to the question: "Who am I?" It is very strange that people who do not know who they are try to become someone. They don't even know who they are in the present! They are not familiar with their essence, but they have a goal to become someone. Becoming is a disease of the soul. Essence is what you are. And to discover your essence means to begin to live. Then every moment is a new discovery, every moment brings new joy. A new mystery opens its doors, a new love begins to appear in you, a new compassion that you have not felt before, a new feeling of beauty, of divinity.

• The first thing you need to reclaim is innocence. Throw away your knowledge, forget your writings, forget your religions, your theology, your philosophy. Be born again, become innocent – and this is in your hands. Cleanse your mind of all alien ideas, of everything borrowed, of everything that has come from traditions, customs, of everything that has been given to you by others – parents, teachers, university professors. Just get rid of it. Become simple again, become a child again.

In the life of Saint Francis, there is a very beautiful story. Francis is dying. And he always traveled on a donkey from one place to another, sharing his experience with people. All his disciples gathered to hear his last words. A person's last words are always much more significant than everything he said before, because they contain the entire experience of his life. But what the disciples heard – they could not believe their ears... Saint Francis did not address them; he addressed his donkey. He said: "Brother, I am in insurmountable debt to you. You carried me from place to place, never getting angry. Never complaining. Before I leave this world, I want to ask for your forgiveness; I have done little good for you." These were the last words of St. Francis. It takes great sensitivity to say to a donkey, "Brother donkey," and ask for forgiveness.

As you become more and more sensitive, life becomes more expansive. It is no longer a small pond; it becomes like an ocean. It is less and less limited by you, your wife, and your children – it is no longer limited by anything. All of existence becomes your family, and until all of existence becomes your family, you will not know what life is – because no person is something separate; we are all connected. We are a vast continent, connected by millions of paths. Our life is shortened exactly as much as our hearts are not filled with love for the whole.

Meditation will bring you sensitivity, a great sense of belonging to the world. This is our world – these stars are ours; we are not strangers here. We belong to existence from birth. We are part of it, we are its heart. Secondly, meditation will bring you great silence – because all the garbage of knowledge will be removed. Thoughts that are part of knowledge have also gone... a vast silence, and you are amazed: this silence is the only existing music.

Any music is an attempt to somehow realize silence. The sages of the ancient East attached great importance to all the great arts – music, poetry, dance, painting, sculpture – because all of this was born from meditation. They are an attempt to somehow bring the unknowable into the world of the knowable for those who are not ready for the journey – simply a 'gift' for those who are not ready to embark on a journey. Perhaps a song will evoke a desire to go in search of the source, perhaps a sculpture...
Osho

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

What, in your opinion, is the most amazing thing in life?

The most amazing thing in life is that no one seems amazed. People take life for granted. Everything is a mystery, everything is simply astounding! It is a miracle that a tree grows from a seed, that in the morning, when the sun rises, the birds begin to sing. It is a miracle! You encounter miracles every single moment, and yet you do not look amazed. This is the most amazing thing in life—that people take life for granted. Only children do not take it for granted. That is why children possess beauty, compassion, innocence. They always live with a sense of wonder; everything evokes awe in them. Pebbles on the shore or seashells... Observe children, the joy with which they run, the joy with which they collect simple colored pebbles as if they had found stunning diamonds. When they pick flowers, wild flowers, look into their eyes. Or when they catch butterflies—observe them. Their entire being, every cell of their body is immersed in mystery. And this is the most important quality that makes life worth living.

He who loses the ability to be amazed is dead. The moment wonder dies within you, you die. The moment the sense of miracle dies within you, you die. The moment you become unable to feel awe, you lose all your strength.
And to be born with the gift of joy and the feeling that the world is wild—this is the quality that makes life worth living—not only worth living, but worth dancing, worth celebrating.
The only thing that surprises most of all is that you do not seem surprised. And this is exactly how your life turns into a boring life, a life full of sorrow.
Bring back your ability to be amazed, as it was in childhood. Look at the world again with those same innocent eyes. Dionysus calls this agnosia, a state of non-knowing; the Upanishads call it dhyana, samadhi, a state of non-knowing. This is not ignorance. Ignorance and knowledge belong to one dimension: ignorance means less knowledge, knowledge means less ignorance—the difference is only in degree. Agnosia, samadhi—this is not ignorance; it lies beyond it. It is a pure state of wonder. When you are filled with amazement, existence is filled with the divine.

Where does freshness come from?
It comes from nowhere; it is always here. Existence itself is freshness. Existence is fresh because it is always here and now. It is not burdened by the past; it is never old. Time has no effect on existence; time does not exist for it. Time flows only for the mind. In essence, time and mind are synonyms. Stop the mind, and time will stop.

* * *

Someone asked Jesus:
— What will be the most amazing thing in your kingdom of God?
And Jesus said:
— There will no longer be time.

A very unexpected answer: "There will no longer be time." That is what will be most astounding in the kingdom of God—because the mind will vanish, so where could time come from there?
Time does not consist, as is commonly believed, of three tenses: past, present, and future. Time consists only of two tenses: past and future. The present is not part of time—the present lies beyond it. And the present is always fresh. The present is a part of eternity. The present is the penetration of the eternal into the dream-filled world of time, a ray of light in the darkness of the mind.
The past is never fresh—it cannot be, this is obvious. It is always dirty, it always reeks—reeks of death, reeks of everything that has already rotted, reeks of tradition, reeks of corpses. The past is a cemetery. And the future is nothing other than a projection of this dead past. And how can the future be alive? The dead can only give a projection for the dead. What is your future? A modified past, slightly corrected here and there, a bit better, a bit more refined, a bit more comfortable, but it is the same past. You passionately desire to repeat it.

Your future carries nothing new—and cannot carry any. The mind accepts nothing fresh. It is powerless regarding that which is new, fresh, and young. It can move only within the small world of familiar, known things—and the known is the past. The future is nothing other than a desire to repeat it—better, of course. Therefore, the future is also not fresh. Only the present is fresh.
You ask me: "Where does freshness come from?"

Freshness never comes and never goes. It is always here, it is always now. Be here and now, and suddenly you will become fresh, you will bathe in eternity, something timeless will pour over you. Call it God, call it the kingdom of God, call it nirvana—as you wish. All these names point to the same thing—that which cannot have a name. All these words attempt to express the inexpressible.

Just cast the human mind aside. And by saying this, I mean that one must set aside the past and future and look. This very moment... The entire sky descends upon you. You are overflowing. Birds sing—and their songs are fresh; they do not repeat old songs. They have no concept of yesterday evening and do not sing of the future. They do not rehearse tomorrow. Trees are fresh. Everything is fresh, except for man.

So there is no need to ask: "Where does freshness come from?" Better ask: "Where does this grayness, this mustiness, this lifelessness come from?" Because this lifelessness comes and goes. Freshness is always here; it is the very essence of existence. It is the presence of God.

Meditation is nothing other than a way, a method to connect you with the eternal, to lead you beyond time, beyond that which is born and dies, beyond all boundaries, into the incomprehensible and unknowable. And this is not somewhere far away; it is as close as can be. Even saying that it is close would be wrong, because it is exactly your being, it is you. Freshness is your soul.

Your mind is boring, utterly boring. Get out of the mind. At least for a few moments a day, cast the mind aside, expose yourself completely. And then you will know that it springs within you—that very freshness you ask about. Where does it come from? It comes from the deepest core of your being—and in fact, it doesn't "come." Suddenly you discover that it was always there. It was always present as an underground current, hidden by many, many layers of memories, dreams, and desires.
Buddha says: cast away all desires, and you will know. Cast away all desires, and you will reach those limits that lie beyond the edge of birth and death, and enter the infinite.
But why does man not move toward his own being, which is so close? He is ready to go to the Moon; he is ready to go anywhere! He is ready to strive for the stars, but not for his own heart. Why? There must be some deep reason behind this. The reason is that in a journey inside yourself, you will have to lose yourself. And man is afraid to lose himself. He clings; he wants to remain himself. He does not want to lose his personality, and even though it is fake, it is better than nothing. Such is our logic.
We do not know who we are, and therefore we cling to the body, to the mind, to anything we are given—to conventions, to Catholicism, Hinduism, Islam. We cling to everything that was imposed on us because it gives us a sense of comfort, an illusion as if we know ourselves: "I am a communist"—this becomes my knowledge of myself. "I am a Catholic"—this becomes my knowledge of myself. "I am a Hindu," "I am a German"—this becomes my knowledge of myself.

Buddha says: "Know thyself." Socrates says: "Know thyself." They all say: "Know thyself." All awakened ones carry only one message: know thyself. We listen and do not hear. We continue to walk across the same rotten bridges; we continue to live in unhappiness just as before. And the reason is that this old life of unhappiness can give you only one thing—the ego. If you go inside, you will have to pay for it. And this price equals the loss of your ego...
Osho

Why is there so much disappointment in the world?

Because there are so many expectations. Live with expectations, and disappointment is inevitable. Expect nothing, and there will be no disappointment. Disappointment is a byproduct of expectations: the more you expect, the stronger your disappointment will be. So disappointment is, in fact, not the problem, but the result. The problem is expectation.

Disappointment is merely a shadow that follows expectation. If you live for even a single moment without expectations, if expectations vanish from your mind, everything becomes simple: you ask a question — an answer comes — you are satisfied. But if you ask with any expectations, the answer will disappoint you.
Everything we do, we do with expectations. If I am in love with someone, expectation arrives without me even knowing it. I expect love in return. I have not yet loved, I have not yet grown into love, but the expectation is already right here, and now it will destroy everything. Love breeds more disappointment than anything else in the world because, when you love, you immerse yourself in expectations, you drown in utopias. You haven't even started the journey, yet you are already thinking about returning home.
The stronger your expectation of love, the harder it will be for love to flow back to you. The one from whom you expect love will feel it as shackles; for them, loving you will be a duty, something they must do. And when love is a duty, it brings no satisfaction, for as a duty, love is dead.
Love can only be a game, not a duty. Love is freedom, and duty is shackles, a heavy burden that you must carry. And when you must carry something, it loses its beauty. The freshness and poetry vanish, and the other person instantly feels that they are being offered something dead. If you love with expectation, consider that you have killed love. It is barren — your love will be a dead child. And disappointment awaits you.
Let your love be like a game, not like a deal; love not because you want to receive something in return. Let your love for another person be an end in itself. Thank existence for the fact that you have loved, and do not think about whether you will be rewarded for it or not.
Do not turn love into a deal, and you will never be disappointed; your life will be filled with love. And when love blossoms in all its fullness, bliss arrives, ecstasy arrives.
I took love only as an example. The same law applies to everything. There is so much disappointment in the world that it is hard to find a person who is not disappointed. Even your so-called saints are disappointed: disappointed because of their disciples, disappointed because they had expectations regarding them: disciples should do this and not do that, disciples should be this way and not that way. With such an approach, disappointment will inevitably follow; it has already happened.

Your so-called workers are also disappointed, because they too have expectations. Whatever their ideal may be, society must conform to it; whatever their utopia may be, everyone must follow it. They expect too much. They believe that the whole world should immediately transform according to their ideals. But the world continues on its own path, therefore they are disappointed.
It is very difficult to find a person who is not disappointed. And if you find such a person, know this: they are a religious person. It does not matter what became the object, the cause, the source of disappointment. One can be disappointed in power, in prestige, in wealth. One can be disappointed in love. One can even be disappointed in the divine.

You want the divine to descend upon you. You begin to meditate, and expectation arises. I have met people who meditate for fifteen minutes every day for a week, and then come to me and say: "I meditate, but I have still not known the divine. It seems that my efforts are useless." They devote fifteen minutes to meditation for seven days, yet divinity has still not visited them. "I still don't feel the divine, so what should I do now?" Even in the search for the divine, we have expectations.

Expectation is poison. It is precisely because of it that disappointment arises; it must be so. Realize the hypocrisy, the toxicity of the expecting mind. Gradually, if you begin to realize this, expectations will vanish, and there will be no disappointments.
So do not ask: "Why is there so much disappointment in the world?" Ask: "Why am I so disappointed?" Such a question will change everything completely. If someone wonders why the world is so disappointed, expectation is already present: the world could be less disappointed. But regardless of whether the world is disappointed or not, you will remain disappointed.
The world is disappointed — that is a fact. But go and try to find out why you are disappointed. It will turn out that you are disappointed because of your own expectations. This is the source, the root cause. Stop it!
Do not think about the world, think about yourself. You are the world, and if you change, the world changes too. Its part, its integral part, has become different: the world has begun to change.

We are too preoccupied with changing the world. This is simply an escape. I have always felt that people who try to remake others are actually running away from their own disappointments, from their own conflicts, from their worries, from their sufferings. They focus their attention on something outside, they occupy their mind with something external, because they cannot change themselves. It is easier to try to change the world than to change oneself.
Do not forget that you need to find the cause of your own disappointments. And the sooner you do it, the better. Situations change, but the source of disappointment is always the same: expectation.
Osho

Why do I constantly feel the urge to rename this thread to "Life is pain"?
Although, I'm not sure if we need a second thread about moods.

Your future holds nothing new – and cannot hold anything new. The mind does not accept anything fresh. It is powerless when it comes to the new, the fresh, and the young. It can only move within the confines of a small world of familiar, known things – and the known is the past. The future is nothing more than a desire to repeat it – perhaps better, of course. Therefore, the future is not fresh either. Only the present is fresh.

You ask me: “Where does freshness come from?”

Freshness never comes and never goes. It is always here, it is always now.

Beautiful words. You read them, and something within you awakens. Regarding living in the present moment and regarding the pain from the past, I recommend reading Eckhart Tolle – he explains very well how to transmute pain from the past and how to live in the present moment.