---
section: Library
booktitle: "Nansen: The Point of Departure"
booktype: "Discourses"
bookcode: "NANSEN"
dategiven: "10 October 1988 pm"
place: " in Gautam the Buddha Auditorium"
chapternum: "Chapter #6"
chaptertitle: "All your seriousness is about sandcastles"
acode: "8810105"
shorttitle: "NANSEN06"
audio: "Yes"
video: "Yes"
esttime: "96mins"
displaytitle: "Nansen: The Point of Departure: Chapter #6"
---

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<p class="sutra">BELOVED OSHO,
ON ONE OCCASION, NANSEN SAID TO JOSHU, "NOWADAYS, IT IS BEST TO LIVE AND WORK AMONG MEMBERS OF A DIFFERENT SPECIES FROM US."
JOSHU REPLIED, "LEAVING ASIDE THE QUESTION OF 'DIFFERENT' LET ME ASK YOU, WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY 'SPECIES'?"
NANSEN PUT HIS HANDS ON THE GROUND. JOSHU WALKED TOWARDS NANSEN FROM BEHIND, TRAMPLING HIM INTO THE GROUND, AND THEN RAN INTO THE NIRVANA HALL, CRYING, "I REPENT! I REPENT!"
NANSEN SENT HIS ATTENDANT TO ASK JOSHU WHAT HE WAS REPENTING FOR. JOSHU REPLIED, "I REPENT THAT I DID NOT TRAMPLE HIM TWICE OVER."</p>


Maneesha, Zen alone has a religious approach of playfulness, of laughter. Even the great masters play with each other, with their words, with their actions and their gestures. But all this play is always indicative of the eternal and the ultimate. Behind their laughter you will find a great serenity, a tremendous peace. Their laughter is not hysterical.


And you have to understand the difference between these two laughters. Hysterical laughter is when you cannot stop it, when it has taken possession of you; and non-hysterical laughter is... it is your will, it is with your agreement. The moment Nivedano's drum gives you a signal that it is time to stop, you stop it. The hysterical person will not be able to stop; it is beyond his capacity. Sane laughter is always within your hands.


Secondly, Zen masters playing with each other indicate something that cannot be said. Their disciples discuss for centuries these small anecdotes of tremendous beauty and grandeur. They are not jokes. The West, when for the first time it came in contact with Zen through the Christian missionaries, thought that these were some kind of joke. They could not conceive that these small anecdotes could carry scriptures.


This one is between Nansen and Joshu, both recognized buddhas with thousands of disciples. And it was not an extraordinary event, it was an everyday thing. Their monasteries were in the mountains, very close to each other and the masters would come to meet each other.


Their very playfulness shows one thing absolutely, that existence has not to be taken seriously. Those who take it seriously are psychically sick. Existence has to be taken playfully, with a joy. Only for those who take it with joy and playfulness does existence open its mysteries.


In this anecdote: ON ONE OCCASION, NANSEN SAID TO JOSHU, "NOWADAYS, IT IS BEST TO LIVE AND WORK AMONG MEMBERS OF A DIFFERENT SPECIES FROM US," he was saying that man has become too serious, has lost his playfulness, has become so knowledgeable he has lost his innocence. Hence it is better to mix with other species: birds and fish, other animals and trees, to have the whole universe as your commune, not just human beings who have gone too astray.


The roseflower is exactly the same as it has always been; the changes of time have not affected it. Nansen is saying that it is time now that Zen disciples should spend their time more and more in contact with animals, birds, trees.


It is a very significant statement. He is saying that perhaps you can learn the secret of existence through species other than man; they are still in tune with existence, they are still part of existence, they have never separated.


Man in his egoistic effort has separated from existence. Even a man like Bertrand Russell could write a book calling it, THE CONQUEST OF NATURE. The very idea of conquering nature separates you, makes nature and you enemies. And one thing is certain, that nature is so vast....


Secondly, you are also part of nature; if nature stops cooperating with you, you will simply be dead. Nature is supplying you every moment: breathing, food, all that you need. How can you think in terms of conquest? But nobody has objected to Bertrand Russell's book, because it is representative of the whole modern mind: conquer. Conquer the moon, conquer Mars, conquer this, conquer that.


But nobody thinks that we are part of nature: why not relax with it, why not be at ease with it, what is the need of creating a conflict? Every conflict is going to defeat you because you are too small and nature is so vast. How many years are you going to live  --  seventy years, eighty years? And you think of conquering existence which has been here since eternity and is going to be here until eternity? Millions of people like you have come and gone, not even footprints are left, not even their shadows.


Once I asked my father, "I know your father's name and your grandfather's name, how many more do you know?"


He said, "Only one more, beyond that we don't know who were the people whose blood is running in our veins."


At the most we remember four or five generations, and then there is a vast silence. All those people who were here with so much concern and anxiety and trouble and fight have simply disappeared as if they had never been.


Zen does not take your life very seriously, it takes it playfully as if we were children playing by the seabeach, collecting seashells, colored stones, making houses of sand. Our life is not more than that; it is nothing to be serious about.


I am reminded of an occasion: Gautam Buddha is entering a village. On the boundary there is a river, and in the sand a few children are playing, making castles of sand, and they were very serious. If somebody  --  there were many children  --  if somebody disturbed somebody's castle... It is very easy to disturb a sandcastle, just throw a stone at it and it is gone. They were shouting and being angry at each other, and Buddha stood there, watching. Then it was time for the sun to set and their mothers called them from nearby houses, 'Come back home, it is time for your supper.' And they all jumped on their own castles, the ones they had made and for which they were fighting that nobody should disturb them. They jumped on their own castles and never looked back, simply went home.


Buddha said to his disciples who were with him, "Life is not much more than this."


All your seriousness is about sandcastles. And you yourself will leave them one day, trampling them down, and you will not look back. The people who take it seriously miss the beauty of playfulness.


This incident: ON ONE OCCASION, NANSEN SAID TO JOSHU, "NOWADAYS,  --  it was not so in the very ancient times....


There are many stories for which there is no way to gather evidence, for or against: that man understood the language of animals, that man understood the language of the trees, that man was not apart from the world, but just one part who became a little more conscious than other parts. He was not in conflict. He lived joyfully, he died joyfully, because he was just a wave  --  a tidal wave, but even the tidal wave has to disappear; whatever is born will have to disappear.


So what is there to be serious about? And that is proved by many scriptures like AESOP'S FABLES in which man is not there at all, but only animals. But those animals are very representative.


In a small anecdote a very young goat is drinking water in a mountain stream. A lion comes and thinks this is a good breakfast. But there has to be some rationality, you cannot just jump and catch hold of the young goat; first you have to rationalize your act.
So he said, "Listen, your father was very disrespectful to me."
The little goat asked, "When did that happen?"
He said, "Just yesterday."


The little goat said, "You must have been mistaken, my father has been dead for six months."


The lion became very angry; his reason is nullified. Then he said, "You are spoiling the water that I am drinking! You don't have any respect for the king of the animals!"


The poor goat said, "Just look at the stream. I'm standing down, you are standing up. How can I spoil the water? The water is going downwards not towards you. You are spoiling my water, but you have the right, you can do it."


Seeing that he was being made a laughingstock  -- the goat was right  --  he jumped on the goat and said, "You don't know any manners, any etiquette! You speak so loudly before elders!" and he made a good breakfast of the poor goat. But all those reasons....


In Aesop's fables, every fable shows something about humanity. They are not about animals, they are all about man. Whatever you want to do, first you try to find a reason for it, and if the reason is found to be irrelevant you become angry. You try another reason and if even that reason is not valid then you act absolutely irrationally, you forget everything of logic and reason. Those were just strategies to catch someone who is weaker than you.


Up to now there has been no evidence; stories have been floating down the ages, but they have been thought to be metaphorical, symbolic, because there was no way to prove that animals understood man's language and man understood animal's language. Even trees were said to be on talking terms, there was communication. But now evidence is coming through scientific research, at least about trees, because on animals very few people have started to work.


But animals are certainly more intelligent than the trees, and it could be proved that trees understand the language of man  --  not only understand but what is being revealed by science is they might even read your minds; you don't have to say anything.


This has become such a great research. They have special mechanisms; they attach the mechanism to the tree. It is something like a cardiogram that takes your heartbeats and checks whether the heart is running in a healthy way or something is missing. The machine makes the graph; if the heart is running harmoniously, the graph is harmonious. If the heart is not harmonious, then the graph sometimes goes up, sometimes goes too much down; it is not harmonious, there is disturbance.


They use the same graph and the same cardiogram on trees. And they were surprised that if nothing is happening, the graph is harmonious. Then they bring a woodcutter with the idea that you have to chop the tree down. And as the woodcutter comes closer and the tree can see the woodcutter, immediately the graph shows it becomes worried. The harmony of the graph is disturbed. It has only seen... which is very mysterious because eyes are not part of the trees. How has it seen? Perhaps there are other ways of seeing, perhaps we are not the only people who have eyes.


We have a certain kind of eye; the trees must have some other way to see that a woodcutter is coming  -- and not only to see, they are capable of reading his mind, that he is going to destroy their life. It has also been found that if the woodcutter is told, 'You are not to cut the tree, just pass by with your axe in your hand, as if you are going to cut the tree,' if the mind is not set to cut the tree, the graph remains harmonious. That is a solid proof that trees are capable of mind-reading which man is not capable of.


It has also been found that not only is the one tree which the woodcutter is coming to cut affected, but other neighboring trees also are affected. Their graphs also become disharmonious. Some friend, some neighbor, with whom they have grown up, lived with in good times and bad times, in rains and in summer and in winter, some old friend is going to be cut. So not only the tree which is going to be cut reads the mind of the woodcutter, other trees surrounding are also affected. But if the woodcutter with his axe goes on with no mind to cut, the graphs remain harmonious.


This has been a tremendous experiment. It shows that trees somehow see; we don't know yet how they see. Somehow they can read minds. It is extremely difficult for us to comprehend the idea because we cannot read minds. Some day the research is going to be deeper and we may be able to see that they can understand speech if they can understand the mind. What is mind? You are speaking inside, 'I am going to cut this tree.' If they can understand just the idea in the mind, there is no reason why they cannot understand the words.


And secondly, if they can understand the mind, and can show their fear and worry and anxiety, they may in some way perhaps be speaking also, but we don't know their language. Perhaps their language sound range is either below us or above us.


We can hear only a certain range of sound, and we can also see only a certain range. For example, the owl can see in the night, where we cannot see. His eyes have a bigger range than our eyes.


It has always been known, and you can see it anywhere, in India particularly, that snakes dance with a flute player. The problem was that science could not find any ears in the snake. So how can they respond to sound? They cannot hear! But the research went on and on and now they have come up with a new idea which satisfies. The snake hears through his whole skin.


It is not a question of ears: ears are also skin, they are nothing but specialized skin; eyes are also specialized skin. The snake hears through his whole body, that's why his dance has a beauty, because the flute does not only affect his ears, it affects his whole body. And because it has no bones, it has a flexibility. But the discovery that the snake can hear with his whole skin suggests perhaps it can speak also in some way. We just have to go on working on different ways of connecting.


Dolphins have been researched recently very deeply. And it has been found that dolphins have a certain way of speaking. They use a totally different system to what man uses, they use sonar waves. We cannot hear them, but millions of dolphins in the ocean... One dolphin can speak to dolphins miles away because the sonar sound goes like a wave in the water, just like radio waves.


You cannot hear radio waves because you don't have any receptive mechanism. But if you have a radio... What is radio? A receptive mechanism. At this moment, thousands of radiowaves are passing from all the stations of the world around you but you cannot hear them. Just have a small radio which makes the range of hearing bigger and you can start catching stations.


In the last world war it happened that one man got shot in the ear. The bullet was taken out, but it was a great coincidence: his ear healed but he started listening to the local radio station.


At first nobody believed him. Everybody laughed: "Are you mad? Has anybody in the street ever heard radio waves from his ears?"
But he insisted and he said, "I am ready to prove it."


Finally the doctors thought that some experiments should be done at least for his satisfaction. Nobody believed that it was possible. So they put a radio in a second room, put it on to the local station and a typist typed whatever was coming on the radio. And in the other room where there was no radio that man who had started listening with his ear was writing everything that was coming. When they were compared they were exactly the same. The man was right.


But he was getting crazy because there was no way to put the radio off. Early from six o'clock in the morning till twelve o'clock in the night, he had to listen to every advertisement, every news. And he was so much engaged in his mind that he was not able to do anything else. He could not talk to you; because there was so much going on inside. Finally they had to operate on the whole ear and take it off.


But it means there is a strong possibility that someday we may not have to carry radios. Just small changes in the ear itself, certain surgical changes, with a button perhaps attached to your lobe so you can switch off or on  --  it is up to you... No need to carry a radio.


I'm saying this because dolphins speak on a totally different wavelength so we cannot understand that anything is happening; no noise, but miles away the other dolphins are getting the message. Dolphins are being studied very deeply because it seems they are the only animals in the whole world who have a bigger brain than man. It has to be discovered in what way it works. Certainly it is superior to man's brain, but in a different direction, in a different dimension. Its work does not criss-cross with man's mind.


So what Nansen is saying is that in ancient times there were people who could talk to creatures of other species. Nowadays, all that is completely forgotten. Nowadays, particularly for the seekers, he suggests IT IS BEST TO LIVE AND WORK AMONG MEMBERS OF A DIFFERENT SPECIES FROM US. You can see the difference.


In the UPANISHADS there is a story about a young man, Shwetketu. He studied in the nearby forest university, graduated with honors, came back home with a very great ego because he had come first in the university. His father looked out from the window as he was returning.


And he told his wife, "He has gained knowledge; one can see even in his walk his ego, pride. But we have not sent him for that. I will have to send him again. So don't come in between, don't start weeping and crying, 'You are sending our son away again.'"


Shwetketu came. The father said, "Don't enter the house! I know that you have learned all the scriptures. But do you know who you are?"


Shwetketu said, "It was not part of the course. I have learned the four VEDAS, all the UPANISHADS. But the question 'Who am I?' was not part of the syllabus in the university."


The father said, "Then go back to the old seer who is the head of the forest university and ask him the question. And unless you learn it don't come back; because there is no point in coming back. I'm living just to see that you have known yourself."


He was turned back from the outside of the door. Shwetketu was very much disturbed, shocked. He was hoping to be received with a great welcome and this was a strange welcome. He went to his master and told him, "My father says what you have taught me is absolutely useless. You have not taught me the real thing, 'Who am I?'"
The master said, "That is true, but it is a difficult task, very difficult."


He said, "Whatever  --  I have to do it because without doing it I cannot enter into my house!"


So the master said, "You do one thing: take these one hundred cows, and when they have become one thousand by giving birth to new calves... Remain in the deepest forest where nobody comes. Even if you see somebody, hide! Don't speak human language, just remain with the cows. And when they have become one thousand, bring them back."


Strange idea, Shwetketu thought. "When will they become one thousand? It may take half of my life."


But the master was telling him, so he took those one hundred cows and went into the forest as deep as possible where there was no question of anybody coming. For a few days, ideas continued in his mind. But how can you continue to think the same things every day? And there was nobody to talk to.


Finally he became silent. Years passed, he became almost like a cow. Just living with the cows, sleeping with the cows, taking care of the cows, the cow world was his world. He forgot humanity completely.


The story is so beautiful, that he has forgotten even the idea that when they become one thousand he has to return, because an idea is language. And he had forgotten even to count. And things were going beautifully into utter silence.


The story says that finally one cow had to say, "I cannot resist the temptation to speak because we are now one thousand. And you seem to have forgotten everything. Now it is time to take us back to the master."


Shwetketu brought the one thousand cows. The disciples saw from far away one thousand cows and they told the master, "Shwetketu is coming after many, many years. And he is bringing one thousand cows."


The master said, "Don't use the word 'Shwetketu' anymore. Say one thousand and one cows are coming back!"


And that's how it was. Shwetketu came and stood there just as other cows were standing. He didn't say a single word. And his eyes had become so pure, so silent, that the master shook him, "Now, get out of your cowhood! You are capable now of facing your father. Go back."


So without saying anything he simply went to his father. His father looked again from the window. He said, "My God! He has really known. And I myself don't know who I am!"


So he jumped out of the backdoor telling his wife, "It does not look right because he will touch my feet. It does not look right that a man who knows should touch the feet of a man who is ignorant. It is very embarrassing. I'm going. You take care of your son. It may take a few years for me, I am old, but I will try and I will not come back again until I know who I am. I cannot face my son; he's approaching so beautifully, so humble, so not-knowing, with no pride, with no ego  -- just a pure silence, a cool breeze."


It is possible, if you live with trees... I have given Mukta to look after my gardens. So for almost twenty years she has been looking after my gardens. And she has become so silent. She only fights with somebody who disturbs her trees; then she is ferocious. And particularly this Nivedano is her archenemy, because he goes on making waterfalls that disturb the trees because he has to make space for his waterfalls. Other than that, she is in the ashram, but almost absent.


Living with trees, one becomes a tree. In the innermost being the same silence....


What Nansen is saying is that, "NOWADAYS, IT IS BEST TO LIVE AND WORK AMONG MEMBERS OF A DIFFERENT SPECIES FROM US."


JOSHU REPLIED, "LEAVING ASIDE THE QUESTION OF 'DIFFERENT'..." This is how the masters play the game. He says, "LEAVING ASIDE THE QUESTION OF 'DIFFERENT'" because first you will have to prove that anybody is different. All is one; who is different? The whole cosmos is one unity, what is different?


But for the time being "LEAVING ASIDE THE QUESTION OF 'DIFFERENT' LET ME ASK YOU, WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY 'SPECIES'?" You are making categories. In the innermost silence there are no categories, no species. Who are you in your silence  --  a cow, a man, a lion? In the innermost core you are just suchness. No name can be given to that suchness.


Joshu himself is a great master. He says, "LEAVING ASIDE THE QUESTION OF 'DIFFERENT' LET ME ASK YOU, WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY 'SPECIES'?" You are creating divisions in existence where no divisions exist. He is perfectly right philosophically.


NANSEN PUT HIS HANDS ON THE GROUND, just as if he walked on all fours like an animal. He did not answer the question in a philosophical way, he did not discuss about 'species'. He simply PUT HIS HANDS ON THE GROUND, showing that existentially, philosophically there is no question of categories. But superficially, there is a difference. A few animals walk on four legs, a few animals walk on two; a few animals walk on earth, a few animals jump from tree to tree. But he is not saying anything; rather than saying he is being. He puts his hands on the ground and becomes a cow, the same cow I have been talking about in Shwetketu's story.
<p class="sutra">JOSHU WALKED TOWARDS NANSEN FROM BEHIND, TRAMPLING HIM INTO THE GROUND, AND THEN RAN INTO THE NIRVANA HALL, CRYING, "I REPENT! I REPENT!"</p>


He walked over his hands, trampling him down and then ran towards the Nirvana Hall, crying, "I repent! I repent!"
<p class="sutra">NANSEN SENT HIS ATTENDANT TO ASK JOSHU WHAT HE WAS REPENTING FOR. JOSHU REPLIED, "I REPENT THAT I DID NOT TRAMPLE HIM TWICE OVER."</p>


A strange answer. In the first place, his behavior was strange that he trampled on Nansen. But in Zen it is acceptable. What he is saying by trampling is, "I am a far superior consciousness to animals. I have reached the highest peak of consciousness. And they are just walking on all fours on the earth unconsciously. I trample down the unconsciousness."


He's not trampling down Nansen, he is trampling down his gesture of being a cow. And he is existentially right. But then he ran towards the Nirvana Hall, crying, "I repent! I repent!"


What he has done Nansen has understood perfectly well; he has said that a man of consciousness, awareness, enlightenment cannot have any communication with animals. It is difficult to communicate even with human beings, what to say about animals? The difference is too far, light years of difference.


So Nansen has not objected to being trampled, he understood that Joshu was right. But why was he shouting, "I repent, I repent"? There was nothing to repent, he answered rightly. So he sent his attendant to ask Joshu what he was repenting for. "There is no reason to repent. You did exactly what was the right response in such a situation."


JOSHU REPLIED, "I REPENT THAT I DID NOT TRAMPLE HIM TWICE OVER," because once may not be enough to change the attitude, that a disciple should work with nature, with animals, with birds. "Just one time trampling over may not be enough, that's why I'm repenting. Perhaps twice may have been right." Nansen has not made any comment on it, which means he accepted that even if he had trampled him twice, nothing would have been wrong in it.


Joshu was as great a master as Nansen, but they were playing like small children. That is the speciality of Zen, a point of departure from all other philosophical systems.
A poem by Sekiso:
<p class="sutra">HUNDREDS OF OPEN FLOWERS
ALL COME FROM THE ONE BRANCH.
LOOK,
ALL THEIR COLORS
APPEAR IN MY GARDEN.
I OPEN THE CHATTERING GATE,
AND IN THE WIND
I SEE
THE SPRING SUNLIGHT.
ALREADY IT HAS REACHED
WORLDS WITHOUT NUMBER.</p>


The quality of Zen poetry that has always to be remembered is that it is pictorial. Don't try to understand, try to see it. HUNDREDS OF OPEN FLOWERS, try to see it, don't try to understand. Visualize, HUNDREDS OF OPEN FLOWERS ALL COME FROM THE ONE BRANCH. LOOK, ALL THEIR COLORS APPEAR IN MY GARDEN. I OPEN THE CHATTERING GATE, AND IN THE WIND I SEE THE SPRING SUNLIGHT. ALREADY IT HAS REACHED WORLDS WITHOUT NUMBER.


In every other language of the world, poetry has to be understood. Zen poetry has to be seen, visualized; it simply creates a world of flowers, colors, sunrays. If you can silently visualize it, you may even smell the fragrance of the flowers, you may even feel the warmth of the sunrays. It is only a question of with what intensity, with what totality you create the world according to the Zen poet.


Just drop the old idea of trying everything verbally; it is a visualization, it is a totally different way. Otherwise poetry is not much; if you verbalize it, it is not much. There are great poets around the world; in comparison to those great poets these poets look very poor. But there is no comparison possible because the great poets have a different dimension, meaning; they are intellectualizing. You don't have to visualize Shelley or Byron, you have to understand. It is a very conceptual way. And that is the way all over the world.


Only Zen is different in every way. This poetry is not to be understood. It is not a question of intellect, it is a question of feeling, of creating with visualization, in your silence with closed eyes, the whole world that he is talking about: the flowers, you have to see them; the colors, you have to see them. And when you see the colors and the flowers and the chattering gate  --  as you open it, it crackles  -- and the sunrays entering through the gate reaching to the flowers, you may smell the fragrance, you may even pluck a few flowers. This is a very existential way of expression.
<p class="question">Maneesha has asked:
BELOVED OSHO,
ARE YOU NOT COMMITTED EVEN TO TRUTH, TO FREEDOM? IF YOU ARE NOT IS THAT BECAUSE TRUTH AND FREEDOM ARE SUCH AN INTRINSIC PART OF YOU THAT THERE IS NO POSSIBILITY OF A RELATIONSHIP  --  WHICH A COMMITMENT IS  --  WITH THEM?</p>


Maneesha, your understanding is right. I am not connected to truth. Truth is not something separate that I have to be committed to. It is my very being. Love or freedom, compassion or joy, they are all aspects of my own consciousness. They are not separate, so there is no question of commitment.


You commit only to something which is other than you. And my effort here is to make you aware that as you penetrate deeper into your consciousness all these things become available. It is not that you have to cultivate them. Just by penetrating deeper and deeper into consciousness you come across love, you come across compassion, you come across truth, you come across freedom. You don't have to do anything. Your only effort is to penetrate deeper into consciousness, and everything else comes on its own accord. These are the flowers of consciousness.
Now something serious...


The B.B.C. interrupts its prime-time showing of the Olympic Games with the following announcement:


"Ladies and gentlemen, the planet earth has just received some bad news and some good news. The bad news is that the earth has just been invaded by Martians. The good news is they eat politicians and piss petrol!"


Rock Hunk, the famous Hollywood movie star, strolls into a bar wearing his shirt open to the waist, and flexing his muscles. He sees Gorgeous Gloria sitting alone at the bar, sipping a martini.


He strides up to her, leans close and whispers in her ear, "Hey, baby, I would really love to get into your pants!"


"I am sorry," says Gloria, with a smile, "but I don't think that is possible."
"Why not?" asks Rock.


"Because," says Gloria, standing up to leave, "there is only enough room in there for one asshole!"


Cardinal Cats-ass is caught stealing a frozen chicken from the Vatican supermarket by trying to hide it under his robe.
When Pope the Polack hears about this, he is very angry.


"Do you know," spouts the Polack pope, "that when you are stealing a chicken from my supermarket, you are breaking one of God's commandments?"


"Yes," replies Cats-ass, with downcast eyes, "but I did not want the chicken for myself. I wanted it for that new secretary you just hired."


"What? My new secretary?" shouts the Polack, nearly hysterical. "You would lose your immortal soul for one young secretary?" Pope the Polack throws his arms up in the air and really freaks out. "Fuck the secretary!" he shouts.
"I did," replies the cardinal," but she wants a chicken too!"

Nivedano...
(Drumbeat)
(Gibberish)

Nivedano...
(Drumbeat)

Be silent. Close your eyes. Feel your body to be completely frozen.


Now, look inwards, with absolute urgency as if this is the last moment of your life. Go penetrating deep into the very life source that is your center and also the center of the whole existence.


The meeting of your center and the center of the whole existence is symbolically represented by the buddha. At this point you become a buddha, the awakened one.


You have entered a new world of truth, of beauty, of blissfulness. Get soaked with all these qualities. Get drenched with the awareness of being a buddha; because you have to bring this buddha back with you. And you have to live this buddha in your every activity, gesture, word, silence twenty-four hours around the clock. Then only there is a possibility to reach the highest peak of consciousness.

To make it clear,
Nivedano...
(Drumbeat)


Relax, and just watch the body, the mind. You are neither, you are the witness.


Get centered on the witness. Everything comes and goes, only the witness is immortal. It is never born and never dies. The other name of this witness is the buddha.


This evening was beautiful on its own. But your presence, your witnessing has made it a majestic glory, a splendor unparalleled. Thousands of flowers are showering on you. Collect as many flowers as possible.


Soon Nivedano will be calling you back. Gather as much as you can of the experience. You have to bring it from the center to the circumference.

Nivedano...
(Drumbeat)


Come back, but bring the buddha with you. Be graceful. Remember the way Buddha will get up and sit down. The same grace, the same beauty and the heart dancing in the same way....


Rejoice and remember you are the fortunate ones; because outside the Buddha Auditorium, nobody is concerned with his own interiority. People are worried about trivia, mundane things. Feel fortunate that you have found a place where thousands of others are also crossing the same bridge, passing the same path, reaching to the same center.

Okay, Maneesha?
Yes, Osho.
Can we celebrate the gathering of ten thousand buddhas?
Yes, Osho.
			

> [!info]
> Copyright 1964-1990 Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh)
>