---
section: Library
booktitle: "The Sound of One Hand Clapping"
booktype: "Diaries"
bookcode: "CLAPP"
dategiven: "06 March 1981 pm"
place: " in Chuang Tzu Auditorium"
chapternum: "Chapter #6"
chaptertitle: "None"
acode: "8103065"
shorttitle: "CLAPP06"
audio: "No"
video: "No"
esttime: ""
displaytitle: "The Sound of One Hand Clapping: Chapter #6"
---

```style
.sutra {
  font-style: italic;
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}
```
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mind is never pure
by its very nature it cannot be pure
its whole strategy is of cunningness, calculation
mind is fear-oriented, it is a defence mechanism
it cannot trust existence, life, love
it cannot trust anything
it only doubts, it is suspicious
and the suspicious, doubting one can never be pure
purity is the quality of the heart


just as mind is intrinsically cunning
the heart is intrinsically innocent
mind can be knowledgeable, heart can be wise
mind can be learned
the heart can be childlike, innocent
and all that is great happens in the heart
not in the mind


sannyas is initiation into the ways of the heart
it is getting out of the imprisonment of the mind
and entering into the freedom of the heart
it is a simple process
all that is needed is a little courage to trust
a little courage to put doubts aside
a little courage to risk
and then miracles start happening
and they go on happening each moment
life becomes just incredible
a long, long, orgasmic ecstatic joy


mind stinks
it cannot avoid it, its very functioning is rotten
it lives on the old, the dead, the past
it feeds on corpses
hence there is no possibility of fragrance
as far as mind is concerned
and all people are living in the mind
hence life has become a chaos
a very muddy, confused affair
it has lost all the celebration
no flowers grow anywhere
as far as human consciousness is concerned
only thorns, bloody thorns


but hidden
behind the thick layers of the mind and its crap
is a beautiful source
which we have brought from the beyond
our heart
it is still beating
its beat goes on becoming farther and farther away
because the mind goes on accumulating junk


you cannot hear its beat, you cannot taste its joy
its fragrance is ready to be released
the hindrances have to be removed
and the only hindrance is the mind
all other hindrances are part of the mind
greed, jealousy, desire, possessiveness, anger, ego
these are all aspects of the mind


rather than fighting with each aspect separately
which is an unnecessarily long process
maybe unending
the best way
is to cut the whole mind in a single blow
that's what sannyas is all about
beheading yourself


and the moment you put the whole mind aside
and it is only a question of decisiveness
immediately something new
which has never been felt within you
starts arising
a fragrance
life starts becoming a light unto itself
life starts taking the colours
the rainbow colours of love
festivity, music, poetry, creativity, sensitivity
the same energies which were involved
in greed, anger, possessiveness, jealousy
are released
and the same energies start moving
into a totally different terrain, into a new dimension


all that is needed on the part of my sannyasins
is to shift their energies
from the head to the heart
trust the heart, try to live the heart
wherever it leads go with it
without any doubt, without any fear
follow the heart and you will be following true religion
follow the mind
and you will be following
christianity, hinduism, mohammedanism
all untrue religions


the true religion is basically individual
and the untrue is collective
mind is part of the collective
and the heart is your individual source


people are living a life of curse
and nobody else is responsible for it
that is the strangest thing about it
they themselves are responsible
they have got caught in a pattern, a vicious circle
they go on moving in the wheel
clinging tightly to the wheel
and the wheel is crushing them


mind is a wheel with many spokes
but exactly in the centre of the wheel
there is something unmoving
unless we touch that centre
that unmoving centre of all movement
we can never feel the benediction of existence


it is always there, within our reach
any moment we can dive deep into it
but we cling to the wheel
and the faster it moves the more afraid we are
and so we cling more tightly
we cling to our doubts
not seeing a simple fact
that a person who lives in doubts cannot be blissful
doubt can only create misery because it is negative


it is darkness
it is not light
it can create suspicion, it can create fear
it can create a persecution-mania
it can create violence
but it cannot create bliss


but still people brag about their doubting mind
they think it is something great
they talk about their scepticism
they think it is something philosophical
it is sheer stupidity but they make much fuss
because they have made it an investment of their life


they cling to their greed
knowing perfectly well that it is unfulfillable
and when you cling to something
which is unfulfillable
you will remain miserable
wherever you are misery will haunt you
you will be asking for more and more
and whenever you ask for more
you will feel frustrated
because it is never coming
even if it comes your demand grows
the demand grows in the same proportion
so you remain as hungry, as beggarly as ever
and this is the case with everything
anger, pessimism
always seeing the negative side of life


there are people
if you take them to a rose bush
they will count the thorns
first they will count the thorns
roses don't matter; what matters is thorns
and then their fingers are bloody
and they are hurting
and then they become so angry
and their eyes become so antagonistic
towards the rose bush
that it becomes impossible to see the roses
a thick fog of anger surrounds them


this is our doing


a sannyasin has to be aware of all this nonsense
if you go to a rose bush, dance around it
look at the roses
rejoice in the roses
see the miracle
amongst thousands of flowers
a rose has blossomed
what more mystery can there be?
jesus walking on water is nothing compared to it
in fact if you walk on water you will only look silly
a rose growing in the thorns is really a miracle
and once you have seen the rose, the positive
you are shifting your gears
from the mind to the heart
from cunningness to innocence
from negativity to positivity
and then life becomes an eternal song


the purest experience in life is that of love


sex is not love, it is biological
prayer is not love, it is theological
the first -- sex, which is misunderstood
by many as love
is below human consciousness
it belongs to our past, it is just a hangover
the second is only a fiction -- the prayer
that, too, really belongs to our past
out of fear man started praying to god
in fact, out of fear he created god
god is nothing but fear personified


so one is biological
another is just religious, superstitious
between the two is the golden mean
something of immense value
that is love
it is more than sex and more than prayer
it is the fragrance of human consciousness
it is the flowering of consciousness itself
hence i put love
as the highest expression
of all that is great


jesus says god is love; i say love is god
because when you say god is love
that simply means
god may have many other qualities
love is only one of the qualities of god
god is important, love is only one of the aspects


to me love is god
love is the real thing
godliness is only one of the qualities of love


my message is
beyond biology and beyond theology
my message is
simply that of expanding human consciousness
and love
is nothing but sharing of your consciousness
with as many people as possible
not only with people, with animals, with trees
with birds, with clouds, with stars
the whole emphasis is on sharing
not with whom
the address is not important
sharing
the sheer joy of sharing your being is love
and that is the purest phenomenon
the holiest of the holy
the most sacred
and it is hidden in the very ordinariness of our lives
so we are not to go anywhere to search for it


we have to dig it
now and here
and within ourselves


the heart is naturally contented
it never asks for more
whatsoever is, is more than enough
mind is naturally discontented
whatsoever is, is never enough
more is needed hence mind lives
in a constant struggle with existence
never at ease, always tense
always anxious, worried
anguish has become its very centre


just the opposite is the case with the heart
there is no conflict, no struggle
as each moment unfolds the heart lives it with joy
with gratitude, with immense thankfulness
because it is a gift of the whole
we don't deserve it at all
if next moment i die
there is no court of appeal for it
i cannot say to anybody
why
why could i not exist for a few minutes more?


we all know it
still we go on taking for granted


whatsoever is given to us
this is one of the ugly traits of the mind
it never feels grateful
hence mind can never be religious
gratefulness is the core of religion, the very core


move from the discontented world of the mind
to the contented world of the near
and small things are so blissful
just a cup of tea
just sipping the tea, savouring its taste and flavour
is as great an ecstasy
as any buddha has achieved in his samadhi
there is no difference at all
the question is not
whether you are sitting underneath a tree
and meditating
or sitting in your room and sipping tea


the question is of the heart
if the heart is contented in the moment
then whether under the tree, in the mountains
or in the room, it makes no difference
the contented heart knows the beauties of existence
the mysteries of life
all the doors open for it
existence is closed for the mind
open for the heart
existence is closed for the cunning
open for the pure


god to me is not a person
but only a presence, an experience
like love, like joy, like beauty
you cannot encounter joy
you cannot meet joy and say, hello how are you?
you cannot because joy
is not something separate from you
joy is an experience, so is the case with joy


so my expression for god is godliness
linguistically, gramatically, it does not look right
so i go on using the word god
but whenever i use the word god i mean godliness


purity is godliness
and by purity i don't mean a moral purity
following the ten commandments
you become pure
that is not purity; that is sheer cunningness
those ten commandments are basically jewish
it is a business proposal, it is pure business
it is arranging for the other world
creating a bank balance there
if god wants these things to be done
only then you will be allowed in
so okay, we will do these things
but it is only a doing
not your being
at the core of your being you remain the same
following all the commandments
and the real purity is not of doing but of being


one has to be innocent in the being
then who cares about the heavenly pleasures
and who cares about paradise?
then paradise is herenow
then it is not a question of tomorrow
so i don't teach the purity
of so-called moral disciplines


i only teach one purity
the purity of changing the gestalt
from the mind to the heart
becoming more heart-full is becoming pure
becoming less mind-full is becoming more pure
the moment mind is completely gone
and there is only heart -- throbbing, dancing
you have arrived home
and that is the moment
the presence of godliness is felt
not something outer to you
but something within your very soul
a flame of your own consciousness


purity is a light
mind is always a dark night of the soul
there is no dawn in it
the night continues, it is an eternal night
darkness is its very nature
the heart lives always in the dawn
it is always light there
so it is not a question of bringing light to the mind
the question is changing
the altitude of your existence
changing the plane, the dimension


if one remains in the mind


one will remain in darkness
if one changes from the mind to the heart
suddenly the light bursts forth
it is like standing in the sun with closed eyes
you are in darkness and there is light everywhere
you are creating your own darkness
by closing your eyes


just open the eyes and you start laughing
you see the ridiculousness of it all
that you were the cause of your darkness
that light was always there
and you were unnecessarily missing it
it was showering on you, available
but you were preventing it from reaching you


mind is a barrier to light
and we are making great efforts
to make this mind bigger and bigger
the whole educational system
consists only of making this mind bigger and bigger
one-third of a human life
twenty-five years are wasted
just puffing the balloon of the mind
bigger and bigger
and it is an empty balloon, there is nothing in it
nobody has ever achieved anything in it
not a single human being in the whole of history
has said, i have attained contentment through mind
blissfulness through mind


immortality through mind
truth through mind, love through mind
not a single statement, without any exception.
mind has proved utterly impotent
but still we go on carrying the old, rotten tradition
of making it bigger and bigger


that man is almost crushed underneath it
the mind has become mountainous
and man is not even able to crawl out of it
but because we have created it
and because it is only an empty balloon
just a pinprick is enough
nothing else is needed


sannyas is that pinprick
and the balloon bursts
and suddenly there is rejoicing
as the air goes out of the balloon
the hot air -- and it is very hot --
suddenly a cool breeze starts arising in you
instead of darkness, light
instead of a burdensome life, a dancing quality
instead of living for tomorrow
the joy in the moment
the freshness of the moment
the beauty of the moment, possesses you
and to be possessed by the moment is all
there is nothing more to it


the greatest experience in life
is the experience of being nothing, nobody
people are trying to be somebody
in some way or other
in worldly ways, in other-worldly ways
through money, power, prestige,
knowledge, austerities
but the desire is the same
to be somebody in particular, to be at the top


it is such a childish game
the politicians are involved in it
the saints are involved in it
the politicians can be forgiven
because they are basically stupid people
but how to forgive the saints?
they are also on the same trip
of being somebody special


when jesus was leaving his disciples
the last question they asked was
now that you are leaving us
you are being caught and you may be crucified
we have only one enquiry
that in the kingdom of god, of course
you will be at his right hand
but who will be next to you?
do you see these fools?
their desire, the whole ego trip


sannyas is seeing the foolishness of the ego trip
and the very seeing is transforming
the moment you see that it is utterly stupid
there is no point in being somebody
one is perfectly beautiful as one is
and the more you are a nobody
the more you are at ease, relaxed
the more you are a nothingness
the less there is any possibility
of worry, anxiety, anguish
nothingness cannot be stirred into a worry
for what?
there is nothing to lose
there is nothing to be afraid of
there is nothing to miss


the man who has achieved nothingness
is really the richest man in the world
he is really in the kingdom of god
he is really an emperor
and we are all entitled to achieve it
we just have to be a little more clear
about the whole trip in which we have been forced
by the society, by the parents
by the people who have surrounded us
by the people who have conditioned us
we just have to see the point
that we have been dragged
into an unnecessary turmoil
then drop out of it and drop in


drop out of the game of the ego
and drop into your pure nothingness
and suddenly a revolution, a sudden transformation
we have called this experience enlightenment
buddhahood, awakening
the ego trip is a dream
the moment you are ready to be nothing
the dream disappears
and then each moment
has such a crystal clarity to it
such immense truth in it
that one cannot feel cheated by existence
one cannot doubt even for a single moment
that life is meaningless
life becomes so full of meaning


so brim-full, overflowing
that for the first time consciousness
starts growing flowers
for the first time the spring comes
hence i have chosen the colour for my sannyas
the colour of the spring in the east


mind can compose many songs
but they will be only compositions not creations
words can be arranged
in a certain rhythm, in a certain metre
but that is only the appearance of a song
that is not the way to arrive at the real song
it is a plastic flower, put together
it has not grown, it has not blossomed


in the east we have two words for the poet
one is kavi which literally means the poet
another is rishi which means a seer


the poet belongs to the mind
he composes songs, music
creates dances, sculpture, painting
the seer moves to a different centre of his being
from the circumference to the centre
and when he is at his own heart
the purest spot in his being, the virgin spot
where nobody can enter except oneself


which is absolutely private
uncontaminated by any influence from the outside
there is no way to condition it
no way even to touch it
when one reaches
that purest virgin spot of one's own being
then creativity erupts
then one does not compose a song
one simply sings it, hums it
it comes of its own accord


then the dance happens
you are just a witness to it, not a doer
then creativity becomes your very life
then whatsoever you touch starts changing into gold
you may be appreciated or not -- that is irrelevant
people may understand, may not understand
there is every possibility
that you may not be understood
you may be misunderstood
more often than understood
because you will be speaking
a totally different language
and people understand the language of the mind
and you will be speaking
some foreign tongue to them
of the heart


mind is all sound, sound signifying nothing
a tale told by an idiot, much ado about nothing
but mind creates much dust, so much
that in the clouds of mind-dust
one tends to forget everything
it is very clever and efficient in creating fuss
for any reason or no reason at all -- it is fussy


if there is some reason -- good
if there is no reason, it can always invent
it is very inventive but it goes on making noise
if you watch your mind
you can see how much noise it makes
continuously, day in, day out, year in, year out
it starts kicking in the mother's womb
till it kicks the bucket, goes on kicking
but just close by it there is a small spot
which is absolutely silent
which makes no fuss, no noise
and that is your heart
and that is your purity
that is your innocence
and out of that innocence
is the experience of godliness


out of that innocence the celestial music is born


the Sound
of one hand
Clapping


there is no conflict
hence there are no hands clapping
there is no clash, otherwise it will also create noise
it is absolute silence, but silence is not dead


the silence has its own rhythm
its own vibe
its own music
its own beauty
and its own blessing
hence in the east it is called
anahat nad
anahat nad means unstruck sound


the Sound
of one hand
Clapping


one hand clapping does not make any sound
but it indicates something tremendously significant
there is no clash, no noise
but there is music, great music
here is a dance in the heart
the very heartbeat
starts having a subtle rhythm to it


you cannot share it with anybody else
it is unsharable
it is a secret
you can experience it, you can live it
but you cannot say it
you can show it but you cannot say it
hence my sannyasins will feel embarrassed
everywhere in the world


whenever people ask
what has happened to you
why have you gone crazy?
they will not be able to answer
it is impossible to answer
they have tasted something, they know the taste
it is on their tongue, but it is inexpressible
they have fallen into a certain dance
they have enjoyed a certain silence


but it is not possible to put it into words
all words are inadequate
but who cares?
when somebody asks you
what has happened to you?
sing a song, dance, laugh, roll on the ground
do something
rather than saying, show something
show your bliss, show your benediction
maybe, if somebody is still alive
something in him may respond
something may be triggered in him
something may start synchronising with you
maybe your laughter
can trigger a belly-laughter in him
maybe your song can hit a new space in his being
you may become a catalytic agent
that's all sannyasins can do


my sannyasins cannot be missionaries
they can only be catalytic agents
			

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> Copyright 1964-1990 Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh)
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