If you know the art of
being friendly, you can share with as many people as possible, with as many
animals as possible, with as many trees as possible, says Osho.
Gautama Buddha
emphasises friendship very much. To translate his word for friendship — Maitri
— is a little difficult because it has the quality of friendliness more than
friendship. Friendship becomes a relationship, fixed; friendliness is more
flowing, more fluid. Friendship is a relationship; friendliness is a state of your
being. You are simply friendly; to whom, that is not the point. If you are
standing by the side of a tree you are friendly to the tree, or if you are
sitting on the rock, you are friendly to the rock. To human beings, to animals,
to birds, you are simply friendly. It is not something static; it is a flow,
changing moment to moment.
The Buddha says: To
have friends in need is sweet.
Friendliness is one of
the most significant qualities for the seeker to develop; In the Buddha’s
vision, it is higher than so-called love. Your so-called love is tethered to
your biology; friendliness is freedom from biology. The ordinary so-called love
is the same in human beings as it is in animals, as it is in the trees.
Friendship is a higher
phenomenon. It is pure love; it has nothing to do with your biology. Ordinary
love — can be explained through biology, but friendship cannot be explained. It
is a mystery. Friendship is like fragrance; it helps you to transcend your
animality.
The Buddha praises
friendship, friendliness, very highly. He has even chosen that when he comes
back again, his name will be Maitreya — the friend. He must have loved the word
very much. I don’t think he will come again or anybody ever comes again. God
never makes the same mistake again, remember! Once is more than enough, twice
will be too much. But he must have loved the word so much that he says, “Next
time, if I am at all going to come, my name is going to be Maitreya, the
friend.” The word contains his whole philosophy.
He says: ‘To have
friends... is sweet.’ Why is it sweet? Because with friends, your relationship
is not physiological, it is not even psychological; it is a spiritual
communion. With friends you can sit in silence. When you are with your lover,
you can’t sit in silence; silence looks awkward. The woman will think, ‘Why are
you silent? Are you angry or something?’ And if she is silent, you will think
something is wrong — she is sulking. Silence becomes heavy, a burden; it has to
be removed. So people go on talking, whether it is needed or not.
You can share your
happiness only with friends. Sharing is possible only when two hearts are open
to each other; only in deep trust can you be open to the other. In fear you are
closed, in doubt you are closed. You are on guard. You are afraid the other may
be some danger to you, the other may do some harm. You are not vulnerable when
you are in fear. Only with friends you can be vulnerable, open, available. Then
sharing is possible. And sharing is one of the greatest spiritual qualities.
The miracle is that
the more you share your bliss, the more you have it. The more you share, the
more it comes to you. The more you share, the more you become aware of an
inexhaustible source within yourself.
Happiness is great in
itself, but to share it makes it immensely rich. If you are miserly about your
happiness, you will kill it. To hoard your happiness is to destroy it; to
spread it far and wide is to help it grow. If you know the art of being
friendly, you can share with as many people as possible, with as many animals
as possible, with as many trees as possible. You can go on sharing every moment
of your life because you are always with someone. You can share it with the
sun, with the moon, with the stars.
Distances don’t
matter. You can share your bliss with a friend who is far away. In that moment
of sharing, space disappears, time disappears. There is no time gap, no space
gap. You are suddenly together. You can even share with friends who are no
longer alive. In deep communion, they become available to you, nonphysically.
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