Osho - Three Levels Of Sleep

Osho - Three Levels Of Sleep

How deep is your slumber, asks OSHO

Buddha’s path is the negative path, his assertions are negative. That’s why Hindus called him a nastik; they called him an atheist, an absolute nihilist. But he is not. When things disappear, thoughts disappear, and the witnessing disappears — that which remains is truth. It liberates. It is nirvana, enlightenment.

Deny & Transcend

Buddha is very deep. He never asserts a single positive. If you ask about any positive, he simply remains silent. He never says God is, he never says the soul is; in fact he never uses the word is. You ask and he will use the word ‘not’. ‘No’ is his answer for everything. And if you can understand, if you can feel a rapport, you will see that he is right. When you deny everything, that doesn’t mean you have destroyed everything. That only means you have destroyed the world that you had created. The real remains because the real cannot be denied. But you cannot assert it. You can know it, but you cannot state it. When you deny all this, when you transcend all this, you become a buddha. You are enlightened.

Deep Sleep

Buddha says you are awakened only when three sleeps are broken. One sleep is the sleep with things: many people are asleep there; that is the grossest sleep. Millions of people, 98 per cent of them are asleep there. One goes on thinking about his bank balance, one goes on thinking about the house, about clothes, about this and that — and one lives in that. There are people who only study catalogues for things. Then, there is the second sleep, the sleep of the mind. There are people who are not concerned with things — only one per cent of people — who are concerned with the mind. They don’t bother about what type of clothes they use — artists, novelists, poets, painters; they are not worried about things in general, they live in the mind. They can go hungry, or they can go naked, they can live in a slum, but they go on working in the mind. The novel they are writing...they go on thinking, ‘I may not be immortal but the novel that I am going to write is going to be immortal; the painting that I am doing is going to be immortal.’ But when you cannot be immortal, how can your painting be immortal? When you are to perish or die, everything that you create will die, because how is it possible that from death something immortal can be born?

The Subtle Ego

Then there are people who go on thinking of philosophy, thoughts, oblivious of things, not worried much about them. And then there is a third sleep: monks, those who have renounced the world, and also the mind, who have been meditating for many years and they have stopped the thought process. Now no thoughts move in their inner sky, now no things are there; they are not concerned with things, not concerned with thoughts. But a subtle ego, the ‘I’ — now they call it Atman, the soul, the self, the Self with a capital ‘S’ — is their sleep; they are asleep there.

Becoming Mindful

Buddha says sleep has to be broken on these three layers, and when all the sleeps are broken, nobody is awake, only awakening is there; nobody is enlightened, only enlightenment is there — just the phenomenon of awareness, without any centre....
When the mind disappears, thoughts disappear. It is not that you become mindless; on the contrary, you become mindful. Buddha uses this word ‘right mindfulness’ millions of times. When the mind disappears and thoughts disappear, you become mindful. You do things — you move, you work, you eat, you sleep, but you are always mindful…. What is mindfulness? It is awareness. It is perfect awareness.

Osho - Channelise Your Anger

When it grips you, meditate, be creative, says OSHO

Learn to transform your poison into honey. There is a simple process. In fact, to call it transformation is not right, because you don’t do anything; you only need patience. This is one of the greatest secrets I am telling you. Try it: when anger comes, you must not to do anything; just sit silently and watch it. Don’t be against it, don’t be for it. Don’t cooperate with it, don’t repress it. Let it rise.
Just give it a little time and wait... and you will be surprised. If you can wait enough, anger itself becomes compassion. It is a wheel; it is moving on its own — you are in a hurry. Just as night becomes day if you can wait a little, in the same way, anger becomes compassion if you can wait a little. The same energy — just patience has to be added to it, nothing else. Remember one thing: never do anything in the mood when the poison possesses you; just wait.
Negativity provokes more negativity, anger brings more anger, hostility brings more hostility, and things go on and on and on...and people have been estranged with each other for ages. And they continue!

Time To Meditate

Wait. When you are angry, this is the moment to meditate. Don’t waste this moment when anger is creating such great energy in you — it can destroy. But energy is neutral — the same energy that can destroy, can also be creative. The same energy that can shatter, can shower life — just wait. Waiting and not doing anything in a hurry, one day you will be surprised, seeing the inner change. You were full of anger, and then anger goes on and on and comes to a climax... and then the wheel turns. And you can see the wheel is turning, and the anger is relaxing, and energy is released, and now you are in a positive mood — the creative mood. Now you can do something.
 

Wait & Watch

Always wait for the positive. I am not saying to repress the negative. I am saying watch the negative. Remember the difference. I am not saying sit on top of the negative, forget the negative, do something against it — no. I am not saying when you are angry, smile — no; that smile is false, ugly, phoney. Don’t smile when you are angry. Close the room, keep a mirror in front of you, see your angry face yourself. There is no need to show it to anybody else. It is your business, it is your energy, it is your life, and you have to wait for the right moment. Go on looking in the mirror: see the red face, the red eyes, the murderer there.
Have you ever thought that everybody carries a murderer inside? You also carry a murderer inside. Don’t think that the murderer exists somewhere else — somebody else is a murderer who commits a murder — no: everybody has the possibility to commit a murder. You carry the suicidal instinct in you.

Know Yourself

Just look in the mirror: these are your climates — you have to be acquainted with them. This is part of the growth towards self-knowledge. You will see that anger cannot be there forever. If you don’t do anything, what is going to happen? Can anger hang there forever and forever? Nothing hangs there forever. Happiness comes and goes, unhappiness comes and goes.
Can’t you see a simple law? — that everything changes, nothing remains permanent. So, why be in a hurry? Anger has come — it will be going. You just wait, have a little patience. Just look in the mirror and wait. Let anger be there, let your face go ugly and murderous — but wait, watch.
Don’t repress and don’t act according to the anger, and soon you will see that the face is becoming softer, the eyes are becoming calmer, the energy is changing — and soon you will be full of radiance. The same redness that was anger, now is a certain radiance — a beauty on your face, in your eyes.

Osho - The Cycle of Birth & Death

It’s the reason why the East conceived of history in a circular dimension, says OSHO. It reflects the repetitive cycle of birth and death.

The western attitude is still time-obsessed. There are reasons behind it. Why did time become linear in the West? Because the concept of rebirth never became prevalent. Pythagoras introduced it, but then it was lost; Jesus hinted about it; he talked indirectly about it. He never talked directly, he indicated it. But it could not be understood.

The concept of rebirth is the reason why the East could conceive of history in a circular dimension. If you are to be reborn again & again there will be birth & death — then birth will follow & again there will be death. It will be a repetition. But if there is only life — birth followed by death, but death not followed by birth — then birth becomes absolute, death becomes absolute. Neither will come again. That is why time became so important in the West, and the West became time-obsessed.

So Tense About Time

These are all related things: history, time, tension. Why has the West become so tense about time? Not a single moment is to be lost because once lost, you cannot find it again; it cannot be reclaimed. The East is at ease. Nothing is lost, everything can be reclaimed. You cannot lose it even if you try. Things will come back. Death will be followed by birth again, you will be young again. Everything will come back, will return to itself.

This seems more natural. Every movement is circular — it may be of an atomic particle or it may be of a great star. Everything moves in a circle; there is no movement that is linear. Einstein talks of a limitless circular space. Even space is circular. Not only are things circular, but even nothingness, the vacuum itself, is circular. Even the movement of a vacuum is circular. In fact, that which is not circular cannot move: movement is circular.

The whole of nature moves in a circle. Summer follows again in the same course; each season comes and goes and is followed in repetitive progress. Time cannot be different. Time is nothing but a medium of movement.

Moving In Circles

You become aware of time because of movement. We cannot conceive of movement without time. Time means a sequence between moving events: something is followed by something else. This passage occurs in time. Since everything is moving in a circle, the passage of time cannot be non-circular.

History is an awareness of time: its events and their position in a particular framework — the framework of linear movement. People in the East became aware of linear time and of history, only when the East came in contact with the West. Then the East felt that it was lacking something. We have no history at all; we cannot create any history. Anyone can say that Buddha is mythological and we cannot prove that he is not. Anyone can say that Rama is just a story, a myth. We cannot say that he is not because we have not maintained any record of when he lived. Where is the proof?

We were not aware that any proof is needed. We became aware of it only when we came in contact with the West. We came to know that they have everything recorded; they have exact proofs. Only then, India began to write its history.

But still, a historic sense is not there. It cannot be, because with a circular time concept, history cannot exist. With an infinite opening toward the future, with an infinite possibility of repetition, a historic sense cannot exist. With the concept that death is just temporary — just a phase and not the end — history cannot exist. History can exist only with the concept of absolute death.

Then, each moment becomes significant. You have to live it, otherwise it will be lost. Tension follows; you cannot be relaxed. The West can never be relaxed unless its time concept changes.  How can you be relaxed when a moment is going, passing, and it will not come back? And the paradox is that the more obsessed you become with time, the more tense you become and the less you can live each moment.

Water On A Lotus Leaf

The more obsessed you are with time, the more you will write history and the less you will live it. History, as it exists — and it cannot exist otherwise — this history, this historic attitude, can never confront those phenomena that are beyond time. Even life is beyond time. It passes through time, but is always beyond. It is like a lotus leaf: always in water, but still beyond water, untouched by it. Life is like that. And the deeper life becomes, the more lotus leaf-like it is. Always touching somewhere, but never touched. Always in touch with time, but always beyond time. Untouched, virgin.http://www.facebook.com/samarth.vyas

Osho - All That Happens Happens Now

Osho - All That Happens Happens Now

Make life a passionate affair, says Osho

You have been conditioned and you have to be unconditioned. Remember that death is coming. Don’t think that it is not going to happen today; it can happen any moment.

In fact, all that happens always happens now. The seed dies now, the bud becomes the flower now, the bird starts calling now. All that ever happens, happens only in the space made available by now, this moment. Nothing ever happens in the past, and nothing ever happens in the future. All that happens always happens in the present — that is the only way for things to happen because the present is the only time there is….

Past is just your memory and future is just your imagination. But you have been hypnotised to live in the past, and you have been hypnotised to live in the future. Choose either past or future, but no society allows you to live in the present.

Christians and Hindus and Mohammedans — they condition you to live in the past. Their golden age was in the past. Communists, socialists, fascists — they condition you to live in the future, their golden age is in the future, the utopia is coming: ‘When the revolution comes, then you will be able to really live, then there will be a golden age.

Forget Past & Future

Either you are taken to the past, which is false, or to the future, which is again false. No society tells you to live in the present, in the here and now. To be a real seeker means to live here and now. And there is no other life. But for that you will have to de-automatise yourself, you will have to become a man and not a machine. You will have to become a little more conscious.

Once I was sitting by the side of a dying man — he was a professor in the same university where I was a professor. He was at the pinnacle of his successful career. And then came the heart attack — which always comes when you are at the pinnacle. He was very sad — who wants to die? — and he was in great despair and anguish. I told him, ‘You need not worry. You’re not going to die.’ He said, What are you saying? Doctors say that there is no possibility of my survival.

On what grounds are you saying that I am not going to die?’

Dead Man Walking

I said, ‘You cannot die in the first place, because you never lived. You have not fulfilled the first requirement for dying. For these 55 years you have been sleep-walking, you have dreamt; you have not lived. I have watched you for years.’ He was shocked, he was angry — so angry that for a moment he forgot all about death. He said, ‘Is this the way to treat a dying man? Why are you so hard on me?’

I listened silently. Then the rage disappeared and he started crying. He held my hand with great love, and then he said, ‘Maybe you are right. I never lived. Maybe you are not rude, you are just being true. And I know nobody else would have said this to me.’

And then, great gratitude, and for a moment he became so conscious that one could have seen the light on the face — it was there, he was all aura. And he thanked me. That night he died. I remained with him to the last moment.His death was beautiful. He died without any regret, he died in a relaxed way. He died almost with a welcoming heart, he died full of gratitude.

Live Every Moment

One has to live each moment, whether it is of life, of love, of anger, of death. Whatsoever it is, one has to live each moment as consciously as possible.

Man lives in dreams, in imagination, in projections. You have to become more attentive to the moment, to the present. You have to gather your consciousness. Consciousness is your treasure, and all the methods that have been invented, devised, down the centuries are nothing but ways to create more consciousness in you, to create more fire in you, to make your life a passionate affair, a flame.

The Secret of Secrets, courtesy Osho International Foundation.

Anandmurti Gurumaa - Is Marriage a Curse or a Boon

Nature has made the two genders of male and female different from one another. Their physical differences are evident, but they are different mentally too; they think differently. But one thing is common to them for sure, and that is that they cannot stay away from one another. Nothing can separate them, not even their multiple differences.

A boy and a girl are apart only at the toddler stage, but once the hormone glands become active, nothing can stop them from coming together. Men can’t live without women or women without men. The truth is that nature has created these differences for a purpose. As the saying goes: Opposites will always attract. Mutual attraction between the sexes is nature’s handiwork.

Once upon a time, in primitive society, a man could have sex with any woman and vice versa – just like animals. Then, as man became wiser and started living in organized groups, the need for sex acquired another dimension – that of emotional attachment. This emotional attachment led to the further domestication of man and woman. The concept of marriage came into the picture and started taking shape slowly. When man started living in closed groups, the structure of society started to evolve, and society designed marriage around sexual attraction and emotional bonding.Many people believe that marriages are tailor-made by god.

Most people I have observed feel that marriage is something which everyone should indulge in at a certain age in their life, as though it is a compulsion; maybe for sex it is! For girls it is a license to get good clothes and be the focus of attention, even though just for a few nights during the wedding celebrations. For boys it is most definitely sex, and lots of it; the best part is that they don’t even have to pay for it! And yes, it is also about finally getting a woman they can own and flaunt in their social circle.

Sex seems to be the only binding factor for many married couples, who are otherwise nagging and fighting all the time. At times the bond is the children who are accidently born of such encounters. Thus, for the sake of the children, social marriages are kept intact. I have observed many unhappy marriages that are still withstanding every onslaught, as a divorce would bring more complications and troubles for the couple and their children.

Now lets see how marriages are planned. In Indian society it is the parents or the elders who choose a bride or groom for their children. The norm is that this selection is made within the boundries of caste and religion. What is the criteria for selection? Religion, money, social status, looks: this is the order of priority. In arranged marriages it is not the union of two individuals but of two families. Therefore economic worth is given great importance and then comes the status and of course the appearance. In love marriages, the chart is topsy-turvy; first come looks, and then everything else.

Never are compatibility, like-mindedness, likes and dislikes taken into consideration…..

Ramesh was congratulated by his lovely wife Sunita, “Darling, it is our wedding anniversary. I pray to god to be your wife in my next seven lives too.” Ramesh whispered to himself, “O god, may this be my last birth, how else will I tolerate her for the next seven.”

Lets examine how marriage was viewed in the distant past, from the point of view of tradition. In Vedic times, marriage was considered to be not entirely a social contract or a worldly commitment, but was seen as an important part of one’s spiritual journey. Masters and students saw life in a larger perspective.

For a Hindu there are four pillars on which life should ideally be based: Dharma – the principle of life; arth – money; kaama – desires including sex; moksha – liberation. These were considered the four objectives of life. A human being should strive to experience all four in order to bring about a total harmony, completeness and fullfilment to life.

All Hindu gods are married: Shiva & Parvati, Vishnu & Lakhsmi, Ram & Sita, Krishna & Rukmini. Most of our sages and rishis were married. Vashist, Atri, Vishwamitra, Agasthya, and Garga Acharaya, the list goes on and on. Marriage was considered holy; it was not entered into for the sake of sex alone. Undoubtedly procreation was a reason, but another very important reason was that marriage was considered a part of sadhana.

Living through the body and experiencing physical and emotional closeness and security was expected to mature the mind and take one to a deeper understanding of life. Usually people live their lives without any understanding of how and why things happen. In order to understand every experience with total awareness, training was given before marriage, to both men and women.

Boys and girls received training of the mind by various means: studying of the scriptures, contemplation, meditation – serving the master for good eighteen years made them mature and responsible adults. This period of brahmcharya was a preparation for the future challenges in a householder’s life. When a person gets married, every bhoga – sensory pleasure – is within reach.

This is the time to test whether man is the master of his body, mind and senses, or it is the sensory objects which will enslave him. Marriage means being in the world and of the world, and yet being firmly established in one’s spiritual practices; learning to remain distant and aloof from it. We live our life through this body; resisting the urges of the mind and body is like losing battle.

Marriage was supposed to be a tool of sadhana, a testing-ground for one’s mind, to see how much it is attached to sex, wealth, house, name etc

My question is: “Did you marry nurturing the same sentiments and mind-set as described above? If unmarried, are you preparing to get married in a similar manner, as it is supposed to be? Everyone is so keen to get married but no one talks about this! Therefore, I say good!
Go ahead and get married, but are you prepared for it? Do you know what marriage really means? If you get married without the right understanding of marriage, then most probably it will become a curse for you. It will become a cross on which you will be martyred.

Please think before you leap. If you are well prepared for marriage, then it can be heaven, and if you are not, then it will be a curse. By itself, marriage is neither heaven nor hell – it is what a person makes of it.

Anandmurti Gurumaa - Girl Power

Recently, Her Holiness Anandmurti Gurumaa gave a highly thought provoking, inspirational talk to the girls at a college in Nasik. The gist is as follows:

Traditionally in India, a woman has been addressed as a Devi, a goddess. On the face of it this may come across as a very noble gesture. However, actually this belies an underlying expectation of lifelong sacrifices for others. This selfish motive is disguised with a sugar coating of alleged reverence and results in a never-ending exploitation of women.

Right from the childhood, it is inculcated into a girl that her greatness lies in living for others – be it the husband, in-laws, and children. She is brainwashed into believing that a woman’s dignity lies in conforming to societal norms, customs and traditions. This is the goal of her life. There is no place whatsoever for her dreams, her aspirations, and her fulfillment.

It is hardly surprising then to see girls who have no particular ambition, pursuits or zest for life. Quite a few end up entering college to just get away from their homes, to enjoy their temporary freedom but have no objective in life other than getting married. Indeed, often education is viewed only as a means to ‘landing’ a sought after groom! And tragically, even if the girl pursues a professional career, often after her marriage, her in-laws will ask her to give up her job so that she can look after the family.

Marriage cannot be the sole objective of any girl’s life. Marriage itself brings in a truckload of responsibilities and yet more expectations. The daughter in-law is expected to abide by the rules and regulations of her ‘new’ home. More often than not, she is soon expected to produce an heir, a grandson and heaven forbid if she fails to do so! It is not that all in-laws are tormentors. However, in essence, before marriage a girl is dependent on her father/brother and this dependency is transferred to her husband/in-laws after her marriage. Her freedom and liberty are always at stake. The irony is that the girl is always led to believe that her husband’s home is her ‘real’ home – no wonder, even from God, her objective of fulfillment is getting a good husband!

Unfortunately this urge to move in to ‘her own home’ is further intensified sometimes when the girl sees her own mother being maltreated (be it by the father or paternal grandmother etc). She simply wants to escape this unhappy environment; little realizing that she may be jumping from the hot pan right on to the fire.
It is not that all girls lack a will, a motivation to better their lives by education. Nevertheless, I have seen strong-willed, educated, confident girls turning into meek lambs after marriage – desirous of only making their marriage work at any cost and suffering all exploitations, as they cannot deal with the possibility of getting ‘tarnished’ by the husband leaving them or divorcing them.

Moreover, their parents have spent so much money on the lavish wedding (and the hefty dowry!) and may even be in debt because of all this extravagant spending. This adds further emotional pressure on the girls to keep enduring all quietly.

Parents are ready to go to any lengths to get their daughters married, often incurring loans and debts, so that they can fulfill the demands of dowry - an evil yet rampant affliction of the society. Paradoxically, they never give a thought to the possibility of any untoward event happening in her marital home – like what if the husband turns out to be a drug addict, an alcoholic, a womanizer or suffer from a fatal disease like AIDS? What would be their strategy then?
There is a custom of matching astrological charts of the prospective bride and groom. However, I think it is imperative to ‘match’ medical records, especially in this era of sexual promiscuity and perversion. Women are increasingly being viewed as objects of sexual gratification. The graphic portrayals on television, easy access to Internet and pornography is aiding this further. How then can anyone know that the prospective groom is a virgin, does not have any sexually transmissible disease? We never give a thought to this. But I want you to think on these lines, as these are serious issues and concern your whole life.

It is a fact of today’s society that all the seemingly innocuous acts of girls ‘dating’ boys, going to the cinema, coffee shops; most of these apparently platonic encounters end up being an extended foreplay to sex. How would a girl know that the boy is a ‘safe’ boy? This is the reality and we cannot ignore it. It is best discussed in the open rather than brushing it under the carpet and pretending these issues do not exist.

Because of the age, because of the hormonal changes, it is natural for a girl to experience sexual urges and they should not feel guilty about that. However, they have to take a level headed decision as to what will be the right time and right way to explore these urges.

Romanticism is fine, but it has to be balanced by a composed, rational thinking. Friendship between the opposite sexes is absolutely fine, nothing wrong there. However, a girl should have a sharp sense of judgment; the boy should not end up taking advantage of her. Girls are emotionally more sensitive than boys; this is a well-known fact. Hence, they find it difficult to get over a broken relationship. This hampers their concentration on their education and also leaves a deleterious impact on their future life as well.

This brings me to the paramount question: why are you studying? Just to get a license of eligibility to get married? What after marriage? I am not disparaging a housewife – in fact, it is a very challenging job, especially the role of a mother is a very onerous one. However, it is a ‘thankless job’ and moreover without any salary!

It is said that behind every successful man there is a woman – it was the strong willed “Jija Bai” who was responsible for the great heights achieved by her son, “Shivaji”. A woman, a mother is the strongest institution in its own right. A mother is the first teacher any child encounters and she has the foremost influence in one’s nurturing and conditioning, affecting the overall personality. Becoming a mother is indeed a very responsible role for anyone to play. However, before a woman decides to do so – she should first herself become a strong, self-reliant, resilient individual and education is the key in achieving this.

Here it is important to understand that education is not just about procuring degrees – even if it is from prestigious institutions like the IITs and IIMs. It is not the degree, which is going to impart you with the qualities of fortitude, tenacity and self-belief. It is common to read in the newspapers about young people committing suicide – be it for poor marks, broken relationships or even an acerbic remark.

So, it is important to cultivate mental strength and resilience. Girls need to examine themselves and see where they stand on this front. How prepared are they to cope with life’s adversities? How will they deal with failures, with lack of fulfillment of desires, the prevalent cut-throat competitiveness – can they stay calm and think level headedly?
Girls need to become strong willed, independent individuals; this refers to both, financial and emotional independence. They also need to bear in “mind” that acquisition of a mere degree is not enough. It certainly helps, but is not sufficient on its own. Those who don’t have an aptitude for higher education or professional careers – should undergo some kind of a vocational training so that they can earn a livelihood.

One needs to have the feet firmly planted to the ground – be prepared for all the misfortunes, mishaps and hardships that one may encounter in one’s life. I am not saying be a pessimist but life is not a bed of roses and the sooner one accepts this, the better prepared they will be for all that comes their way.

Women have to be strong because the patriarchal society has already labeled women as a weaker section of the society. So a woman has to prove her worth every time in all walks of life. The society just waits for a woman to slip up before jumping to rip her reputation to pieces.

I once met a director of a private bank. This woman narrated her earlier harrowing days in the bank when she had no say at all, as her male colleagues would belittle her by saying that the only reason she got the post was because the position was reserved for a woman. They continued putting her down, notwithstanding her qualifications and experience! She decided to put an end to this persistent humiliation and fought for her rights and succeeded, eventually becoming the director of the bank.

Society ridicules a woman in many ways. So, either she is deemed a fool or revered as a Devi, nothing in between! However, it is every woman’s fundamental right to live a dignified life, be treated as a human being and work towards the fulfillment of her aspirations. Nobody should allow anyone to take this away from her. It should be a girl’s choice when to get married. Nobody should get married unless they want to and are well prepared for it.
And look at the way marriages are being arranged today. The only compatibility people seem to be interested in sorting is – wealth, prestige, physical appearance, social standing, and ability to give an enormous dowry! Horoscopes may be matched but no one bothers to check the compatibility on issues of personality, temperament, values, beliefs, and spiritual inclination…

In my opinion, a husband should be related to not as the lord but instead, as the dearest friend. The one with whom one can share anything and everything. For this though, first, women need to become wise and mature in their outlook to life. Be well versed with the social, political, economical, ecological environment of current times. Be a voracious reader, as books are the best tools not only to widen one’s knowledge base but also give creative upliftment (for e.g. reading poetry). One should also be well versed with practical know how – sorting out minor electrical glitches in the home, changing tyres of a car, accounting, banking, etc. How will anyone gain self-confidence if they are dependent on others even for trivial things?

Another aftermath of the prevalent male bigotry and chauvinism is the assumption that women are only good at doing household chores, i.e cooking and cleaning – how absurd is this! To dispel these unfounded statements, it is all the more important that girls learn practical skills needed in every aspect of daily life, learn and become adept in new skills. I have met women who find themselves in a helpless situation after the demise of their husbands – as they never ever learnt the basic, practical skills to live an independent life.

Girls should not only be concerned with their physical appearance, after all no one needs to tell a woman on how to beautify her! However, it is more important to enhance and beautify one’s mental and intellectual abilities. The more knowledge one seeks, the more knowledge is gained, the more beautiful one becomes. Mahatma Gandhi was not a very handsome man. But he had a beautiful mind and hence was admired by one and all.

All girls, all women should make it a priority to ‘beautify’ their brain, their mind. Reading gives the wings to soar high above the skies. They should cultivate some creative hobbies, like dancing. Dance is the best stress buster, best way to diffuse stress, anger.

Dream and take efforts to fulfill those dreams. But this will not happen by simply praying to God. Girls, you will have to work diligently towards this goal, only then will they get divine blessings. Some people complain that despite working hard they don’t get success, then they blame God. However, it is not God but one’s previous karmas, which result in failure.

Your karma is always going to be with you. No one can negate the karma theory just because some Hindu sage or seer has expounded it. It is a law of life. So, sometimes our own karma becomes an obstructive wall and we don’t get what we are looking for. But never be disheartened, always be grateful that one is alive and as long as one is alive, one can create more opportunities for oneself. So, why be disheartened?

Never get discouraged by failures. One needs to remain optimistic, remain balanced, as there will be many more golden opportunities, which will enrich you. As the adage goes – when one door is closed, there are many others that open. If you remain positive and calm, you will see other doors that have opened up for you; otherwise the negativity and depression will prevent you from seeing the other opportunities that have sprung up.

So never ever be disheartened for anything. Never ever cry just because you did not get what you wanted. The only time tears should roll down one’s eyes is when one is ecstatic, delirious in love or as an expression of gratitude.

It is always mind over matter – hence girls, believe in positive thinking and affirmations. Positive thinking combined with appropriate action brings in good karma.

I hope I have instilled zeal, a joie de vivre as the French would say, a zest for living life to its fullest, with dignity and freedom.

May this be the first day of the rest of your lives.

Osho - Become A Child Once Again

You can become a child again, It’s possible through meditation, says OSHO.

Draw a line between ignorance and innocence. Innocence has to be supported, protected — because the child has brought with him the greatest treasure, the treasure that sages find after arduous effort. Sages become children again, they are reborn.

In India the real Brahmin, the real knower, calls himself “Dwij”, twice born. What happened to the first birth? Why a second birth? What will he gain? In the second birth, he is going to gain what was available in the first birth but society, parents, the people surrounding him crushed it, destroyed it.

Every child is being stuffed with knowledge. This removes his simplicity because it is not an advantage in a competitive world. His innocence will be exploited in every possible way. Afraid of society and the world, we try to make every child clever, cunning, knowledgeable — to be in the category of the powerful, so that he is not oppressed and powerless.

Seeing With New Eyes

Whenever you understand that you’ve missed life, the first principle to be brought back is innocence. Drop your knowledge; forget your scriptures, religions, theologies and philosophies. Be born again, become innocent. Clean your mind of all that is not known by you, of all that is borrowed, all that has come from tradition, convention, all that has been given to you by others — parents, teachers, universities. Just get rid of it.

Once again be simple, be a child. And this miracle is possible by meditation. Meditation simply cuts you away from all that is not yours and saves only that which is your authentic being. It burns everything else and leaves you standing naked, alone under the sun, in the wind. It is as if you are the first person who has descended on earth — who knows nothing, who has to discover everything, who has to be a seeker, who has to go on a pilgrimage.

The second principle is the pilgrimage. Life must be a seeking — not a desire, but a search; not an ambition to become this, to become that, a president of a country or a prime minister, but a search to find out ‘Who am I?’

Strangely, people who don’t know who they are, are trying to become somebody. They don’t even know who they are right now! They are unacquainted with their being — but they have a goal of becoming.

“Becoming” Is A Disease

Becoming is the disease of the soul. Being is you. And to discover your being is the beginning of life. Then each moment is a new discovery, each moment brings a new joy; a new mystery opens its doors, a new love starts growing in you, a new compassion that you have never felt before, a new sensitivity about beauty, about goodness.

You become so sensitive that even the smallest blade of grass takes on immense importance for you. Your sensitivity makes it clear to you that this small blade of grass is as important to existence as the biggest star; without this blade of grass, existence would be less than it is. And this small blade of grass is unique, it is irreplaceable, it has individuality.

And this sensitivity will create new friendships for you — friendships with trees, birds, animals, mountains, rivers, oceans and with stars. Life becomes richer as love grows, as friendliness grows. As you become more sensitive, life becomes bigger. It is not a small pond, it becomes oceanic. It is not confined to you and your wife and children. This whole existence becomes your family.

All Joined Together

We are a vast continent, joined in millions of ways. And if our hearts are not full of love for the whole, in the same proportion, our life is cut short. Meditation will bring you sensitivity, a great sense of belonging to the world.
Secondly, meditation will bring you a great silence — because all rubbish knowledge is gone. Thoughts that are part of the knowledge are gone too.. .an immense silence, and you are surprised:

This silence is the only music there is. All music is an effort to bring this silence somehow into manifestation.