Mediums and channels…all gibberish

Sadhana

Hey, there is something interesting I want to share with you. Yesterday someone phoned and said in a deep voice," I am calling from Sweden, I am Osho's channel. I talk to Osho regularly and I have some important information to pass to the Inner Circle. Can you tell me their names?"
I said suppressing my laugh, " Didn't Osho tell you their names? If the information is so important, he must have told you whom to impart it to."
He said, " This is no joke. I am serious. At least give me their email ids."
I said, " I am not joking either. Why don't you ask Osho about the email ids? He knows everything."
He grunted, "It means you are not interested."
I said, " Sorry, wrong number."

This triggered my curiosity and I dived into Osho books. And this is what I found. Have fun!

"These people who have become channels are not in any meditative state, one thing. The second thing is that whatever messages they are bringing are such crap that it is disrespectful towards the dead. Those poor fellows cannot say anything now, that "this is not my message."
I have looked into a few of the books which these channels have produced -- they are absolutely rubbish! They can be valued only by weighing them -- that much paper has been wasted. I have not come across a single mediumistic book which shows the greatness or the grandeur of a Gautam Buddha. And strangely enough, all these mediums are not mentioning the names of the real masters because then, compared to their statements, the rubbish message that they bring will look too poor.
If somebody says, "This is a message from Gautam Buddha," then it has to be of his quality. So they are talking about masters who have never happened, they are talking about masters who happened on the continent of Atlantis which has drowned. Fortunately there is no proof now, no document, no evidence left about whether there was such a master, ever.
But I can say that these statements are not coming from any master. The statements themselves are not luminous. There is nothing that gives them the authority of experience. It is all gibberish.
And you should also see that these people who have been chosen for this great work of becoming vehicles... their lives don't prove it. They are just as greedy, as angry, as jealous as anybody else. Their mediumship would have transformed them. In fact, unless they were transformed, they could not become mediums."

Sermons in Stones # 9/Copyright Osho International Foundation

Is it necessary to sell bliss?

Sadhana

It is an old religious conditioning that expects to get meditation for free.In fact spirituality is the ultimate luxury, one should be ready to pay the highest price for it. Particularly in this age when everything has a price tag, why can't meditation have it too? Pay in cash or in kind, but you must pay.

A journalist once asked Osho:: WHY IS IT IMPORTANT, OR WHY IS IT NECESSARY TO SELL BLISS, WHY CAN'T YOU GIVE IT AWAY?

Osho says : Because anything that is just given away is never taken by anybody. The higher the cost, the better people will keep it, save it in their treasuries. Give it free, and it has no value, because people don't understand value unless it has a price. They understand price, they don't understand value ...

Everything in this world has to be achieved. You have to pay a price for it, and the bigger the price you pay for it, the higher is your estimate of it. If bliss, ecstasy, joy, were all available, like water, free -- nobody will be able to appreciate their value.

You don't know the real value of water unless you have been thirsty in a desert. While he was in India, Alexander was asked by a great Master, "If you are in a desert and thirsty and I have a full bottle of water, how much will you be ready to pay for it?" Alexander said, "I will pay half my empire in such a situation." But the Master said, "I will not sell until you pay me the full empire. Why should I sell? If you are willing to pay half, that is indication enough that if I just wait a little more, the customer is going to feel more thirsty and is going to pay the full empire."

And Alexander agreed that perhaps he would give the whole empire. And the Master laughed. He said, "Then what are you doing? Wasting your whole life for a bottle of water? Are you stupid or something?"

The world understands things in its own way. Otherwise, my bliss is freely available to anybody who can appreciate it, who is vulnerable to it, who is open to receive it. There is no price tag on it. But those who cannot understand anything unless they pay for it -- for those poor people, we have to put a price on everything. It is out of compassion.

The Last Testament, Vol. 1 Chapter 21

Pay for your meditation

Sadhana

Just read Pramod's explanation about OIF's action against sannyasworld.com. It was so educative. It is true, people call themselves Osho lovers without realizing what it means to be a lover of such an outstanding consciousness. They think their love gives them a license to go against Osho's wishes.
Pramod's revealing answer reminded me of an Osho talk. Once Osho was asked,in 1976 to be precise: "Why must everybody who wants to do meditation or hear the lecture pay for this?"
Osho said, " Why not? You pay for everything in life, why not for your meditation? You are ready to pay for whatsoever you want. You know that you have to pay. Meditation you don't want. If it is given free, and even with a prasad, then you will think about it. You are ready to go to the movie and pay for it; why should you not pay for your meditation and the lecture if you want to hear it?
If you are really religious, you will be ready to pay for your meditation with everything, even with your life.
What is money? If you pay five rupees for something, and if you earn ten rupees a day, then you have paid with half the day. Money is just a symbol that you have devoted half your day's labor for it. You go to the movie and you pay ten rupees for a ticket; you earn ten rupees per day. You are saying that this movie is worth it -- "I can stake one day's labor for it." But you are not ready to stake anything for your meditation, for religion. In fact, religion is the last thing on your list. You want it free; basically you don't want it. If there is a price to it you start feeling uneasy.
You ask why you have to pay here? The price that is asked is nothing; it is just the beginning of learning a certain lesson: that one has to pay for everything, and certainly for prayer, certainly for meditation -- because it is the highest thing in life. Those few rupees that you have to pay are very symbolic, just token -- they indicate something. If you are ready to pay something, then I know you will be persuaded to pay more. By and by, one day you will be able to stake your whole life for it. If you are not ready to even pay five rupees, it is impossible for you to stake your whole life.
There are only two ways. One is: somebody else should donate for you. But why should somebody else donate for you? You will meditate and somebody else will donate for you? Why? If you want to meditate, you pay for it. And if you really want to meditate you will be ready to pay for it; there should be no hitch about it. If you don't have money, go and earn it. If it is absolutely impossible, then come and work in the ashram and pay that way, workwise. But don't ask to come for free.
This idea of getting religion for free has entered so deep in the mind that people think they have a claim. People come to the office and they say, "Why are we not allowed?" But why should you be allowed? You have to earn it to be allowed. Just because you want to come in does not mean much.
You have to show that you are sincere, you have to show that you are not just here out of curiosity. What is the way to check a person? The easiest way is money... because the greatest greed is for money , so whenever you have to lose your money you have to lose a little part of your greed. When you pay five rupees for entry, you are paying by dropping a little greed. The money is not the problem, the problem is greed; you are dropping a little greed. And this is just a beginning -- because meditation can happen only when all greed disappears.

The Discipline of Transcendence Vol 4/

Keep Rising in Love

Sadhana

The Valentine's day could be a reminder of the importance of love in human life. Everybody is hungry for love but very few know the art of love. Unless love becomes our way of life we will not feel fulfilled. Celebrating one day of love is not enough.
In the following insights Osho talks about how we can transform the romantic love into an unending growth of cosnciousness.By the way, romance is love gone cerebral as per Osho!

*Love in itself is an experiencing, a moment-to-moment flow with no past being carried; the river remains fresh. But the mind says, possess this woman, possess this man, because who knows about the future? Beware of this mischief of the mind.

*The moment you say, "I love," it has become an experience, it is already dead. Loving is something else; it is a process. You have to dissolve your ego in love. Anything alive is greater than you.

* Do you love yourself? You have not even asked the question. People hate themselves. People condemn themselves, they go on thinking that they are rotten. How can the other love you? Right now, you are worried too much whether the other loves you because you are not certain about your own love, your own worth.

* If you want to go deep in a relationship, first go deep in meditation. Unless you are resolved within yourself you will create more problems. If you move in relationship, all your problems will be multiplied. The greatest and the most beautiful thing in the world is love but can you find anything more ugly, more hell-creating?

* Never fall in love. Try to rise. And rising in love is a totally different matter.
Rising in love means a learning, a changing, a maturity. Rising in love ultimately helps you to become grown-up. And two grown-up persons don't quarrel; they try to understand, they try to solve any problem.

* Love first has to happen in the deepest core of your being. It is the quality of being happily. And the economics of love is: the more you give, the more you have, because in your silent being you are joined with the oceanic, the divine source of all. And you can go on sharing... more and more goes on flowing in you, it goes on welling up.
All quotes are from Osho books/copyright Osho International Foundation/www.osho.com

TM : Neither Transcendental Nor Meditation

Sadhana

Osho has talked about Transcendental Meditation which was made popular by the late Mahesh Yogi. Osho says that TM is a non-medicinal sleeping pill,that's all. Do not mistake it for meditation.
I have picked up this interesting excerpt from Osho library which I thought would be useful in understanding what was TM all about. And how Osho defines the term meditation.
Osho says : "Your so-called saints go on singing lullabies; they help you to sleep better. And you will be surprised that the so-called mantras are nothing but a way to fall deeply asleep. That's what Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Transcendental Meditation is. If you repeat ANY word... it does not matter what word you repeat -- Rama, Rama, or Krishna, Krishna, or Christ, Christ, or Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola -- anything will do. If you go on repeating a certain word continuously it will help you to fall deep asleep, because the mind becomes bored with it. When the mind becomes bored it starts feeling dull, sleepy. When the mind becomes bored there is only one escape from the boredom -- to fall asleep.
"Mothers have known it for centuries. Transcendental meditation has been used by all the mothers all over the world. Whenever the child is not going to sleep they start repeating a single line, a lullaby. Anything will do; just go on repeating the same again and again and the child starts falling asleep.
"And that's how hypnosis functions: any repetition -- a mantra is not necessarily needed -- ANYTHING. You can make a black spot on the wall and go on looking at it, looking constantly at it, and within minutes you will be fast asleep, because consciousness needs flow, consciousness needs something new to keep alert, consciousness needs movement. Consciousness is a stream.
"In fact it is because of this that Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Transcendental Meditation -- which is neither transcendental nor meditation -- has become so significant in America. America is the country which suffers most from sleeplessness, the only country which can sleep only through tranquilizers, sleeping pills -- and even those are no longer working -- the only country which has become so restless that sleep has become almost impossible. New methods are needed, more subtle methods are needed.
But to fall asleep is not meditation, it is consolation. It will give you a little rest and tomorrow you will find yourself a little more fresh. It is good -- I am not against it. It is a nonmedicinal tranquilizer. If you use tranquilizers you can use transcendental meditation -- far better. At least you are not stuffing yourself with chemicals which may have any side effect. It will not harm you, but it is not meditation at all -- because meditation means sharpening of intelligence. Meditation means becoming more alert, more bright, more brilliant, becoming more luminous, becoming more wise.

The Dhammapada: The Way of the Buddha, Vol 3/copyright Osho International Foundation/www.osho.com

Osho on Mahesh Yogi

Amrit Sadhana
Osho has spoken about the late Mahesh Yogi's Transcendental Meditation in his own inimitable style. There was a period when TM had taken the West by storm, particularly the US. At the time meditation was not a popular word in the west so Mahesh Yogi seemed to bring a new message. But soon humanity outgrew TM and started looking for more radical and trasformatory process of meditation. Osho insight on Mahesh Yogi is very useful in understanding meditation.

Osho : "If you can learn one thing with me, then that one thing is: Be alert, aware, about your own inner motives, about your own inner destiny. Never lose sight of it, otherwise you will be unhappy. And when you are unhappy, then people say: "Meditate and you will become happy!" They say: "Concentrate and you will become happy; pray and you will become happy; go to the temple, be religious, be a Christian or a Hindu and you will be happy!" This is all nonsense.
Be happy! and meditation will follow. Be happy, and religion will follow. Happiness is a basic condition. People become religious only when they are unhappy -- then their religion is pseudo. Try to understand why you are unhappy.
Many people come to me and they say they are unhappy, and they want me to give them some meditation. I say: First, the basic thing is to understand why you are unhappy. And if you don't remove those basic causes of your unhappiness, I can give you a meditation, but that is not going to help very much -- because the basic causes remain there.
The man may have been a good, beautiful dancer, and he is sitting in an office, piling up files. There is no possibility for dance. The man may have enjoyed dancing under the stars, but he is simply going on accumulating a bank-balance. And he says he is unhappy: "Give me some meditation." I can give him! -- but what is that meditation going to do? what is it supposed to do? He will remain the same man: accumulating money, competitive in the market. The meditation may help in this way: it may make him a little more relaxed to do this nonsense even better.
That's what TM is doing to many people in the West -- and that is the appeal of transcendental meditation, because Maharishi Mahesh Yogi goes on saying, "It will make you more efficient in your work, it will make you more successful. If you are a salesman, you will become a more successful salesman. It will give you efficiency." And American people are almost crazy about efficiency. You can lose everything just for being efficient. Hence, the appeal.
Yes, it can help you. It can relax you a little -- it is a tranquillizer. By constantly repeating a mantra, by continuously repeating a certain word, it changes your brain chemistry. It is a tranquillizer! a sound-tranquillizer. It helps you to lessen your stress so tomorrow in the marketplace you can be more efficient, more capable to compete -- but it doesn't change you. it is not a transformation.
You can repeat a mantra, you can do a certain meditation; it can help you a little bit here and there -- but-it can help you to remain whatsoever you are. It is not a transformation.
Hence, my appeal is only for those who are really daring, dare-devils who are ready to change their very pattern of life, who are ready to stake everything -- because in fact you don't have anything to put at the stake: only your unhappiness, your misery. But people cling even to that."
A Sudden Clash of Thunder/Copyright Osho International Foundation/www.osho.com

When silence sprouts within

Welcome Center Osho International Meditation Resort

Sadhana

This is surreal! I mean what happened to me today. Let me tell you the whole incident.

This afternoon as I was coming through the main gate of the Osho International Meditation Resort, savouring a peaceful joy within me, I was stopped by twittering birds on the tree near the welcome center. I halted and looked around -- the green expanse behind the welcome center, the calm Buddha statue of white marble, small waterfall behind it, and the curve of the running canal-- soft winter sun cast a diffused light on the green profusion…Perfect synchronicity between the outside and the inside. I breathed in silence and tranquility.

In the evening I went to the evening meditation meeting in the pyramid shaped Osho auditorium, and now comes the surreal ---
Osho was talking ( in the video, of course) on Zen. And believe me, the same kind of birds twittered in the video, Osho stopped while speaking and said , " just like that --- silence sprouts within you…"

It was unbelievable! How could it happen the same day? One has to agree with Osho when he says, "Life is a mystery, that is the very essence of Zen."

Osho said in the video, "Just act with your totality -- continuously -- and wait for the right time. The flower blossoms and the rain comes, the sun rises and the birds sing. ( at this point birds start twittering. Osho stops and says ) Just like that -- absolutely naturally -- silence sprouts within you, brings flowers of the unknown, fills you with immense fulfillment. You know, although you cannot say a single word about it: you experience, but you have no explanation."
"Life is a mystery, that is the very essence of Zen."
Zen: The Quantum Leap From Mind to No-Mind

Japanese Tea Ceremony

Last night there was a Japanese tea ceremony at Osho International Meditation Resort. The ambience and serenity was just like Osho has described in Beyond Enlightenment. And yes, Yoko from Japan was playing lilting flute in the background. Couldn't resist sharing this beautiful event with you.

"In Japan they have the tea ceremony. In every Zen monastery and in every person's house who can afford it, they have a small temple for drinking tea. Now, tea is no longer an ordinary, profane thing; they have transformed it into a celebration. The temple for drinking tea is made in a certain way -- in a beautiful garden, with a beautiful pond; swans in the pond, flowers all around... guests come and they have to leave their shoes outside. It is a temple.
"And as you enter the temple, you cannot speak; you have to leave your thinking and thoughts and speech outside with your shoes. You sit down in a meditative posture. And the host, the lady who prepares tea for you -- her movements are so graceful, as if she is dancing, moving around preparing tea, putting cups and saucers before you as if you are gods. With such respect... she will bow down, and you will receive it with the same respect.
"The tea is prepared in a special samovar which makes beautiful sounds, a music of its own. And it is part of the tea ceremony that everybody should listen first to the music of the tea. So everybody is silent, listening... birds chirping outside in the garden, and the samovar... the tea is creating its own song. A peace surrounds....
"When the tea is ready and it is poured into everybody's cup, you are not just to drink it the way people are doing everywhere. First you will smell the aroma of the tea. You will sip the tea as if it has come from the beyond, you will take time -- there is no hurry.
Somebody may start playing on the flute or on the sitar.
"An ordinary thing -- just tea -- and they have made it a beautiful religious festival, and everybody comes out of it nourished, fresh, feeling younger, feeling juicier."

Copyright Osho International Foundation

Dancing from the hara

This is Soo Hee, an amazing Korean dancer who is a regular visitor to the Osho International Meditation Resort, Pune. She does Osho meditations and also offers her meditative dance during evening events. Soo Hee says that Osho Kundalini meditation has helped her improve her dance movements.
This is a cool place folks! People meditate and cleanse their minds all day and then celebrate in the evening. The nights are colorful and creative -- like the topping of the yummy ice cream.
Osho asks the dancer to disappear in the dance. "Dance seems to be one of the most penetrating things, in which one falls into a harmony. Your body, your mind, your soul all fall into a harmony in dancing. Dancing is one of the most spiritual things there is. If you really dance, you cannot think. If you really dance, the body is used so deeply that the whole energy becomes fluid. A dancer loses shape, fixity. A dancer becomes a movement, a process. A dancer is not an entity: he's movement, he's energy. He melts. Great dancers, by and by, melt. And a dancer cannot retain his ego because if he retains the ego, that will be a jarring note in his dance."
The Beloved Vol 1,Copyright Osho International Foundation