Once Mandela was asked, how he kept himself from hating his
tormentors, Mandela answered, "Hating clouds the mind... leaders can't
afford to hate." Wish more politicians had this wisdom. It was an enigma
for everyone close to him that how he did not carry any malice or a grievance
against the whites who had tortured and humiliated him. This special quality of
his being made Mandela tower over his detractors. Mandela was a politician in
search of himself.
He did not talk about his interest in meditation publicly
but his magnanimous heart and his behavior with his fellowmen had the fragrance
of a maturity that blossomed within. He had turned his 27 years of
incarceration into a retreat, where meditation transformed him into this rare
human being.
He gave the same advice in a letter he wrote to his wife,
Winnie Mandela, when she was sent to prison in Kroonstad: "You may find
that the cell is an ideal place to learn to know yourself, to search
realistically and regularly the processes of your own mind and feelings. In
judging our progress as individuals we tend to concentrate on external factors
such as one’s social position, influence and popularity, wealth and standard of
education … but internal factors may be even more crucial in assessing one’s
development as a human being: honesty, sincerity, simplicity, humility, purity,
generosity, absence of vanity, readiness to serve your fellow men – qualities
within the reach of every soul – are the foundation of one’s spiritual life….
Regular meditation, say of about 15 minutes a day before you turn in, can be
fruitful in this regard. You may find it difficult at first to pinpoint the
negative factors in your life, but the tenth attempt may reap rich rewards.
Never forget that a saint is a sinner that keeps on trying.”
This is exactly what
Osho has proposed for everyone in
power, particularly politicians. “As
far as I can see, all politicians should be meditators, should know something
of the inner world. They should be more conscious, more compassionate, should
know the taste of love. They should know the experience of the silence of
existence, and the beauty of this planet, and the gifts of existence. And they
should learn to be humble and grateful.”
"The world needs only one thing -- not great
scriptures, just a simple method of becoming silent, of becoming yourself, of
coming to your innermost center. Every politician should be forced to
participate in some school of meditation, and unless he graduates from there he
cannot stand for any political post. All politicians, unless they are
meditative, are disqualified. They don't know themselves and they are
controlling millions of people and their lives."
We saw another Osho insight inadvertently being followed
outside Mandela's house, which is celebrating death. Yes, Mandela's admirers were
singing and dancing instead of mourning
his death. A befitting farewell to a gorgeous life. The media lensemen who kept searching around looking for long faces
outside Mandela's house were stumped!
I am tempted to quote
Osho once again, "Celebrating death will help you to understand that there
is nothing in life to be afraid of. If death is a celebration, then what else
can be a cause of fear? And if you can celebrate death, you have attained a
maturity.It is possible only to those who live life as a rejoicing, a constant
celebration."
Osho says, there can only be one resolution for the new year : " I resolve never to make any resolutions for the future."
