Who posseses the river?

  

Copyright Osho International Foundation

There is a popular saying that "whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting over." It is usually attributed to the great writer Mark Twain, but whoever actually said it could hardly have known just how intense that fighting would become as water gets scarcer.

Fighting over water is not new,  it is as ancient as human beings on earth.Even in Buddha's times people had the possessive attitude towards natural resources.

Osho tells a penetrating story how Gautama Buddha  resolved the water dispute between two kings. 

Buddha  was holding his camp by the side of a river, and he was surprised to see armies standing on both sides of the river. There were two kingdoms and the river was their boundary, and they had been fighting for generations over which kingdom the river belonged to . And they had not been able to decide -- so many times they had made the river red with blood and the fight had continued. Buddha had his camp there and the generals of both the armies came to seek his guidance. Just by chance, they entered his camp at the same time. They were shocked at this strange coincidence, but now there was no way to go back.

Copyright Osho International Foundation

Buddha said, "Don't be worried; it is good that you have come together. You both are blind, your predecessors have been blind, too. The river goes on flowing, and you go on killing people. Can't you see a simple fact: you both need water, and the river is big enough. There is no need to possess the river; and who can be the possessor? All the water is flowing into the ocean. Why can't both of you use it? One side belongs to one kingdom, the other side belongs to the other kingdom -- there is no problem. And there is no need even to draw a line in the middle of the river because lines cannot be drawn on water. And use the water; rather than fighting."

The generals understood that their fields and their crops were dying because they had no one to take care of them. Everyone was busy fighting. First they had to decide who possesses the river, only then could they water their fields. The stupid human mind thinks only in terms of possession. The man of insight thinks of utility.

Buddha simply said, "Use it! And come to me again when you have used all the water. If  there is still be a problem, we will see what to do about it. But come to me again only when you have finished all the water."

The warriors looked at each other, they felt trapped but they had no answer. They went back feeling like fools. We don't know what the outcome was, whether they saw their folly and ended the war or they are still fighting. But the water is still flowing as abundantly, as compassionately as ever. 

A woman's day, every day

International day for women is round the corner. Here are some chocolates and ribbons from Osho to both women and men . Enjoy!

 For the new woman:

  *The new woman does not have to compete or compare herself with man, she just have to be herself. It may look like an uphill task, but a change of gestalt will help her reclaim her lost power.

* Femininity is indeed very powerful. It is the power of creation, the power of a flower, the power of the water element; of the patience and resilience so essential for sustenance. 

   * I will continue to give woman every possible opportunity which she has been denied in the past. And there will be more women who will come to the surface. And they will prove my point that you are absolutely equal to men, there is no question of inferiority.

For the new men:

* Never argue with a woman.You may be right but she can never be wrong!

* A woman has to be loved, not to be understood.

 * The male mind, the Berliner; the female mind, the Viennese. The female mind has a grace, the male mind has efficiency. and of course, in the long run, if there is a constant fight, the grace is bound to be defeated -- the efficient mind will win. because the world understands the language of mathematics not of love. But the moment your efficiency wins over your grace, you have lost something tremendously valuable: you have lost contact with your own being. You may become very efficient, but you will be no more a real person. You will become a machine, a robot-like thing.

Participate in your child's misery

let the child cry

Why is he miserable?

When kids go astray, parents ask, " Where did we go wrong?" but when the parents go astray, what can the kids ask, to whom? They suffer silently or maybe they are silenced  by their own parents. And yet nobody dares to look with fresh eyes into this vital issue of bringing up children.

The repressive attitude of the past generations to their children will not work any longer. Osho endorses the new studies of psychologists who say that the screaming and shouting of a child is very healthy. Those children who cannot scream and shout in their childhood, who cannot throw tantrums, cannot show their displeasure openly become mentally sick forever. This screaming and crying of a child is a deep process, it is a method of relieving his pain. 

Osho has suggested a meditation for parents or elders who are bringing up children.

" If a child is crying, neither you scold him, nor pat him, nor advise him, just sit with him silently, go on watching him meditatively, lovingly. But do not stop him from crying or try to make him sleep by patting his head. Do not give him toys because it means you are bribing him. Do not distract  his mind by showing him a beautiful sparrow sitting on a tree. By doing this you are distracting him from his natural way. Just be silent without getting angry – because your anger too can function as suppression for the child. Go on looking at the child silently and lovingly, then you will be amazed. As long as you give attention to a child lovingly, he would cry heartfully, he would scream. The child will vent out his feelings  for a while and afterwards will become light. He will start smiling, will become happy. He is not smiling to please you. Now this laughter is arising from the release of his pain. Now he has become light-hearted.  

Participate in the emotional cleansing

If we silently cooperate with the children's emotional needs  the perversion, the madness would be greatly reduced in this world. Parents should participate in  the emotional cleansing of their children, it will help their own cleansing, too. The children will start trusting their parents and a deep intimate bond will be created between both. So when the children mature sexually and they have strange sensations and attractions in their body and mind they will feel free to ask their parents about it, and the parents will not doubt their children's intentions. 

Osho tips for loving and living beautifully

Copyright Osho International

Hi! Looking for the best roses for your loved ones?

Enjoy the Valentine's Day by sharing these lovely Osho roses with your friends and beloveds.

If you practice these tips you will not need any roses to gift, you yourself will bloom like a rose.

* Love is never a relationship; love is relating. It is always a river, flowing, unending. Love knows no full stop; the honeymoon begins but never ends. It is not like a novel that starts at a certain point and ends at a certain point. It is an ongoing phenomenon. Lovers end, love continues. It is a verb, not a noun.

* The moment love becomes attachment, love becomes a relationship... the moment love becomes demanding, it is a prison. It has destroyed the freedom; you cannot fly in the sky, you are encaged.

* No relationship can satisfy, because every relationship begins with great hope, and that is not possible to be fulfilled. Yes, that hope can be fulfilled, but it can be fulfilled only when you have fallen in love with the whole. No part can fulfill it.

* Remember well, the technological mind is a mathematical mind. The mind of the lover is non-mathematical; the mind of the lover is the mind of the poet. Love is a romance, not a technique. Love is a dream. not a technique. Love has a totally different approach to life.

* If you meditate and then make love, your love will have a tremendously new depth to it. Love and then meditate and suddenly you will see: when your energy is full of love, meditation goes so deep and so easily. You simply ride on the wave -- you need not make any effort. You simply float and reach higher and higher and higher.

* Sex creates jealousy but it is a secondary thing. It is not a question of how to drop jealousy; you cannot drop it because you cannot drop sex. The question is how to transform sex into love; then jealousy disappears.

Osho guest house

* The man who invented the double bed was one of the greatest enemies of humanity. Even in the bed, no freedom! You cannot move; the other is by the side. And mostly the other takes most of the space. If you can manage a small space you are fortunate !

* Love exists but you cannot possess it. If you try to possess it, you belong to the objective dimension and you are killing love -- that's why possession is destructive. If you possess a woman, if you say, 'She is my wife and I possess her' then she is no longer a person. You have reduced her to be a thing and she will never be able to forgive you.

* There are two ways of discovery. One is meditation -- without the other you search for the depth; another is love -- with the other you search for the depth. He becomes a root to reach to yourself. The other creates a circle, and both lovers help each other. The deeper love goes, the deeper they feel they are; their inner-beings are revealed.

Excerpted from Osho books/Osho International Foundation/www.osho.com

 www.osho.com

Win the war with your love and joy

Photo Osho International Foundation

If the shocking statistics provided by the website Really-Worried.com are to be believed, the average urban person spends two hours and fifteen minutes of their day fretting.

Is it  really necessary to worry? Osho says, " worry is like a rocking-chair -- it keeps you going but gets you nowhere!"

I think worrying is a defense mechanism of the mind to avoid facing reality. The chronic worriers are anxiety ridden and have physical effects of constant worrying like difficulty swallowing, dizziness, dry mouth, fast heartbeat,fatigue,headaches ,inability to concentrate to name the few. 

So instead of worrying about the situation of the world or about our future Osho's advise is to start meditating.

He says, " We don't need bigger nuclear weapons to stop the war. We need something totally different. Love will provide the energy, meditation will provide you with tremendous strength. And you will not feel so insignificant, you will feel dignified and significant, because your love, your meditation, your blissfulness is going to save the world.

And don't be worried that you are helpless to do anything. The idea of helplessness has arisen because you have never been told what your resources are. You have never looked into your resources -- your love, your silence, your peace, your compassion, your joy. You have never looked into all this inexhaustible potentiality of your being. And if thousands of people blossom in love, music and dance, and the whole earth becomes a celebration, then any Ronald Reagan is not going to destroy this world. He will feel helpless; he will feel guilty to destroy such beautiful people and such a beautiful planet.

Explosion of joy 

You ask me, "The only thing I can see to do is to be here with you as much as possible, nourishing my consciousness and supporting your vision. Is there anything more that can be done?"
It is enough. More is not needed; more will keep you unnecessarily worried. And worry is like a rocking-chair -- it keeps you going but gets you nowhere! There is no need to worry and there is no need to feel desperate, helpless. A few idiots have prepared death for the planet; there are millions of intelligent people who can prevent it just by their love, by their joy, by their beauty, by their ecstasy. These are far more powerful experiences, because atomic energy, or nuclear energy, is part of the material world. It is the explosion of the atom, the lowest, smallest particle of matter.
We have not understood yet that nature has an absolute balance. If a small atom exploding can destroy... Have you ever thought about a living atom of your being and its explosion? In other words, we have been calling it enlightenment. It is nothing but an explosion of your being into light. And then suddenly you have a far higher and superior power. It need not fight with the lower, its very presence will make the lower impotent."
Excerpted from Hari Om Tatsat/Copyright Osho International Foundation/www.osho.com

When sadness surrounds...

Photo:Osho International Foundation

When the hype and excitement of the new year is over the real state of mind emerges. All the depressing emotions are hidden behind the momentary joy, waiting to surface. They have a life of their own and want the opportunity, too.The superficial celebration had only suppressed it little deeper but when the fire is blown away you can feel the amber smoldering inside.

One thing is sure, pushing the negative emotions down is no cure for them. On the contrary the more you are in a denial mode the more tension keeps mounting, and one day, all of a sudden it explodes.

Once a woman came to see Osho and expressed that sometimes she has these bouts of sadness. They come as a wave, for no apparent reason,but when they overcome her consciousness it is very strong and she cannot fight or pretend to be happy.

Osho's advice to her will prove to be a great insight for all of us to look into our various shades of emotions and how to deal with them. The first and foremost is: never to escape. Escaping from a situation is only strengthening it in an indirect way.

" Whenever you feel sad, sit silently and allow sadness to come; don't try to escape from it. Make yourself as sad as you can. Don't avoid it , that's the one thing to remember. Cry, weep... have the whole taste of it. Fall down on the earth, roll. This is to be remembered -- when you are feeling sad, don't lose the opportunity. Close the doors, sit down, and feel as sad as you can, as if the whole world is just a hell. Go deep into it... sink into it. Allow every sad thought to penetrate you, every sad emotion to stir you. And cry and weep and say things -- say them loudly, there is nothing to worry about."(Be realistic, plan for a miracle)

This becomes a meditation because such intense  sadness  is the moment to enter yourself. The ordinary tendency is not to allow it, we  find some ways and means so that we can look somewhere else --we go to the restaurant, or to the swimming pool, meet friends, read a book or go to a movie, play some happy music so that we can be engaged and can put  our attention somewhere else.

When it goes you will be unburdened, absolutely unburdened, as if the whole gravitation has disappeared and you can fly, weightless.And let it go by itself. Don't force it to go; it will go, because nobody can remain in a permanent mood.

Maxims to meditate upon

  Osho International Foundation

Osho encouraged people to ask questions of all kinds. His answers were very unpredictable. Sometimes he would twist the question and sometimes he would tear the questioner off. He has given lots of sutras or maxims to meditate upon in a funny way. Here is a colorful bouquet of one-liners Osho has given to meditate upon to an old actress and a theater person.

* A woman who looks like a dream usually gives a man insomnia.
* Two is company, three is the result.
* The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.
* Sometimes the best way to liven up the party is to leave.
* It is better to be in the missionary position than never to have any religion at all.
* The only time most people look like their passport photographs is during a hijack.
* In these days of jet travel, the only journeys that take a long time are the ones from your house to the             airport.
* A husband who gets his breakfast in bed is in hospital.
* Married life is like sitting in a bathtub -- after a while, it is not so hot.
* Marriage is like a violin. After the beautiful music is over, the strings are still attached.
* Nobody is ever satisfied. Poor men wish they were rich, rich men wish they were handsome, bachelors          wish they were married, and married men wish they were dead.
* The fastest way to discover your bad habits is to move in with your lover.
*  Sex is the most fun you can have without laughing.