The Sudden Enlightenment

From Yoga Sutra 22 we will have few questions.

One of the seekers asked Osho – YOU SAY ONE CAN TAKE A JUMP FOR QUICK ATTAINMENT OF ENLIGHTENMENT. IS IT POSSIBLE? ENLIGHTENMENT MEANS GOING UPWARD, ISN’T IT? BUT A JUMP CAN ONLY BE TAKEN IF WE WANT TO GO DOWNWARD, LIKE JUMPING FROM A MULTISTORIED MANSION ONTO THE GROUND. HOW CAN ONE JUMP FROM THE GROUND TO THE TOP OF THE MANSION? ONE CAN ONLY GO UPWARD, ASCENDING SOMETHING. PLEASE EXPLAIN.

Osho’s answer – YOU miss the whole point, and you miss it in the analogy. Enlightenment is “going nowhere,” neither upward nor downward. Enlightenment is to be where you are – right now, this very moment. It is not going; it is being. You don’t go anywhere in enlightenment. Buddha is not going, climbing to Everest. You go inward; and that dimension of inwardness is neither upward nor downward.

It doesn’t belong to the upward or the downward; those are the outer directions.

Inside, you are exactly where you are. Enlightenment is not going, but being – being totally still. Hence, the jump is possible.

You are true. If it is going upward, how can you jump? In fact, even if it is going downward, to jump from Everest will be simple stupidity. You will die. No, it is neither downward, nor upward. You simply close yourself from all directions. You by and by settle within.

The Greek word, the Greek root, for the English word “mystic” is very, very beautiful. The Greek root means “to be set up in oneself.” Then you become a mystic – no going, no movement. Right this moment if you are not moving in any direction whatsoever – down/up, right/left, future/past – not moving anywhere, then your consciousness is still, with no wavering. In that moment there is enlightenment. That’s why a jump is possible. How can you jump from Poona to Calcutta? It is impossible. You can jump inside because you are already it. No time is needed, only understanding. No postponement is necessary, no need to say “tomorrow”.

Only understanding is needed. You understand and it happens immediately. So the whole effort is because the understanding is not there.

And never try any analogy. You will undo it. Analogy is always an indication; you should not take it literally. “Jump” here does not mean jump; “going upward” doesn’t mean going upward; “going downward” doesn’t mean going downward. These are indications; don’t be literal. Just take the fragrance and forget the flower; otherwise you will go on misunderstanding me. And this has happened so many times, millions of times; with all religious people it has been happening because they talk in analogy. There is no other way to talk. They talk in similes, parables. And then you can extend the parable to foolishness. If you go on extending the parable, a point comes when the whole thing is lost and everything becomes stupid.

That’s why in the hands of the enemies all religions become stupid. The whole trick is: that you go on extending the analogy – a point comes where it is no longer tenable, no longer significant. For example, Jesus says “my father who is up in heaven.” Now this “up” does not mean up. “My father” doesn’t mean my father, because there can be no “mine” in it. “… who is up in heaven” – now you can distort the whole meaning easily. When Christian friends also destroy it, enemies are bound to destroy it. They pray looking upwards. It is foolish because, in fact, in existence nothing is up and nothing is down. If you take existence in its totality. what is down and what is up? There can be nothing down and nothing up – these are relative terms.

If you take the word “father,” then difficulties arise. An Aryasamaji – a modern sect of Hinduism, fanatic and foolish – came to me, and he said, “I have heard you sometimes refer to Jesus also. Are you a Christian?” I said, “In a way, yes.” Of course he became mad. He couldn’t understand “in a way.” He said, “I can prove that your Jesus is completely wrong. He says ‘my father in heaven’ – then who is the mother?” Now this is how analogies can be…. Who is the mother? Without a mother how can there be a father? Perfectly true. It seems so simple. You can defeat the argument.

And then Christians, being afraid because they say, “God is the father,” then they have to make it clear that Jesus is the only begotten son, because if everybody is the son then the whole point is lost: what is the speciality and uniqueness of Jesus. So he is the only begotten son. Now things go from worse to worse. Then who is everybody else? All bastards? The whole world? Only Jesus is the son – then about you, what about you? What about popes. and apostles, and the whole world? The whole existence then becomes bastard, without a father. Nobody knows.

You can extend an analogy. There comes a point when it destroys its whole meaning – not only that, it gives such a stupid picture that anybody will laugh.

Hence, religion can be understood only in deep sympathy. If you have sympathy you can understand it: if you don’t have sympathy you can only misunderstand it – because the whole phenomenon is in parables. To understand a parable the understanding of language is not enough, the understanding of grammar is not enough, because a parable is something which transcends grammar and language. If you are very sympathetic, only then will you have the possibility to catch the meaning.

An analogy is not a proof. An analogy is just a method to indicate something which cannot be said – to show something which cannot be said. Remember this always: otherwise you will be caught in your own cleverness.

WHY DO ZEN MONKS HAVE TO HAVE BEEN LIVING NEAR THEIR MASTERS FOR TEN, TWENTY, OR EVEN FOR FORTY YEARS FOR THE SUDDEN ENLIGHTENMENT TO HAPPEN?

Because of their stupidities. You can be enlightened in a single minute; you can wait for forty years. It depends how gross you are. You can wait for lives; it depends how much you cling to your ignorance. The Zen Master is not responsible that the disciple had to wait for forty years. The disciple is responsible. He must have been a very dull-headed man, a dullard; nothing penetrates in his mind. Or he may have been intellectually very clever, so whatsoever is said he creates an intellectual understanding around it – and misses the point that can be caught only from heart to heart. In a deep rapport, where heart and heart meet, the flower of understanding blooms.

So those who had to wait for forty years either must have been very foolish or very knowledgeable. Both are types of foolishness. They must have been either pundits or just idiots; both are the same.

Pundits miss more than idiots. Even an idiot sometimes can understand, can have understanding, because he is simple. He has no complex mind: if something penetrates it penetrates. But with a man of knowledge – a scholar, a logician, a theologian, a philosopher – there are subtle layers which are almost impossible to penetrate. If you are simple it can happen right now. If you are not simple you will have to wait; and then you have to understand what complexity is creating the problem.

You alone are responsible for whatsoever happens. The Master is just a presence.

You can partake of him. He is just like a sun, a lamp of light: you can open your eyes and you can see, but if you don’t open your eyes, the lamp is not going to force you to open your eyes. Even the sun cannot do that. But always remember, if you are waiting it is because of you, either your cleverness or your stupidity.

Drop both. That’s how one becomes a disciple – drop both your stupidity and your knowledge. When you drop both there is no barrier; you are vulnerable, you are open. In that opening the enlightenment is possible any moment.