Be Reasonable

Once Haru-an-Rasid wrote a poem. Now, everybody appreciated it; everybody had to appreciate it.

It was just nonsense. And when he asked Bollul before the court, he said, “This is just nonsense. Even a fool like me, sir, will not write this.” Of course, Haru-an-Rasid was very angry. Bollul was thrown into imprisonment, and he was beaten and forced to starve. After seven days, again he was brought to the court. Haru-an-Rasid had written another poem, and had improved much upon the first. And the whole court said, “Rah, rah!” Again Bollul was asked. He looked at the poem, he listened, and immediately stood up and started to leave. The King said, “Where are you going?” He said, “To the prison. Again I am going. I will not give you the trouble of sending me. What is the point?” He was really a wise man.

This is the irony: that many times the wise man has to appear as a fool. Remember, the effort to be independent is very foolish. And it is not possible; it is impossible. Then you will become more and more frustrated, because you will always find that you are again dependent, again dependent.

Wherever you go you will remain dependent, because you cannot go out of the net of existence. We are like the knots of a net – energies go on passing through us. When many energies pass through a point, that point becomes an individual, that’s all. Draw a line on paper, then draw another line across it; where these two lines cross, individuality arises. Where life and death cross, you are there – just a crossing point.

To understand it, that is all. Then you are neither dependent nor are you independent; both are absurdities. Then you are simply interdependent, and you accept.

“If so, then one has to depend on others, and the worldly things which are sure to become bondage in the long run.” Who has told you that they are sure to become bondage in the long run? Either you know or you don’t know. If you know, then there is no point in asking me; you will not get into that bondage. If you don’t know and you have simply heard it from others, this is not going to help you.

You will be in trouble.

You will always be half-hearted because it is not your understanding, and only your understanding can liberate you.

Let me tell you a few anecdotes.

A man and his wife made a pact that whichever one of them died first would come back and tell the other one what it was like on the other side. “There is just one thing, though,” said the husband. “If you die first, I want you to promise me that you will come back during the daytime.” He was afraid, half-hearted.

If you have believed others – because others say that if you move in the world, you will be in bondage – then wherever you move, you will be in bondage because it is not your understanding.

Understanding frees you. And remember, the bondage does not happen in the long run; it happens immediately.

The moment you desire, that very moment, the bondage has happened. It is of desire, and the desire has arisen around you; you are already imprisoned. If you have the insight, you will immediately see that every desire brings an imprisonment with it, and not in the long run. The long run… the very idea of the long run arises because others say so. This is not your own experience. And always remember to accept your own experience; nothing else is of worth.

It happened in a court: “I notice,” said the judge to the tramp in the dock, “that in addition to stealing this money, you also took a lot of very valuable jewellery.” “Yes, Your Honor,” remarked the tramp cheerfully. “You see, my mother taught me from childhood that money alone does not bring happiness.”

Teachings from others are not going to help. You will change their whole meaning according to you.

It will happen unconsciously, not consciously. You read the Dhammapada: you don’t read Buddha’s words, you read your own interpretations. You read Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras: you don’t read Patanjali, you read yourself through Patanjali. So if you are ignorant, you will find something in Patanjali which helps your ignorance. If you are greedy, you will find something in Patanjali which helps your greed.

If you are greedy, you may become greedy for kaivalya, for liberation, nirvana. If you are an egoist, you will find something which helps your egoism. You will start becoming a great independent being.

How can you depend?… Such a great man. How can you depend on anybody else? – You have to be independent. You will always find yourself whatsoever you read, whatsoever you listen to, unless you start understanding your own life.

“And also, will it not make the search of the seeker very, very long?” – This is greed. Why be afraid?

Why be too concerned with the result? I am saying continuously, repeatedly, to be here-now; don’t think of tomorrow. And you are not thinking only of tomorrow, you are thinking of future lives.

“Will not the search become too long, very, very long?” Why be afraid of it? Infinity is available. There is no shortage of time. You can move very, very slowly; there is no hurry. The hurry is because of greed. So whenever people become very greedy, they become very hurried and go on finding more ways to gain more speed. They are continuously on the run because they think that life is running out. These greedy people say, “Time is money.” Time is money? Money is very limited; time is unlimited. Time is not money; time is eternity. It has always been there and will be there, and you have always been here and you will always be here.

So drop greed, and don’t be bothered about the result. Sometimes it happens that because of your impatience, you miss many things. If you are listening to me with greed, with greedy eyes, then you will not be listening to me. You will inside be continuously talking: “Yes, this is good; this I will try. This I will do. This seems like it will bring me to the goal very soon.” You have missed me, what I was saying, and in listening to what I was saying, the goal was hidden there.

One doctor used to come here; now he is transferred. He used to take continuous notes. I asked him, “What are you going to do?” He said, “Later, at home, with ease, I read it. And then, later on, whenever I need, I can read it again.” But I told him, “You go on missing me. You hear one thing – you write – in that time I have said something which you have missed. Again you write something, again you have missed. And whatsoever you collect are fragments, and you will not be able to join them together. You will fill the gaps with your own greed, your own understanding, your own prejudices, and then the whole thing will be destroyed.”

The goal is here.

You have just to be silent, patient, alert. Live life totally. The goal is hidden in life itself. It is God who has come to you as life in millions of ways. When a woman smiles at you, remember, it is God smiling at you in the form of a woman. When a flower opens its petals, look, watch – God has opened his heart in the form of a flower. When a bird starts singing, listen to it – God has come to sing a song for you. This whole life is divine, holy. You are always on holy ground. Wherever you look, it is God that you look at; whatsoever you do, it is to God that you are doing it; whatsoever you are, you are an offering to God. That’s what I mean: live life, enjoy life, because it is God. And He comes to you and you are not enjoying Him. He comes to you and you are not welcoming Him.

He comes to you and finds you sad, aloof, uninterested, dull.

Dance, because each moment He is coming in infinite ways, in millions of ways, from all directions.

When I say live life in totality, I mean, live life as if it is God. And everything is included. When I say life, everything is included. Sex is included, love is included, anger is included; everything is included. Don’t be a coward. Be brave and accept life in its totality, in its total intensity.

Question to Osho – CAN ONE BE INTIMATE WITH YOUR SOUL WITHOUT BEING YOUR DISCIPLE?

It is as if you ask, “Can one be intimate with you without being intimate with you?”

What is a disciple? – A disciple is just an attitude, a readiness to be intimate. A disciple is just a receptivity, a readiness to accept, welcome. A disciple is a gesture: if you give to me, I will not reject it. But you are fogged with words. You have lost all insight into love, intimacy. If you are not a disciple you will not be intimate from your side. From my side, I am intimate to all, whether they are my disciples or not. I am unconditionally intimate.

But if you are not a disciple from your side you are closed, so my intimacy alone won’t work. It will not get connected with you. You will remain an outsider. Somehow, you will remain in a defending mood. Of course, you will choose whatsoever you like, and you will reject whatsoever you don’t like.

A disciple is one who says, “Osho, I accept you totally. Now I will not be a chooser with you” – that’s all. “Now I drop my mind; you become my mind. I will listen to you and not to my mind. If there is any conflict, I will go with you and not with my mind” – that’s all. “If a decision has to be taken, then you will be closer to me than my own mind” – that’s all.

One who is not a disciple stands on the border and he says, “Whatsoever I like, or whatsoever I feel convinced of, I will choose; and whatsoever I don’t like and don’t feel convinced of I will not choose.”

Whatsoever you like will make your mind more and more strengthened; whatsoever you don’t like will not allow your mind any transformation. You will become more knowledgeable. You will learn many things from me, but you will not learn from me. So it is up to you.

It is not a question, for me, to make you a disciple; it is up to you. When more is available, you decide for less – so far, so good.

Let me tell you one anecdote.

A doctor had two patients from different ends of town, both chronic insomniacs. To help get some sleep, he gave them some sleeping pills. One got green pills and the other, red ones. One day, both got into conversation about their sleeplessness, and at the end of the talk, one man felt so annoyed that he rushed to his doctor and said, “How is it that when I take my pills, I go to sleep and dream I am a docker unloading a dirty tramp steamer in Liverpool, getting covered in oil and filth, while Mr. Brown takes his pills and dreams that he is Lying on a beach in Bermuda, surrounded by half-dressed beautiful girls, all caressing him and kissing him and giving him a good time?” The doctor shrugged and said, “Be reasonable, now. You are on National Health, and Mr. Brown is a private patient.”

So, only that much can I say to you: be reasonable!