Everywhere God is present, all that is needed is the eyes to see.
There are 108 Upanishads and Isha is the smallest of them all - it can be written on a post card - yet Isha is said to be one of the greatest creations of those who have meditated’. The word Isha means divine.The divinity of this Upanishad lies in its contents. It doesn’t believe in any devil, any satan ,or in any hell, because all is divine. The Upanishad is not saying to renounce the world as the world itself is the manifestation of God. But it says: don’t possess, don’t become owners of persons or things: just use them as a gift of the universe.Go on enjoying wherever you are. Also be fully aware that nothing belongs to us. Idam Na Mama: This is not Mine - we come empty handed in the world we go empty-handed. The world is a gift, so enjoy while it is there. In Osho’s words “ When you have something, enjoy it, when you don’t have it , enjoy not having it-- It is the enjoyment that makes the difference. If you have a palace to live in , enjoy. If you don’t have , then enjoy a hut and the hut becomes a palace. Then live under a tree and enjoy it. Don’t miss the tree and the flowers and the freedom and the birds and the air and the sun. And when you are in a palace don’t miss it - enjoy the marble and the chandeliers.”
The Upanishadic teachings are life -affirmative. The Isha says: If you have to choose between action and meditation , you will fall into blinding darkness if you choose action alone ; and the darkness will be even greater if you choose meditation alone. So Isha Upanishad is trying to make it clear that never choose, remain choicelessly aware and accept life as it is . Don’t impose any choice of your own.
Into A Blinding Darkness Go They Who Worship Action Alone.
Into An Even Greater Darkness Go They Who Worship Meditation.
Action is External, physical and Worldly; and Meditation is Internal, Spiritual and Godly.If you choose either of the two , you will fall into darkness or greater darkness. So Osho says to choose both and live a life of fullness , wholeness and totality that is, a full material existence with a full spiritual life. In Osho’s words:”be a spiritual materialist or a material spiritualist”.
I Am That is the ultimate statement of the Upanishads. I Am That. “I “does not mean the ego; it simply means pure existence, without any ego in it. One simply is. That is The Whole, The Absolute, The Godly.
For I Myself Am That.
Let My Breath Merge With The Cosmic Breath....
And the Shanti Mantra (Seed Mantra) of Isha Upanishad is:
That Is The Whole/ This Is The Whole./ From Wholeness Emerges Wholeness./ Wholeness Coming From Wholeness./ Wholeness Still Remains.
The book consists of sixteen chapters of which the commentary of the Upanishad extends to only four chapters and the remaining twelve chapters are .set apart for responding to seekers’ questions on various topics ranging from Sincerity, Love and Parenting to Socialism, Religion and God..
Some of Osho’s observations in this book are:
God is presence, not a person. Hence all worshipping is sheer stupidity. Prayerfulness is needed not prayer.
A child always thinks good days are to come, the old man always thinks good days, golden days are past. The child is future oriented, the old man is past oriented and the young man, if he is really young lives in the present.
Nostalgia is the longing to go back to the good old days when you were neither good nor old.
If you are forced to live in heaven , it is hell, and if you choose hell it is heaven, because it is your own choice.
Parables, anecdotes and simple jokes are aplenty in this book. One sample joke:
The army recruit from the country was being given his physical examination. “ Well, that’s everything but the urine test”, said the doctor. “ I want a specimen of yours in one of those bottles on that shelf down at the other end of the room.
“What did you say, Doc?” asked the young man.
“ Just urinate in one of those little bottles down there,” repeated the doctor.
The recruit still looked doubtful. “Do you mean all the way from here?” he asked
One more joke:
A rambling man thought up a new scheme for winning sympathy. He rang the doorbell, then got down on his knees and started nibbling on the grass. “ What are you doing there ?” asked the lady when she opened the door.
The tramp rose weakly to his feet , clutched his stomach in mock pain and moaned, “Ma’m, I am so hungry, I just had to take to eating grass.”
“Why , you poor man, stop eating that dry old grass!” cried the woman sympathetically. “ Go around in the back where the grass is greener and longer!”
No comments:
Post a Comment