AH, THIS! : Talks On Zen Stories

Not knowing is the most intimate.

The more one knows, the less one feels the great experience of awe and wonder; one cannot be ecstatic and shout out of joy and say “Ah, this!”. Osho’s discourses on Zen in the backdrop of four selected Zen stories are transcribed in this book.

Zen, the Japanese method of yoga, is neither Buddhist nor Taoist and yet it is both. It is neither a way nor a path and hence it is called the gate-less gate, the pathless path, the effortless effort, the action-less action. In Zen, people who have attained no-mind alone are worthy enough to ascend to the high seat and speak to people. Zen says, “If you want to see, see right at once. When you begin to think, you miss the point.”

There are no lessons in Zen. It is not a teaching but a device to awaken the self. Zen believes in the ordinary world but it wants to transform the mundane into the sacred. “When you bring me a cup of tea in the morning, I take it, when you serve me a meal, I accept it, when you bow to me, I return it with a nod.”

The essential core of Zen is watching, observing and being aware. The only sin in Zen is unawareness and is the only virtue awareness. Everything is divine and extraordinary in the eyes of Zen. Osho says: “ Not to follow Christ, not to follow Buddha, but to follow life is to be religious.”

The book consists of 8 chapters of which 4 are devoted to answering questions from disciples and seekers. Also included in this book are jokes, parables and anecdotes.

Given below is an interesting joke:

An elephant escaped from the local zoo and made his way into the vegetable garden of one of the town’s most prominent matrons. Unfortunately this lady had only returned from a cocktail party where she had had just a little too much to drink. She was not too drunk, however, to see the beast in her garden. And she had the presence of mind to call the police.

“Quick,” she said, “there is some kind of huge, strange looking animal in my garden.”

“What is he doing?” asked the desk sergeant

“He seems to be picking lettuce with his tail!”

“Oh, really?” replied the wary policeman. “And what is he doing with it?”

The lady peered out into her garden once more and then said; “Sergeant, even if I told you, you would never believe it!”

Some of Osho’s observations:

Not knowing is not ignorance, not knowing is a state of innocence. 

And you will get only that which you deserve, which you are worthy of. 

Disbelief is also a kind of belief, a negative kind of belief. 

The people who stop desiring worldly things start desiring heaven and heavenly pleasures. 

Don’t try to dominate and don’t allow anybody to dominate you either.

AND NOW AND HERE - Beyond the Duality of Life and Death

We will let go of everything that can die. 

This book is the transcript of Osho’s discourses on non-duality of life and death. Non-duality means there are not two. Even one exists only in the context of two. But we are used to seeing life in terms of duality. First we create a division between darkness and light and then think they are two separate entities forgetting the fact that darkness and light are variations of the same thing, different aspects, different stages of the same thing. What is true of darkness and light is true of all other dualities of life like sleep and wakefulness, good and bad, the Devil and the divine, life and death etc.etc..

Death is not an event that occurs outside of life and it is not a sudden event either; it is a growth that begins with birth. Also, there is virtually no difference between living and dying. Osho says: “What we call living is just another name for dying gradually. Death is actually taking place every moment. It is not that after seventy years one dies all of a sudden.” The biggest secret of life, according to Osho, is to learn how to die and how to accept death.

 This book also gives the reader a deep understanding of meditation, witnessing and inner experience. Meditation means cessation of thoughts, mind and time; it is an inner experience of eternal nothingness that is now and here. it is the path leading to godliness and awakening. This book can also be used as a practical guide for meditation. Given below are some of Osho’s observations:

 We occasionally choose things we don’t want to choose.

 If God alone is the decision-maker, and if he alone creates someone good and someone bad - makes one man Rama and the other Ravana - then what’s the point? Then everything becomes nonsense, carries no meaning.

 If a mother loves her child a lot, he drinks less milk because he is always assured that he will have milk anytime, that he need not worry about the future.

 Only a happy mind rings bells in the temple, lights lamps and chants prayers.

THE BOOK OF MAN

Nobody is simply a man and nobody is simply a woman; both are both.

Every man has a feminine part in his being, and every woman has a masculine part in her being. ‘The Book of Man’ is a collection of Osho’s discourses on man, portraying his evolutionary journey from Adam to Zorba the Buddha. Man as the slave, the beggar, the son , the husband, the father, the priest, the politician, the master and the like are portrayed in between. Osho says that there may have been many others before Adam but nobody else said ‘no’ and hence history cannot record them . Adam is the first man, the first rebel and Zorba the Buddha is the new man , the new rebel.

Man is not born to be a slave but the world wants man to be a slave, to be used by those who are in power. Men have lived down through the ages like sheep, as part of a crowd, following its traditions and conventions and following the old scriptures and old discipline. The whole of history has been made up by man, and according to Osho it is a history not of mankind, but of madness, wars, rape, and destruction. He says, “ A man can be far lower than animals, and a man can be far higher than gods. Man has infinite potentiality. A man can become a Buddha, and can become an Adolf Hitler too.” 

Osho’s vision of the new man is of a perfect man who will create a perfect world. He is not only clever in arithmetic but he can also enjoy and compose music, he can dance and he can play guitar. Osho says: “My rebel, my new man is Zorba, the Buddha.”

The materials included in this book are also available in various other Osho Titles. The book comprises 32 chapters under 4 parts in 280 pages. A few of Osho’s observations are given below:

If you cannot love yourself, you cannot love anybody else in the world. Love yourself, be yourself. 

The feeling of dependence on woman, which every man feels, makes him react in such a way that he tries to manage the woman as a slave.

 It is the whole idea of private property that has created the father, that has created the family, that has created the ownership of the woman by the man.

 Don’t try to be consistent, otherwise you will be dead. Only dead people are consistent.

THE RAZOR’S EDGE : Entering into the Unknown

 

Love, and you will find God. Love, and God will find you.

  The path leading to the unknown is just like a razor’s edge, where every step is dangerous and one has to be very courageous, careful and relaxed to move on it. Osho in this book discusses a number of topics in the backdrop of diverse questions from disciples and seekers. He speaks of a world without wars, without nations and without religions. According to him the nations, the religions, the wars, anything that discriminates against people and creates conflict are all immoral things.

 Osho says that the idea of God outside has led the whole of humanity into tremendous confusion. All the priests of the world, he says, are against God, because “once you know that God is within you, the whole profession of the priesthood is finished.” There are three hundred religions in the world and they differ on every point except one, and that is, the priest is an absolute necessity. He is of the view that “if religions disappear from the world, then many idiotic things will disappear with them.”

 Osho says that the only thing in life that one should not be afraid of is love as nobody is ever harmed by love, and nobody is ever harmed by opening the heart; but people are more afraid of love than anything else.

 ‘The Razor’s Edge’, which is a collection of Osho’s responses to questions, comprises 30 chapters in 624 pages. Osho responds with clarity, authority and sincerity. The jokes, parables and anecdotes he tells during the course of his talks are interesting and thought-provoking. Given below is one such joke: 

Two police officers are having coffee and chatting about their new recruits. “You won’t believe how dumb my new constable is,” says one.

“Oh, I bet mine is worse than yours.” says the other.

 So the first officer calls his constable. He came in and salutes, “Yes, sir!” 

 “Here is a dollar, go and buy me a Rolls Royce.”

 :Yes, sir!” says the constable and he goes out.

 “That’s nothing,” says the other officer and calls his constable. “Go immediately to my house and see if I am there.”

 “Yes sir!” says the constable and he goes out.

 The two recruits meet in the corridor and one says, “Boy, you won’t believe how dumb my officer is; he gave me a dollar to buy him a Rolls Royce. Doesn’t he know it is Sunday and the shops will be closed?”

 “That’s nothing,” says the other. “My officer told me to go to his house and see if he is there. Can’t he just make a phone call himself?”

 Some of Osho’s observations:

 It is not power that corrupts you, corruption you carry within yourself, power simply gives you the opportunity to do whatever you want to do.

 If it is true that God created the world, then there should be no war - it is one family; there should be no nations.

 Don’t be a miser, because the more you give, the more existence will shower on you.

 Know thyself, be thyself and then your very life will be nothing but a sharing, an unselfish-sharing.

THIS VERY BODY THE BUDDHA Talks on Hakuin’s Song of Meditation

Just possess yourself and you have possessed all.

Hakuin is one of the greatest Zen masters and his Song of Meditation is commented on by Osho in this book. Hakuin’s song is so small and yet so much truth, so much love and so much insight is condensed into a few words. According to Osho it contains all the Bibles, all the Korans and all the Vedas. Hakuin is sharing his buddhahood in this song which says: “ All beings are from the very beginning buddhas.” Zen people call this single sentence “The Lion’s Roar.” Hakuin says, it happens through meditation that one discover or rediscover one’s buddhahood. He also says that there need not be any worry about sins and past karma as all that can be burnt in a single sitting of meditation.

Hakuin’s song is a very condensed statement of buddhahood. It says one need not go any where to seek and search because all is here in this shore. This is the only shore and the other shore is hidden in this shore.

“This very place the lotus paradise,

This very body the Buddha.”

The Zen attitude towards life is that of laughter, of living, of enjoying and of celebrating. Osho says: “Laugh so totally that when death comes you can have your last laugh.”

This book consists of 10 chapters of which only 2 chapters are devoted for Osho’s commentary on Hakuin’s ‘Song of Meditation’. The remaining chapters are set apart for Osho’s responses to questions from disciples and seekers. Osho tells a number of jokes, parables and anecdotes during the course of his talks. Here is one such joke:

A great film director and his wife were on safari in the African jungle when, just as they were walking along a narrow path in the thickest part of the bush, a huge lion leapt out at them, grabbed his wife in its massive jaws, and began to drag her off. “Shoot, John!” she yelled to her husband. “Shoot!” “I can’t,” he yelled back. “I’ve run out of film!”

Given below are some of Osho’s o0bservations:

There are people who are greedy for money and there are people who are greedy for God. It makes no difference at all, they are the same people.

A man who tries to remain always secure, safe, will not learn anything, will not learn ever.

A blind man believes in light. But a man who has eyes does not believe in light, there is no need. He knows light.

God resides in you as you. God is a tree in a tree and a dog in a dog and a man in a man. God is all these things.

ZEN: THE PATH OF PARADOX

Living and dying in a relaxed way is what Zen is.

A monk came to a master for help on working on one of the classic questions in Zen dialectic: “What is the meaning of Bodhidharma’s coming from the west?” The master suggested that before proceeding with the problem the monk should make him a low salaam. As he was dutifully prostrating himself, the master gave him a good swift kick. When he felt the master’s foot he attained immediate enlightenment.

Zen says that meaning is man-created and so there is no meaning and no purpose and no need to look for it. Commenting on this typical Zen story, Osho says: “ You don’t ask a cloud, why it has come to China or you don’t ask a star,why it is there. Men like Bodhidharma are so pure, they don’t exist through meaning; they simply exist without any meaning. They don’t exist for any purpose.”

This book is the transcript of Osho’s talks on Zen, which is considered as the only religion in the world that teaches sudden enlightenment. A method adopted by the Zen masters for this is to ask their disciples to solve a koan. A koan is a riddle that is impossible to solve by its very formation. ‘What is the sound of one hand clapping?’ is a famous Zen koan. Osho says that when one is looking at the riddle and no thought arises one can see into the riddle that it is absurd. In the gap, thinking is not there but knowing happens. In Osho’s words: “ When thinking stops and knowing happens, when thoughts disappear and clarity comes and you can see that truth is not something to be thought about, truth has to be seen.” An unexpected kick or whack from a master can also lead the disciple to sudden enlightenment.

Zen doesn’t have a concept of church, priest or God .To them God is not something above humanity, it is something hidden within humanity. Zen says that with God, man will remain always a slave and a worshiper and he will remain always in fear of God. Zen says everything is divine, each leaf of every tree and each pebble on every shore is special, unique and holy. so how can anything be special, divine and good or anything be evil, bad and ugly.

Zen says that the mind is the world and unless one drops the mind one can never be in tune with existence and one cannot pulsate with the pulse of the universe. According to Osho the whole teaching of Zen consists of only one thing: “how to take a jump into nothingness, how to come to the very end of your mind, which is the end of the world.” Zen says : “When you are silent, it speaks; when you speak, it is silent.” This is the Zen paradox.

Some of Osho’s observations:

Meditation is not concentration-- If you look with concentration you will find an ant, not God.

The man who is articulate in language is the dominant man.

Even when you say something about somebody else, you are saying it only about yourself.

Those who go on telling you to amend your nature and improve upon yourself are very dangerous people.

TAO: THE PATHLESS PATH

Happiness is natural; one should not seek it, one should simply enjoy it.

Tao means the way, which is more like a bird flying in the sky leaving no markers behind. The bird has flown but no marks are left; it is a pathless path. Osho, in this book, comments on five Taoist parables, which according to him are very deep and they have to be penetrated and meditated upon to know the real meaning. Confucius is used as a laughing stock in Taoist stories, where he is figured as a traveller going from somewhere to somewhere, always seeking and searching for knowledge.

In one of the parables Confucius asks a poor wandering monk who is singing a song of joy: “Master, what is the reason for your joy?”
“I have many joys”, replies the monk. “ Of the myriad things which heaven begot, mankind is the most noble - and I have the luck to be human. This is my first joy. People are born who do not live a day or a month, but I have already lived to ninety. This is my joy. For all men, poverty is the norm and death is the end. Abiding by the norm, awaiting my end, what is there to be concerned about?”
“Good!” says Confucius, “here is a man who knows how to console himself.”

By interpreting the story Osho says that there cannot be any reason for joy as it is natural like one’s health. So never ask reasons for someone’s happiness; it is just like asking why somebody is healthy.Also, there cannot be many joys. The monk feels himself happy because he at the age of ninety is still healthy and alive when so many others have died at their prime young age. The monk says that everybody is going to die and everybody else is poor and hence he doesn’t feel miserable either. According to Osho the monk’s happiness is a comparative happiness which is a pseudo-happiness. His interpretation reflects the Taoist vision.

Confucius believes in consolations whereas Tao believes in contentment. What is needed , according to Osho, is contentment and not consolation and contentment comes only when one is not comparing. Osho says: “Don’t compare with those who have more, don’t compare with those who have less.” The goal of all Confucian philosophy is that “ a man must become a gentleman”; one cannot find a loophole in his character and all virtues have become real in him. But the Taoists don’t talk about the goal at all.

The whole of Tao’s message according to Osho is that “Be anarchic, be authentically true to your own being. Listen only to yourself. Don’t allow anybody to discipline you. Don’t allow anybody to make a slave of you, don’t allow anybody to condition you. Man who has lived, loved, experienced, meditated, who has gone through so many things in life, has become more worthy - he has to be given a higher life. Happiness is natural; one should not seek it, one should simply enjoy it.”

Some of Osho’s observations:

The moment a person becomes perfect, he is dead. An alive person is never perfect, and my teaching is basically not for perfection but for totality.

Laziness is just like the common cold - nothing much to worry about. Ego is like cancer. It is better not to have either.

An intelligent person will have to think before he acts. The soldier has to act before he thinks.

Osho says: “The Indian society is based on the laws of Manu and the Chinese society is based on the laws of Confucius. And both men have destroyed both of the countries.”

THE SUPREME DOCTRINE : Talks On The KENOPANISHAD

The worshiper creates the worshiped, the devotee creates the god.

This book is the transcript of Osho’s talks on the Kenopanishad, which is considered as one of the ten most important Upanishads. All Upanishads say that the Brahman is moving in everything, and everything is holy because he is the source of all. The dirty river and the sacred Ganges, to both he gives the energy; to the sinner and to the saint, he gives the energy. The Upanishads also say that whatsoever you do, the doer is always the Brahman; whatsoever you do with your energy, Brahman is moving in it and the same is illustrated in the Kenopanishad with the help of a story. The story goes that the Brahman obtained a victory for the devas, the deities. Though the victory was due to the Brahman, the devas became very egoistic and praised themselves for the victory saying: “This victory is due to us only; this glory belongs to us only.” The Brahman noticed this and appeared before the devas in the form of an Yaksha, an adorable spirit. But the devas couldn’t recognize who that Yaksha was.

The deities asked Agni (fire), to go and discover who this spirit was. Agni hastened to the Yaksha. The Yaksha asked him who he was and Agni replied, “I am Agni,I am also known as Jataveda; I can burn everything - whatever there is on this earth.” The Yaksha placed a straw before him and said, “Burn this.” Agni with all his might and vigour approached the straw but unable to burn it. He turned back and returned to the devas only to inform them that he was unable to find out who that Yaksha was.

The devas then asked Vayu (air), to do the job. Vayu approached the Yaksha and said, “I am Vayu (air). I am also known as Matarisva. I can blow away everything - whatever there is on this earth.” the Yaksha placed a straw before him and said, “Blow this away.” Vayu approached it with full speed but he was unable to blow it away. Vayu withdrew from there and returned to the devas saying “I could not ascertain who this Yaksha was.” The devas then turned to Indra to go and discover who this Yaksha, the spirit was. Indra approached the spirit and the spirit disappeared from indra’s view. TheYaksha disappears and a woman, one of the most beautiful of women, Uma, appears.

Osho says that the fire could not burn or the air could not blow a straw because the original source of energy had withdrawn. Because it is not Agni that burns nor Vayu that blows: it is the cosmic force through Agni and Vayu that burns and blows. Without the cosmic force the fire cannot burn or the air cannot blow. Also, Vayu and Agni which represent the ears and the eyes respectively couldn’t recognize the Brahman, whereas Indra which represents the mind could recognize it. Osho again says that only mind can recognize Brahman and that too only indirectly through a medium because when Indra approached, the Brahman disappeared and Uma appeared. Uma becomes the medium. And through that medium Indra could understand who that spirit was, who that presence was.

There exists one hundred and eight Upanishads and according to Osho they don’t say anything new but they go on repeating the same thing again and again- one Upanishad is repeated one hundred and eight times. This book consists of 17 chapters of which Osho’s question-answer session appears in alternate chapters. Osho responds to various questions from his disciples on diverse topics like discipline and conditioning, surrender and transformation, denial and acceptance, sin and virtue etc.etc.
Given below are some of Osho’s observations:

If a problem doesn’t belong to you, you can always give good advice on how to solve it.

A mind which desires will always feel frustrated.

If you can prove the existence of god, you have not proved the existence of god; you have simply proved that you are a very intellectual being, that’s all.

ABSOLUTE TAO (Tao-The Three Treasures) : Subtle is the way to love, happiness and truth: On The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu.

Don’t try to be victorious, then nobody can defeat you.

Osho comments in this book on Lao Tzu’s ‘Tao Te Ching’, which is considered as one of the significant treatises in Chinese philosophy. Lao Tzu who lived for ninety years refusing to say anything or to write anything is believed to have lived in between 6th and 4th century BC. Some historians are doubtful about his existence. Lao Tzu means “the old guy.” The basic attitude of Lao Tzu is that “the moment you say something about truth, it is no longer true, the very saying falsifies it.”

Lao Tzu, at the age of ninety, took leave of his disciples saying good-bye to them and left towards the Himalayas. Alone he was crossing the border and the guard who was also a disciple of Lao Tzu imprisoned him and forced him to write a book. So for three days Lao Tzu was imprisoned by his own disciple and made him write this small book, the book of Lao Tzu, ‘Tao Te Ching’. Lao Tzu had to write the book, which he finished in three days, because the disciple wouldn’t allow him to cross. The book begins with this sentence: “The Tao that can be told of is not the Absolute Tao.”

Lao Tzu believes in interdependence. He believes that everything exists with everything else and everything is interconnected and nothing exists without any purpose in life. He says: “Take everything as it is, don’t choose.” Lao Tzu also believes that when everything is too much, it is bound to be taken away. For him too much is the only sin, either be it too much richness or be it too much poverty. So don’t do too much, don’t overdo; be balanced and remain in the limits and then life is a flow.

Lao Tzu’s concept of the house is the space within, not the walls; one lives in the emptiness and not in the walls. He says: “Look at the inner, don’t look at the outer.” According to Osho “Tao is a vast hollowness, a vast space, emptiness.”

Osho says that Lao Tzu goes the deepest that anybody has ever gone; he is the greatest key, the master key to open all the locks that exist in life and existence. This book consists of ten chapters of which five chapters are set apart for Osho’s responses to questions from seekers and disciples on different topics which include love, hate and ambition; independence, dependence and interdependence; inner silence and emptiness; growth and spirituality; wisdom and understanding etc.etc. Also, the jokes, parables and anecdotes scattered elsewhere in this book are highly interesting and thought provoking. Following are some of Osho’s observations:
People always talk about things which they don’t know.
The moment you create a God, you immediately create a Devil.
When you try to be somebody, you cannot love. An ambitious mind cannot love.
You cannot love a person twenty-four hours a day; if you try, the love will become dead.

THE REBEL

Take life as a beautiful joke; there is nothing to be serious about.

Osho’s rebel is a totally new kind of man who is not a christian or a Hindu, a Mohammedan or a Buddhist but is simply religious. He lives his life in total freedom letting nobody to interfere in it and without interfering in anybody else’s life. He is unafraid of public opinion, of the crowd, of masks or of attitudes. He renounces the so-called morality, the so-called values imposed upon him by the society. He also renounces the knowledge given by the society. “My rebel is nobody other than Zorba the Buddha,” Osho proclaims. Zorba is a fictitious character, who believed in the pleasures of the body and of the senses. Osho believes that the meeting of Zorba and Buddha can save the humanity.

The new rebel, according to Osho is an enlightened being. He will speak his truth whether it goes against the society, heritage, traditions or scriptures. “Truth is his religion, freedom is his path; to be himself, utterly himself, is his goal,” says Osho. The idea of rebellion is not new, but the idea of rebellion combined with enlightenment is absolutely new and it is the contribution of Osho.

Osho also reminds us that no Hindu sage has ever denied or condemned the ugly institution of the caste system. He goes to the extend of saying that “the old sage was an agent of the establishment, of the churches, of the priests, of the kings.”

Osho asks, what could be the reason why no rich man has ever objected or raised the question down through history that “We make all the temples and churches; we pay all the priests, millions of them around the world; we publish all the holy books and distribute them free; we donate to all kinds of charitable things - and we shall not inherit the kingdom of God?” The reason, Osho says, is that “the priests and the rich people both know perfectly well that this is only a deception. There is no God and no kingdom of God; this is a fiction to keep the poor people consoled.”

‘The Rebel’ which consists of 35 chapters spread over in 549 pages, is the transcript of Osho’s responses to diverse questions, mostly relating to rebellion and revolution, from seekers and disciples. Following are some of his observations:

It is human to err, and it is also human to forgive. To say that it is divine to forgive is a dangerous statement. It prevents people from forgiving each other because they think they are only human beings.

A life which is not sincere is not worth living at all. A life which is not sincere is fake, it is pseudo.

All crime is illness, sickness. It does not need any punishment; it needs understanding, and it needs treatment.

It is a strange thing about the human mind that you become aware of things only when you have lost them.

Osho tells a number of jokes, parables and anecdotes during the course of his talks. Jokes like the following are interesting as well as thought provoking:

A Catholic priest, a Protestant minister, and a Jewish rabbi met on a golf course and decided to bet on who would win their game. But first, they had to decide what portion of their winnings should be given back to God.

“Let us draw a small circle on the ground, throw our winnings up in the air, and what lands in the circle goes to God,” the Catholic priest suggested.
“No, let us draw a large circle,” said the Protestant minister, “throw the money up, and what lands outside the circle will go to God.”
“Wait,” cried the rabbi. “Forget all about circles. Let us throw the money up, and what stays up God can keep.”
***
“These are extra strong pills, Mr. Cohen,” the doctor advised him. “Take one on Monday, skip Tuesday, one Wednesday, skip Thursday, and so on. I will come round next week to see you.”
When the doctor calls, a weeping Mrs. Cohen meets him. “He’s dead,” she tells him.
“What!” said the doctor in surprise. “There was very little wrong with him. The pills should have cleared it up.”
“It was not the pills,” wailed Mrs. Cohen. “It was the skipping.”
***