MASTER LAU-TSU SAID: THERE ARE MANY KINDS OF CONFIRMATORY EXPERIENCES. ONE MUST NOT CONTENT ONESELF WITH SMALL DEMANDS BUT MUST RISE TO THE THOUGHT THAT ALL LIVING CREATURES HAVE TO BE REDEEMED. ONE MUST NOT BE TRIVIAL AND IRRESPONSIBLE IN HEART, BUT MUST STRIVE TO MAKE DEEDS PROVE ONE’S WORDS.
IF, WHEN THERE IS QUIET, THE SPIRIT HAS CONTINUOUSLY AND UNINTERRUPTEDLY A SENSE OF GREAT JOY AS IF INTOXICATED OR FRESHLY BATHED, IT IS A SIGN THAT THE LIGHT-PRINCIPLE IS HARMONIOUS IN THE WHOLE BODY; THEN THE GOLDEN FLOWER BEGINS TO BUD. WHEN, FURTHERMORE, ALL OPENINGS ARE QUIET, AND THE SILVER MOON STANDS IN THE MIDDLE OF HEAVEN, AND ONE HAS THE FEELING THAT THIS GREAT EARTH IS A WORLD OF LIGHT AND BRIGHTNESS, THAT IS A SIGN THAT THE BODY OF THE HEART OPENS ITSELF TO CLARITY. IT IS A SIGN THAT THE GOLDEN FLOWER IS OPENING.
FURTHERMORE, THE WHOLE BODY FEELS STRONG AND FIRM SO THAT IT FEARS NEITHER STORM NOR FROST. THINGS BY WHICH OTHER MEN ARE DISPLEASED, WHEN I MEET THEM, CANNOT BECLOUD THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE SEED OF THE SPIRIT. YELLOW GOLD FILLS THE HOUSE, THE STEPS ARE OF WHITE JADE. ROTTEN AND STINKING THINGS ON EARTH THAT COME IN CONTACT WITH ONE BREATH OF THE TRUE ENERGY WILL IMMEDIATELY LIVE AGAIN. RED BLOOD BECOMES MILK. THE FRAGILE BODY OF THE FLESH IS SHEER GOLD AND DIAMONDS. THAT IS A SIGN THAT THE GOLDEN FLOWER IS CRYSTALLIZED.
THE BRILLIANCY OF THE LIGHT GRADUALLY CRYSTALLIZES. HENCE A GREAT TERRACE ARISES AND UPON IT, IN THE COURSE OF TIME, THE BUDDHA APPEARS. WHEN THE GOLDEN BEING APPEARS WHO SHOULD IT BE BUT THE BUDDHA? FOR THE BUDDHA IS THE GOLDEN HOLY MAN OF THE GREAT ENLIGHTENMENT. THIS IS A GREAT CONFIRMATORY EXPERIENCE.
IF, WHEN THERE IS QUIET, THE SPIRIT HAS CONTINUOUSLY AND UNINTERRUPTEDLY A SENSE OF GREAT JOY AS IF INTOXICATED OR FRESHLY BATHED, IT IS A SIGN THAT THE LIGHT-PRINCIPLE IS HARMONIOUS IN THE WHOLE BODY; THEN THE GOLDEN FLOWER BEGINS TO BUD. WHEN, FURTHERMORE, ALL OPENINGS ARE QUIET, AND THE SILVER MOON STANDS IN THE MIDDLE OF HEAVEN, AND ONE HAS THE FEELING THAT THIS GREAT EARTH IS A WORLD OF LIGHT AND BRIGHTNESS, THAT IS A SIGN THAT THE BODY OF THE HEART OPENS ITSELF TO CLARITY. IT IS A SIGN THAT THE GOLDEN FLOWER IS OPENING.
FURTHERMORE, THE WHOLE BODY FEELS STRONG AND FIRM SO THAT IT FEARS NEITHER STORM NOR FROST. THINGS BY WHICH OTHER MEN ARE DISPLEASED, WHEN I MEET THEM, CANNOT BECLOUD THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE SEED OF THE SPIRIT. YELLOW GOLD FILLS THE HOUSE, THE STEPS ARE OF WHITE JADE. ROTTEN AND STINKING THINGS ON EARTH THAT COME IN CONTACT WITH ONE BREATH OF THE TRUE ENERGY WILL IMMEDIATELY LIVE AGAIN. RED BLOOD BECOMES MILK. THE FRAGILE BODY OF THE FLESH IS SHEER GOLD AND DIAMONDS. THAT IS A SIGN THAT THE GOLDEN FLOWER IS CRYSTALLIZED.
THE BRILLIANCY OF THE LIGHT GRADUALLY CRYSTALLIZES. HENCE A GREAT TERRACE ARISES AND UPON IT, IN THE COURSE OF TIME, THE BUDDHA APPEARS. WHEN THE GOLDEN BEING APPEARS WHO SHOULD IT BE BUT THE BUDDHA? FOR THE BUDDHA IS THE GOLDEN HOLY MAN OF THE GREAT ENLIGHTENMENT. THIS IS A GREAT CONFIRMATORY EXPERIENCE.
A parable:
One day the Lord Vishnu was sitting in a deep cave within a far mountain meditating with his disciple.
One day the Lord Vishnu was sitting in a deep cave within a far mountain meditating with his disciple.
Upon the completion of the meditation the disciple was so moved that he prostrated himself at Vishnu’s feet and begged to be able to perform some service for his Lord in gratitude. Vishnu smiled and shook his head, ”It will be most difficult for you to repay me in actions for what I have just given you freely.” ”Please Lord,” the disciple said, ”allow me the grace of serving you.” ”Very well,” Vishnu relented, ”I would like a nice cool cup of water.” ”At once Lord,” the disciple said, and he ran down the mountain singing in joy.
After a while he came to a small house at the edge of a beautiful valley and knocked at the door.
”May I please have a cool cup of water for my Master,” he called. ”We are wandering sannyasins and have no home on this earth.” A wondrous maiden answered his call, and looked at him with undisguised adoration. ”Ah,” she whispered, ”you must serve that holy saint upon the far mountain.
Please, Good sir, enter my house and bestow your blessing therein.” ”Forgive my rudeness,” he answered, ”but I am in haste. I must return to my Master with his water immediately.” ”Surely, just your blessing won’t upset him. After all he is a great holy man, and as his disciple you are obligated to help those of us who are less fortunate. Please,” she repeated, ”just your blessing for my humble house. It is such an honor to have you here and to be enabled to serve the Lord through you.”
So the story goes, he relented, and entered the house and blessed all therein. And then it was time for dinner, and he was persuaded to stay and further the blessing by partaking of her food (thereby making it also holy), and since it was so late – and so far back to the mountain, and he might slip in the dark and spill the water – he was persuaded to sleep there that night and get an early start in the morning. But in the morning, the cows were in pain because there was no one to help her milk them, and if he could just help her this once (after all, cows are sacred to the Lord Krishna, and should not be in pain) it would be so wondrous.
And days became weeks, and still he remained. They were married, and had numerous children.
He worked the land well and brought forth good harvests. He purchased more land and put it under cultivation, and soon his neighbors looked to him for advice and help, and he gave it freely. His family prospered. Temples were built through his effort, schools and hospitals replaced the jungle, and the valley became a jewel upon the earth. Harmony prevailed where only wilderness had been, and many flocked to the valley as news of its prosperity and peace spread throughout the land. There was no poverty or disease there, and all men sang their praises to God as they worked. He watched his children grow and have their own children, and it was good.
He worked the land well and brought forth good harvests. He purchased more land and put it under cultivation, and soon his neighbors looked to him for advice and help, and he gave it freely. His family prospered. Temples were built through his effort, schools and hospitals replaced the jungle, and the valley became a jewel upon the earth. Harmony prevailed where only wilderness had been, and many flocked to the valley as news of its prosperity and peace spread throughout the land. There was no poverty or disease there, and all men sang their praises to God as they worked. He watched his children grow and have their own children, and it was good.
One day as an old man, as he stood upon a low hill facing the valley, he thought of all that had transpired since he had arrived: farms and happy prosperity as far as the eye could see. And he was pleased.
Suddenly there was a great tidal wave, and as he watched, it flooded the whole valley, and in an instant all was gone. Wife, children, farms, schools, neighbors – all gone. He stared, bewildered, at the holocaust that spread before him.
And then he saw riding upon the face of the waters his Master, Vishnu, who looked at him and smiled sadly, and said, ”I’m still waiting for my water!”
This is the story of man. This is what has happened to everybody. We have completely forgotten why we are here, why we came in the first place, what to learn, what to earn, what to know, who we are and from whence and to where, what is our source and the cause of our journey into life, into body, in the world, and what we have attained up to now. And if a tidal wave comes – and it is going to come, it always comes; its name is death – all will be gone: children, family, name, fame, money, power, prestige. All will be gone in a single moment and you will be left alone, utterly alone. All that you had done will be undone by the tidal wave. All that you had worked for will prove nothing but a dream, and your hands and your heart will be empty. And you will have to face the Lord, you will have to face existence.
And the existence has been waiting for you; long, long it has been waiting for you to bring something for which you had been sent in the first place. But you have fallen asleep, and you are dreaming a thousand and one dreams. All that you have been doing up to now is nothing but a dream, because death comes and all is washed away.
Reality cannot be washed away by death. Reality knows no death. Reality is undying. Reality is deathless. Reality is eternal. All that dies simply proves by its death that it was unreal, that it was illusory, maya, a dream – maybe a nice dream, but a dream all the same. You may be dreaming of hell or you may be dreaming of heaven; it does not make much difference. The moment you will be awakened you will find yourself utterly empty – and empty in a negative sense, not in the positive sense as Buddhas know it: not empty of the ego, but empty of all that your ego has been trying to do; full of ego, but empty of any attainment, empty of any realization, empty of any knowledge. And it is not that the ego does not claim knowledge; it claims. The ego is very knowledgeable, it collects information. It is a great collector: it collects money, it collects information, it collects every kind of thing. It believes in accumulation. It is greed and nothing but greed; ego is another name for greed.
It wants to possess, but all that you possess will be gone. And all that you have done, you have done in your dream. The moment you will be awakened you will be surprised at how much time has been wasted, at how many lives you have been living in a dream, at how many dreams you have lived.
To be a seeker means to come out of this dream, to come out of this dreaming state of consciousness. To be a seeker means: making an effort to wake up. To wake up is to become a Buddha – to be alert, to be conscious, to be full of light within so that all unconsciousness disappears, so that all sleep disappears, so the darkness of sleep is no more inside you and you are fully awake.
It happened:
A great astrologer saw Buddha. He could not believe his eyes – that body, that golden aura around the body, those beautiful eyes, as silent as any lake can be, and as deep and as pure as any lake can be, that crystal-clarity, that walking grace. He fell at Buddha’s feet and he said, ”I have studied astrology, palmistry. My whole life I have been studying types of men, but I have never come across a man like you! To what type do you belong? Are you a god who has descended on the earth? – because you don’t seem to belong to this earth. I can’t see any heaviness in you. You are absolutely light, weightless. I am wondering how you are walking on the earth, because I don’t see any gravitation functioning on you. Are you a god who has descended from heaven just to have a look at what is happening on the earth? a messenger from God? a prophet? Who are you?”
A great astrologer saw Buddha. He could not believe his eyes – that body, that golden aura around the body, those beautiful eyes, as silent as any lake can be, and as deep and as pure as any lake can be, that crystal-clarity, that walking grace. He fell at Buddha’s feet and he said, ”I have studied astrology, palmistry. My whole life I have been studying types of men, but I have never come across a man like you! To what type do you belong? Are you a god who has descended on the earth? – because you don’t seem to belong to this earth. I can’t see any heaviness in you. You are absolutely light, weightless. I am wondering how you are walking on the earth, because I don’t see any gravitation functioning on you. Are you a god who has descended from heaven just to have a look at what is happening on the earth? a messenger from God? a prophet? Who are you?”
And Buddha said, ”I am not a god.”
The astrologer asked, ”Then are you what in Indian mythology is called a YAKSHA?” – a little bit lower than the gods.
And Buddha said, ”No, I am not a YAKSHA either.”
”Then who are you? What kind of man, what category to put you in?”
And Buddha said, ”I am not a man or a woman.”
Now the astrologer was very much puzzled, and he said, ”What do you mean? Do you mean you are an animal, an animal spirit, or the spirit of a tree, or the spirit of a mountain or the spirit of a river?” – because Indian mythology is pantheistic, it believes in all kinds of spirits. ”So who are you, the spirit of a rosebush? You look so beautiful, so innocent.”
”Then who are you? What kind of man, what category to put you in?”
And Buddha said, ”I am not a man or a woman.”
Now the astrologer was very much puzzled, and he said, ”What do you mean? Do you mean you are an animal, an animal spirit, or the spirit of a tree, or the spirit of a mountain or the spirit of a river?” – because Indian mythology is pantheistic, it believes in all kinds of spirits. ”So who are you, the spirit of a rosebush? You look so beautiful, so innocent.”
And Buddha said, ”No, I am not an animal, nor the spirit of a tree, nor the spirit of a mountain.”
”Then who are you?” The astrologer was puzzled very much.
And Buddha said, ”I am awareness and nothing else. You cannot categorize me, because all categories are applicable to dreams.”
Somebody is dreaming he is a man, somebody else is dreaming she is a woman, and so on and so forth. Categories belong to the world of dreams. When one becomes awakened one is simply that principle of awakenedness, awareness. One is just a witness and nothing else, a pure witness.
All clouds have disappeared: the cloud of a man or a woman, animal, god, trees – all clouds, all forms have disappeared. One is just a formless awareness, the pure sky, endless, infinite, vast. This awareness is empty of clouds but full of the sky. This is positive emptiness, this is NIRVANA.
All clouds have disappeared: the cloud of a man or a woman, animal, god, trees – all clouds, all forms have disappeared. One is just a formless awareness, the pure sky, endless, infinite, vast. This awareness is empty of clouds but full of the sky. This is positive emptiness, this is NIRVANA.
Then there is a negative emptiness. You are full of clouds – so much so that not even a bit of sky can be seen You are full of knowledge – so much so that not even a little space is left for meditation.
It is said: He who knows not and yet knows that he knows, is a fool – usually called a pundit or a scholar; shun him. He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is innocent, a child; wake him. He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, is a Buddha; follow him.
To come to this realization: ”I am nobody”, is the meaning of being a Buddha. Buddha is not the name of somebody. Buddha is the name for ’nobody-ness’. Buddha is not an entity. Buddha is just space, open space, openness, a name for openness, for open sky.
Watch your mind: how much dreaming continues. And it is not only that you dream in the night, you are continuously in a dream. Even while you think you are awake, even in the daytime, the continuity is not broken. At any moment close your eyes and relax and you will immediately see dreams floating. They are always there, like an undercurrent. They never leave you, they are constantly present, and constantly affecting your being. Their existence is subliminal. You may not be alert about them, you may not even suspect their existence, but they are continuously there.
Even when you are listening to me, there is that movie continuing, that drama of dreams. Hence you cannot hear what I am saying. First it has to pass through your dreams and your dreams distort it; you hear something else that has not been said. Your dreams distort, your dreams manipulate, your dreams project, your dreams change things.
I say one thing, you hear quite another. And those dreams are very powerful inside you, and you don’t know what to do with those dreams. In fact, you have become so identified with the dreams that you don’t know that you are separate, that you can watch, that you can be distant, that you can be just an onlooker. You have become too identified with the dreams.
Just the other day I was talking about poor Habib. Now he has become so identified with being a Jungian analyst that he cannot watch what is happening. I had mentioned that, just two days before, I had finished my talk at nine forty-five, and he wrote a letter at nine fifty-five, after just ten minutes. Yesterday he went even further: while I was talking he was writing the letter! While I was discussing him, he could not wait even ten minutes. And that’s what I was saying: ”Wait a little, be a little patient, meditate over it. You cannot understand these things immediately; you are not in that state of understanding, of clarity, of perception.” But while I was talking he started writing the letter.
At exactly the same time, while I was talking, he was writing the letter. Now what could he write?
I had not even talked, I had not even spoken. He must have heard, he must have taken the clue from his own mind. He could not understand a single word. His dream seems to be too strong; he is burdened by his knowledge. And I was saying ”Let your Jungian ego drop.”
But do you know what happened? Habib died – he renounced sannyas rather than dropping the Jungian ego. That’s what he heard. I was saying ”Drop the Jungian ego!”; he heard something else.
He heard, ”Then this sannyas is not for me. I cannot drop my knowledge; that’s all I have. And how can I drop it? How can one put the mind aside? It is impossible! So it is better to drop sannyas.” He dropped sannyas. Now Habib no longer exists; he died a very early death. In fact, he died before he was born.
I had not even talked, I had not even spoken. He must have heard, he must have taken the clue from his own mind. He could not understand a single word. His dream seems to be too strong; he is burdened by his knowledge. And I was saying ”Let your Jungian ego drop.”
But do you know what happened? Habib died – he renounced sannyas rather than dropping the Jungian ego. That’s what he heard. I was saying ”Drop the Jungian ego!”; he heard something else.
He heard, ”Then this sannyas is not for me. I cannot drop my knowledge; that’s all I have. And how can I drop it? How can one put the mind aside? It is impossible! So it is better to drop sannyas.” He dropped sannyas. Now Habib no longer exists; he died a very early death. In fact, he died before he was born.
What happened? Could he not see the point?Who prevented him from seeing the point? His mind must have become too crowded. All that he has been reading, accumulating – he has become too attached to it. He had come here to seek and search. What kind of search is this if you are not ready to leave anything of your ego? What kind of inquiry is this?
People usually think they are spiritual seekers if they can add something more to their egos. Your so-called spiritual trips are nothing but subtle trips of the ego. People want more gratification for the ego, more strength for the ego, more vitality for the ego. They want a holy aura around the ego, and the holy aura arises only when the ego is gone; they cannot co-exist.
And it is very rare to come across a teaching which can awaken you. It is very rare to come across a Master who can shake you up into wakefulness, who can pull you out of your long, long deep-rooted dreams. It is a rare phenomenon to come across a Master; it is very easy to miss. It is easy to miss because the basic fundamental of being with a Master is: to put your head in front of him so that he can crush it with his sledgehammer. A Master is a sledge-hammer. People search for a different kind of situation where the Master – they think he is the Master if he buttresses their egos – says to them, ”Good! You are a great spiritual seeker.”
And it is very rare to come across a teaching which can awaken you. It is very rare to come across a Master who can shake you up into wakefulness, who can pull you out of your long, long deep-rooted dreams. It is a rare phenomenon to come across a Master; it is very easy to miss. It is easy to miss because the basic fundamental of being with a Master is: to put your head in front of him so that he can crush it with his sledgehammer. A Master is a sledge-hammer. People search for a different kind of situation where the Master – they think he is the Master if he buttresses their egos – says to them, ”Good! You are a great spiritual seeker.”
Osho
The Secret of Secrets, Vol 2
Cp# 3. THE GOLDEN FLOWER IS OPENING
am in Buddha Hall
[part 1 of 4]
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