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‌CHAPTER 6

10 May 1978 pm in Chuang Tzu Auditorium

Wajid. Wajid is a sufi name for God. It means: one who has no needs, one who is fulfilled, contented. Fulfilment is another name for God. Unless one becomes God one remains unfulfilled. Dissolving into God is disappearing from the world of needs. Then one simply is and all is good. Then whatsoever happens is blissful: life is blissful, death too. Then there is no distinction between success and failure, then there is no choice.

The sufi names of God are tremendously significant. They are not just names for God, they are immensely meaningful for the seekers. They are also paths to God, indicators, arrows pointing towards the ultimate. God is one who has no needs.

The less needs you have, the closer you will be to God. And in moments of no need there will be no barrier between you and God. There are moments when suddenly you don’t have any need. Just one morning, sitting silently watching the sunrise, there is no need, no desire, no idea, no thought. The mind is empty, clean, unclouded. The rising sun is so beautiful, so allowing, that one is caught in that net of beauty. In that moment time stops and one cannot imagine things can be better than this. That is the moment of ’ wajid.’ You are closest to God in that moment because desires have disappeared.

Search for these moments. Sometimes they come on their own, but if you search they will come more. If you wait for them you will be able to recognise them more. If you cherish them, they will stay a little longer than ordinarily. If you prayerfully, lovingly, ask for them, more will be the possibility.

Samada... a name for God. It means: ‘one to whom we turn when we are in difficulty.’ Man remembers God only when he is in difficulty. When there is pain, suffering, anguish, when one becomes aware of the fragility of life, when one sees the momentariness of all that is, the

fleetingness of life, when one becomes aware that death is approaching closer every moment, then only does one turn towards God.

So suffering has a purpose. The purpose is to remind you of God, that there is a way out of suffering, that if you turn towards God you will go beyond suffering. When we are happy and things are going well, who bothers about God ? We can afford to disbelieve. We can keep Him at the back, we can neglect Him. That’s why people who happen to be in a comfortable, convenient life remain superficial. Rich people are almost always superficial. They have not known the anguish that brings depth and they have not known the suffering in which one turns towards God. Pain brings a depth. Pleasure keeps one on the surface. Pleasure makes people hollow because it has no challenge in it.

This question has been pondered over down through the ages: ‘Why is there suffering in life ?’ And this is the sufi answer to why there is suffering in life: because only in suffering does one turn towards God, because only through suffering is one’s heart purified. Suffering functions as a fire, it is purification. It is not without any purpose, it is not meaninglessly there, it is not accidentally there either. It has a mission.

Samada means: one to whom we always turn in misery. And if one learns how to turn towards God, then one starts turning to Him even when one is not in misery; that is the second step. The first step has to be natural, the second step is going beyond nature. In suffering everybody remembers God. That is natural, nothing very special about it; but the beginning, the first step has been taken. Then remember to remember Him even when there is no suffering. When all is going beautifully, don’t forget Him; then even happiness starts becoming deeper. With the remembrance of God everything takes on a depth, plenitude, height. Without God, man is just trivia, just a driftwood.

Prem means love, Jami is a name of God. It means the one who bridges all. Without God existence will fall apart. It will be a heap of flowers, it will not be a garland. To make a garland a thread is needed which joins all the flowers together, which runs through them. That is the meaning of ‘Jami.’

He is the thread that keeps this chaos as a cosmos. He is the running unity between trees and mountains, rivers, man, woman, stars. He is the glue that keeps the universe together, otherwise there is no reason why things should be together. Of course, it is an invisible force.

Scientists believe in gravitation: without it the earth would not remain together. Nobody can see gravitation, nobody has ever seen it, but it explains something. Since that important day when Newton was sitting under the tree and the apple fell, something that had always been there became visible to him. He could see why the apple was falling towards the earth. Why not upwards? Why do things fall downwards? There must be a pull in the earth which can’t be seen but can be felt.

God is the gravitation, not only of the earth but of the total cosmos. That is the meaning of ‘Jami’ – one who keeps all things together. And love is that quality that keeps everything together. It is through love that the world is a unity, an organic unity. It is not just a mechanism. There is a soul in it. It is vibrant with life.

So remember two things: love is the closest experience to God and God is the ultimate experience of love.

Salam – a name of God. The word has two meanings, two aspects of one phenomenon: silence and peace. Silence is the interior phenomenon, peace is its outer expression. When a person is silent within, he is peaceful outside. Unless silence is at the core, the peace on the surface is false, pseudo.

Never try to cultivate peace on the surface. That creates conflict, that is the sole cause of all schizophrenia in the world, it creates split. You cannot impose peace from the outside, and that’s what has been done down through the ages: people have been taught to be peaceful. So they pretend to be peaceful and they are boiling within. They have learned etiquette but their beings are not transformed. They talk about peace and they prepare for war. The more they prepare for war, the more they talk about peace: they hide behind that peace-talk.

All natural phenomena have to begin from within and then they have to spread outwards, just like a seed. The tree is not imposed from the outside. The seed bursts forth into a tree; it comes from the within. The interior core slowly slowly becomes its exterior. That which is hidden becomes manifest.

Silence is the hidden peace and peace is manifest silence. And that is the meaning of the word ‘Salam’: God is both – silent, peaceful. And man has also to be a god. Man has also to be silent and peaceful, because only when these things have happened is one capable of seeing, is one capable of knowing. When the heart is utterly silent, not a single feeling, thought, emotion stirs, when there is no conflict outside, no enmity with anybody, in that moment of tranquillity one comes to know what truth is, what God is.

[A sannyasin, leaving, says: I wrote to you about some friends I have in San Francisco in a healing group. You said to help them all to become sannyasins. I don’t know what to do about it, how to help them.]

Just allow me to do – don’t you think about it. Because you cannot help anybody to become a sannyasin by arguing. It is not an argument. It is not a question of convincing somebody, it is more like an infection. Just be there, open, loving, blissful, and the infection starts. You need not be after them, otherwise you will put them off. If you try to convince them they will argue. And always remember that all that is really true is beyond the argument. The false has all arguments in its favour.

Have you heard the famous story? – that there is a wall between heaven and hell. God was very disturbed because the wall had not been repaired for centuries and He wanted the devil to repair it – just the ordinary problems of all kinds of neighbours. The devil of course wanted God to repair it. They started arguing and in the heat of the argument God said ‘If you don’t listen to me, I will drag you to court!’ The devil laughed. He said ‘Where are you going to find a lawyer for yourself? They are all here!’

For God there is no... for love there is no argument. For meditation there is no way to convince people. And once you start trying to convince you are already moving in a wrong direction. These things spread like infection, they are contagious diseases. Just a sannyasin is enough to turn people orange. You should be there – just let them see what has happened to you. There is no need to show it to them; just let them see what has happened to you. If you want to show you may exaggerate, you may pretend – that is the usual mind tendency. You may exaggerate.

Just be there in your reality, in your authenticity. Just let them see what has happened to you, and that is going to bring them towards me... not your logic but your laughter. Just go and laugh with them and dance with them.

This will be the name for the centre: Kabir. It is a sufi name for God – it means ‘the great, the infinite, the vast.’ And it is also the name of a very great mystic, Kabir.

Help people to remember God, and by helping people to remember God, you will be remembering God automatically. It is a tremendous help for yourself. Slowly slowly, just helping people towards God, you start moving – not even knowing that you are. One day one is surprised that one has moved so far so fast.

People who are just working on themselves become too self-conscious, that’s why my suggestion always is to start a small centre. A few friends-will start gathering. They will talk, they will discuss, they will read, they will meditate, and you will become more and more concerned about them rather than about yourself. That unconcern with yourself is a tremendous help for your growth.

Don’t be worried and don’t feel fear. I will take care – it will start functioning. Keep this (a box) with you, and whenever you need me just put it on the heart and I will give you a call.

[A sannyasin, leaving, says: I would like to be able to love you. I feel so tight.]

You are! You are growing towards love, slowly, slowly. And love is not a seasonal flower, not the love for me. It is a cedar of lebanon: it takes time, sometimes even lives. Many of you are here who have loved me for lives and it has been growing slowly, slowly.

Krishna Ali. Krishna is the name of a hindu incarnation. Hindus believe in twenty-four incarnations of God. Twenty-three of them are partial, only part of God descends; Krishna is the total manifestation of God. Literally the word krishna means ‘the one who attracts.’ And there is a suspicion that the word ‘Christ’ comes from krishna. The root for both the words is the same – ‘one who is the centre of all.’ So krishna is the most beautiful word in the hindu mind.

The second word, ‘ali’, is a sufi word, a name of God. It means ‘the most high.’ In your past lives you have been moving between these two traditions again and again – the hindu and the mohammedan – and both the currents have become very very synthesised in you. A part of you is hindu and a part of you is mohammedan and the meeting is beautiful.

Cross-breeding is always beautiful. A person who has lived only in one tradition remains a little impoverished. You have lived in two traditions before and now you are living in the third – the christian. Now this can become a beautiful pinnacle, a great synthesis. And all religions are paths towards the same peak. Howsoever different and howsoever diametrically opposite they may appear, at the final realisation they all fall into the same ocean.

My sannyas does not belong to any religion but all religions belong to my sannyas. Sannyas is that oceanic feeling where all rivers meet, mingle and disappear. So a hindu can be a sannyasin, a jew can be a sannyasin, a mohammedan can be a sannyasin, but the moment they become sannyasins they are no more hindus, no more jews, no more mohammedans. When the Ganges falls into the

ocean it has the same taste as when the Volga falls into the ocean. Sannyas is that taste of the ocean and all rivers lead to it.

And next time, come for a longer period – much has to be done. [A seeker says Osho reminds her of her father who died last year.]

You can find him in me! It is only a question of love – only forms change. You can find him again, again and again. All that is needed is a loving heart. Because people are not loving, that’s why the problem arises: one father dies and you are not loving, so you cannot love anybody else again that way, hence the misery. One child dies and you cannot love some other child with the same intensity, hence you go on missing him. If we can love, then nothing is ever lost. Our lovers go on coming in different ways, in different forms. Only forms change, love remains eternally the same.

So good, if you have that feeling then get deeper into it. And it is only a question of opening your heart.

[When Osho invites her to come back again, she replies that she cannot promise.]

Promising is not the question. Who can promise? And how?... because the future is so uncertain.…

We cannot even promise for the next moment, so that is not... I am not asking about promises, mm? Just have a dream of coming again – that will do.

Come back, because much can happen here. This time you have been just a visitor on the outside; next time become more of an insider. Go into groups, meditate, feel me more, and you may find your home here.

[A visitor says: I’m very undecided about taking sannyas. My mind chatters a lot and my feelings.… Maybe I expect too much.]

Everybody feels uncertain, that’s natural. How can you be certain about something into which you are entering for the first time? One has to enter in spite of the uncertainty, in spite of all the doubts, in spite of all suspicions, hesitations, confusions. One has to dare! These things are not like logical conclusions. It is not that first you have to be one hundred percent certain; you will never be one hundred percent certain. One hundred percent certainty also comes but it comes by becoming a sannyasin. It cannot come unless you become. How can it? From the outside it can’t ever be total.

Sannyas is a kind of love affair – you fall in love. Do you think that lovers are certain that this is the right person, that they may be doing something for which they may repent? This person looks so beautiful but may not be so. And who knows about the reality? – this may be just their projection. This may be just their hallucination about it, their expectations, and the reality may destroy them all – then what? But people still go on loving.

That is great in man – that when it is a question of love he throws all doubts and uncertainties to the wind. That’s why the mind says ‘Love is a fall, you have fallen.’ That’s why it is called ‘falling in love.’ You are no more in your senses, you have gone mad. But when love is there knocking on the door, who bothers? One is ready to go mad. Only fools will remain sane, the wise will go mad.

Sannyas is also a kind of love affair – a love affair with infinity, a love affair with the unknown.

I can understand all your hesitations, uncertainties, but they will remain. There is no need to wait – take the jump! And with the jump all your energy will settle. There are a few things one can know only by doing them.

If you want to wait you can, but my feeling is that there is no need to wait. How long can you stay here ?

Jalalo. It is a name of God. It means ‘the majestic one, the beautiful one.’ Everybody is carrying the beautiful one within himself and is completely unaware of it. The majestic is hidden inside you, and unless you know it, you will remain a beggar. Once that is known then one is an emperor, the whole existence is one’s kingdom. But people search for the kingdom and hence they miss. Search for the king and the kingdom comes automatically of its own accord. And the king is within you; the kingdom is without and the king is within.

These are the two types of people: those who search for the kingdom.… They never find it. How can you find the kingdom if you have not found the king ? These are worldly people – running after money, power, prestige, the whole power politics. The second kind, the rare kind, is the religious person who doesn’t bother about the kingdom, who goes in and finds the king. But in finding the king, the kingdom is found.

That king is called ‘Jalal’, the beautiful one, the majestic one. [To another seeker, Osho says... ]

I have been waiting for you and you have been searching for me but you have always been afraid.

You have missed many opportunities before – don’t miss this opportunity! Your ego has been a barrier up to now. You are very clever and you can always find beautiful explanations for your ego. Now drop them – it is time – and take the jump!

Sabura. It is a name of God. It means: the patient one. And God is achieved only through patience. Those who are in a hurry, miss. There is a very ancient taoist saying: ‘Hurry slowly.’ Yes, effort is needed but it should be effortless. Work is needed but it should have the quality Of play.

It is one of the most beautiful names. Become patient. God comes – all that we need is to be in a prayerful waiting. We cannot snatch, we cannot grab, we can only be open and available.

And I see that you are just on the threshold – if you open the doors the sun is just there and you will be full of light!

[She says she has done enlightenment intensive group in Germany... She was enlightened but she couldn’t keep it.]

Good! So start with Enlightenment again. Become enlightened again but don’t keep it, because an enlightenment that has to be kept is not worth anything. Enjoy it and drop it.…

That feeling is going to happen forever too. But you need not keep it, you cannot keep it. If you try to keep it, it will disappear, because keeping means you have become a hoarder. Enlightenment is possible only with open hands, not with a fist – close the hand and it is gone.…

And the real group is me. These are just things to play around with, toys!

[A sannyasin says: Someone, a teacher in the States, wrote me to surrender to my own inner light – not to surrender to anyone, not to depend on anybody. And that tastes good.]

There is nobody except yourself – how can you surrender to anybody else? That teacher must be just stupid. To think in terms of there being someone else is utter nonsense. The light is neither inner nor outer, it is not yours nor mine. The light is simply light. Surrender to light. Wherever it is, it is yours!

These ideas appeal very much because they nourish the ego: ‘Don’t surrender to anybody.’ But who is there? Even if you want to surrender to anybody you will not be able to find him. Only one exists, there have never been two. And what nonsense to talk about the inner light, as if there is some outer light too.

[The sannyasin says: She speaks of the ‘Christ-light.’]

Just words! Then there is Buddha light and Krishna light. Light is simply light – what has it to do with Christ or Buddha? And how can Christ’s light be within you?...

That is just thinking! How can Christ’s light be within you? Then what used to happen to people who were born before Christ ? They all lived in darkness ? Buddha lived five hundred years before Christ and Krishna, twenty-five centuries before Christ – do you think they all lived in darkness?

So what is the point of calling it Christ-light? Light is simply light! Surrender to light. Wherever it is, it is yours. When one surrenders to a master he is really surrendering to himself. But he does not know who he is, so he cannot surrender directly to himself: he goes via the master. The master is just a passage to come to yourself. It is like a mirror: you look into the mirror and you see your face. You look into the master and you will find yourself and nobody else.

These are just very ordinary egoistic statements but arranged in a beautiful way; they appeal to many people.

Surrender to light – I don’t say to whom. And when you surrender, what are you going to surrender ? You are going to surrender yourself so it is far easier always to surrender to a master. Otherwise how will you surrender yourself? Surrendering yourself to yourself? You will come in from the backdoor again.

A master is nothing but a device. There is nobody there. I am not here. I am just a situation for you.…

Meditate over it. Good.

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