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CHAPTER 11
Nature is the temple of god
12 June 1977 pm in Chuang Tzu Auditorium
Anand means bliss, giten means consciousness – bliss consciousness. And these two things have to be remembered: on one hand, remember to be more conscious; on the other hand, remember to be more blissful. These are the two wings, and if you can attain to these two wings god is not very far away; the whole sky is available. Then you can fly, you can take off. And they both go together very easily, because whenever you are alert, conscious, you are naturally more blissful.
Only in unalertness does one fall into misery. Misery goes together with unconsciousness; it cannot exist with consciousness. Just as darkness cannot exist with light, in the same way misery cannot exist with consciousness. Consciousness is like a lamp burning bright: it dispels misery and naturally makes it easy to become more blissful. And the other way round is also simple: if you are more blissful you will be more conscious, because when you are blissful that very state keeps you alert, alive. That very state gives you a sharpness of being.
Misery dulls you, deadens you. Misery collects like dust around your mirror and you start reflecting less and less. A moment comes when you are just a layer of dust and there is no reflection left.
So these are the two wings to be grown. The bird of sannyas lives on these two wings: bliss/consciousness. That bird of sannyas is cal!ed truth. This is the indian trinity: bliss, truth, consciousness. Truth is just in the middle, bliss is on one side, consciousness is on the other side. If you become blissfully conscious or consciously blissful, you attain to truth. Truth is the synthesis of these two, the highest peak of these two. One has to start with these two.
One cannot seek truth directly; there is no way to. In the first place, we don’t know what truth is. In the second place, we don’t know where it is. In the third place, even if sometimes we come across
it accidentally, we will not be able to recognise it because we have never known it before. Previous knowledge is needed to recognise it.
So even if you come across god you will not be able to recognise him. In fact we come across god many times: even in an ordinary life god goes on making contact with you. He comes in many ways but how to recognise him? We don’t know his face, we don’t know his name, we don’t know how he looks. So one cannot move directly towards truth.
That’s where philosophy goes astray: it looks directly into truth; it tries to find out what truth is... it cannot. Religion goes indirectly, religion goes in a subtle way. Religion does not try to reach in and grab truth; religion tries to grow wings. Religion forgets about truth, remembers consciousness, blissfulness.
So by and by the more you become soaked with consciousness and bliss, the more clear becomes your vision. You attain to clarity, you attain to the third eye. The third eye simply means that these two eyes of consciousness and bliss meet and mingle and become one.
There comes a moment when a synthesis arises between these two, then they are no more two. They become integrated in one phenomenon; that is the third eye. And with that, one knows god. With that, one has always known. With that one has never missed for a single moment. With that one has lived in god.…
[A sannyasin is returning to his farm in the West. He loves both being on his farm and doing wood sculpturing, he tells Osho. Osho says it is a blessing to be in contact with nature]
It helps growth, because nature is the temple of god; all other temples are false, man-made. A man-made temple cannot be much of a temple, and because of the man-made temple there has been much violence in the world. Love has not grown out of it. Churches and mosques and temples have created more misery rather than bringing more bliss. The only temple that can help people to grow and to be more loving, is nature. So it is always my feeling that if you are doing something natural – farming, gardening – it’s tremendously beautiful, mm? That’s what a religious man should do.
And when you are close to nature you start feeling life more... because it is pure life! It is life being manifested in millions of forms. It is impossible to miss it! How can one miss it and how can one go on avoiding life? – it is everywhere! But in a man-made city you can forget all about god.
God does not exist in a man-made world. He is excluded, he is not allowed in. In a modern city you can live for months, for years, without thinking of god, without thinking of life. Everything is concrete; everything is mechanical. Even people have become robots; they don’t give any indication of being alive.
It is very good to be on a farm with animals, with trees, with sky, with the sun.and wood-carving is
also very good, very meditative.
[A sannyasin, newly arrived from the States, says she’d like to surrender but she keeps on having doubts. Osho replies that you can’t do anything about surrender. Will and surrender are a
contradiction in terms; you can only wait for it to happen. If you try to do anything, doubting will continue because your mind will put up a fight.]
And a surrender done with all these doubts is impotent, because for surrender to be meaningful it has to be total: a half-hearted surrender is a misnomer. Just as there are no half-circles – a circle means a whole circle – there is no half-surrender; there cannot be. It is something else; it is not a circle. You cannot call it half-circle; it is just an arc.
Surrender, to be meaningful, has to fulfill a few conditions: first, it has to be total. So while doubt persists one has to wait. It has not to be done against doubt: it has to be done only when doubt has disappeared. Then the second thing becomes natural: it happens – you don’t do it. The very doing shows that there is doubt so you have to do it against the doubt, you have to make an effort.
Surrender is a happening. When the time is ripe, suddenly you find it happening! Yes, if you want to prevent it, you can, that’s true, but you cannot do it – remember! You can kill it but you cannot create it.
Man has more capacity for destroying than for creating.
There is a beautiful parable in Buddha’s lifeHe came across a murderer; the murderer was one
of the most famous in the whole of human history. He had decided to murder one thousand men, and he was such a dangerous man that even kings and armies were afraid of him. He was simply mad, and he was a very very strong man: he was almost a wild animal.
He had taken a vow that he would kill one thousand people and he was going to prepare a garland of their fingers. He had killed nine hundred and ninety-nine people, but by that time everybody became alert and he was at a loss to find the one-thousandth person. Mm? – people started not moving wherever they would hear that he was. Traffic on those roads would stopthe rumour would spread.
Buddha was passing by and people told him ‘Don’t go on that road. That madman, Angulimal, is there, and he has been waiting for months to kill one man to complete his vow. He will not see that you are a buddha and he will not see who he is killing; he has no eyes to see. At this moment, even if his mother goes there – even she has stopped meeting him – he will kill her too!’
But Buddha said,‘If I had not known I may have gone on some other path, but now that you have told me and I know, I have to go. Otherwise what will that poor man do? He has been waiting for months and nobody is going near him. Just out of compassion his vow has to be fulfilled. I am going!’
His own disciples started disappearing! Five thousand sannyasins had come with him: when he went into the forest, by and by they all disappeared; he was alone. When he came to face this man, Angulimal, he was alone.
Angulimal looked at him. Angulimal was certainly mad, but still he felt compassion for this man, this silent man walking so silently, so peacefully, so innocent like a child. He shouted at Buddha, ‘What are you doing? Where are you going? Why are you coming close to me? – I will kill you! I am feeling compassion for you – I’ve never felt this compassion for anybody. Simply go back! I am a dangerous man: if you come close to me, if you take a single step more, I will kill you. Go back! Escape from here!’
But Buddha said, ‘Where can I go? Death is everywhere, so wherever I go I am going to be killed. What is the point of my escaping, angulimal? It is good – you can kill me! Somebody has to become instrumental, so you be the instrument!’
And he goes on coming closer – but his face, his silence, his loveHe is showering his love, and
Angulimal becomes a little disturbed. He says, ‘Stop! Don’t move any further! I tell you I am a dangerous man! I am a madman! Have you never heard about me? Can’t you see this garland of fingers around my neck? I am waiting for one more man!’
And Buddha said, ‘What nonsense are you talking? I stopped moving long ago; I have not moved for years. You are running; I am not moving at all!’
Angulimal laughed; he said, ‘I think you must be mad, more mad than me! You are walking towards me and you say you have stopped; I am sitting here and you say that I am running!’
And Buddha said, ‘Yes, because my mind has stopped. I am not going anywhere; I am no more after becoming. Where to go? What to attain? I’m not rushing and running! I’m simply herenow! You are sitting visibly but invisibly there are a thousand and one desires. You are running in all directions, angulimal! I am still unmoving, you are moving!’
This way, a dialogue arises between these two persons, and Buddha comes closer. The closer he comes, the more difficult it becomes for Angulimal. It is a great challenge.
Then he forgets about killing Buddha. Buddha says, ‘Have you forgotten that you have to kill me? Don’t waste time in talking, because many people, my followers, are coming; it will become more difficult for you. Do it!’
‘But just before you do I would like to ask one thing: why do you do it? What do you want to prove?’
Angulimal said, ‘I want to prove that I am the strongest man in this country – not only of this time, of all times. I want to leave my name in history as the greatest murderer!’
Buddha laughed and he said, ‘Good! Before you kill me, will you do one small thing for me, a dying man – my last wish?’
Angulimal said, ‘Of course, what is it?’
Buddha said, ‘Cut off a branch of this tree and give it to me.’
Angulimal cut the tree with his sword, gave the branch to Buddha, and Buddha said, ‘Now, join it back on the tree.’
Angulimal said, ‘What are you asking? That cannot be done. I can cut the whole forest, that’s simple, but I cannot join this branch back to the tree; that is impossible!’
Buddha said, ’Now kill me, but remember that this can be done even by a child. Destruction can be done by anybody. When you create, only then are you a man. If you cannot join this branch
back on the tree, don’t kill people. You cannot create people; creation is very limited – destruction is unlimited.’
Our capacity to destroy is far bigger than our capacity to create... and there are a few things which cannot be created at all. For example, we cannot create love: when it happens, it happens. We can prevent it happening. We cannot create surrender: we can prevent it happening. We cannot create anything that is really of any value, but we can prevent everything – and that’s what we go on doing.
So the first thing: surrender has to be total. The second thing: it has to be a happening, not a doing on your part. A surrender done, is already dead. You cannot do it so don’t try!
You have come here. Just wait, be here, and don’t be in a hurry; there is no hurry. Just listen to me, feel me, and if you don’t think about surrender the doubts will start disappearing soon. If you think too much about surrender those doubts will go on persisting. When you are not thinking of surrender what is the need for those doubts to come? There is no need! And then one day, unaware, it is there. Then it is such a joy!
Remember only one thing: don’t prevent that moment. You can prevent it: you can close your door; that is within your capacity. At that time, remain open and let it happen.
It is a death to the ego, so you cannot do it. You are the one who is going to disappear in it, so how can you do it? But it is going to happen; I can see it on the way.
... just enjoy being here and don’t think of surrender at all. It is on the way; it will knock at your doors. When it knocks, receive it.
[The sannyasin says she is a gestalt therapist.]
Very good! That may be one of the causes of why surrender is difficult.
... That can be one of the causes, but nothing to worry about. We can destroy that gestalt!
It happens that when you become very very efficient in reasoning, rationalising, thinking, intellectualising, and when you start knowing all kinds of explanations, it becomes more and more difficult to surrender because you start feeling that you know already – and you don’t!
That is one of the greatest miseries that is happening to the modern mind all over the world. Modern man is in such bad shape; it has never been so before. And the reason? – such an explosion of knowledge, and knowledge is so easily available.
You can go to college, you can go to university, you can go to the library: everything is available. And that gives you a false sense of knowing. It creates a very very subtle ego inside, and then you are trapped. But it will go, mm? I have killed so many therapists – don’t be worried!
[A sannyasin had left a few days previously but had a strange experience at Bombay airport. He became afraid the plane would crash and he would die, so he returned to the ashram.]
It will be okay – just be here for a few more days. Sometimes it happens.…
It had nothing to do with your travelling, it had nothing to do with the fear of death; it is something that is happening within. It looks like death, and one can become very very frightened about it. One can interpret it as if it is going to be something – some accident is going to happen, something is going to go wrong; so you became afraid of the airport. Next time there is no need. If you feel it again, just take the locket in your hand, remember me. There is no problem in it.
It is not a question of physical death; it is a question of a greater death than the physical. Mm? – your ego is standing just on the verge so it is feeling giddy.
Be here for a few days and then go again, mm?
[A sannyasin had experienced much happiness and bliss and openness after the hypnotherapy group. She says she is afraid of this feeling.]
Yes, it is happening... and when it starts happening, one starts getting frightened too. When consciousness expands you start feeling fear because you don’t know what is going to happen now, where it will lead you.
With old familiar boundaries you feel okay. You are acquainted with them and you have gained a certain skill, a certain efficiency with them; with them you know who you are. With these new boundaries expanding your identity will be disappearing. You are in an identity crisis – so the fear! Mm? now you don’t know who you are because your boundaries are no more the same.
Much happiness is ready to explode, and you are pushing it away because it can be too much; you may go mad – that is the fear. But nobody ever goes mad out of happiness: people only go mad out of misery. And nobody ever goes mad out of widening horizons. People go mad only when they are crippled and shrunk in and forced inside themselves, when they are chained from everywhere, enwalled, enclosed; then they go mad.
And if it feels maddening, then it is okay: be mad! Mm? if you want to call it mad, it is good; a few saints have called it madness too. But things are going very well. Do this camp as totally as possible and the energy will settle after the camp.
Just enjoy this new consciousness. And don’t be worried – I am here. That’s my whole function here: to destroy you and to create you again! Good!
[A sannyasin said that four days ago he started feeling strange. He was in Lonavla (a nearby hill station); he nearly got killed; fell in love; and has waves of energy rushes from the chest upwards: It’s beautiful but it’s terribly frightening.]
So next time you start feeling the wave just close your eyes and go into your belly, two inches below the navel. You can put your hand there so that you can feel. Just two inches, around two inches below the navel, is your hara centre. So just go there and start feeling that all those waves and all that energy is moving towards the navel, that the waves are accumulating there. The fear will disappear and you will have tremendous joy, almost orgasmic joy.
The energy is there but right now it is very wild. It has to be a little educated that’s all; it is a wild, primitive energy. In the beginning it is always so: when for the first time the energy erupts it is very primitive. It has to be a little cultured that’s all; you have to teach it a few things.
The first thing is: move it towards the stomach. If it goes towards the head it can create problems you can become very much frightened – because the head cannot contain that much energy. The stomach can.
In Japan they have two types of dolls. Zen masters keep these dolls to show to their disciples, particularly to western disciples. One doll that they keep on one side is a very beautiful doll but its head is very heavy – made of heavy metal. The other doll’s stomach is very heavy; it is made of metal. On the surface they look alike, but if you push the first doll it falls and it cannot get up because the head is too heavy. If you push the other doll it falls and suddenly gets up and sits again in the buddha posture.
This is to show where the energy should be – in the stomach. There it can be contained and there you can contain the whole universe. So Japanese say ‘think from the belly’. They mean let all your energy be concentrated in the belly: your real mind should be there.
The brain cannot contain much and it does not need much: it lives on a very small quantity of electricity. With more electricity in the brain you start feeling terrified; everything goes berserk. It needs a very very slight quantity, a homeopathic dose. Just a little more and it becomes difficult.
That’s why you cannot sleep without a pillow, because if you sleep without a pillow more energy flows towards the head – with a pillow, less energy. So you can have a better sleep with a pillow. If you keep your head lower than your bed you will not be able to sleep the whole night because energy will be flowing to your head.
That’s why, in yoga, they invented the head stand posture – because of this energy. When it is arising too much and going upwards and they cannot manage it in the head, they stand on the head so it starts going upwards to the feet. Then there is no problem... otherwise it can destroy the subtle mechanism of the brain.
Just start keeping it there. And sometimes if you enjoy, you can stand on your head too; that will be helpful. But never stand for more than five or seven minutes – at the most seven, mm? – because if you stand for more than seven the energy starts moving towards the head. It will move upwards only from five to seven minutes mm? – then it knows that the head is not there. It starts moving towards the head and of course it comes in a more rushing way because gravitation helps it. So never more than seven minutes; from five to seven minutes you can do it.
And whenever you feel that it is coming, just close your eyes... and you will enjoy it! It is a beautiful moment! For this I sent you to Lonavla, mm? It is good when it happens in the hills and mountains.
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