23

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‌CHAPTER 23

26 December 1977 pm in Chuang Tzu Auditorium

Anand means bliss, giri means mountain – a bliss mountain.

And bliss has something to do with height, with plenitude. It takes you to the peaks, it takes you to the ultimate plenitude, beyond which one cannot go.

Bliss is the omega point, and everybody is seeking that peak. Sometimes one may be seeking a wrong way, may be moving in a cul-de-sac or may be thinking that one is going up and is actually going down, but still the unconscious desire is for the peak. One who is going deeper into the dark valley, even he is searching for that bliss. He is not going into the valley deliberately. He is misguided, he is confused, but as far as his longing is concerned, it is the same.

The sinner and the saint, both are searching for bliss; the poor and the rich, the respected and the condemned, the famous and the non-famous – their humanity is one. At that point all human beings have the same heart.’Then there is nobody who is rich and nobody who is poor, and nobody is a sinner and nobody is a saint, nobody is American and nobody is Indian, nobody is Chinese, nobody black, nobody white, because the greatest desire and the deepest desire is the same. There we exist as human beings, not even man and woman; we exist just as human beings. And if you look deep into reality you will see that it is not so only of human beings, because trees and birds and animals and rocks are also searching... in their own way. Everybody is groping in the dark but the longing is the same, the dream is the same.

And bliss is like a mountain: the higher you go, the more pure air becomes available. And one cannot go very fast; one has to get accustomed to the purified atmosphere, because we live in pollution, we live in heavy dust; we are accustomed to darkness. So those peaks are dizzying too; the higher the flight, the more the dizzying. One has to go very slowly so that one becomes accustomed to each step and each step leads to a higher step.

Your growth will be very very slow, that’s why I am saying that. And it is good. Never imitate anybody, never think that the other is going very fast. Keep to your pace, be true to your pace. Mm? there are slow-growing trees and fast-growing trees. The slow-growing trees cannot move with the fast- growing trees.

Everybody is so individual that it is difficult even to find a single other person who is exactly like you.

Mm, so remember that: never imitate. Just look inside, listen to your own heart, and always go with your own heart, howsoever long it takes.

[The new sannyasin says: I need to learn love.] Mm mm. That cannot be learned.

Love cannot be learned, because all learning is from the intellect. Learning as such is of the intellect. Love is already there; one has to start using it. It is like a limb that we have not used.

For example, a man has not used his hand for many years, he has forgotten completely about it, and because it has not been used it has become rigid; it has lost elasticity, flexibility. Just a little massage is needed, not learning; just a little functioning is needed, not learning. We bring love with us from our very birth; we are love but we have not used it so it has become paralysed. So just start loving; that is the only way to learn. Don’t wait, saying that first you have to learn and then you will love. You will never learn and you will never love. Start loving!

It is very natural. In the beginning you may feel a little awkward, you may feel a little haphazard, you may feel not very systematic, but there is no need. Be unsystematic. You may commit a few mistakes and errors; that’s perfectly okay, that has to be expected. Mistakes are bound to be there when one starts moving in a new dimension. And one goes astray too; that’s perfectly all right. Come back again, go astray, come back again. Commit an error, see it, drop it, go ahead; soon you will be floating.

Learning is not needed, practise is needed; practise is a totally different thing. You simply have to practise it; the faculty exists already. And these groups will help you.

[The sannyasin asks about doing a mirror meditation which he is attracted to.]

When you leave I will give you a particular meditation. Just first go through these meditations, groups. Let your consciousness be cleaned a little, mm? Then when you are leaving remind me. I will give you a special meditation as I feel is right in that moment.

Prem means love, sami means one who is capable of listening.There are two kinds of listening:

one through the head, one through the heart. The head listening is not much of a listening; it is hearing but it is not listening. Of course, whatsoever is said the head hears, but the head is not ready to listen because listening needs silence, listening needs no thought. Listening needs total receptivity, and that is not possible for the head. The head is too full, there are so many thoughts so many desires and they’re all revolving. The head is a cyclone. Words can reach it but the meaning will be missed.

There is a different kind of listening, the listening from the heart. You listen through love, you listen through participation, and that is the beginning of a great transformation. Then sometimes it happens that just through listening one is utterly changed; nothing else is needed to be done. In fact, if something is needed to be done that simply means you have not listened rightly. If you have listened to the truth rightly, the very listening is transforming, it is enough. The moment you have heard it, you have become different, you are no more the same.

Truth liberates. Listen rightly – that is the only question. When rightly heard, you immediately know that it is true; it is self-evident. Not that you argue, that you search for proofs, that you think about it, that you decide – nothing of that kind; no judgement, no decision, nothing. Simply, suddenly you know it is true. It is immediate, it is intuitive, and it is that very intuitive recognition of truth that liberates.

[A sannyasin who is returning to Paris says that he feels very lacking in energy, and he is concerned about returning to work which requires competitive energy.]

Just do one thing: when you reach Paris, for seven days do a small experiment. That will settle you and will give you great insight. For seven days, sleep as much as you can; eat well and go to sleep again, eat well, and go again to sleep. And for seven days, don’t read, don’t listen to the radio, don’t see the TV, don’t see anybody.

For seven days completely stop everything. For seven days simply relax, and just lying down, rest, and those seven days will be a great experience to you. When you come out of that you will be perfectly able to adjust to any kind of society and to any kind of work. In fact, in those seven days you will start hankering for work and activity and a great desire will arise to be out of bed! But for seven days stick to the bed! This is a special meditation I am giving you! (laughter)

And everything will settle; nothing will be a problem.

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