Darshan 1 July 1978

Prem means love, renu means dust - love dust.

But once dust is of love it is divine. Love transforms it: then it is no more dust; it is dust only if love is missing. If love is missing then man is nothing but dust. Once love enters into life, dust becomes aflame with the divine. The only transforming force is love.

Prem means love, shikha means flame - a love flame. Love happens like a flame: it is a flame in the heart. It is fire, although cool. It is fire, it burns, but it gives a new life too. It is death and resurrection both.

Veet means beyond, manohar means man - beyond man. Man is a paradox: he can only be man when he surpasses himself Man is not born as man but only as an opportunity. One can be, one can miss it too. It is not a certainty, it is not a given fact - it is only a potentiality, and there is every possibility to miss it. The majority of people miss it, and the fundamental reason for their missing is that they think that they are already man. Nobody is born as man. The form is there, but the soul is not. The body is there, but the spirit is lacking.

So as man finds himself, he has to continuously transcend it. In that very transcendence, he really becomes a man; that is the paradox. By continuously transcending, one arrives at one's reality.

I call it a paradox because the being is revealed only through becoming. Man's way to being is through becoming. Never take yourself for granted - that's where millions are stuck.

A rose bush is born as a rose bush, but not man! A camel is born as a camel, but not man. Man has some speciality about him. He is born as a surpassing, as a transcending energy. There is no end to his growth, he can go on growing; this is an infinite process.

Friedrich Nietzsche has said 'That day will be the most unfortunate when man will not look beyond himself, when man will be smug and satisfied with himself, when the arrow of man's desire will not move towards some unknown star, when man will think "This is all there is."'

I agree totally with Friedrich Nietzsche about this. That will be the most unfortunate day, but that unfortunate day has always been here for the majority. Only a few people have transcended. Those are the Buddhas, Christs, Lao Tzus, Zarathustras.

Become a man who is constantly transcending himself. Let every sunrise see something new happening to you. Keep constantly growing. Never be satisfied with the inner growth. Remain in a constant discontent as far as the inner is concerned. People are upside-down. With the futile, non-essential, trivial, they are very discontented, and with themselves they are very contented. This is being upside-down.

Be contented with the useless. How much money you have doesn't matter; be contented with it. If it satisfies your basic needs, it is enough. Be contented with the house if it gives you a shelter - it is enough - but don't be contented with your inner soul, because it can contain god! It is meant to contain god... less than that will be a state of misery.

Deva means divine, sareela means body - body of the divine. The body is the temple, it is the shrine; god lives in it. It has to be respected... it is sacred. But the religions in the past have condemned it very much. Because of their condemnation man has become split; they have created a conflict in man's being. They have conditioned humanity to think that the body is the enemy - one has to fight with it, one has to crush it - that the body is the barrier between you and god. This is utter nonsense. The body is the bridge, not the barrier. It is god's creation. How can it be against god?

God has chosen it to live in as consciousness. It's god's play.

Because of these teachings - utterly false - man has become almost identified with the mind, and the body has become, slowly slowly, insensitive. Man has become afraid of the body too. Because of the fear, the body has lost its joy, its celebration; it has become thick. And because of the fear, the body lives only at the minimum. The mind does not allow it to dance at the maximum, and only at the maximum dance of the body does the meeting with god happen.

I am all for the body, I am all for the earth. The earth is divine, the body is divine. And we have to search for god, not against the earth but through the earth. The earth has to be used as a passage and the body has to be used as a ladder. Once this is understood, life is no more a struggle. Then it is a dance. The consciousness and the body can dance together, hand in hand, and slowly slowly that great synthesis arises where consciousness and body are not two things but two aspects of one energy. That is the state of realisation, of enlightenment.

It is difficult to drop the conditioning because it is very ancient, but it can be dropped and it should be dropped, because without dropping it there is no growth possible.

And the priests of all the religions have taught it; it is one of their trade secrets. Once a man is in conflict with his body he can never be happy, and when he is not happy he is in the hands of the priests. Only unhappy people go to the temples, to the mosque, to the church, and only unhappy people think of after-life. Only unhappy people think of, create, paradises in their imagination. Only unhappy people can be persuaded to sacrifice their lives for foolish goals. So the basic secret of the priests' power over man is to make man unhappy. And this is the only way to make man unhappy - to create a division between the body and the man; then he will never be happy. You have broken him into two, you have broken the unity. And joy arises only in unity; out of disunity there will be only misery. A miserable man is bound to seek the priests, somebody who can help. First create the disease and then advertise the medicine; that has been the way of the religions up to now.

When I say 'priests' I don't include Jesus or Buddha or Krishna. They are not priests - they are prophets. And that is the distinction between a priest and a prophet: a prophet is here to help you to become more blissful and the priest is here to exploit your misery.

So let this be my message: love your body, respect your body. In that very respect you will love others' bodies and you will respect others' bodies. In that respect you will respect the very earth you walk upon. If one is in deep harmony with one's body, one automatically becomes harmonious with nature. The body is the closest point to nature. Then ripples go on spreading and dance arises.

That dance is prayer.

[The new sannyasin says she has been living with a man for a year who likes to be with other women also, and she does not know how to handle her jealousy.]

It is always difficult for a woman unless she also starts loving people; otherwise it will remain difficult.

He cannot be prevented, and to prevent him is ugly also. Then you are destroying his happiness, and if his happiness is destroyed, he will take revenge on you; he will not feel so loving. If you try to dominate him, to prevent him from going here and there, he will feel suffocated.

The problem is that down the ages man has always lived that way. And woman has never lived that way - for a few reasons. Firstly: in the old days, the problem was the child - if she gets pregnant then she will be in trouble - so it was a question of security, finance, and everything. Secondly: man himself has been teaching woman to be pure, to be virgin, always to love one person. Man has been using a double standard: one standard for the woman another for himself. The woman has to be pure, devoted, surrendered. And man? They say 'Boys are boys.'

Man has kept all freedom for himself. And he could manage to in the past because the finances were in his hands. So financially he was powerful. He was educated, he had the job. The woman had no job, no education. Her whole world was confined to the house. She had no contacts outside the house, so it was almost impossible to fall in love. At least you need some contacts - only then can you fall in love with somebody. And man has created big China Walls around the woman.... For centuries Mohammedans have not even allowed their women's faces to be seen by others. And the woman was not supposed to talk to any man. A long repression - it has gone into the very bones.

Now things have changed. Now the woman is educated, she can have a job. She is as free as man.

She can meet people, she can fall in love, she can enjoy life. The problem of pregnancy is irrelevant now; the pill has been one of the greatest freedoms. But the old mind persists, and it is not a small thing - thousands and thousands of years' conditioning. Your mother and mother's mother and all the women that have preceded you, were all conditioned, and that conditioning has penetrated into you too.

So the problem will be there unless you become very conscious and drop it. Only two are the possibilities: one possibility is to go on nagging your friend, as women have been doing down the ages. That doesn't help; that simply makes the man feel more repulsed by the woman. The more you nag, the more you throw him into somebody else's embrace, because he becomes tired, bored with you, and he would like to go somewhere and meet somebody who will not nag; and it is a relief That is not going to help and that is destructive too.

The other thing is: become courageous, tell him that if he feels like that, then take note of it - you will also move in the same way. There should not be double standards! If he enjoys loving other women then you will enjoy loving other men. You love him but you will love other people too. Just make it clear to him, and immediately if he is afraid, if he himself is a jealous type, either he will say 'I will stop' - but then he is stopping on his own.... Or there is no need to be worried - you start moving also. Nothing is wrong in it!

I am not saying that he is doing anything wrong. All that I am saying is: there should not be two standards, only one standard for both. And each couple has to decide on a single standard; that is the commitment. Either you both decide that you will remain only for each other, monogamous - good, if you both decide willingly, happily, joyously.... If it is not possible - one says 'I would like to keep my freedom' - then you also keep your freedom! Why be miserable? The misery arises because he is having fun and you are just sitting there thinking of him. You also have fun!

And this is not a question which is personal only to you. This is going to be the question for every woman in the future. Gather courage! I will help you - these groups and meditations will help you.

Gather courage, and tell him before you start moving 'This is going to be the case - don't feel jealous of me.' Because men are even more jealous; their male chauvinistic ego feels more hurt: 'My woman making love to somebody else?' They start feeling as if they are not man enough. But then that is his problem. First make it clear that you are to follow a certain standard. When two persons decide to live together, then a certain rule of conduct has to be evolved. When you are alone there is no question of any rule of conduct. Just have a rule of the game, but it will be applicable to both the parties.

So whatsoever decision comes... either he decides not to go with others - it's okay - or if he decides that he would still like his freedom, then you are freed. Then don't be cowardly; start moving! There are beautiful people; why be confined to one? Each person can contribute something which nobody else can. Each person has such a uniqueness. Why not love many people and enrich your love ? In fact this is not against the man you love. My own observation is that if you love many many people you will be loving your lover more also - this is a simple arithmetic - because you will become more skillful in love. You will have many aspects of love available to your knowing. You will become more enriched and ripe, mature.

And this clinging to one person is a kind of immaturity. Why should one cling? Love is beautiful and love is divine, and all are the forms of god, so why get obsessed with one form when the form is not obsessed with you? If both are obsessed with each other, it is okay.

This is an old idea which is not scientifically true, that if the man goes and has a little affair with a woman sometimes, then his own woman will suffer; she will not get as much love as was hers. That is wrong. She will not suffer, she will get more.

And soon, seeing other women, meeting other women, again and again the realisation comes:

'What is the point? My own woman can give all this, and in a far more intimate way, with far more devotion, far more commitment. Why should I be moving like a beggar?' He will come home with a greater longing for you.

In fact, modern psychology suggests that if the marriage is to continue, a few side affairs are always good and helpful to keep the marriage running. If there are no side affairs then the marriage becomes really a boring phenomenon. It becomes so heavy - the same man, the same woman, the same talk, the same love; everything sooner or later becomes a routine. Then the thrill is gone and all is repetitious, monotonous.

Have a good talk with him and make it clear that if he is enjoying, then you are also free. And be free! Freedom needs a little courage, it needs guts, but you will enjoy it. And it is not going to disturb anything in your relationship; it will enhance it. You will stop nagging him. When you yourself start moving with people sometimes, you will stop nagging. In fact that's why women don't move, because then the nagging will be pointless. And they enjoy nagging - it gives them power. If they also move they cannot make the man feel guilty. And to make the man feel guilty gives immense power. But this is wrong. Never make anybody feel guilty. If you love the person, why make him feel guilty? If he likes it this way, let it be this way! You also have a few small love affairs. That will make both of you free from each other. And when love is free and is given out of freedom, it has a totally different quality to it. It has something really beautiful in it.

Then there is no conflict, no fight, no jealousy, nothing of the sort. There is a calm and quiet, silent, relationship. When you are also moving into a few new loves and he is moving into a few new loves, both ae always in a kind of honeymoon; meeting together is always beautiful. Then things never become old and rotten.

Just a little courage... and it will happen! Do a few groups and then we will see, mm?

[A sannyasin says: I have dropped my work.... It is a resistance I think, to the commitment of coming every day and not having a lot of freedom to just... not to come in.]

You will miss something. All those ideas of freedom and doing this and that are meaningless, because the work that you are doing is just a device. It is a commitment to me - the work is just an excuse. And if you understand the point, you will love it. Then it will not be a work any more. It has not to be work: it is just your love for me.

But if you feel some difficulties, you can drop it. No need to work - be free, mm? But you have been free up to now and what has happened through that? And what will you do by being free? You will do some foolish things and what else? These are just mind games that the mind goes on giving you.

And the mind has to be put aside.

I am preparing you for something great, something which you cannot even dream about. And there is no way for me to tell you for what I am preparing you. It can't be told. When it happens, you will know. So those who can trust will be able to be benefitted. And those people who for some trivia will slip out, that is their decision to slip out.

So think it over - you can have freedom if you need it.

[Osho checks her energy.]

Everything is goad - just these few things always come to the mind. Start working... from tomorrow go to work!

And always think that work is a way to commune with me. The more you work for me, the closer you are to me. And soon you will start seeing the point of it. Otherwise how is this Buddhafield to be created? Thousands of people have to work - I cannot do it alone.

So everybody has to contribute and everybody -has to contribute totally and absolutely. So from tomorrow start working.

[Osho gives a name for a centre in the West.]

This will be the name: Vardan.

It means blessings. Meditation is the greatest blessing there is! All else becomes possible through it. Jesus says 'Seek ye first the kingdom of god, then all else shall be added unto you.' But how to seek the kingdom of god? There is no other way than meditation, because the kingdom of god is within and meditation is the methodology that takes you within. Once you are within yourself, you have all that is needed. One becomes super-saturated, super-contented - that is real blessing.

Then there is no desire any more. Then there is no hunger, thirst for anything any more. One can celebrate... only then can one celebrate.

When there is some desire, how can you celebrate Because of the desire you are poor. How can one celebrate when one is poor ? Celebration is overflowing energy; it is possible only when one is immensely rich. Meditation makes your inner treasure available to you.

That is the meaning of vardan. Help people to meditate.