Darshan 18 July 1978

Deva means god, nimitta means instrument - an instrument of god. The right way to live is to allow god to live through you. The wrong way to live is to live through will, aggression, violence. The right way is: to be passive, receptive, in a kind of total let-go.

Nimitta means to become a passage for god, to allow him expression through you, to let him live through you. And that is the greatest revolution that can happen in human consciousness. Because these are the only two ways to live: the worldly way is to live through force - it is a male way of living, the way of yang - and the other-worldly way is to live in a feminine way, the way of yin, just becoming a passage like a hollow bamboo that becomes a flute. It only becomes a flute because of its hollowness. The bamboo is not the flute, but the hollowness is the flute. The bamboo allows the singer to sing. The bamboo obstructs not, the bamboo creates no barriers.

This is the way of religion: to become a hollow bamboo. And then naturally tensions disappear anxieties wither away and life becomes moment to moment, with no past and no future.

If I am living I have to carry my past with me as a burden, as a constant reference. If I am living then I have to plan for the future, I have to project myself into the future. There is a struggle, there is a possibility of success and of failure, hence anxiety. If god is living through me, then I need not carry the burden of the past and need not project myself into the future. Then I am utterly in his hands.

This is conversion, and this is sannyas.

The whole of sannyas can be condensed into a few words of Jesus: 'Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.' And that is the meaning of nimitta - your name is my message for you. From this moment, allow yourself to disappear. Become more and more empty and let god take possession of you. He is always ready to take possession, but we don't allow.

Jesus says 'Knock and the door shall be open to you. Ask and it shall be given, seek and ye shall find.' The situation is just the reverse: he knocks and we don't open the door. He asks and we don't listen. He seeks us and we go on eluding, escaping...

Deva means divine, spersa means touched by - touched by the divine. It is happening every moment; we are just not aware. God goes on caressing us in millions of ways. The wind comes and touches you, these are his hands. And the fragrance Comes from the flowers; it is he! Light comes from the faraway stars; these are his love letters.

Once one starts becoming aware of it, one finds he is touching one constantly. When you are waking he is touching you; when you are asleep he is touching you. He is your breath, your food, and he is also your dreams;; because nothing else exists....

[Osho asks an initiate what his name, Masahiro, means. He replies: right generosity, right knowledge.]

I like the sound of your name... and sound is more meaningful than meaning, because all meanings are created meanings. We give those meanings to sounds. Existence knows sounds, not meanings, because existence knows no language. It is pure music.

I liked your name... not because of the meaning 'right generosity', and not because of the meaning 'right knowledge', because all knowledge is wrong and all generosity which is self-conscious is wrong Knowledge means borrowed, learned from others; it is not your own. That which is your own is not knowledge but knowing. It is a kind of witnessing, just a contentless consciousness.

Knowledge is like the reflection in the mirror. Wisdom or knowing is just the mirror without anything reflected in it. And out of the purity of the mirror, one starts sharing one's life; that is generosity. But I would not like to use the word 'generosity' for it, because the word gives the feeling as if you are doing something, obliging somebody. If you are obliging somebody and you are doing something like a duty, it is ugly. You are no more generous.

Real generosity is always unselfconscious. It is very simple and innocent... one simply gives out of sheer joy.

Deva means god, dasyo means a slave - a slave of god. Man is not separate from the totality, and when I use the word 'god' I mean the totality of existence, the whole. Man has to exist in tune with it.

Whenever there is tuning between man and the whole, there is joy; and whenever there is conflict, there is misery. Misery only indicates that you have fallen apart from the whole, that you are no more in accord, that you have gone on your private trip, that you are no more moving with the destiny of the whole. And whenever you move with the whole there is joy, there is bliss, there is serenity.

These are only indicators, so whenever you find yourself blissful, remember: you must be doing something right - that is the criterion. Never listen to anybody else; nobody else can be a decisive factor in it - you and only you, because only you will know from the inside when you feel blissful.

Whatsoever you feel blissful in is your religion. Even if you have to go against the whole crowd, you have to. Never for a moment repress your own feeling of joy. And wherever it leads, follow it, trust it.

That's my approach towards life: each one has to find constantly whether he is moving in more blissful states or not. If one is moving in more and more blissful states, one is on the right track. Go into it more, have more of it. And if you are feeling miserable, then look: somewhere you have fallen off the track, gone astray. You have been distracted by something; you are no more natural, you are alienated by nature, hence misery. Look, analyse, and whatsoever you find is the cause of misery, drop it. And don't postpone for tomorrow; drop it immediately.

Life is very short, and much has to be learned; those people who go on postponing, go on missing. Today you will postpone for tomorrow and again tomorrow you will postpone; slowly slowly postponement becomes your habit. And it is always today that it comes; tomorrow never comes. So you can go on postponing ad infinitum.

Whenever you see that something is creating misery, drop it then and there - don't for a single moment hold it. This is courage: courage to live, courage to risk, courage to adventure. And only those who are courageous are one day rewarded by the whole, by light, love, bliss, benediction.

[The new sannyasin had written about his being homosexual, whether he ought to witness it or really go into it.]

Just listen to your own feelings, whatsoever they are, and follow them. You are not here to live somebody else's life. You can live only one life and that is yours. If you try to live somebody else's life you will be simply falsifying, pretending - you will become pseudo. And you will not be able to live that life either, because how can you live somebody else's life? And by trying to live that you will go on missing that which you could have lived. You can be only you... and there is nobody else who can be you.

You have to fulfill this great responsibility given to you by god. He wanted you. If he had wanted anybody else, he would have created anybody else; he is wise enough. If he wanted a Jesus Christ he would have created Jesus Christ, not [you]. If he wanted a Buddha he was perfectly free to create another Buddha. He can make as many Buddhas as he wants, but he never repeats. Look:

a Buddha comes only once. God is not repetitive; he is always creative, inventive, unique. Respect yourself. This is the way god wants you to be.

Always search inwards, and the criterion is: if ; you feel blissful, then that is the right thing to do. Go on following it and it will reveal to you all the secrets of life. That still small voice is the real guide.

Sometimes it will take you into rebellion, sometimes it will take you against the people, sometimes it will take you against the church, against the society; then one has to go, because we are not here to fulfill anybody else's expectations. Even if you are left alone in the world, god will be with you if you listen to your inner voice. And it is always clear and loud; there is no confusion about it. The criterion is blissfulness - that is the touchstone, and one never goes astray!

So just be yourself, authentically, truly, whatsoever you are. There is no other outward discipline to be imposed on you. The discipline has to come from your own awareness; it has to be your own, not mine.

This is my meaning of sannyas: I give freedom. I am here not to make you dependent on me but to help you to become as independent as possible, to be independent of all that is outer. If I can help you to be absolutely free, if I can help you to become freedom, then my purpose as a master is fulfilled, and your purpose as a disciple is fulfilled.

Prem means love, kavito means poet. Love is the only poetry there is. All other poetry is just a reflection of it. The poetry may be in sound, the poetry may be in stone, the poetry may be in the architecture, but basically these are all reflections of love caught in different mediums. But the soul of poetry is love, and one who lives love is the real poet. He may never write poems, he may never compose any music - he may never do anything that people ordinarily think of as art - but the man who lives love, loves utterly, totally, is the real poet. And this is the poetry religion consists of or should consist of.

Religion is true if it creates the poet in you. If it kills the poet and creates the so-called saint, it was not religion. It was pathology, it was a kind of neurosis garbed in religious terms. Real religion always releases poetry, in you, and love and art and creativity; it makes you more sensitive. You throb more, your heart has a new beat to it. Your life is no more a boring, stale phenomenon. It is constantly a surprise and each moment opens new mysteries.

Life is an inexhaustible treasure but only the heart of the poet can know it. I don't believe in philosophy, I don't believe in theology, but I believe in poetry.

Plato has prohibited poets in his republic; in his utopia poets won't be allowed. In my utopia, only poets will be allowed. Why is Plato so afraid of poets? Because poetry is always the beginning of rebellion. Poetry is against politics. Poetry is against the dogmas of philosophy, because it is so fluid that it cannot be contained in any doctrine. It is a dance, alive! You cannot freeze it. You cannot make a law out of it; it remains lawless. But a real world will consist more of poets than of anything else.

Man's heart remains dark without love. It is the dark night of the soul. The moment you bring in a small candle of love everything brightens up; you are no more the same person. That very small light of love brings a transformation. It is exactly like love, light: into a dark room you bring a small candle, and suddenly it is no more the same room; everything is visible. Now you can see the paintings on the wall and the furniture and the doors and the windows. Just a moment before there was nothing, only emptiness. Now so many things have suddenly popped up into existence.

The old scriptures say that the first utterance of god was 'Let there be light.' Once light is there everything is possible; without light nothing is possible. It seems perfectly logical that the world started with the declaration 'Let there be light.' Then everything popped up, millions of things started manifesting themselves.

The same happens in the human heart: without love it remains dark. Let there be light, let there be love, and you are no more the same person. In that light you become aware of who you are; and not from the outside but from the inside you become aware of who you are. For the first time you see all the paintings in your soul, all the possibilities, potentialities, your past, your future, your present.

Everything is there - just light is missing. And that light comes through love!

[The new sannyasin said she had done a Vipassana group in Bodh Gaya, but had much fear and pain, so she discontinued it.]

You discontinued? Good. Do these groups... Vipassana I will give you later on. It is always good to do Vipassana after you have passed through a few cathartic groups; otherwise many i, problems arise. A few people's sleep disappears, a few people's bodies start falling apart, a few people's bodies start feeling many pains and aches. Many things can happen because you have not first thrown . all the garbage that you are carrying inside. And Vipassana cannot throw anything out; it simply makes you calm and quiet, as you are; it makes no changes. It simply makes you calm and quiet as you are. So all the poisons that you have been carrying become calmed down but they will express themselves in your body, in your mind, and they will wait for the right moment to take revenge.

My process is to first go through cathartic experiences. Throw out, vomit all the poisons that you have been carrying through the lives. And when all is cleaned and you are purified of all the toxins, go into Vipassana; then it is of tremendous importance.

Savya means all, sachi means true, truthful.

Man lives in lies, hence there is so much misery. If we can be naked and true there is no possibility of any misery. And we can reach god only in nakedness. We have to drop all that hides us: our philosophies, religions, scriptures, prejudices, conceptualisations: We have to drop all; these are our clothes. Our souls have to be utterly naked, and that nakedness is beauty; in that beauty is bliss. And that is the meaning of your name Savya Sachi - nakedly true, just like a small child, with no self-consciousness.

The moment self-consciousness enters in, one becomes false. The moment you become aware of what others will think of you, you start being untrue; one starts pretending. One starts performing; one becomes an actor. The world is full of actors - they are all acting, and out of acting you can never know god. To know truth we have to be truthful. Only the like can meet the like. So be here for these three weeks, and drop as many clothes as possible! And next time come for a longer period....

I can see great potential in you. And the time is right now.... Something has to explode! You have lived the ordinary life enough. Now you owe something extraordinary to yourself, something from the beyond.

Just come close to me! [Osho blesses her.]

Good. These tears are beautiful they are coming from the very core of your heart; this is really what prayer is.

[She says: I love you.]

That I know! Even if you say it in Brazilian, I will understand it... or even if you don't speak. Come close to me. Just raise your hands and close your eyes and if something starts happening in the body, allow it.... With this energy you can go very far away! Open your eyes and look at me. Good!

Your energy is ready to go on a faraway journey....