My dance is complete

Maneesha, first I have to express my apology to you that I could not join in your dance. The whole credit goes to President Ronald Reagan. For no reason at all he dragged me through six jails in twelve days; I thought it was sheer torture. But as symptoms of poison started appearing in my body, experts in England examined every possible kind of poison that may have been given to me.

And they found one poison which is a category in itself. It is the only poison that disappears and cannot be found either in blood or in any other way except in the symptoms. And that poison, given in a big dose, kills the man immediately.

That made it clear to me why I was dragged through six jails. It was to give the poison in small doses so it would not kill me immediately, but would take years to destroy my body from inside.

I have almost overcome the poison. Just in my hands, in the bones and particularly in the joints it is still stuck. I have been dancing with you without bothering about it. I would have continued, but today the pain became too much.

But the pain is not the problem for me. The problem is: if I continue then perhaps I may have to stop speaking. So it is better to let this pain settle. I hope soon I will be joining with you again.

It would have been good if Ronald Reagan had killed me completely; that would have been a great credit to Christianity and to American democracy. But he has poisoned me through his administration in such a way that I will remain crucified for years. I am saving all my energy just for these two hours in the evening; otherwise, I am lying down in the darkness.

For me it does not matter whether death comes this moment or the next, my purpose is fulfilled, my dance is complete. I am just lingering around for you all to join with me in the great matter of enlightenment.

So I thought it is better not to put too much stress on the hands; you can understand even my unmoving hands and their gestures. But I would like you to continue the dance before I come and to continue the celebration when I leave the podium. I hope that with your love the poison will be defeated and I will be able to dance with you, to celebrate with you.

I don't have any complaint against anybody; nature, existence itself takes care of things. The day I was given poison - I remember the night in Oklahoma jail - that very moment Ronald Reagan's days were finished, he started declining. His associate, Ed Meese, the attorney general who was the main agent as far as the poisoning is concerned, has now had to resign because he has been found to have committed great crimes.

His representative admitted at a press conference, after I was deported from America, that there is no evidence, no proof that I have committed any crime. "Our main object was to destroy the commune and without deporting Osho it was impossible to destroy the commune."

The commune was creating great trouble in the minds of fanatic Christians, the fundamentalists, because the commune was a clear-cut alternative to a sad society, miserable, in deep anguish. And the commune was just a laughter, a joy, a dance. This became impossible for the Christians to tolerate, and for Ronald Reagan who is a fundamentalist Christian. They forgot all democracy, all their own constitution and they did everything to destroy the commune. But the first thing was to deport me.

They could not deport me without any evidence of crime on my part so they tried everything else.

They did not leave themselves any alternative. First they poisoned me, second they put a bomb under my chair, thirdly they blackmailed my attorneys. They produced a list of crimes, thirty-four crimes, and the U.S. attorney admitted as soon as I had left America that there was no proof, no evidence that I had ever committed anything; I was not even speaking for three and a half years.

The government attorneys blackmailed my attorneys by saying, "You see this list? We know and you know that if you go on fighting you will finally win, but it will take twenty to thirty years. Secondly our suggestion is that you are risking Osho's life."

That was a clear-cut indication that the government was bent upon destroying the commune whether any crime had been committed or not. My attorneys said to me: "If you accept two crimes they are ready to let you go." They did not tell the attorneys that accepting two crimes is not a simple affair; it has implications. Those two crimes committed by anybody else would have brought fines of twenty- five or at the most fifty dollars. But they punished me with a fine of four-hundred-thousand dollars.

That is nearabout sixty-lakh rupees.

Even my attorneys were shocked, because it was not discussed in the negotiations. And I was deported immediately; my plane was kept at the airport, ready. Perhaps they were afraid; if I died, then the blame would go on American democracy. So within fifteen minutes I had to leave America.

Since then I have been haunting their minds. They have been trying in every way... just as Ed Meese stated to the press, "We will make every effort to silence Osho's voice."

They managed to persuade twenty-one countries not to let me in. And they have forced the Indian government not to allow in sannyasins coming from all over the world, so that I am isolated, almost imprisoned in my own home.

But my people are intelligent enough to manage to come against all odds. And it is your love that is now my life. It is a question whether love wins or the poison.

There is every evidence that from the whole body the poison has disappeared. Just in the hands it is there. It will have to disappear from the hands too, because you cannot destroy an innocent man; existence would not allow it. But I have to be a little careful now about the hands.

Why have they not been able to silence me? Truth cannot be silenced, neither love nor joy. But this is the stupid thing, for centuries people have been doing that: they killed Socrates by poison, but his voice is still ringing in the ears and in the hearts of those who want to understand the deepest meanings of life; they crucified Jesus, but that has not made any difference, in fact it gave a tremendous importance to his teachings.

I want to remind you that whether I am here or not the celebration has to continue. If I am not here, then it has to be more intense and it has to spread around the world.

Celebration is my religion.

Love is my message.

Silence is my truth.

Maneesha has brought the sutra:

ONCE NANSEN SAID TO THE ASSEMBLED MONKS, "THE WAY IS NOT OUTSIDE THINGS; OUTSIDE THINGS THERE IS NO WAY."

Nansen has a style of his own - apparently contradictory, like this statement: THE WAY IS NOT OUTSIDE THINGS, with the second sentence: OUTSIDE THINGS THERE IS NO WAY.

But what he is trying to convey is not contradictory. He is saying that if you are trying to find the Way in the outside things, you will not find it. In the outside things there is no Way, but when you have found the Way, the Way itself becomes part of the outside things. Everything that you are going to find in your meditations becomes outside you. You remain always and always just a witness, and for the witness everything is outside. The witness constantly transcends everything that it reflects.

Joshu, a man who was to become a great master - and by chance, tomorrow we are going to start a series on Joshu, JOSHU: THE LION'S ROAR - is also a milestone in the history of consciousness, a tremendously brave man who created roaring lions, buddhas of great strength and power.

He was a disciple of Nansen, but he was always a category in himself. He never became a disciple to Nansen formally; he was never initiated by Nansen; but he lived with Nansen, loved Nansen, and Nansen loved him, showered him with his love. Everybody knew that if Nansen died, he would choose Joshu to be his successor, although he was not his follower. He was such a unique person in himself, he could not follow anybody. He was a fellow traveler.

And Nansen allowed every kind of person. Whether you agreed with him or not, you could live with him. Perhaps, by the time you came to an agreement - just a little walking by his side - you might start feeling his heart touching you, changing you. He transformed Joshu without any formal initiation when he was saying this contradictory statement, "THE WAY IS NOT OUTSIDE THINGS; OUTSIDE THINGS THERE IS NO WAY."

JOSHU ASKED, "WHAT IS THE WAY WHICH IS OUTSIDE THINGS?"

NANSEN IMMEDIATELY STRUCK HIM.

In Zen the master strikes only when he finds a man worthy to be a buddha. The striking is simply to wake him up: "What kind of nonsense are you asking?" Nansen's immediately striking him simply means, "Joshu! You are asking this kind of nonsense! You understand well what I have said; somebody else can ask such a question, but not you. I know it and you know it." To make it clear, he struck him.

JOSHU CAUGHT HOLD OF THE STICK AND SAID, "FROM NOW ON, DON'T STRIKE SOMEBODY BY MISTAKE!"

Joshu is not saying, "Don't strike me." He is saying, "FROM NOW ON, DON'T STRIKE SOMEBODY BY MISTAKE!" Striking me is perfectly right, but don't strike somebody else by mistake. I can understand why you are striking me, but striking somebody who has not reached to such a consciousness in understanding can be dangerous to you. You are getting old."

NANSEN SAID, "IT IS EASY TO SPEAK OF A DRAGON, BUT DIFFICULT TO PLEASE ME!" AND THROWING DOWN HIS STICK, HE WENT BACK TO HIS ROOM.

What he was saying is, "IT IS EASY TO SPEAK OF A DRAGON, BUT DIFFICULT TO PLEASE ME.

The statement of Joshu, 'FROM NOW ON DON'T STRIKE SOMEBODY BY MISTAKE!' is just an effort to please me." To the statement, 'As far as I am concerned you have done well, but don't do it to anybody else,' Nansen says, "It is difficult to please me."

AT ANOTHER TIME, JOSHU ASKED NANSEN, "WHEN ONE REALIZES THAT 'THERE IS,' WHERE SHOULD HE GO FROM THERE?"

When one realizes 'this is', where should he go from this point? In fact, from this point you cannot go anywhere. Wherever you go you will be at this point. You cannot move away from 'now', whatever you do, however fast you run; wherever you will be, you will be in the now. And you cannot move in any other space than here. Wherever you will be, that space will become 'here'. We have never moved, as far as our center is concerned.

He is asking, "When one knows 'this is' WHERE SHOULD HE GO FROM THERE?"

Nansen replied, "HE SHOULD GO DOWN THE HILL TO BECOME A BUFFALO IN THE VILLAGE BELOW!"

Nansen's answer is simply making a laughingstock of Joshu: "Don't ask such stupid questions.

You are not supposed to ask such questions. These questions are asked by mediocre people. To those who don't have any experience of their inner being these questions are relevant, they are not relevant for you."

But he does not say it directly, he says, "HE SHOULD GO DOWN THE HILL TO BECOME A BUFFALO IN THE VILLAGE BELOW."

JOSHU THANKED NANSEN FOR HAVING LED HIM TO HIS FULL ENLIGHTENMENT.

Reading such stories about Zen is an experience in itself. Something is happening behind the curtain of the words which is not visible to you. Something is happening which is neither in the questions nor in the answers. Because you have read this, do you think this will lead you to full enlightenment? But Joshu became fully enlightened.

These stories are very superficial. Underneath them there is another current of a personal intimacy, of deep love and gratitude.

Joshu is feeling Nansen almost as his own heart; although he is not a disciple, he is a fellow dancer.

And Nansen never insisted on anybody becoming a disciple. His insistence was, "This is enough:

to be with me. If there is something to happen, remain open. I am available; if you are also available the meeting will happen. Don't keep your doors closed; just remain receptive."

I am radiating that energy, which will take a jump and your heart which has lived in darkness for centuries will become suddenly enlightened. The fire will reach to you if you remain available, and close, intimate; because the jump is possible only within a certain distance.

If you remain too far away, secure and safe, and hoping to become enlightened, you are wrong. You have to risk to come close to the master, as close as possible. In that closeness, in that intimacy suddenly your heart becomes aflame. You are no more in darkness.

So always remember that these stories are the superficial part of the real thing. The real thing cannot be said. The real thing can only be understood.

Since eternity, whenever a man has become enlightened, ninety-nine point nine percent it has been a transfer of energy from one master to someone who is just ready and ripe. I am leaving point one percent, because it is not necessary, not absolutely necessary if you want to become enlightened to be with a master.

You can become enlightened on your own, but it is a little difficult, an arduous path. You may fall many times, you may go astray many times, you may return to the circumference again and again.

When you were reaching close to the center, you were not aware that you were close to the center.

Just a small difference and you may miss the target.

Have I told you the story?

A great king was a great archer also. But once in a while he used to miss the target. That is natural.

He was passing through a village, and there he saw on every tree, on every post arrows, stuck exactly in the middle of a circle. He could not believe his eyes, that this small village should have such a great archer. So he stopped his chariot, asked the people, and the people started laughing; they said, "He is not an archer, he is an idiot."

The king said, "Idiot? But his aim is perfect!"

The people still laughed, they said, "Here he comes. That fellow has deceived many people. He is a complete idiot. First, he shoots the arrow, and then he makes the circle. Naturally it is always perfect."

That man can never fail. But a man who is going alone, on a path that he has never trodden, on a path where there are no footprints, not knowing the direction and all directions are available... But still, once in a while a man has managed to become enlightened without having a master. This I can say with authority, because I don't have any master. I struggled on my own, knowing perfectly well that the path was going to be long.

But unfortunately in this century where can you find a master? Rather than wasting time in searching for the master, I thought, "It is better to go alone. In the same time you may find yourself." And in the name of the master there are so many pseudo teachers, who claim to be masters. Their claim is accepted because nobody follows them; otherwise you would find immediately that they know nothing, that they are simply quoting scriptures.

I have heard about a dog who was very much against barking. Now, asking other dogs not to bark he became a very famous master amongst the dogs.

They said, "He is unique, perhaps an incarnation of God. We are poor dogs, and we cannot resist the temptation when we see a policeman, or a postman, or a sannyasin, anybody in uniform."

Dogs seem to be very rebellious people. They are against uniforms. And this great master was insisting the whole day from morning till night that, "Because of your barking, we have fallen so low.

Otherwise we would have been the very pinnacle of evolution. All of our energy goes in barking."

And everybody agreed, "That's true. But what can we do, when the itching comes, to resist it? We are ordinary dogs; you are a great master."

But one full-moon night they decided, "He has been trying hard for years. At least give him a chance just for one night; he deserves it. Let him enjoy this night: every dog has to hide in different places, and try hard - it is only a question of one night. In the morning you can bark as much as you want.

Just for one night..."

The master dog looked around. He was very much puzzled as to what was happening, because the full-moon night is the night of most barking. Dogs are also against the moon - just unique characteristics. In the dark night they sleep perfectly well, but when the moon is there they cannot sleep the whole night; they are barking and barking. Either they are against the moon or perhaps they are great appreciators of beauty, one does not know.

That night the master dog looked around. No dog was available. The middle of the night came, the moon was just overhead. The master dog started feeling a great itching. He said, "My God, I have never felt this."

Before there had been no chance. He had been continuously teaching, so the whole itching was going into the teaching. It was the first time in his life that for hours he had not spoken. The itching was becoming so much that he went into a corner and started barking. The moment he started barking, suddenly the whole city... because all the dogs thought that one had betrayed.

They were keeping themselves somehow repressed saints. Now, one has betrayed, no need, the agreement is broken. So all the dogs started barking.

The master dog came out and started teaching again: "I have been telling you that dogs will never progress - no evolution."

These pseudo masters... if you follow them, you soon discover that they are teaching things they don't follow themselves, things that they were condemning in you. Because you never follow them, you never know what they are doing.

A man used to teach that, "Anybody who follows me, I will take him to truth." Everybody agreed that, "Sometime in old age, when all our worldly affairs are fulfilled, we will follow you."

But by his teaching continuously around the villages he became a great master. "He knows the truth." In one village a young man, a very strong-willed young man stood up and said, "I am going to follow you; now take me to the truth."

The man became very much afraid. He had no knowledge what truth is. But just because nobody was following him, he was enjoying the great masterhood. He could not say to him, "Don't follow me."

He thought, "He will follow me for a few days and then will get tired. And I will take him into stubborn paths and mountains, just to tire him."

But that man was very determined. After six years of continuously tiring him, finally the master said, "Listen, because of you, I have forgotten the path myself. Now get lost! I used to find the truth so easily. Six years have passed, and not even a glimpse. It must be because of you!"

The pseudo masters are many. The time of the real masters is completely gone.

Nansen and Joshu belong to a golden age. When he said, "I am fully enlightened," IN RESPONSE, NANSEN COMMENTED, "LAST NIGHT, AT THE THIRD WATCH, THE MOON SHONE THROUGH THE WINDOW."

The master knows exactly when the disciple becomes enlightened. He's telling him the exact time, "LAST NIGHT, AT THE THIRD WATCH, THE MOON SHONE THROUGH THE WINDOW. Do you think I don't know that you have become fully enlightened? Before you knew it, I had already known it."

To be with an authentic master, you need not tell him, "I am enlightened." The moment you are enlightened, he's going to tell you. The moment he sees your flowering, the moment he sees that the spring has come, the moment he feels the fragrance, he declares the enlightenment of the disciple.

Certainly those days are gone. But they can be brought back. They have gone because we got lost into very mediocre, ordinary things. We forgot that the most significant thing in life is to know oneself. Through that window of knowing oneself you can know the whole secret of existence. But we are almost like children, playing with toys, not knowing that soon death will come when all that was important to us up to then becomes absolutely useless.

Only if your meditation has brought you a light that shines in every night will even death not be a death to you but a door to the divine. With the light in your heart, death itself is transformed into a door, and you enter into the universal spirit; you become one with the ocean. And unless you know the oceanic experience, you have lived in vain.

Nansen's disciple Sekiso wrote a small poem:

NOT LEAVING YOUR ZEN PRACTICE BEHIND

IN THE HEAVENLY PALACE,

ALL BY YOURSELF

YOU REALIZE THE ELEGANCE BEYOND ELEGANCE.

YOUR OLD STAFF TINKLING

IN THE CHILLING DEW

AND FROST

PIERCES HEAVEN.

IN THE TEMPLE OF THE FOREST OF WISDOM

THE FRUIT IS RIPE;

NOW IS THE TIME.

Now is always the time and the fruit is always ripe. You just need to gather courage to enter into your inner forest. The fruit is always ripe and the time is always the right time. There is no such thing as wrong time.

Question 1:

Maneesha has asked,

Maneesha, encountering the original face simply means realizing what is real and what is reflection.

You become a reflection when you see the real. It is just like standing before a mirror. It seems you are standing in the mirror. When you realize the fact that you are standing outside the mirror - in the mirror is only the reflection and the reflection is not a truth - then you encounter your original self.

Suddenly you realize that up to now you have lived a false face, this is your original face.

Up to now you have been living as a reflection, a shadow, an unreality. You disappear, only the original face remains. Your question is logical, relevant, because how will you recognize that this is your original face? You will not be there. You will disappear as the original face appears; you will not have to recognize it; you will not be there at all. The original face itself will know that up to now a false personality has been representing you.

Now the false has disappeared and only the truth remains. There is no question of recognizing. You are the false, how can you recognize? When the real comes, the false disappears: they never meet.

This is the fear of searching for oneself; because the moment you find yourself, the way you know yourself now will disappear like a shadow, as if it had never been - just a dream.

I have told you... A drunkard had been fighting in the pub, and had got many scratches on his face. He came home very much afraid of his wife. So very silently, taking his shoes in his hands, he entered into the room, went into the bathroom, looked at his face and said, "My God! So many scratches! How am I going to hide them? In the morning she will find out."

So he tried somehow to cover up. He could not find anything else but the lipstick of his wife. So he covered his scratches with the lipstick and went back silently to bed. In the early morning his wife shouted from the bathroom, "Who has tried to make a painting with my lipstick on the mirror?"

That drunk had thought that he was putting it on his face, but he was putting it on the mirror because there was the face. He could not see his own face!

We are almost in exactly the same situation. When the original appears, we will suddenly see the false going away. They never meet so there is no question of recognition.

Now before we try to encounter the original face... It is a dangerous journey, you may find the original face, but please come back; don't get stuck there. We have to bring the original face slowly slowly to the circumference.

It is a very silent and graceful process: every day you go in. Every day you go deeper. Every day you come back. Something changes, piece by piece, inch by inch, step by step. One day you will suddenly realize that there is no need to go in. The original face has come out. The clouds have dispersed and the moon, without any scratches from the clouds, is shining forth in its ultimate glory.

Sardar Gurudayal Singh is waiting.

Pope the Polack decides that he wants his Holy Catholic Church to be the most modern and up-to- date religion in the world, and be computerized.

"It is all quite simple," explains Father Fungus to Father Fumble a few weeks later in the confession box.

"All you have to do is type the confession onto this screen, and you get a computerized print-out of the penance. Now, just watch while I type in 'stealing'. And look! Here is the penance: three Hail Marys and a bill for fifteen dollars. Now, do you think you can manage?"

"Okay," says Father Fumble nervously, "I will give it a try." And he starts practicing as Father Fungus leaves the church.

Just then, Sally walks into the confession box. "Oh, Father," says Sally, "I have sinned!"

"Really?" says Father Fumble. "Tell me all about it!"

"Well, Father," explains Sally, "I took my boyfriend home with me."

"Terrible!" exclaims Father Fumble. And then he mutters as he programs his computer, "Took boyfriend home."

"Yes, Father," continues Sally, "but that is not all. He came into my bedroom."

"Really?" says Father Fumble, typing furiously. "Boyfriend into bedroom."

"Yes, Father," says Sally, "but that is not all. He took off my clothes."

"Jesus Christ!" says Father Fumble checking the print-out.

"But wait, Father!" says Sally. "Then he took off his clothes and climbed on top of me."

"My God!" says Father Fumble, as he types, "Boyfriend on top."

"Yes, Father," says Sally. "And then he put the tip of his machinery in me."

"Really?" says Father Fumble, perspiring and typing, "Tip of machinery in." Then he furiously checks the print-out, but it is blank; so he types it again. But again, nothing comes out.

"Incorrect data!" snaps Father Fumble, in frustration. "This computer does not work in fractions. You will have to go back and get your boyfriend to put it all in!"

George Bush, the vice president of America, walks into the Oval Office one morning to find Ronald Reagan laughing hysterically.

"Mr. President, sir," inquires Bush, "what on earth is so funny?"

"I just found out that Ed Meese has been paying twenty dollars every time he screws Nancy," chokes the delirious president.

"My God!" screams Bush. "That is not funny! That is a national scandal!"

"Why?" laughs Reagan, wiping his eyes. "That idiot! I screw her for free!"

Doctor Sniff takes his old friend, Fergus, to a charity dance at the deaf and dumb college. The doctor warns Fergus that it is fine to dance with the young ladies, but to remember that they cannot speak to him or hear what he says.

"But how will I ask one of the ladies to dance?" asks Fergus.

"Oh, don't be worried about that," replies Sniff. "You will manage okay."

So, armed with good intentions, Fergus sees a nice-looking young girl sitting alone in the corner, and he gallantly takes her by the hand and leads her onto the dance floor.

Half an hour later, he is still trying to work out how to excuse himself and go and sit down for a rest.

Just then, a young man walks over and speaks to the girl. "Hey, Lucy!" he says, "when are you going to dance with me again? It has been almost an hour since we last danced."

"I know," replies Lucy, looking at Fergus, "but I don't know how to get rid of this deaf and dumb idiot!"

Nivedano...

(Drumbeat) (Gibberish) Nivedano...

(Drumbeat) Be silent. Close your eyes. Feel your body to be completely frozen. Now, look inwards with your total consciousness, with a great urgency, as if this moment is going to be your last moment on the earth.

Move towards the center of your being like an arrow. This center contains all the secrets of existence.

The deeper you go, the more you will find the splendor of life, the beauty of life, the truth of life.

Thousands of flowers suddenly blossom.

You are just a witness of all that is happening. Just watch the joy, the blissfulness, the ecstasy. Don't get lost, don't get identified. Just remain aloof, a great Everest which goes even beyond the clouds.

Just become a pillar of witnessing.

To make it more clear, Nivedano...

(Drumbeat) Relax. Let go. You are not the body. You are not the mind. You are just a witness.

Get deeper into this witnessing. This witnessing is the very point of departure from the ordinary to the extraordinary, from the mundane to the sacred, from the mortal to the immortal.

The evening was beautiful on its own. But you have made it more beautiful. The silence of ten thousand buddhas, the peace of ten thousand buddhas, the witnessing of ten thousand buddhas becomes an ocean. You are all dissolved into that ocean.

Be soaked in this nectar. Be drenched, because soon you will be called back by Nivedano. Bring as much beauty, as much joy, as much truth, as much authenticity as you can from the center to the circumference.

Nivedano...

(Drumbeat) Come back, but come back like buddhas with great grace, with silence, with deep gratitude. You are coming from another world, from the very source of life.

Just sit down like buddhas for a few moments, to recollect the experience, to remember the path which you have to follow again and again.

And whatever you have seen and experienced, let it become your ordinary life. Let it be expressed in your words, in your silences, in your gestures, in your activities. The ordinary has to be transformed into the sacred.

I have called Nansen 'a point of departure.' This experience of your interiority can become a point of departure for you too.

Okay, Maneesha?

Yes, Osho.

Do you promise me you will be celebrating when I'm gone?