.... Understand Gorakh's statement again: Die, O yogi, die! Die, sweet is dying. Die that death Gorakh died and saw. You have made a very big change. You say: Kill me, O lord, kill me! No one else can kill you, it is not possible. Someone can kill your body, but no one can kill your ego. For this only you are capable. Not even god can kill your ego, otherwise he would have killed it. You say god is omnipotent...

... death. But no, Gorakh speaks rightly: Die, O yogi, die! Die, sweet is dying. He is saying, you yourself will have to die. If it were in my hands to destroy your ego then what an easy matter it would be. Then you could come to me, I would wave a magic wand and your ego would be destroyed. You would attain god and go back home. But if it were so cheaply demolished it would be dangerous. On the way you...

... die, I cannot kill you. If I could kill you, anyone could reawaken you. If you yourself die, then no one will be able to bring you back to life. Once one has consciously awakened and dispersed the ego inside himself, there is no power in the whole world that can make him fall back into the trap of ego. So don't say, Kill me, O lord, kill me! Kill me, I crave death. No one dies by craving. One who...

... still no effect. He kept on tossing. Morning came, he opened his eyes and looked around. His wife had gotten up and she is busy with her work, the children are getting ready for school... what kind of death is this? The milkman came and is knocking on the door. The sound of the neighbors can be heard... what kind of death is this? And he had drunk enough poison that it says one should die from one...

... way, the art is learned. The same that I am teaching - the art of dying. It can either be called the art of living, or the art of dying: it is one and the same. When you die the divine manifests. Your death is its inception. The fourth question (he says third!): Question 4: AS I LISTEN TO YOU A FEELING OF PRAYER BEGINS SURGING IN MY HEART. BUT HOW SHOULD I PRAY? I DON'T KNOW HOW PRAYER SHOULD BE...

... Osho Death is Divine: Come, spread this moonlight, wrap yourself in it Main Books Headers Help Your browser does not support iframes. < Prev  Osho Death is Divine   Next > Come, spread this moonlight, wrap yourself in it From: Osho Date: Fri, 8 October 1978 00:00:00 GMT Book Title: Osho - Death is Divine Chapter #: 8 Location: am in Buddha Hall Archive Code: N.A. Short Title...

...: Question 3: OSHO! KILL ME, O LORD, KILL ME! KILL ME, I CRAVE DEATH. KILL THAT DEATH OSHO DIED AND SAW. I AM SUCH A STONE, I CAN NOT COMPLETELY MELT. I AM UPSET. WHAT SHOULD I DO? Sudhir Bharti, what you have written is lovely, but full of misunderstanding. You have given a new form to Gorakh's couplet, but Gorakh's couplets cannot be given new form. It is complete just as it is, it cannot be altered...

... craves to die, simply has to die. Craving for what? Listening to what I am saying, it appears to your ego, "Gee, if only I could be a great yogi like Gorakh. But this Gorakh is saying something disturbing, he is saying, die then it happens. Okay then I will die, but I must remain. I too want to be realized." Your very ego desires to be realized, and this is what needs to die. Hence the ego...

... says, " Okay I will die. If this is the way to realize then okay, I am ready even to die, but I will remain as realized." And the craving to realize, is to save oneself. This is the breath of the ego. Where does the breath of the ego come from? The ego gets breath from the desire to be something. You are poor and you want to be rich, the ego is taking its breath. You are ignorant and you...

... want to be knowledgeable, the ego is taking its breath. You are humbled and you want to be established in power, the ego is taking its breath. Understand the process of the ego. How does the ego live? The ego lives in the tension between what you are and what you want to be. 'A' wants to be 'B', the ego is created from this very tension. How does the ego die? The ego dies by accepting what you are...

... and show you. It is all future. The ego does not exist in the present. If you come to the present, the ego says good-by. This is death to the ego. Coming to the present is the death of the ego. What's gone is gone. Don't keep holding onto it. And let go of the future. Don't desire what has not happened, because desiring it the ego is preserved. Be totally content with what is, then this moment you...

... want to reach the place where you can say I have attained god, then the ego will not die. All expectations, all aspirations, all desires, all longings do the work of pouring ghee onto the fire. The desire to attain god also performs the function of pouring ghee onto the fire of ego. Hence your sannyasins are more egotistical that ordinary people. In your mahatmas, your "great souls", you...

... will find pure egos - like absolutely pure poison, unadulterated, with no impurity - which you cannot find in ordinary people. In the ordinary world you find everything full of impurities. Mulla Nasruddin wanted to die, so he took poison and fell asleep. Three or four times he opened his eyes and looked around. I still haven't died. He felt around, let an ant bite and saw that I am alive, there is...

... quarter the amount. He drank four doses. He sat up. He went and looked in the mirror thinking what kind of death is this? And no one seems to know, no one has prepared the offerings, there is no fuss. The wife is not crying. The children are preparing to go to school. Then he realized, it is not death. He ran, reached the shop where he had bought the poison, saying, what's going on? The shopkeeper said...

... within you, what remains is samadhi. It is not something that happens through craving. And you say, Kill that death... Even your killing is conditional. You say, 'Yes, certainly kill but it should be that death - the same that you attained, from which you saw, let it be no other death. Even in dying you have made conditions. In the middle of the process you will open your eyes to see that no wrong...

... death is happening. A Zen monk had given one of his disciples a meditation koan to resolve: what is the sound of one hand clapping? Does one hand ever clap? He thought long and worked hard. He was a man of deep thought. He brought many statements, such as the sound of one hand clapping is like the thundering of the clouds. And the master hit him a hard one saying, "Idiot, is this the sound of one...

...... defeated, defeated, defeated... there is a limit. The defeat reached that place where the ultimate defeat came. The loss was total. Now it became clear that nothing could happen through him. Neither one hand would clap, nor would he be successful, nor would samadhi happen to him. The despondency reached the place where the death of the ego happened. When there are small victories, success is happening...

... me to say that you have become enlightened. It is not so cheap." You say, Kill such a death... At least let go completely. Say this much at least, Kill me as you will... Even this you did not let go of. You have made your conditions. Even your surrender is conditional. And is surrender ever conditional? The meaning of surrender is - let go of all conditions. Fall at the feet, now what will...

... pass will pass, what doesn't doesn't. One is ready for this too. If even a tiny desire hidden in a far corner is watching the path, saying, "It ought to happen like this, I have fallen down now, but that death has not happened, the death from which Gorakh saw. I am just the same as I was before. Still samadhi has not flowered. Still the feet of god do not appear anywhere." If such desires...

... and thoughts continue, death can never happen. And remember, the master cannot kill the disciple. The master can teach the disciple the art of dying. Dying you will have to do. When you eat your stomach will be filled. When you drink water your thirst will be quenched. By my drinking water, your thirst cannot be slaked. By my eating, your hunger cannot be destroyed. By my breathing, your heart will...

... not beat. And these are all outer things, the deepest thing is the death of the ego, this is the deepest. It cannot be done from outside. Only if you wake up, experience, know the misery of the ego, experience hell. See how many poisonous bites the ego has given... It is not a matter of craving, it is a matter of understanding. But it is good Sudhir, the thought arose. Letting thoughts arise this...

... be trampled under his feet and die but don't take shelter in a Jaina temple. What crude ideas are propagated in the name of religion! But Hindu and Jaina are at least separate religions. Among Hindus there are some people who believe in Rama who will not go into a Krishna temple. And some who believe in Krishna who will not go into Rama's temple. And an even stranger thing is the Digambar and...

.... Everything was fine, no problem anywhere. You cry it is false. You laugh it is false. Your whole personality is phoney. Don't let this false personality be a part of your prayer. This is why people have the story of Satya Narayan recited at death. They hire a pandit saying, brother, recite, here's ten rupees. Recite the story of Satya Narayan so that god stands behind him, so it can be said we had the...

... even standing in the temple. The wife is praying. You can understand her suffering. She said loudly: O lord of Vishwanath! Do just this much, when I die, in the next life don't let me be a woman but a book, so that at least I can be with Dhabbuji all the time. Dhabbuji heard it. He immediately bowed down on his knees, joined his hands and said, O lord! If you accept her prayer then make her a...

...Death is Divine...

..., which has been taboo, "Don't talk about it"; another is death which is taboo, "Don't talk about it." Both are connected: in the beginning is sex, in the end is death; it is sex that brings death in. Only one animal does not die, that is the amoeba. And you know that perfectly well because Poona is so full of amoebas. I have chosen this place specially, because amoebas are immortal...

... animal who is born of sex is going to die, he cannot be immortal in the body. So these two things have been taboos in the world: sex and death. Both have been kept hidden. I have been condemned all around the world, simply because I talked about every taboo without any inhibition, because I want you to know everything about life from sex to death. Only then can you rise beyond sex and death. In your...

..., because what is the point of living? What have you done up to now? Half of life you have lived, with what result? What is the outcome? You will live the same way the remaining half, and will die like an animal. At least have the dignity to commit suicide!" That man was saying that birth was not in your hands, but at least don't let death also be your master. Be master of your death, commit suicide...

.... His arguments are very profound. He was saying, "You were helpless as far as birth was concerned, you could not do anything. It has to happen, but about death there is a possibility: either you die like an animal, or you commit suicide like a man. Suicide gives the dignity to man that he is free to choose his death." He convinced many young people and they committed suicide. Just before he...

... life is death. I have suffered my whole life. I have dropped my own dignity by not committing suicide, because I had to take care of my fellow citizens, particularly my disciples. I am perfectly happy that they have all committed suicide. Now I can die in peace, I have done my work." Negative philosophy is going to bring such conclusions. Zen is the only living alternative, positive alternative...

... consolation to people in their fear, in their dread, in their awareness of old age and death, and beyond - the unknown darkness. God has been a tremendous consolation, although it was a lie. Lies can console you, you have to understand it. In fact lies are sweeter than the truth. Gautam Buddha is reported to have said, "Truth is bitter in the beginning, sweet in the end, and lies are sweet in the...

... intelligence, with no life. God used to be the life, God used to be the consciousness. God used to be the very meaning, the very salt of our being. With God no longer there, this whole existence becomes soulless, life becomes just a by-product of matter. So when you die, everything will die, nothing will remain. And there is no question of being good or bad. Existence is absolutely indifferent, it does not...

... the elements that were creating it separate. For example, some religions believe that man is made of five elements: earth, air, fire, water, sky. Once these five elements are together, life is produced as a by-product. When these five elements separate in death, life disappears. To make it clear to you... in the beginning as you learn to ride a bicycle you fall many times. I have also learned, but I...

... be discussing God and Zen together. God has to be negated, and Zen has to be planted deep in your being. The lie has to be destroyed and the truth has to be revealed. That's why I have chosen God and Zen together. God is a lie, Zen is a truth. Question 1: The first question: IS GOD REALLY DEAD? THE VERY IDEA OF HIS DEATH CREATES INTENSE ANXIETY, FEAR, DREAD AND ANGUISH. The way I look at things...

... somebody dies. They could not understand what was happening. This man was talking, breathing, walking, was perfectly okay. Suddenly he was no longer breathing, he was no longer talking. It was such a shock to the primitive man that death became a taboo: Don't talk about it. Even talking about it created fear, fear that sooner or later you would be standing in the same queue, with the queue becoming...

... smaller and smaller every moment. Somebody dies and you come closer to death; another dies, you come even closer to death. Even to talk about death became a taboo, and not only to ordinary primitive people, even to the most sophisticated. The founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, could not tolerate the word 'death'. No one was allowed to mention the word in front of him, because just at the mention...

... of the word 'death' he would fall into a fit, he would become unconscious and start foaming. Such was the fear of the man who founded psychoanalysis. Once Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung, another great psychoanalyst, were traveling from Europe to America to deliver lectures on psychoanalysis to many universities. On the deck of the ship, Carl Gustav Jung mentioned death. Immediately Sigmund...

... Freud fell on the deck. That was the reason Sigmund Freud expelled Jung from the psychoanalytic movement, and he had to found another school. He called it analytical psychology. Just a different name, but it is the same process. But the reason for his expulsion was the mention of death. Two things have been taboos in the world, and those two things are two polarities of the same energy. One is sex...

... beings. And their immortality depends on the fact that they are not sexual beings. They are not the by-product of sex, so there is no death. Sex and death are absolutely connected. Just try to understand. Sex brings you into life, and life finally ends in death. Sex is the beginning, death is the end. In between is what you call life. The amoeba is a non-sexual animal, the only celibate monk in the...

... involved, there is no male, no female. Both the amoebas start eating again. Soon they will be fat enough to divide again. So it is by a very mathematical method that they create. There is no death, an amoeba never dies - unless he is murdered! He can live from eternity to eternity if medical science does not murder him. But their immortality depends on the fact they are not the by-product of sex. Any...

... understanding you can start approaching something which is beyond sex and beyond death. That is your eternity, that is your life energy, pure energy. By sex your body is born, not you. By death your body dies, not you. So it is absolutely unnecessary to make those taboos. But religions have a great investment in creating in you anxiety, fear, dread and anguish, and nature was already producing it. Religions...

... priest, and believe in the holy scripture that God has sent to the world. All that you have to do is to believe." And this belief has been covering your anxiety, fear, dread, anguish. So when you hear God is dead, the very idea of his death creates intense anxiety. That means your wound has been uncovered. But a covered wound is not a healed wound; in fact for the healing process it has to be...

.... And the whole person is the holy person to me. So if God is removed and you start feeling fear and dread, and anxiety and anguish, that simply indicates God was not the medicine. It was just a trick to keep your eyes closed. It was a blinding strategy to keep you in darkness, and to keep you hoping that beyond death there is paradise. Why beyond death? It is because you are afraid of death, so the...

... priest creates a paradise beyond death, just to take away your fear. But it is not taken away, it is only repressed in your unconscious. And the deeper it is repressed the more difficult it is to get rid of it. So I want to destroy all your belief systems, all your theologies, all your religions. I want to open all your wounds so they can be healed. The real medicine is not a belief system; the real...

... want your life, it is meaningless. Just show me the way out, I don't want to be in the world. I just want to get out of existence; death seems to me to be more peaceful than your so-called life. Just take the ticket back, I don't want to travel in this train. And you never asked me; it is against my wishes. You have forced me on this train, and now I am suffering unnecessarily. I had no freedom of...

..., that he is not dead. Otherwise I will miss the chance to murder him. I want to murder him so that the whole of humanity becomes freed from him." But once you make humanity free... freedom for what? For fear? For death? For suicide? For murder? For theft? Freedom for what? One of the existentialist novels says that a young man is brought before a court because he has killed a stranger on the...

... said, "This man is strange. His mother died on Sunday, and when he was informed he said, 'That woman would always create trouble - and inevitably on a Sunday. Sunday is a holiday, could she not die on Saturday or Friday? But I knew perfectly well from the very beginning that that woman, who has been a torture my whole life, was going to destroy one of my holidays. And it has come true.' "...

... evening with a very young, beautiful woman. And when someone said, 'Your mother has died just this morning. It does not look right that you should dance in the evening in a disco,' he said, 'What do you mean? Now every time I dance it will be after the death of my mother, so what does it matter whether it has been twelve hours, twelve days, or five years? It will always be after the death of my mother...

..., because it gives you a sense of direction, a sense of fulfillment, a sense of eternity, and a sense of going beyond birth, death, body, and of being one with this beautiful existence which is immensely intelligent. Question 2: The second question: IS IT POSSIBLE FOR MAN TO LIVE WITHOUT GOD? Yes. In fact, it is only possible for man to live without God. A man with God does not live, he hesitates on every...

... universe. That is authentic morality. I don't give you any discipline, any morality. I simply give you a clarity of vision. Out of that clarity whatsoever comes is good, is divine, is moral. Now before the sutra a little biographical note: SEKITO KISEN WAS BORN IN CHINA IN 700 AND WAS TO DIE NINETY YEARS LATER. KNOWN ALSO AS SHIH-T'OU, SEKITO WAS A CONTEMPORARY OF MA TZU. BUT WHERE THE LATTER WAS PART OF...

... AND GO TO MASTER SEIGEN. AFTER ENO LEFT HIS BODY, SEKITO WENT TO SEIGEN. This is just a small biographical note about Sekito. Now begins the sutra: OUR BELOVED MASTER, ON THEIR FIRST MEETING, SEIGEN ASKED SEKITO, "WHERE DO YOU COME FROM?" AND SEKITO REPLIED, "I COME FROM SOKEI," where Eno lived, his old master, who has sent him to Seigen because his death was imminent, and who...

... said, "I will not be able to see your enlightenment, but you are bound to be enlightened. Just go to Seigen." This is the beauty of Zen, no competition at all. The whole thing is that everybody should become enlightened. Where he becomes enlightened is not important. Who is the master who makes him enlightened is not important. Seeing death coming, Eno said to Sekito, "You are bound to...

... become enlightened, but my death is very close. It is better you go to Seigen." And Seigen was his competitor master. Eno lived in Sokei. So when SEIGEN ASKED, "WHERE DO YOU COME FROM?" SEKITO REPLIED, "I COME FROM SOKEI." In other words he is saying, "I am coming from Eno, your competitor master. He has sent me here." SEIGEN HELD UP A WHISK AND SAID, "DID YOU...

... when two masters fight it is just throwing sweets at each other. The disciples enjoy. Both lots of disciples eat the sweets that the masters are throwing at each other. The competitor masters were not enemies. They were using different methods, but they were working for the same truth from different angles. When Eno thought that his death was coming close, he could not see anyone better then Seigen...

... only by finding will you know what you were seeking. This is a totally different, diametrically opposite standpoint to all the belief systems of the world. Question 4: A question from Maneesha: OUR BELOVED MASTER, IS NOT THE FANTASY OF AN OMNIPOTENT, OMNIPRESENT, OMNISCIENT GOD SIMPLY A COVERT EXPRESSION OF MAN'S WILL TO POWER? Maneesha, it is two things. First, it is a deep fear of life and death, a...

... be covered. So there is God on the one hand covering fear, dread, death. While on the other hand to be a believer of a god who is omnipotent, all powerful, omnipresent, everywhere present, omniscient, all knowing, to have belief in such a god helps you somehow to be identified with the god. You are a Christian, you identify yourself with Christ - and he is the son of God. You have come very close...

... cannot touch it, cannot influence it. The whole body may be burning but that cool point cannot be touched. I have heard about one Zen nun. She died, but before she died she asked her disciples, "What do you suggest? How should I die?" It is an old tradition in Zen that masters ask; they can die consciously, so they can ask. And they are so playful even about death, so humorous about it...

... are so afraid.: emptiness appears like death. You will fill it with anything, but you will fill it. No, I have invited you to be here to break down this cup completely, so that even if you want to you cannot fill it. Emptiness means there is no cup left. All the walls have disappeared, the bottom has fallen down; you have become an abyss. Then I can pour myself into you. Much is possible, if you...

... question is. So many of you are here but I know the question, because deep down the question is one: the anxiety, the anguish, the meaninglessness, the futility of this whole life - not knowing who you are. But you are filled. Allow me to break this cup. This camp is going to be a destruction, a death. If you are ready to be destroyed something new will come out of it. Every destruction can become a...

... creative birth. If you are ready to die you can have a new life, you can be reborn. I am here just to be a midwife. That's what Socrates used to say -- that a master is just a midwife. I can help, I can protect, I can guide, that's all. The actual phenomenon, the transformation, is going to happen to you. Suffering will be there, because no birth is possible without suffering. Much anguish will come up...

..., because you have accumulated it and it has to be thrown. A deep cleansing and catharsis will be needed. Birth is just like death, but the suffering is worth taking. Out of the darkness of suffering a new morning arises, a new sun arises. And the dawn is not very far when you feel darkness too much. When suffering is unbearable, bliss is very near. So don't try to escape from suffering -- that is the...

... you are indestructible, you are deathless. Passing through death, consciously passing through death, one becomes aware of life eternal. These few days you will be here with me many things are possible, but the first step to remember is to pass through suffering. Many times I create suffering for you; many times I create the situation in which all that is suppressed within you comes up. Don't push it...

... rooted; and in your inner space, in the spiritual life, you must be weightless and flying and flowing, floating. Roots and wings I can give to you- if you allow, because I am only a midwife. I cannot force the child out of you. A forced child will be ugly, and a forced child may die. Just allow me. The child is there, you are already pregnant. Everybody is pregnant with God. The child is there and you...

... have already carried too long. Long ago the period of nine months passed. That may be the root cause of your anguish -- that you are carrying something in the womb which needs birth, which needs to come out, which needs to be born. Think of a woman, a mother, carrying a child after the ninth month. Then it becomes more and more burdensome, and if the birth is not going to happen the mother will die...

..., because this has been my feeling -- you have become too much attached to me, and that attachment is working like a block. You have become too much attached to me; that very attachment is working like a barrier." And this happened as Buddha said. The day Buddha died, Ananda became enlightened. There was nothing to cling to then. But why wait? When I die, then you will become enlightened? Why wait...

... else, rather, more cowardly because just to hide that cowardliness they have created a bravery around them, and sometimes they act in such a way that everyone knows they are not cowards. Their bravery is just a screen. How can man be brave- because death is there. How can man be brave- because man is just a leaf in the winds. How can the leaf help not to tremble? When the wind blows the leaf will...

.... Fear will give you fearlessness. Out of anger will come compassion. Out of the understanding of hate, love will be born to you. But this happens not in a conflict, this happens in a passing-through with alert awareness. Accept, and pass through it. And if you make it a point to pass through every experience, then there will be death, the most intense experience. Life is nothing before it because life...

... cannot be so intense as death. Life is spread out over a long time -- seventy years, one hundred years. Death is intense because it is not spread out -- it is in a single moment. Life has to pass one hundred years or seventy years, it cannot be so intense. Death comes in a single moment; it comes whole, not fragmentary. It will be so intense you cannot know anything more intense. But if you are afraid...

..., if before death comes you have escaped, if you have become unconscious because of the fear, you have missed one of the golden opportunities, the golden gate. If your whole life you have been accepting things, when death comes, patiently, passively you will accept and enter into it without any effort to escape. If you can enter death passively, silently, without any effort, death disappears. When...

... Krishna, Christ, Buddha, Mahavir say you are deathless, they are not talking about a doctrine, they are talking about their own experience. This can happen here in this camp also, because samadhi is death, dhyan is death, meditation is death. Many times there will be moments when you will suddenly feel you are dying. Don't escape, allow it to happen. If you allow it to happen, death has gone, death is...

... there no more, and the inner flame, beginningless, endless, has come into being. It has always been there, now you can feel it. So this should be the sutra. With fear, hate, jealousy, anything whatsoever, don't create a problem out of it. Accept it, allow it, pass through it, and you will defeat all suffering, all death. And you will become a Jaina - a victorious one. Anything more? Question 2 OSHO...

.... Suffering is already there; life by its very nature creates suffering. Illness is there, death is there, the body is there- by their very nature suffering is created. See it, look at it with a very dispassionate eye. Look at it -- what it is, what is happening. Don't escape. Immediately the mind says, "Escape from here, don't look at it." But if you escape then you cannot be blissful. Next time...

..., joking, laughing, they enjoy devising methods how to die. So disciples may suggest, "Master, this will be good, if you die standing on your head." Or someone suggests, "Walking, because we have never seen anyone die walking." So this Zen nun asked," What do you suggest?" They said, "It will be good if we prepare a fire, and you sit in it and die meditating." She...

... other. Because a Master has to lead you into death; that is the only way to be reborn. There is no other. Until you die, you will not be able to be reborn. Only through death is eternal life attained, only through losing yourself do you gain. Jesus died. No miracle happened. The crowd, feeling frustrated, disappeared. AND AS THEY THUS SPAKE, JESUS HIMSELF STOOD IN THE MIDST OF THEM, AND SAITH UNTO...

... the foundational law of life: that everything is eternal and immortal, that nothing dies, that nothing can die; that there is only one thing that is a lie, and that is death. Only death is impossible and everything else is possible. THEN OPENED HE THEIR UNDERSTANDING, THAT THEY MIGHT UNDERSTAND THE SCRIPTURES... the message of centuries, the one and only message of all religion - that you are...

... deathless... AND SAID UNTO THEM: THUS IT IS WRITTEN,. AND THUS IT BEHOVED CHRIST TO SUFFER, AND TO RISE FROM THE DEAD THE THIRD DAY. This is very meaningful. Whenever you die, if you die unconsciously - as everybody almost always dies - then within three days you are reincarnated in a new body, you enter a womb. That's why in India the third day after anybody's death is very significant, because the third...

... ordinary mind:'They are over-reaching themselves. It's okay to believe in God, and to believe in the church and in the temple. It is good to pretend to be religious. It helps - it is a social lubricant. It gives life a certain smoothness; it gives you a certain respectability. But one should not take these things too seriously. This man Jesus seems to be too serious about it, as if it is a life-and-death...

... extension of this earth. It was nothing new. Jesus remained alone, died alone. Try to understand this, because just to think that you are following when there is no danger is not enough. When death comes, when danger comes, then there will be the test. Then, not even a single disciple declared to be with him. In fact, when Jesus was taken as a prisoner, Peter wanted to follow him. Jesus told him,'No need...

...? Are you a disciple of Jesus?' He said,'No, I don't know this man. Who is he?' And Jesus looked back and said,'The morning has not yet come.' And it happened a second time; and it happened thrice. Jesus laughed, and looked back at the crowd and said,'The cock has not crowed yet.' It is so difficult to follow a Master when he is moving into death. And this the ONLY way to follow a Master, there is no...

... THEM. PEACE BE UNTO YOU. The disciples gathered and they discussed what to do now. They were feeling absolutely betrayed, deceived. This man simply proved not a real son of God. He had promised again and again that he would be resurrected, that he would come down out of death with a new, eternal body of light. And he died like an ordinary man; and he died complaining to God,'My God, my God, why have...

... you forsaken me?' So.God had betrayed Jesus, Jesus had betrayed his disciples, and they were at a loss as to what to do now. They must have been a laughing-stock. People must have laughed at them:'These were Jesus' disciples - fools, simpletons! They used to believe that this man would come out of death, and this man has simply died like an ordinary man.' AND AS THEY THUS SPAKE... as the disciples...

... somebody can see your within... and the fear. Just think about it. If somebody could look into you and see your thoughts and your feelings, you would be scared to death. Because everybody is carrying so many ugly things, and nobody can see that things are okay. 'If you could see into each other,' psychologists say,'if people could see into each other, love would become impossible.' Friendship would never...

... material. He showed his hands and his feet. AND WHILE THEY YET BELIEVED NOT... because they were so frightened:'Who knows? That ghost may be playing tricks? Who knows? How can a dead man come back?' Jesus was crucified, they had seen him die:'How could he come? It is impossible. It is some trick, some ghost playing a game.' AND WHILE THEY YET BELIEVED NOT FOR JOY, AND WONDERED, HE SAID UNTO THEM: HAVE YE...

... saying that you are deathless. Nobody except Jesus had given such a proof of it. Nobody had come after death to give witness that those scriptures were right. Not even a Buddha had given that proof; not even a Krishna had given that proof. It is unique to Jesus to come back from the doors of death, to descend back into the world, to become a witness to all scriptures. Jesus is the very embodiment of...

... day is symbolic that person is reborn, has somewhere taken birth. If you die consciously, which only a Buddha. or a Jesus does, then it is up to you. You are not going to be born again in any other womb. Then it is up to you; you are totally free. If you want to descend, you can use the old body; if you don't want to descend back, you can disappear into the whole. In Jesus' case the old body was...

... accident it should not be allowed. Only the bodies of saints, of people who die consciously, are not burned in India. They are preserved in special graves we call SAMADHIS. It is the same word we use for the fourth state of consciousness, of transcendence. We call the grave of a saint 'samadhi'. His body is preserved there as a link. People who cannot be in direct contact with the saint can come to the...

... REMISSION OF SINS SHOULD BE PREACHED IN HIS NAME AMONG ALL NATIONS, BEGINNING AT JERUSALEM. AND YE ARE WITNESSES OF THESE THINGS. 'And repentance and remission of sins': Jesus gave a proof that death is just a false notion. Nothing dies. Why is this proof needed? Because if the soul is immortal, then your whole life will have to be transformed. Then you will have to arrange your life in a totally...

... different light. If only this life is all - you begin with birth and you end with death - then what is the meaning of virtue or sin? Whatsoever you do is irrelevant; one day everybody dies, sinner and saint. Dust unto dust - nothing remain so what is the difference between virtue and sin? If life is mortal, then there is no difference. Then it is just a social utility, a convenience, but nothing of much...

.... Spread the good news that there is no death, that one man has proved that life is eternal, that one man has come back from death, that one man has proved that death can be conquered. And if you become a witness,' he said to his disciples,'you will be able to persuade people not to live in sin, not to live in unconsciousness. Tell them to repent for whatsoever they have done in the past, to ask...

... forgiveness for it. And tell them, because you have been a witness, that the impossible has become possible: death can be conquered, because death does not exist. Tell them that if they ask, they will be forgiven.' Christianity, the whole of Christianity depends on this simple sentence:'If you repent, you can be forgiven.' Christianity is unique in this sense. No other religion, particularly Indian...

... news to those who were not fortunate enough to be here. Go to the housetops and tell everybody.' And those disciples went all over the earth. They carried authority. They had seen something which nobody had seen before them. In their eyes you could see the reflection of Jesus coming back from death. In each of their gestures you could feel the presence of Jesus: they had seen, they had become...

... Patanjali says is a science. When I talk on Buddha, I can say that whatsoever Buddha says is a psychology. But not with Jesus. He has given an art, because he has given love, not law. If you understand Jesus, by and by, you will become aware that it is not a question of following a certain rule. Rather, it is a question of following a quality of love. Love is the only thing that transcends death, because...

... love is the only thing that life exists for. Love is the very center of being. If you love, all is forgiven. If you love, you have repented. If you love, one day or other you yourself will become a witness that there is no death. Accept Jesus' invitation. He is not going to take anything from you. He is going to take only that which you don't have, and he is going to give you life abundant, life...

... eternal. But don't be bothered about Christianity much. Jesus has been murdered twice. Once he was murdered in Jerusalem by Jews, but they could not murder him. He survived. After the third day he resurrected. Then he was murdered in Rome, in the Vatican. And they murdered him more efficiently, of course, because they knew that this man had once come out of death. Jews crucified him not knowing that...

... this man could come out of death, so they did not take all the precautions. Christians killed this man again with all the precautions, and Jesus has not been able to come out again. Don't be bothered about Christianity. Christianity has nothing to do with Christ. Jesus is available to all. Jesus is for those who are ready to transform themselves; Jesus is an art of inner transformation, of rebirth...

..., don't miss the opportunity of death. And if you can receive death in a meditative state, you may be able to receive your next birth - which will be followed by death - consciously. If you can die consciously, you will be born consciously. Your next life will have a totally different flavor. And a person can be born only once after he has died consciously - only one more life. The Christians, the Jews...

... only if you die consciously. So the first and the most important thing in life is to prepare for death. And what is the way to prepare for death? - what Buddha calls "following the way." Meditate over this small anecdote. Nan Yin, a great Zen master, was visited by Tenno, who, having passed his apprenticeship, had become a teacher. The day happened to be rainy, so Tenno wore wooden clogs...

..., CROSSES OVER, BEYOND THE REACH OF DEATH. HE LEAVES THE DARK WAY FOR THE WAY OF THE LIGHT. HE LEAVES HIS HOME, SEEKING HAPPINESS ON THE HARD ROAD. FREE FROM DESIRE, FREE FROM POSSESSIONS, FREE FROM THE DARK PLACES OF THE HEART, FREE FROM ATTACHMENT AND APPETITE, FOLLOWING THE SEVEN LIGHTS OF AWAKENING, AND REJOICING GREATLY IN HIS FREEDOM, IN THIS WORLD THE WISE MAN BECOMES HIMSELF A LIGHT, PURE, SHINING...

... cannot ever allow any contentment. Contentment is the death of the mind, desire is its life. Buddha says: WANT NOTHING. That means: be contented. That means: whatsoever is, is more than you need; whatsoever is, is already so profound, so beautiful... the nazunia flower by the hedge! You are living in such a tremendously beautiful world, with all the stars and the planets and the sun and the moon...

... good house to live in - he takes care but he remains aloof. Even when the body is dying a buddha goes on watching that the body is dying. His watchfulness remains to the very last. The body dies and the buddha goes on watching that the body has died. If one can watch to such an extent, one goes beyond death. DO NOT ASK FOR FAMILY OR POWER OR WEALTH, EITHER FOR YOURSELF OR FOR ANOTHER. CAN A WISE MAN...

... to die, so it is not a question now that my son has died. He had to die one day or other. And it is good, in a way, that he has died before me: if I had died before him, he would have suffered. It is better for me to suffer than for him to suffer. So it is good, perfectly good. "Now I have come for initiation. Initiate me into sannyas, because I would like to know: is there anything beyond...

... death or not? Is death all or does something survive? I am no longer interested in the son." Buddha said, "That was the purpose of sending you, so that you can be awakened." Now the same story you can visualize about Jesus Christ. What Christians say... because nobody knows what kind of man Jesus really was except what the Christians say about him, and they are saying wrong things about...

... him. If he was really a buddha - and he was - then he would not have been interested in reviving people from death. He would not revive Lazarus from death - what is the point? Lazarus is no longer alive. He must have died a few years later; even if he was revived he would have died a few years later. Death is going to happen; you can at the most postpone it. A buddha is not interested in postponing...

...! A buddha's whole effort is to make you alert, aware, that death is coming. He is not to protect you from death, he has to take you beyond death. And Jesus is a buddha. MY understanding of Jesus is totally different from the Christian interpretation. To me, this is a parable: Lazarus coming back to life simply means Lazarus reborn spiritually. Buddha has said many times - Jesus has said also...

... - Unless you are born again, you will not enter into my Kingdom of God. But "born again" does not mean that you have to be resurrected. "Born again" means a spiritual process of awakening. Jesus must have awakened Lazarus from his sleep, from his metaphysical death. When you come to me you are metaphysically dead - you are Lazarus. The story says Jesus called Lazarus out of his tomb...

...: "Lazarus, come out!" That's what every buddha has been doing down the ages: calling Lazaruses to come out of their graves. When I initiate you into sannyas, what am I doing? - calling, "Lazarus, come out of your grave! Be reborn!" Sannyas is a process of rebirth. Lazarus must have been initiated into the deeper mysteries of life which go beyond death. But to make this beautiful...

... without business, looking very occupied. And all that they are doing is just rushing up and down the same bank. This way you cannot reach the other shore. FEW CROSS THE RIVER. MOST ARE STRANDED ON THIS SIDE. What does he mean by "this side"? This side means death, time, this momentary existence. That side means deathlessness, timelessness, eternity, God, nirvana. One needs guts to cross the...

... of God; Buddha has not given, Jesus has not given - nobody who knows can give any proof of God. God cannot be proved. You can only be persuaded to come to the other shore and see on your own. Buddha says again and again: IHI PASSIKO! Come and see! BUT THE WISE MAN, FOLLOWING THE WAY, CROSSES OVER, BEYOND THE REACH OF DEATH. The only effort of any intelligent person in this world should be, first...

... and foremost, how to know something which cannot be destroyed by death - because death can happen any moment, next moment, tomorrow. Because death can happen any moment, the intelligent person's first effort will be to know something that cannot be destroyed by death, and to be centered into that something which is deathless, to be rooted in that, so you are not destroyed. BUT THE WISE MAN...

..., FOLLOWING THE WAY, CROSSES OVER, BEYOND THE REACH OF DEATH. Death is the most important phenomenon - far more important than birth, because the birth has already happened; now you cannot do anything about it. But death has to happen - something can be done about it, some preparation. You can be ready to receive it, you can be consciously in a state of welcome for it. You missed the opportunity of birth...

... of a buddha. If you can remain moment to moment aware, you will become perfectly clear that there is something in you which is beyond death, which cannot be burned, cannot be destroyed, which is indestructible. And to know that rock of indestructibility within you is the beginning of a new life. HE LEAVES THE DARK WAY FOR THE WAY OF THE LIGHT. The way of living unconsciously is called by Buddha the...

... die in a state of unconsciousness. They live unconscious - they were sleep-walkers in their lives - and they die unconscious. They miss all. Death has to be explored, and with tremendous joy, because you are not going to die! You are the very principle of life - there is no possibility for it to be destroyed. Only the shell around you will die, only the body will be gone, not you, and when the body...

... falls you become infinite, you become unbounded. So the preparation for life is very ordinary; any school, college, university can do it. Now you have to be part of my university. We teach death - how to prepare for it and how to be able to celebrate it. If one can die dancing one has overcome death. And that is the whole purpose of life: to overcome death, to know that death is false, to experience...

... Available: N.A. Video Available: N.A. Length: N.A. [To an elderly sannyasin] Because the last days of the life should be totally devoted to prayer, to meditation, to god. One has to prepare for death. And death is more important than life, because life is just superficial. Death will take you to the ultimate core of existence. It will reveal to you the eternal. Much has to be prepared; otherwise people...

... structure and the consciousness. So only two ways are there. One is: don't allow the consciousness to grow. Then you are perfectly at ease, but that ease is like death, and at a very great cost. The other possibility is: break the structure. And it is easy to break it if you are friendly, understanding, loving, thankful to the structure, because it has helped you up to now, it protected you. [She says: It...

... reason for it. We did not think it wise to keep a chronological record of those who, in our view, are not subject to birth and death, who are beyond both. A record is kept in the case of people who are born and who die, who are subject to the law of birth and death. There is no sense in writing the biography of those who transcend the limits of birth and death, of arrival and departure. Not that we...

... happen in the moment, it happens when the moment ceases to be. Let alone telling Krishna's story, an enlightened person cannot even tell his own. He cannot say when he was born and when he is going to die, he can only say, "What is this question of birth and death? I was never born and I will never die." If you ask an awakened one what it is we call the river of time that comes and goes, that...

... lives is worse than death, it is a living death. And if one dies the way one is, it means one has found a new life for himself, new and sublime. If I can die the way I am, retaining my individuality, then my death becomes authentic, then it is my death. But we all live borrowed lives. Even our own lives are not our own, real and authentic. We are all second hand and false people. Krishna stands for an...

... he will discover the secret of that particular poison. Maybe he does or does not live to tell the world about his findings. There are poisons that kill instantly, but a daring scientist can take a particular poison because through his death he will tell the world what it is. That will be enough fulfillment for him. We can say he was simply crazy to give up a thousand pleasures of the world and die...

... Archive Code: N.A. Short Title: N.A. Audio Available: N.A. Video Available: N.A. Length: N.A. Question 1: QUESTIONER: WHAT IS THE TIME OF KRISHNA'S BIRTH? WHAT INVESTIGATIONS HAVE BEEN MADE UP TO NOW? AND WHAT IS YOUR OWN VIEW ON THIS MATTER? DO YOU THINK AN ENLIGHTENED PERSON CANNOT RIGHTLY ANSWER SUCH A QUESTION? No record has been kept about the time of Krishna's birth and death. and there is a good...

... East has now been imitating the West, ever since it came under the latter's influence. And that, too, is not without reason, Religions of the Judaic tradition, both Christianity and Mohammedanism, believe there is only one life, one incarnation given to us on this earth. All of life is confined to one birth and one death; it begins with birth and totally ends with death. There is no other life either...

... before or after this one. It is therefore not accidental that people who think that life completes its entire tenure in the brief interval between one birth and death should insist on keeping a record of it all. It is simply natural, But those who have known that life recurs again and again, that one is born and then dies count less numbers of times, that the chain of arrivals and departures is almost...

... knowledge is not derived from the state of sleep itself, but from your awareness of the time of your going to bed in the night and of leaving it in the morning. But in case you are not aware of it, you cannot say how long you slept. Recently I visited a woman who has been in a coma for the last nine months, and her physicians say that she will remain in the coma for three years and will also die in the...

... events and dates. And no enlightened person can say when Krishna happened or did not happen It is not at all necessary, nor has it any relevance. If someone says it has, he only betrays his ignorance. We were never born, nor are we ever going to die. We have been here since eternity. Only eternity is. But we all keep track of time continuously, from morning to morning And we measure everything with the...

..., Mahavira and Krishna cannot be imprisoned in a moment. We do try to imprison them so, because we are attached to our limitations, to our fragments. The day people in the West grow in understanding, they will forget all about the time of Christ's birth and death. In this matter the understanding of the people of the East is much deeper. And it has given rise to a lot of misunderstanding in the West in...

... is the last of it, I will continue to come and say it again and again. And you are mistaken to think that those before you here will die at your hands. They have been born and died countless times in the past and they will be here again and again in the future." It was for this reason a biography of Krishna was not recorded. It would be hard for history to research and recover the lost records...

... came with his birth and departed with his death. We were much more concerned with the innermost spirit, with the soul, than with its material frame. And as far as the soul is concerned! dates and years are not significant. Question 3: QUESTIONER: IT IS TRUE THAT THE INNER MOST SPIRIT OF MEN LIKE KRISHNA AND CHRIST IS ETERNAL, BUT THEIR TEMPORAL BODIES ALSO COME AND GO, AND WE HERE ARE INTERESTED IN...

... accept it as himself. They deny they are bodies, so any account of their bodies will not comprise an account of them. No statues of Buddha were made for a full five hundred years after his death, because Buddha had forbidden his disciples to do so. He had clearly said no statues of his physical body should be made. So his followers had no way to create idols of Buddha. For five hundred years they had...

.... Buddha is dying, and somebody asks him where he will be after his death. Buddha says, "I will be nowhere, because I have never been anywhere. I am not what you see me to be, I am what I see me to be." So the outer life is nothing more than a myth, a drama; it has no significance. And saying loudly and effectively that the outer has no significance whatsoever, we refused to write its history...

... times of his birth and death. It was a sheer waste of time. It was not necessary to preserve such insignificant information about such a significant person. Therefore I tell you not to be concerned about such small matters. This concern only shows the way your mind works: it shows that you give value to the physical body, to its birth and death, to its external incidents. But the body is just the...

... periphery of life, the external. What is really significant is that which lies at its center - alone, untouched, free of all associations and attachments. The witnessing soul at the center is what is really, really significant. When, at the moment of your death, you look back on your life you will see it is no different from dreams. If, even today, you look back on the life you have lived, you will wonder...

... history. If you get involved with history you will miss that which is beyond all records, all history. You will miss the truth. Question 4: QUESTIONER: WE FULLY AGREE WITH YOU THAT WE NEED NOT CONCERN OURSELVES WITH THE RECORDS OF KRISHNA'S GROSS LIFE, LIKE THE DATES OF HIS BIRTH AND DEATH. BUT WE SHOULD CERTAINLY WANT TO KNOW THE WAY KRISHNA LIVED HIS LIFE, THE MESSAGE HE HAD FOR US, THE SIGNIFICANCE...

... OF HIS LIFE'S STORY. YOU SAID A LITTLE WHILE AGO THAT RELIGION CANNOT HAVE A HISTORY BECAUSE IT IS ETERNAL. BUT WHAT DOES KRISHNA MEAN BY DHARMA OR RELIGION WHEN HE SAYS IN THE GEETA THAT ONE'S OWN DHARMA, EVEN IF IT IS QUALITATIVELY INFERIOR, IS PREFERABLE TO AN ALIEN DHARMA, THAT IT IS BETTER TO DIE IN ONE'S OWN DHARMA THAN TO LIVE WITH AN ALIEN DHARMA? HE SAYS THAT EVERY ALIEN DHARMA IS PERILOUS...

... he can never become me; I will serve only as a facade, a mask for him. Deep down he will remain what he is: he will remain the one who imitates, he can never be the one he imitates. Whatever he does, the masquerader cannot become the masqueraded. Krishna says it is better to die in one's own nature than to live in any other's nature, that imitation is destructive, suicidal. To live the way another...

... has a sword in his hand. He can find his soul and its fulfill, ment only in the depths of courage and valor, of battle and war. He cannot be fulfilled in any other manner. That is why Krishna tells him, "It is better to die upholding one's true nature than to live a borrowed life, which is nothing less than a horror. You die as a warrior, rather than live as a renegade. Then you will live a...

... dead life. And a living death is better than a dead life." Here Krishna does not use dharma in the sense of religions like Hinduism, Christianity or Mohammedanism. By dharma he means one's individuality. India has made four broad divisions or categories on the basis of individuality. What is popularly known as varna is nothing but broad categorizations of human beings on the basis of their own...

... individuality; she gains her soul. Someone gives up wealth for the sake of knowledge. He leaves his family, goes begging in the streets, even starves for the sake of knowledge. We wonder if he has gone out of his mind. A scientist puts a grain of deadly poison on the tip of his tongue just to know how it tastes and how it kills. He will die, but he is a brahmin, he is in search of knowledge. He will die, but...

... fulfilled. He is a gambler; he cannot live with out risking. And he is not content with staking petty things like money, he will stake his whole life, where every moment hangs between life and death. Then alone, he can come to his full flowering. Such a man is a kshatriya, a samurai, a warrior. Someone like Rockefeller or Morgan finds his fulfillment by creating wealth. There is an interesting anecdote in...

... unhealthy. It was not necessary at all. The division of mankind into varnas represents an insight, and a deep insight at that. Therefore Krishna tells Arjuna. "Know rightly who you are. It is better to die upholding your self-nature than to live as a second-hand man. That is sheer madness." In fact, it does not characterize the self-nature adequately, it is, after all, only a broad and rough...

... made you altogether genuine and new. So don't turn it into a counterfeit: it would be a betrayal of his trust. That is why Krishna says, "Rather die in your own nature than live in an alien nature." It is simply suicidal. Beware of it. Do not, even by mistake, follow any other, or become like another. To be oneself is the only virtue and to be like another the only sin." But don't...

..., you will be just nobody. But remember, you will reach there only as yourself, not as somebody else. It is in this context that Krishna said, SWADHARME NIDHANAM SHREYAH PARDHARMO BHAYAVAHAH. Question 5: QUESTIONER: IT SEEMS THAT KRISHNA IS TRYING TO SUPPRESS ARJUNA WHEN HE SAYS, "IT IS BETTER TO DIE IN ONE'S OWN NATURE THAN TO LIVE IN AN ALIEN ONE. " PERHAPS ARJUNA IS TRYING TO TRANSCEND...

... had argued with him that, "It is better to die in one's own nature," he would simply have said, "Not to kill is my self-nature; I would die before killing." He would have told Krishna, "Don't tell me to kill. Killing is alien to me." If the Geeta had been preached to Mahavira, he would simply have stepped out of Krishna's chariot, said goodbye and retired to the forest...

... him, "It is better to die in one's own nature than to live in any alien nature." And had Arjuna this much to say, "This is my true nature, that it would be better to die than to kill others. Forgive me, I am walking out on the battle. " The story would have ended right there. Krishna does not ask him to take on an alien nature; on the contrary, he insists over and over again on...

.... It is therefore that a dead man does not fall ill. Hence, it invariably happens, that after a certain age, death also becomes difficult. When a man does not have enough well-being even to die, it becomes very difficult. After the age of 80-90, death too. comes crawling. Lukman has said that if a man has never fallen ill, he dies in his first illness. He is so alive that the first illness kills him...

... his life-time." This feeling of Napolean makes Lao Tzu's theory absolutely clear. Napoleon says, "Something died within me at the death of my enemy; something that could only be when he was alive. I am now the poorer to that extent. There was something in me which was entirely due to him. Today, he no longer is and within me also, it is not the same." This means that even enemies have...

.... A man who falls ill many times, does not die easily. In order to die instantaneously, a living well-being is required. This sounds contradictory. We see illness as against health. But if we observe from within, we shall find that illness is a means of protection for good health. The tough endeavour the body makes to preserve your health, is the illness itself. A man gets fever; this only means...

..., "SO IT IS THAT EXISTENCE AND NON-EXISTENCE GIVE BIRTH THE ONE TO THE IDEA OF THE OTHER." Existence gives the idea of non-existence. Non- existence gives the idea of existence. In other words, life gives the idea of death, death gives the idea of life. We cannot think what existence would be like without non-existence. We cannot think what life would be like if there were no death. If there...

... is life there is bound to be death. There is no way for life to exist without death. Why does Lao Tzu say this? He says this so that once this comes within your understanding, your mind will be filled with the feeling of acceptance. Then you no longer will be afraid of death. Then you will know it to be a necessary part of life. Then you will have the ability to accept and welcome death also. Then...

... you will understand that when we desire life, we automatically desire death. If I take a step towards life, I invariably walk towards death. Then you will know that to accept life alone, is foolish. Life can only be together with death. Life and death cannot be chosen separately, they go together. If I desire life I must desire death also. If I do not desire death, I cannot desire life. Then in both...

... these conditions, an uncommon knowledge is born. If a man gives up the desire both for life and death, he attains the state of non-attachment. Or if he embraces life and death together and makes no distinction between them, then too, he reaches the state of supreme non-attachment. The pair should be accepted completely or not accepted at all, then only can you slip out of the pairs of opposites...

.... Generally what we do is, we try to save one against the other. The mind says, "Life is worth saving, death deserves to be shunned. Love should he upheld and hate should be discarded; the friend should be protected, the enemy destroyed." The mind says, "Honour is welcome, indignity is not; health should be there but not illness; youth should come but not old age." The mind craves for...

... be broken apart. They are united. To call them united is an expression of language. Actually, they are one. They are the two ends of the same thing. It is just as if a man would say, "I shall breathe in but I shall not breathe out." This man will surely die for the in-going breath is also the out-going breath. Either both should remain or both should not. There is no way of keeping one...

... change. The valley becomes the peak of the mountain and the peak becomes the valley. Life becomes death and from death evolves life again. Youth changes into old age and the old are reborn into children. No, darkness is not darkness and light is not light. Darkness is the dim form of light and light is the bright form of darkness. Lao Tzu or Aristotle - such is the decisive state of the world today. So...

... way of thinking is the same. Lao Tzu is absolutely opposite. If Lao Tzu becomes the father of a Science, it will be a different science altogether. We cannot imagine what its vision will be. Understand it this way: If Aristotle is right, we shall be able to destroy death and preserve life. The more we annihilate death, the more of life will be preserved. If some day we succeed in annihilating death...

... completely, we shall be able to preserve absolute life. The there will be life and life alone. But according to Lao Tzu, it is just the opposite. If we annihilate death, we destroy life also. If death is completely destroyed, life will be no more. Let us examine this properly in context with the happenings of today. Now this is interesting that the more cures we have found for man's ailment, the more ill...

... needs money or some other favour! One of our methods of viewing life is that we stand in opposition to the whole world. Illness is our enemy, death is our enemy, old age is our enemy. All the world and even God, seem to be arraigned against us. We find ourselves all alone in this world, we have to struggle alone in the face of all this! This is one attitude, one gestalt of looking at life. Another way...

..., another gestalt is, that everything that is: the moon, the stars, the sky and the earth, the birds and the animals, the trees and the plants, the illnesses and the enemies and even death everything is - my comrade, my friend - the very part of my life; I cannot be alive without them. This is another way of looking at life. For certain the first attitude will cause anxiety. If we have to fight with all...

... the world all the twenty-four hours of the day, life cannot be joyful. And ultimately, the struggle leads to death. Each day, we have to lose: for who has ever won against life? Death comes invariably, old age comes, illness and disease do not spare us, more so when we fight against life. Death will keep coming and we will keep fighting till ultimately we find ourselves completely spent. Then...

... simple reason is, - defeat is the ultimate result. For old age is bound to come, death will overpower him for certain and then - all is lost! No matter how much the father holds on, ultimately he has to hand-over his possessions to his son. No matter how much the mother objects, the daughter-in-law becomes all-powerful in the house; and no matter what the Guru does, the disciple one day takes his place...

... slightest change in the order of things, you effect an equal change within your own selves." There is One Integrated Existence and the Non-Existence is very much a part of it. Everything is connected within this existence - death, illness: everything! And Lao Tzu says, "If there is the attitude of friendship, of companionship, between the various parts of Existence, if there is the feeling of...

... costs more. It seems alright now - we are being thrifty but remember; whatever we do, is inter-related. The slightest modification causes a great deal of difference. Lao Tzu was against change of any kind. He used to say: "Accept life as it is. Accept the Opposite also, for there is a secret to it also. Embrace death when it comes. It too, has its secret. Do not fight with life; yield to it. Fall...

.... Now this we do not connect with the fact that the birth of a child necessitates the death of the old man. But we weep and mourn the death of the old man and rejoice with music when a child is born. We do not see the connection between these two events - that the death of the elder is a preparation for the birth of the younger generation. We however do not want to part from the old and wish for the...

... young also at the same time. But both these things are not possible. Just imagine what would happen to a household where the elders do not die! In such a family, the children will go mad at their very birth! The presence of even a few ancestors would make the existence of children impossible. As it is, one generation of elders makes things quite difficult for them. All the ancestors with the knowledge...

... the experienced old man has none. What is the reason? The reason is significant. Actually, the accumulation of experiences is the advance of death, Aggregation of experiences means approach of death. It means, life's work is over and one should depart. It is now time to leave the University of Life. So now you need strength no more. No energy is required to go to the grave. You have only to slip...

... vista of experiences, lies as yet before him. He has as yet to set out to learn. So the inexperienced needs the strength to learn, whereas the experienced knows everything except death. But we are forever trying to reverse this process of existence. We strive to impart all knowledge to the child long before his time. We try to impose our experiences on him long before he begins to experience on his...

... enemy is not the enemy. All things appear in a vast pattern. an enormous gestalt. When someone comes nearer to me, I know he will go away further. When anyone goes further away, I know he will come back to me. But there is no need to worry in either case for the law of existence is such. When a person is born, it is only to die. If a person dies, it is only to be reborn. If we understand the harmony...

..., that this language of annihilation does not hold good any longer. Now neither can destroy the other and save itself. There can only be a period of 10 minutes before the destroyer gets destroyed himself. The aggressor will die 10 minutes after and there will be no time to acclaim victory! Therefore, since the last ten years, America and Russia have began to think in terms of co-operation for hostility...

...Between Death and Rebirth...

... Osho The Great Challenge: Between Death and Rebirth Main Books Headers Help Your browser does not support iframes. < Prev  Osho The Great Challenge   Next > Between Death and Rebirth From: Osho Date: Fri, 22 August 1970 00:00:00 GMT Book Title: Osho - The Great Challenge Chapter #: 13 Location: pm Archive Code: N.A. Short Title: N.A. Audio Available: N.A. Video Available...

...: N.A. Length: N.A. YOU HAVE SAID THAT YOU REMEMBER YOUR FORMER LIFE SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS AGO. CAN YOU REMEMBER YOUR NAME AT THAT TIME AND THE OCCASION OF YOUR DEATH? WHAT I AM INTERESTED IN IS WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN YOUR LAST LIFE AND YOUR PRESENT LIFE. The question seems meaningful, but it is not. Life means that something is happening, and between two lives, there is nothing happening. Between two...

... the body, nothing happens. Then you can either be aware or unconscious: these are the two possibilities. If you are unconscious then you cannot remember. If you are conscious then you can remember. But the remembrance is only of the gap; there are no events. Question 2: WERE YOU FULLY CONSCIOUS OF THE GAP BETWEEN YOUR LAST DEATH AND THIS BIRTH? Yes, I was fully conscious for those seven hundred...

...; nothing has to be done about it. If at the moment of death one dies fully conscious, with no desire, no thought, then rebirth becomes impossible. If you go to sleep fully conscious, with no desire and no thought, then in the morning on awakening there will be no thought and no desire. In the same way the last thought that you have at the moment of death works like a seed, like a potential. Its working...

... is automatic. Whenever there is an opportunity, a situation in which you can be reborn, you will be reborn. And if you have been conscious in your last life, then you will be conscious in this life also. Your birth will be a conscious birth; you will know what is happening. Then that will be your last life. If this birth has been a conscious birth, then this death will be a conscious death. Then...

... there can be no further birth possible. Once someone is born with full alertness, then that is his last birth. One more death will happen of course, but after that there will be no more births, no more deaths. So when I say seven hundred years passed before this birth, it is just a reflection... Generated by PreciseInfo ™ ...

...: N.A. Video Available: N.A. Length: N.A. [A sannyasin wants to go home because his father is dying of a brain tumor but is still conscious.] Then it is good - you go. And help him to die meditatively. Meditation is a bridge between life and death. It is of immense value while one is alive and it is also of immense value while one is dying. If you meditate while alive, it keeps you cool, detached; you...

... are a failure. If you remain undisturbed, you have won, you are victorious. And the final test is death. So just go and help him to be silent. Put music on - classical music will be of immense help; tell him just to listen to the music. Tell him just to watch his breath. Tell him to relax, not to fight with death, because death too is divine. And the western mind does not know-how to relax. It knows...

... perfectly well how to fight; it is a warrior and it goes on fighting to the very end. Even against death it goes on fighting. When there is no possibility of winning, even then the old habit persists. Tell him to relax. Tell him to allow death to possess him. Tell him to invite death; tell him to think of death not as a foe but as a friend. And be as happy as you can be by his side; that is the only way...

... journey more difficult. Seeing their sadness he becomes more sad, starts clinging more to life, starts fighting desperately against death, thinking that everybody is so sad that death must be something very bad. Neither the people who are around know what death is nor does he himself know. This is not a good way to say goodbye. Let there be music, let there be light, let there be laughter. Sing songs...

..., be loving, and help him feel that he is moving into another kind of life - death is only a door. Only old garments are being discarded, and he will have better garments. If he can go laughing, then you really helped him. But this is good that you are going. Be by his side and help in any way you can. Prem means love, pujari means a worshipper - worship through love. And worship is true only when it...