Unless a man is creative, he cannot find much joy in life

Source - Osho Book "Beyond Enlightenment"--ನೀಲಾ೦ಜನ
Osho - Unless a man is creative, he cannot find much joy in life. So the first principle is: Be creative.
Don't bother whether you become a world-famous artist or not; that is not the significant thing. But create something -- a beautiful song, a little music, a dance, a painting, a garden. And when the roses blossom... you cannot say that life is a drag with so many roses blossoming. A beautiful painting... you cannot say life is a drag, because this painting has been created for the first time in the world and for the last time. Nobody has done it before, and nobody will do it again; only you were capable of doing it.

Express your uniqueness in whatsoever you do.
Express your individuality.
Let existence be proud of you.

Life will not be felt like a drag; it will become a fragrance. Not only will life be a joy and a dance -- for a creative person, for a meditative person, even death will be transformed.

I have always loved a story about Bokoju, a Zen master. He was ninety years old when he died. Three days before, he informed all his disciples: "If you want to come for the last goodbye, then come. In three days' time I am going to leave the world."

So thousands of his disciples came -- and he was one of the most unique masters Zen has produced. On the third day, in the morning there was a great gathering in his garden, and he was lying under his most beautiful tree.

He suddenly asked, "Just tell me one thing: In what way should I die? -- because I don't want to die like everybody else. Ninety-nine percent of people die in their beds." He said, "That is out of the question. Remove the bed from here!"

The bed is the most dangerous thing. Ninety-nine percent of people die there, and every night you go to bed without thinking of the danger. When the light is turned off, just put your mattress down on the floor. Then there is some chance of surviving -- death may try to search for you on the bed and may not be able to find you.

Bokoju said, "Take this bed away from here, and suggest something, something unique, worthy of Bokoju."
The disciples thought what to suggest? Somebody said that, "You can die sitting in a lotus posture. Many masters have died in the lotus posture."

But Bokoju said, "That is not very unique, because many people have died in that posture."
Somebody said, "You can die standing."
He said, "That seems to be appealing."
But one man objected; he said, "That's not right, because I know of a Zen master who died standing. It will not be unique."

Bokoju said, "It is very difficult. Find out quickly because my time is running out, and I cannot delay any more. So many idiots are here, and you cannot find just one unique way of dying for your beloved master?"
One man suggested, "Nobody has ever died standing on his head. You can do a headstand and die."
Bokoju said, "Perfectly right!"
He stood on his head and died.

Now the problem was... The disciples said, "What to do?" -- because they know what has to be done when a person dies in his bed. But what to do with this fellow who has died standing on his head?
Somebody said, "His elder sister, who is also a great master, lives just close by. It is better to call her and not to interfere, because this is a strange thing. We will be condemned later on if we don't do the right thing, so it is better to call somebody who can take responsibility."

The sister came and she said, "Bokoju! From your very childhood you have been mischievous -- and this is no time to be mischievous! Just lie down!"
And Bokoju laughed and said, "Okay sister -- because I cannot disobey you. I was almost dead. I was just waiting to see what these people would do trying to work out what to do with me after death. But these idiots have brought you here! And you always were a killjoy. You've destroyed the whole fun! Now I will die in the ordinary, orthodox way." And he died.
And his sister did not even look back, she just went away.
People said, "But he has died!"

She said, "It was time. He was delaying it. And it is not right to play jokes on existence. At least at the time of death one should be serious! Now he is dead, you do whatever you want to do. Even if he is not dead, finish him off -- his time is up!"

Make your life... Find out why you are feeling bored. Change. It is such a small life. Take risks, be a gambler -- what can you lose?

We come with empty hands, we go with empty hands. There is nothing to lose. Just a little time to be playful, to sing a beautiful song, and the time is gone. Each moment is so precious.

If you are silent, if you are creative, if you are loving, if you are sensitive to beauty, if you are grateful to this vast universe... There are millions of stars, which are dead -- and you are so small, yet you have the most precious thing in existence... life. And not only life, but the possibility of becoming a consciousness, of becoming enlightened, of coming to a space where death has never entered.

If Bokoju is not serious, the reason is because he knows there is no death, it is only changing houses, or changing clothes at the most. It is excitement -- even death is a great excitement and ecstasy. It is just your wrong approach.

Drop it, and don't drop it slowly slowly, piece by piece. Drop it totally, instantly. When you go out of this place, go dancing and singing. Let the whole world think you are insane, that is far better.

Stories I told to my daughter---Neelanjan

 A Cup of Tea
Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912) received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.

Nan-in saved tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. 'It is overfull. No more will go in!'

‘Like this cup,' Nan-in said. ‘You are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup? '
  

Encho was a famous storyteller. 

His tales of love stirred the hearts of his listeners. When he narrated a story of war, it was as if the listeners themselves were on the field of battle.

One day Encho met Yamaoka Tesshu, a layman who had almost embraced master hood in Zen. 'I understand,' said Yamaoka, 'you are the best storyteller in our land and that you make people cry or laugh at will. Tell me my favorite story of the Peach Boy. When I was a little tot I used to sleep beside my mother, and she often related this legend. In the
middle of the story I would fall asleep. Tell it to me just is my mother did.'

Encho dared not attempt to do this. He requested time to study. Several months later he went to Yamaoka and said, 'Please give me the opportunity to tell you the story. 'Some other day,' answered Yamaoka.

Encho was keenly disappointed. He studied further and tried again. Yamaoka rejected him many times. When Encho would start to talk Yamaoka would stop him, saying: 'You are not yet like my mother.'

It took Encho five years to be able to tell Yamaoka the legend as his mother had told it to him. In this way, Yamaoka imparted Zen to Encho. 

Stingy in Teaching

A young physician in Tokyo named Kusuda met a college friend who had been studying Zen. The young doctor asked him what Zen was.
'I cannot tell you what it is,' the friend replied, 'but one thing is certain. If you understand Zen, you will not be afraid to die.'

That's fine: said Kusuda. “I will try it. Where can I find a teacher?'
'Go to the master Nan-in,' the friend told him.

So Kusuda went to call on Nan-in. He carried a dagger nine and a half inches long to determine whether or not the teacher himself was afraid to die.When Nan-in saw Kusuda he exclaimed: 'Hello, friend. How are you? We haven't seen each other for a long time!'
This perplexed Kusuda, who replied: 'We have never met before.'

‘That’s right,' answered Nan-in. I mistook you for another physician who is receiving instruction here.'
With such a beginning, Kusuda lost his chance to test the master, so reluctantly be asked if he might receive Zen instruction.
Nan-in said: 'Zen is not a difficult task. If you are a physician, treat your patients with kindness. That is Zen.'

Kusuda visited Nan-in three times. Each time Nan-in told him the same thing.' A physician should not waste time around here. Go home and take care of your patients.'

It was not yet clear to Kusuda how such teaching could remove the fear of death. So on his fourth visit he complained: 'My friend told me when one learns Zen one loses his fear of death. Each time I come here all you tell me is to take care of my patients. I know that much. If that is your so-called Zen, I am not going to visit you any more.'
Nan-in smiled and patted the doctor. ‘I have been too strict with you. Let me give you a koan.' He presented Kusuda with Joshu’s Mu to work over, which is the first mind-enlightening problem in the book called The Gateless Gate.

Kusuda pondered this problem of Mu (No-thing) for two years. At length he thought he had reached certainty of mind.
But his teacher commented: "You are not in yet.'

Kusuda continued in concentration for another year and a half. His mind became placid. Problems dissolved. No-thing became the truth. He served his patients well and, without even knowing it, be was free from concern over life and death. Then when he visited Nan-in his old teacher just smiled.

Zen Quotes Zen Sayings

    * When you observe your delusions, you will know that they are baseless and not dependable. In this way you can cut confusion and doubt. This is what i call wisdom. - Bodhidharma
       
    * Walking is Zen, sitting is Zen;
      Talking or silent, moving unmoving,-
      The essence is at ease. - Yoka
       
    * When your consciousness becomes a still mirror, a still lake, a silent reservoir of energy, God is reflected in it. - Osho
       
    * You don't throw off your burdens even when you go to bed; you are busy with illusions. - Yakusan
       
    * Mind is like the wood or stone from which a person carves an image. If he carves a dragon or a tiger, and seeing it fears it, he is like a stupid person creating a picture of hell and then afraid to face it. If he does not fear it, then his unnecessary thoughts will vanish. Part of the mind produces sight, sound, taste, odor and sensibility, and from them raises greed, anger and ignorance with al] their accompanying likes and dislikes.
      -  Bodhidharma
       
    * Stop talking and thinking,
      And there is nothing
      You will not be able to know. - Sosan
       
    * since the journey of life
      is little but grief and pain,
      why should we be so reluctant
      to return to the sky of our native place? - Ikkyu
       
    * Confused by thoughts,
      we experience duality in life.
      Unencumbered by ideas,
      the enlightened see the one Reality. - Hui Nen

# This one life has no form and is empty by nature. If you become attached to any form, you should reject it. If you see an ego, a soul, a birth or a death, reject them all. - Bodhidharma
 
# When you are silent, it speaks;
When you speak, it is silent. - Yoka
 
# When no discriminating thoughts arise,
the old mind ceases to exist. - Sosan
 
# Among the greatest treasures
To be found on earth,
Being of nothingness
Is the greatest.
 
# A sagacious student does not depend on his teacher’s words, but uses his own experience to find the truth. A dull student depends on coming to a gradual understanding through his teacher’s word: a teacher has two
kinds of students; one hears the teacher’s words without clinging to the material nor to the immaterial, without attaching to form or to nonform, Without thinking of animate objects or of inanimate objects... This is the Sagacious student; the other, who is avid for understanding, accumulates meanings, and mixes good and bad, is the dull student. -  Bodhidharma
 
# When things are no longer important, only consciousness becomes important. When things are no longer significant, a new search, a new door opens. Then you are not rushing towards the without: you start slipping into the within. The kingdom of God is within. And once you drop identifying with things, suddenly you are no longer fighting -- there is no point. You start moving with the river of existence. Arrival at home is effortless. - Osho
 
# "It is present everywhere.
There is nothing it does not contain.
However only those who have previously
planted wisdom - seeds will be able
to continuously see it. - Dogen
 
# When practitioners of Zen fail to transcend
the world of their senses and thoughts,
all they do has no value. - Huang Po

# Do not search for the truth;
only cease to hold opinions. - Sosan
 
# Sitting silently, doing nothing, spring comes and the grass grows by itself. - Basho
 
# If you don't find a teacher soon, you'll live this life in vain. it's true, you have the buddha-nature. but without the help of a teacher you'll never know it. only one person in a million becomes enlightened without a teacher's help. - Bodhidharma
 
# To find a buddha, you have to see your nature. Whoever sees his nature is a buddha. If you don't see your nature, invoking buddhas, reciting sutras, making offerings and keeping precepts are all useless. -  Bodhidharma
 
# When you try to stop activity
To achieve passivity
Your very effort fills you with activity. - Sosan
 
# Too lazy to be ambitious,
I let the world take care of itself. - Ryokan
 
# Meditation is looking into your emptiness, welcoming it, enjoying it, being one with it, with no desire to fill it -- there is no need, because it is already full. - Osho
 
# When your mind doesn't stir inside, the world doesn't arise outside. When the world and the mind are both transparent, this is true vision. And such understanding is true understanding. - Bodhidharma
 
# There is no God but godliness. It is a quality, a fragrance. You experience it, you don't see it. And when you experience it, it is not something out there as an object; it is something IN HERE, in the heart of your hearts. It is your subjectivity, it is your consciousness. - Osho

#

f you seek the buddha, you will be caught by the buddha demon; if you seek the patriarchs, you will be bound by the patriarch demon. Whatever you are seeking, all becomes suffering. It is better to have nothing further to seek. - Rinzai
 
#

The inner emptiness is the door to God. - Osho
 
#

Knowing one's mind, seeing into one's nature, is the way without mistakes. - Joshu
 
#

Discrimination with no-mind is right. Discrimination with mind is Wrong. When one transcends right and wrong, he is truly right. - Bodhidharma
 
#

The Great Way is not difficult
For those who have no preferences.
When love and hate are both absent
Everything becomes clear and undisguised. - Sosan
 
#

Go beyond language. Go Beyong Thought. - Bodhidharma.
 
#

Let me drop a word of advice for believers of my faith.
To enjoy life’s immensity, you do not need many things. - Ryokan
 
#

Mind is simply a combination of all the thoughts, of all the clouds. Mind has no independent nature of its own. When all the thoughts are gone and the sky is clean and clear, you will see that everything that you have paid so much attention to is nothing but emptiness. Your thoughts were all empty. They contained nothing, they were void. - Osho
 
#

To attain enlightenment you have to see your nature. unless you see your nature, all this talk about cause and effect is nonsense. buddhas don't practice nonsense. a buddha is free of karma, free of cause and effect. to say he attains anything at all is to slander a buddha. what could he possibly attain? Even focusing on a mind, a power, an understanding or a view is impossible for a buddha. a buddha isn't one-sided. the nature of his No-Mind is basically empty, neither pure nor impure. he's free of practice and realization. he's free of cause and effect. A buddha doesn't observe precepts. a buddha doesn't do good or evil. a buddha isn't energetic or lazy. a buddha is someone who does nothing, someone who can't even focus his mind on a buddha.  Bodhidharma

In His presence, silence is the gift of tongues. - Hakim Sanai #

      * Bring all of yourself to his door:

      bring only a part

      and you've brought nothing at all. - Hakim Sanai

     

    * I am a bird of the heavenly garden

      I belong not to the earthly sphere.

      They have made for two or three days

      A cage of my body. - Rumi

     

    * O Beloved, there is no room left in my heart

      For anything but You! - Hafiz

     

    * Sweep with your soul,

      before your beloved's door.

      Only then will you become her lover. - Baba Aziz

     

    * There are as many paths to God as there are souls on Earth. - Hadith

     

    * If I adore You out of fear of Hell, burn me in Hell!

      If I adore you out of desire for Paradise,

      Lock me out of Paradise.

      But if I adore you for Yourself alone,

      Do not deny to me Your eternal beauty.  - Rabia

     

    * Between me and You, there is only me.

      Take away the me, so only You remain. - Hallaj

     

    * Give me ecstasy, give me naked wonder, O my Creator!

      Give birth to the Beloved in me, and let this lover die.

      Let a thousand wrangling desires become one Love. - Rumi

     When the eye is pure

    it sees purity. - Hakim Sanai

Green wood can be bent. But once it becomes dry, it can only be straightened by fire. - Saadi of Shiraz

#

Be grateful for whoever comes,

because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond. - Rumi

#

I was starving until one night

My love tricked God Himself

To fall into my bowl. - Hafiz

#

I love God: I have no time left

In which to hate the devil. - Rabia

#

How will you ever know him,

as long as you are unable

to know yourself? - Hakim Sanai

#

From Him forgiveness comes so fast,

it reaches us before repentance

has even taken shape on our lips. - Hakim Sanai

#

One who has vanity and conceit in his head.

Imagine not that he will ever hear the truth - Saadi of Shiraz

#

Join me in the pure atmosphere of gratitude

For life. - Hafiz

#

Your hope in my heart is the rarest treasure

Your Name on my tongue is the sweetest word. - Rabia

#

He is no tyrant:

for everything he takes,

he gives back seventy-fold;

and if he closes one door

he opens ten others for you. - Hakim Sanai

#

It is the rule with drunkards to fall upon each other,

to quarrel, become violent, and make a scene.

The lover is even worse than a drunkard.

I will tell you what love is: to enter a mine of gold.

And what is that gold?

The lover is a king above all kings,

unafraid of death, not at all interested in a golden crown. - Rumi

#

In His presence, silence is the gift of tongues. - Hakim Sanai

#

One who gives advice to heedlessness is himself in need of an advice. - Saadi of Shiraz

#

Worship him as if you could see him with your physical eyes;

though you don't see him,

he sees you. - Hakim Sanai

#

Jealousy

And most all of your sufferings

Are from believing

You know better than God. - Hafiz

#

Happy are those who find fault with themselves instead of finding fault with others. - Muhammad (Essential Sufism)

#

Ten devishes can sleep beneath one blanket.

Two kings cannot rein in one kingdom - Saadi of Shiraz

#

He introduced himself to us

out of kindness: how else

could we have known him?

Reason took us as far as the door;

but it was his presence that let us in. - Hakim Sanai

#

When my Beloved appears,

With what eye do I see Him?

With His eye, not with mine,

For none sees Him except Himself. - Ibn Arabi

#

We tried reasoning

our way to Him:

it did not work;

but the moment we gave up,

no obstacle remained. - Hakim Sanai

#

If a gem falls into mud, it will still remain valuable.

And if the dust descends to heaven, it will still of no value. - Saadi of Shiraz

#

Your task is not to seek for love,

but merely to seek and find

all the barriers within yourself

that you have built against it. - Rumi

#

No one can keep us from carrying God

Wherever we go. - Hafiz

#

Within this earthen vessel are bowers and groves, and within it

is the Creator: Within this vessel are the seven oceans and the unnumbered stars.

The touchstone and the jewel-appraiser are within;

And within this vessel the Eternal soundeth, and the spring wells

up. Kabîr says: "Listen to me, my Friend! My beloved Lord is within." -  Kabir

#

 Bullah has fallen in love with the Lord.

He has given his life and body as earnest.

His Lord and Master is Shah Inayat

who has captivated his heart. - Bulle Shah

#

In this world you never stand by your own strength;

It is the Invisible that sustains you every moment. - Sa'adi

#

Deep in the sea there are riches beyond your imagination.

But if you seek safety, that is at the shore. - Saadi of Shiraz

#

Where do you think you will Be

When God reveals Himself

Inside of you? - Hafiz

#

He treasures you more

than you do yourself.

Rise, have done with fairy tales;

leave your base passions,

and come to me. - Hakim Sanai

#

Melt yourself down in his search:

venture your life and your soul

in the path of sincerity;

strive to pass from nothingness to being,

and make yourself drunk with the wine of God. - Hakim Sanai

#

A donkey with a load of holy books is still a donkey. - Traditional (Essential Sufism)

#

No one throws stones at the barren tree. - Saadi of Shiraz

Mowlana Jalaluddin Rumi Quotes

    * Open the love window.
      The moon won't use the door,
      only the window.
     
  A lifetime without 

  Love is of    no    account
  Love is the Water of Life
  Drink it down with heart and    
 * The sky was lit by the splendor of the moon
      So powerful I fell to the ground
      Your love has made me sure
      I am ready to forsake this worldly life
      and surrender to the magnificence of your Being
     
    * If I love myself
      I love you.
      If I love you
      I love myself.
     
    * I see so deeply within myself.
      Not needing my eyes, I can see everything clearly.
      Why would I want to bother my eyes again
      Now that I see the world through His eyes?
     
    * With passion pray.
      With passion work.
      With passion make love.
      With passion eat and drink and dance and play.
      Why look like a dead fish
      in this ocean of God?
     
    * Love is from the infinite, and will remain until eternity.
      The seeker of love escapes the chains of birth and death.
      Tomorrow, when resurrection comes,
      The heart that is not in love will fail the test.
     
    * This aloneness is worth more than a thousand lives.
      This freedom is worth more than all the lands on earth.
      To be one with the truth for just a moment,
      Is worth more than the world and life itself.
     
    * The intellectual is always showing off,
      the lover is always getting lost.
      The intellectual runs away.
      afraid of drowning;
      the whole business of love
      is to drown in the sea.

Everyone is so afraid of death, but the real sufis just laugh: nothing tyrannizes their hearts. What strikes the oyster shell does not damage the pearl.

If in thirst you drink water from a cup, you see God in it. Those who are not in love with God will see only their own faces in it.

He is a letter to everyone. You open it. It says, 'Live!'

In truth everything and everyone
Is a shadow of the Beloved,
And our seeking is His seeking
And our words are His words...
We search for Him here and there,
while looking right at Him.
Sitting by His side, we ask:
'O Beloved, where is the Beloved?'

God turns you from one feeling to another and teaches you by means of opposites, so that you will have two wings to fly - not one.

Remember, the entrance door to the sanctuary is inside you.
Gaining wisdom
Rumi quotes about spiritual growth and development

No mirror ever became iron again; No bread ever became wheat; No ripened grape ever became sour fruit. Mature yourself and be secure from a change for the worse. Become the light.

Only from the heart Can you touch the sky.

Patience is the key to joy.

People of the world don't look at themselves, and so they blame one another.

Since in order to speak, one must first listen, learn to speak by listening.

That which is false troubles the heart, but truth brings joyous tranquility.

The intelligent want self-control; children want candy.

The middle path is the way to wisdom.

The only lasting beauty is the beauty of the heart.

Thirst drove me down to the water where I drank the moon's reflection.

To praise is to praise how one surrenders to the emptiness.

We come spinning out of nothingness, scattering stars like dust.

We rarely hear the inward music, but we're all dancing to it nevertheless.

You think the shadow is the substance.
About LOVE
Rumi sayings and quotes

Where There is Great Love

Where There is Great Love Poster
Stephanie Marrott

Hangovers come with love, yet love's the cure for hangovers.

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.

The way you make love
is the way God will be with you.


Close both eyes
to see with the other eye.


Every object, every being,
is a jar full of delight.


Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy,
absentminded. Someone sober
will worry about things going badly.
Let the lover be.


The agony of lovers
burns with the fire of passion.
Lovers leave traces of where they've been.
The wailing of broken hearts
is the doorway to God.


Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form.


Friends are enemies sometimes, and enemies friends.


I was a tiny bug. Now a mountain. I was left behind. Now honored at the head. You healed my wounded hunger and anger, and made me a poet who sings about joy.


If your guidance is your ego, don't rely on luck for help. you sleep during the day and the nights are short. By the time you wake up your life may be over.


Let the beauty we love be what we do.


Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absent-minded. Someone sober will worry about events going badly. Let the lover be.


Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love.


Most people guard against going into the fire, and so end up in it.


My friend, the sufi is the friend of the present moment. To say tomorrow is not our way.


Nightingales are put in cages because their songs give pleasure. Whoever heard of keeping a crow?


No longer a stranger, you listen all day to these crazy love-words. Like a bee you fill hundreds of homes with honey, though yours is a long flight from here.
when I read  really stunned about his spiritual attainment...Neelanjan

some of osho s intresting articles Neelanjan

Bodhidharma coming to China was carrying the message, ”Don't just waste your life on the
circumference, which is nothing but a circle drawn in the air. Look inwards. Always remember
that the difference between life and death is not much - just a few breaths, a few heartbeats missed,
and you are no more in the body. But inside, in this ephemeral circle of air is the very solid, immortal
rock of the Buddha.” Bodhidharma went to China to carry the message to which India had become
Absolutely blind and unreceptive.
I have heard about an old Jew who was dying, a very rich man. His four sons were discussing: ”The
old fellow is going to die. What to do about the funeral procession?”
The youngest son said, ”He always wanted to have a Rolls Royce. The poor fellow could not manage
it, not because he did not have the money, but it was impossible to part him from his money. Once
he had got hold of it, then that money could not be used in any way. But we can have for his funeral
procession a Rolls Royce - at least once, a one-way drive. He will not come back.”
The second son said, ”Don't be stupid. What does it matter to a dead man whether he is riding the
Rolls Royce or just a bullock cart. An unnecessary waste! You are too young, you don't understand.”
The third son said, ”So you propose a bullock cart. My feeling is: we are four, we can carry him on
our shoulders. The cemetery is not far away.”
The old man was listening to everything. He suddenly sat up in the bed and said, ”Where are my
shoes?”
One son said, ”Shoes? Are you going to die with your shoes on?”
He said, ”No. I simply want my shoes, because I am still alive enough to walk down to the cemetery!
Listening to the great discussion that is going on, the cheapest way is...”
But whatever you do, Shosha is right:
One of the most beautiful sayings that I have loved comes from Mahavira, a contemporary of Gautam
Buddha. A very strange statement - Mahavira says, ”If you have started the journey you have
reached already.”
If a seed has started sprouting the spring is not far away. Soon, where there was nothing there will
be beautiful flowers, with great fragrance. Mahavira is saying that if you have started the journey you
have already reached. You may not see it like that because your comprehension is very limited. You
cannot see your own future flowering. But if a man of enlightenment cannot see either, then what is
the difference? You are both blind.
  
 What is the ego? Are we always functioning through the ego or are there moments when we are free of it?  MAN HAS NO CENTER separate from the center of the whole. There is only one center in existence; the ancients used to call it Tao, dhamma, god. Those words have become old now; you can call it truth. There is only one center of existence. There are not many centers, otherwise the universe would not be really a universe, it would become a multiverse. It is a unity, hence it is called the "universe"; it has only one center.  But this is to be meditated upon a little. That one center is my center, your center, everybody's center. That one center does not mean that you are centerless, that one center simply means that you don't have a separate center. Let us say it in different words. You can make many concentric circles on one center, many circles. You can throw a pebble in a silent lake: one center arises from the fall of the pebble and then many concentric circles arise and they go on spreading to the farthest shore -- millions of concentric circles, but they all have one center.  Each can claim this center as his own. And in a way it is his center, but it is not only his. The ego arises with the claim, "The center is mine, separate. It is not your center, it is my center; it is me." The idea of a separate center is the root of the ego.  When a child is born he comes without a center of his own. For nine months in the mother's womb he functions with the mother's center as his center; he is not separate. Then he is born. Then it is utilitarian to think of oneself as having a separate center; otherwise life will become very difficult, almost impossible. TO SURVIVE, AND TO STRUGGLE for survival in the fight of life, everybody needs a certain idea of who they are. And nobody has any idea. In fact nobody can ever have any idea, because at the deepest core you are a mystery. You can't have any idea of it. At the deepest core you are not individual, you are universal.  That's why if you ask the Buddha, "Who are you?" he remains silent, he does not answer it. He cannot, because now he is no more separate. He is the whole. But in ordinary life even Buddha has to use the word 'I'. If he feels thirsty he has to say, "I am thirsty. Ananda, bring me a little water, I am thirsty."  To be exactly right, he should say, "Ananda, bring some water. The universal center is a little thirsty." But that will look a little odd. And to say it again and again -- sometimes the universal center is hungry, and sometimes the universal center is feeling a little cold, and sometimes the universal center is tired -- it will be unnecessary, absolutely unnecessary. So he continues to use the old meaningful word 'I'. It is very meaningful; even though a fiction, it is still meaningful. But many fictions are meaningful.  For example, you have a name. That is a fiction. You came without a name, you did not bring a name with you, the name was given to you. Then by constant repetition you start becoming identified with it. You know your name is Rama or Rahim or Krishna. It goes so deep that if all you three thousand sannyasins fall asleep here and somebody comes and calls, "Rama, where are you?" nobody will hear except Rama. Rama will say, "Who has come to disturb my sleep?" Even in sleep he knows his name; it has reached to the unconscious, it has seeped through and through. But it is a fiction.  But when I say it is a fiction I don't mean it is unnecessary. It is necessary fiction, it is useful; otherwise how are you going to address people? If you want to write a letter to somebody, to whom are you going to write?  A SMALL CHILD ONCE wrote a letter to God. His mother was ill and his father had died and they had no money, so he asked God for fifty rupees.  When the letter reached the post office they were at a loss -- what to do with it? Where to send it? It was simply addressed to God. So they opened it. They felt very sorry for the little boy and they decided to collect some money and send it to him. They collected some money -- he had asked for fifty rupees but they could collect only forty.  The next letter came, again addressed to God, and the boy had written, "Dear Sir, please next time when you send the money, send it directly to me, don't send it through the post office. They have taken their commission -- ten rupees!"  It will be difficult if nobody has a name. Although nobody has a name in reality, still, it is a beautiful fiction, helpful. Names are needed for others to call you, 'I' is needed for you to call yourself, but it is just a fiction. If you go deep into yourself you will find the name has disappeared, the idea of 'I' has disappeared; there is left only a pure am-ness, is-ness, existence, being.  And that being is not separate, it is not yours and mine; that being is the being of all. Rocks, rivers, mountains, trees, all are included. It is all-inclusive, it excludes nothing. The whole past, the whole future, this immense universe, everything is included in it. The deeper you go into yourself, the more and more you will find that persons don't exist, that individuals don't exist. Then what exists is a pure universalness. On the circumference we have names, egos, identities. When we jump from the circumference towards the center, all those identities disappear.  THE EGO IS just a useful fiction.  Use it, but don't be deceived by it.  You also ask, "Are we always functioning through the ego or are there moments when we are free of it?"  Because it is a fiction, there are moments when you are free of it. Because it is a fiction, it can remain there only if you go on maintaining it. A fiction needs great maintenance. Truth needs no maintenance, that is the beauty of truth. But a fiction? You have constantly to paint it, to give it a prop here and there, and it is constantly collapsing. By the time you have managed to prop up one side, the other side starts collapsing.  And that's what people go on doing their whole life, trying to make the fiction seem as if it is the truth. Have more money, then you can have a bigger ego, a little more solid than the ego of the poor man. The poor man's ego is thin; he can't afford a thicker ego. Become the prime minister or president of a country, and your ego is puffed up to extremes. Then you don't walk on the earth.  Our whole life, the search for money, power, prestige, this and that, is nothing but a search for new props, a search for new supports, to somehow keep the fiction going. And all the time you know death is coming. Whatsoever you make, death is going to destroy it. But still one goes on hoping against hope -- maybe everybody else dies, but not you.  And in a way it is true. You have always seen other people dying, you have never seen yourself dying, so it seems true also, logical also. This person dies, that person dies, and you never die. You are always there to feel sorry for them, you always go with them to the cemetery to say goodbye, and then you are back home again.  DON'T BE DECEIVED by it, because all those people were doing the same thing. And nobody is an exception. Death comes and destroys the whole fiction of your name, your fame. Death comes and simply effaces all; not even footprints are left. Whatsoever we go on making out of our life is nothing but writing on water -- not even on sand, but on water. You have not even written it, and it is gone. You cannot even read it; before you could have read it, it is gone.  But we go on trying to make these castles in the air. Because it is a fiction, it needs constant maintenance, constant effort, day and night. And nobody can be so careful for twenty-four hours. So sometimes, in spite of you, there are moments when you have a glimpse of reality without the ego functioning as a barrier. Without the screen of the ego, there are moments -- in spite of you, remember. Everybody once in a while has those moments.  For example, every night when you fall deeply into sleep, and the sleep is so deep that you cannot even dream, then the ego is no more found; all the fictions are gone. Deep dreamless sleep is a kind of small death. In dreams there is a possibility that you may still manage to remember it. People go on managing to maintain their ego even in their dreams.  Patanjali says there is not much difference between sushupti, dreamless sleep, and samadhi, the ultimate state of buddhahood -- not much difference, although there is a difference. The difference is that of consciousness. In dreamless sleep you are unconscious, in samadhi you are conscious, but the state is the same. You move into god, you move into the universal center. You disappear from the circumference and you go to the center. And just that contact with the center so rejuvenates you.  People who cannot sleep are really miserable people, very miserable people. They have lost a natural source of being in contact with god. They have lost a natural passage into the universal; a door has closed.        

just read it ....................ನೀಲಾ೦ಜನ

 gibran says ..

.Yesterday is but today's memory,
tomorrow is today's dream.


rumi says ...

Keep knocking, and the joy inside
will eventually open a window
and look to see who's there.

rumi says ...

Pale sunlight,
pale the wall.
Love moves away.
the light changes.
I need more grace
than I thought.


rumi says ...

A great silence ovecomes me,
and I wonder why I ever thought
to use language.

how you feel---Neelanjan