Time is running out. Are we doing enough to enhance our creativity ? Osho talks on creativity

Right now the whole world is in a chaos: the painter is making shoes, the man who was meant to make shoes is painting. Naturally, if you see the painting it looks crazy – it is no wonder! Everybody is somewhere where he is not supposed to be. It is such a mess!

I am reminded of a great surgeon. He was the greatest surgeon in his country, very much respected, a Nobel prize winner – and he was retiring. He was almost seventy-five, but still no young man was capable of doing such artful surgical work as he was capable of. Even at the age of seventy-five, his fingers were not trembling. He was a brain surgeon. In your small skull there are seven million nerves – you can think how small they will be – and when somebody is operating on the brain to remove some nerves, the danger is he may cut other nerves which are so close together, so the hand has not to shake at all.

At the age of seventy-five he was still a perfect surgeon, and all the doctors and the surgeons had given him a party because he was retiring. They were dancing, singing, but he was sitting in a corner, sad, with tears in his eyes. One of his old friends came by and he said, ”What is the matter? Everybody is so happy and you are looking so sad – I even see tears in your eyes.”

He said, ”Yes, there is a reason. In the first place I wanted to become a dancer, I never wanted to become a surgeon. My parents forced me. Although I became the most famous surgeon, it was not my heart’s desire. I would have been far happier just with a guitar on the street as a beggar – a singer, a dancer. ”All this fame has meant nothing to me. All these awards have meant nothing to me. Each award has only reminded me of one thing, that I am losing my life and I am not where I am supposed to be.
And now my whole life is finished. These tears are... I am crying because... why could I not rebel against my parents, and just do whatever I wanted to do?”

The world is so miserable. Ninety percent of its misery and anguish comes from the fact that everybody is doing somebody else’s work. Naturally he is not happy; he cannot put his whole soul into it.

So the parents should not decide where their children are going, in what direction. It should be decided by psychoanalysts, psychologists, teachers who have watched those children for four years during their basic education. The children should be given tests so everything is clear, where they will feel a fulfillment.
Now parents decide for a better job; their reasons for deciding are different. They are not deciding for the child and his potential, they are deciding for financial reasons, for respectability. If he becomes a great engineer or a surgeon he will have a good life, a comfortable life; he will have a respectable life. Their intention is not bad, but the path to hell is paved with good intentions. The question is not their good intention, the question is what is hidden in the child that needs a flowering.

And that is possible now. We can find out what is hidden in a child and let him move in that direction. Perhaps he may not have a very comfortable life, but he will have very contented life – and what is comfort in comparison to contentment?
Perhaps he may not become world famous, but who cares? How many people know him does not make any difference. But dancing or singing or painting, he will have a fulfillment, a flowering.
His life will be juicy.
His aura will be of joy.
This whole world can be a paradise; we just have to put everybody in his own place. Right now everybody is in the wrong place: nobody is happy, nobody is blissful, nobody is contented. And the whole responsibility is on how we start bringing up children.

Facing the God and the Guru, whom should I bow first ?

Is there any possibility for a nonserious meditator ? Osho answers

                                        There is only possibility of enlightenment if you are a nonserious meditator because seriousness is sickness, seriousness is not health.  Seriousness is a tense state of mind, it is sadness it is not overflowing joy.  Yes, the old traditions will tell you, "Be Serious".  I cannot say that to you.  Why be serious?  The birds singing in the morning are not serious.  The stars in the night are not serious.  The flowers in their different colours are not serious.  Except man, have you anything else in existence which is serious.
                                        Who has made man serious ?  It is your old traditons which have created the idea that life is not a rejoicing, that life is not playfullness; that life has to be serious, only then you can enter the paradise, only then can you meet God.  But I want to tell you, even God will not give you an audience if you reach there with serious face, long face.  You have to go there like an innocent child,playful, joyous.  You have to learn something of the sense of humor.  All your religion are lacking in that dimension-  a sense of humor.  They are all serious. 
                                        In my village, as happens all over the East every year Ramleela was played - the life of Rama.

                 The man who used to play the role of Ravana, the enemy of Rama who steals Rama's wife, was a great wrestler.  He was the champion of the whole district, and the next year he was going to stand for the championship of the whole state.  We used to take bath in the river almost simultaneously in the morning, so we became friends.  I told him,"Every year you become Ravana, every year you are being deceived.  Just the moment you are going to break shiva's bow so that you can get married to Sita, the daughter of Janaka, a messenger comes running in and informs you that your capital of Srilanka is on fire.  So you have to go, rush back to your country.  And meanwhile, Rama manages to break the bow and marry the girl.  Don't you get bored every year with the same thing ?"
                                        He said, "But this is how the story goes."
                           I said, "The story is in our hands if you listen to my suggestion.  You must have seen that most of the people are fast asleep because they have seen the sam thing year after year, generation after generation -make it a little juicy".
                                  He said, "What do you mean?"
                                  I said,"This time you do one thing I say."
                                  And he did it!
                                  When the messenger came with the message:"Your capital, the golden Srilanka, is on fire,you have to get there soon," he said,"You shut up, idiot" - he spoke in English!.
                                  That's what I had told him! The people who were asleep woke up: "Who is speaking in English in Ramleela?"
                                 And Ravana said, "You go away.I don't care.  You have deceived me every year. This time I am am going to marry Sita."

                                 And he went and broke the bow of Shiva to pieces, and threw it into the mountains - it was just a bamboo bow. And he asked Janaka,"Bring......where is your daughter? My jumbo-jet is waiting!"

                                       It was so hilarious. Even after forty years, whenever I meet somebody from my village, they remember that Ramleela. They said,"Nothing like that has ever happened."


The manager had to drop the curtains. And the man was a great wrestler, and atleast twelve people had to carry him out.

That day Ramleela could not be played. And next day they had to change Ravana; they found another person.

By the river, Ravana met me. He said,"You disturbed my whole thing."

I said,"But did you see the people clapping, enjoying, laughing? For years you have been playing the part and nobody has clapped, nobody has laughed. It was worth it!"



Religion needs a religious quality. A few qualities are missing. One of the most important is sense of humor.



They stopped me meeting their actors. They made it clear to every actor that if anybody listened to me or met me, he would not be allowed to act. But they forgot to tell one man who was not an actor.....

He was a carpenter. He used to come to do some work in my house also. So I said to him,"I cannot approach the actors this year. Last year was enough! Although I did no harm to anybody - everybody loved it, the whole city appreciated it. But now they are guarding every actor and they don't allow me close to anybody. But you are not an actor. Your function is some other work. But you can help me."

He said,"Whatever I can do, I will do, because last year was really great. Can I be of some help?"

I said,"Certainly."

And he did it......

In the war, Lakshmana, Rama's younger brother, get's wounded by a poisonous arrow. It is fatal. The physicians say that unless a certain herbal plant from the mountain Arunachal is brought, he cannot be saved, by the morning he will be dead. He is lying down on the stage unconcious. Rama is crying.

Hanuman, his most devoted follower, says, "Don't be worried. I will go immediately to Arunachal, find the herb, bring it before the morning. I just want some indications from the physician how to find it, how it looks. There may be so many herbs on the Arunachal, and the time is short, soon it is night."

The physician said,"There is no difficulty. That special herb has a unique quality. In the night it radiates and is full of light so you can see it. So anywhere you see a luminous herb you can bring it."

Hanuman goes to Sri Arunachal, but he is puzzled because the whole of Arunachal is full of luminous herbs. It is not the only herb that has that special quality. There are many other herbs which have the same quality of being luminous in the night.

Now the poor Hanuman - he is just a monkey - is at a loss what to do. So he decides to take the whole mountain, and put the mountain there in front of the physician to find the herb.

The carpenter was on top of the roof. He had to pull the rope on which Hanuman comes with a cardboard mountain with lighted candles. And I had told him,"Stop exactly in the middle. Let him hang there, with the mountain and everything!"

And he managed it.

The manager rushed out. The whole crowd was agog with excitement at what was happening. And Hanuman was perspiring, because he was hanging on the ropes with the mountain also in the other hand. Something had got stuck on the wheel on which the rope was going to be rolled. The manager rushed up. He asked the carpenter.... and the carpenter said,"I don't know what has gone wrong. The rope has got stuck somewhere."

In a hurry, finding nothing, the manager cut the ropes, and Hanuman with his mountain fell on the stage. And naturally he was angry. But the thousands of people were immensely happy. That made him even more angry.

Rama continued repeating the lines he had been told to say. He said,"Hanuman, my devoted friend...."

And Hanuman said,"To hell with your friends! Perhaps I have fractures."

Rama went on saying,"My brother is dying."

Hanuman said,"He can die any moment. What I want to know is, who cut the rope? I will kill him."

Again the curtain had to be dropped, The Ramleela postponed. And the manager and the people who were organising all approached my father saying,"Your son is destroying everything. He's making a mockery of our religion."

I said,"I'm not making a mockery of your religion. I'm simply giving it a little sense of humor."

I would like people to laugh. What is the point of repeating an old story every year? Then everybody is asleep because they know the story, they know every word of it. It is absolutely pointless.

My approach is to create a world where laughter is good, is healthy, is supported not condemned. I would like our temples to be full of laughter, singing, dancing. I would like our churches to be full of music. I would like all our religious places to be playful.

How strange it is that you continously go on saying that the world is God's leela, and you never understand the meaning of the word "leela". Leela means playfullness. If God is playful, then who are your saints not to be playful? If the whole of existence is divine play, then our lives should also be a part of it, a divine play.

So don't be worried about meditating nonseriously; in fact, that is the right way to meditate. Meditate playfully, nonseriously, because whenever you meditate seriously, you become tense. Meditation needs relaxation. Meditation needs a joyful heart. It is not work, it is play.

Living Gracefully with life situations - Osho

I am reminded of Abraham Lincoln….

I love this anecdote so much! It was his first address in the Senate as president. He was a poor man’s
son, his father was a shoemaker – in India he would have been an untouchable. Even in America people were very annoyed, irritated, angry that a shoemaker’s son had become the president; the aristocrats, the rich, the super-rich naturally were angry. There was great tension on the first day when he addressed them. As he stood up, one aristocrat also stood up and said, “Mr President, before you start speaking, I would like you to remember that your father used to make shoes for
my family. Right now I am using the shoes made by your father, so don’t forget that. Just becoming president does not mean anything. Don’t forget that you are a shoemaker’s son.”

There was absolute silence, pin-drop silence. Everybody felt that Abraham Lincoln would feel embarrassed, but instead of feeling embarrassed, he made the whole Senate feel embarrassed.He said, “It is good, I am immensely thankful to you that you reminded me about my father” — and tears came to his eyes. And he said, “How can I forget him? I know that he was a perfect shoemaker and I can never be that perfect a president. I cannot defeat the old man.  It is a question of perfection.  I know my father and I want to ask you, do you have any complaint against my father's shoes ?  Then I can come and repair them, because I have learned from my father the art of making shoes."

“You are still wearing shoes he has made — many of you must be wearing them. If they do not fit you,
if they are pinching, if you are feeling uncomfortable, don’t be worried. Although my father is dead, he made me learn the art enough to mend your shoes. I cannot replace him; he was a perfect master. I am just an amateur, but I can mend your shoes and I will always remember to try at least to become as good a president as he was a shoemaker. I cannot hope to be better than him — that is
impossible, because I know him.”

Sharing some moments with Osho

I am reminded............

It happened in Bombay that a Hindu saint who used to come there always had a big following. He was delivering his morning talk, and a very rich lady was sitting in front of him with her small child who suddenly said, "Mummy, I want to go to the bathroom".

Everybody laughed because the talk was about Vedanta the ultimate god, and suddenly that boy brings the bathroom in.

The mother tried to push him, "Sit down".

He said,"I cannot! I want to piss."

Everybody was laughing, and the saint felt embarresed. But the woman was very rich so he could not say anything to her. And he was a guest in the same woman's house, he had been there for many years. But after the meeting he called the woman separately and told her,"You should teach your child some etiquette. In a spiritual meeting he talked about bathroom and pissing, and that created such a disurbance that all my seriousness was lost and people must have forgotten all the great things that I was saying. That boy is a real devil. Either you should not bring him with you or you should teach him something."

The women said,"He insists on coming. And he is my only child and I cannot leave him crying and weeping at home. I will not be able to sit listening to you peacefully because I will remember that he will be weeping and crying."

Then the saint said,"I suggest a simple thing to you. You just tell him that if you want to go to the bathroom, you need not say that you want to piss, you can simply teach him to change the word "piss". Instead of saying 'pissing', say 'singing': "Mom, I want to sing". Nobody will know what is going on; it will be a code language. And this is not difficult. Make it clear: 'If you learn this, only then will I take you with me; otherwise no.'

The boy agreed. He said,"There is no problem for me. Whenever I feel, I will say that I want to sing. You have to understand, don't forget!"

After one year the saint came back. He was staying in the same lady's house and just in the evening the lady said,"I am in a trouble. One of my sisters is seriously sick and I have to go to see her. I may not be able to come back in the night. The child is alone. It will be a great kindness if you let him sleep with you in the bed because he has never slept alone."

The saint said,"There is no problem".

The women left.

In the middle of the night the child shook the saint and said,"I want to sing".

The saint said,"Are you mad? Is this the time for singing? In the middle of the night, disturbing all the neighbours....? Shut up and go to sleep."

The boy remained silent for a few minutes. He said,"It is difficult to shut up. You have to allow me to sing - it is coming."

The saint said,"What nonsense. The whole day I have been teaching people and in the night you won't let me sleep, and your mother has left you in my care. I tell you, go to sleep. If you want to sing, sing in the morning!".

He said,"I can't wait that long. You don't understand. I have to sing now."

So the saint said,"It seems you won't listen, so okay, sing but sing very quietly. Just come close to my ear; sing in a whisper.....nobody hears."

The boy said,"I warn you." He said, "Don't tell me later on. It seems that you don't know what singing means."

The saint said,"You think you know more than me? You just sing whatever you want to. Be finished and go to bed!".

Half asleep, the saint suddenly jumped when the boy started "singing" in his ear......... He said,"My God! This you call singing!"

He said,"It is your teaching.......You told my mother.......Otherwise I was always telling the truth. You made me a hypocrite, now suffer."

And the saint said,"This is someting. Could you not tell me what singing means?"

He said,"That was the whole point - to hide the things that means. I thought that you have given the suggestion so you must know."

When you sit in a Sathsang,.....don't worry about what's happening to somebody; be absolutely with me

Seeker: During the past few days, in certain processes conducted at the sathsangs, you asked us to focus between the eyebrow. Certain experiences seemed to happen to some people. I don't know what happened and why. I don't know what my problem is. I don't understand why I am unable to experience anything. Please explain.
.
Sadhguru: You should keep the focus between your eyebrows. (Laughter).

Seeker : Yes, I understand that. Still I could not experience anything.

Sadhguru : (Laughs) I thought you kept it on somebody else's eyebrows. (Laughter). Now sathsang means a communion with truth. You don't know what truth is; so how to commune with it, isn't it ? People have been talking about it; the scriptures have been screaming about it; but you do not know what truth is. So right now, when you sit with a Guru, he is the nearest thing to truth that you know. That also you are not sure of. See, as far as you are concerned, you are not sure whether he is in truth or not. All you can see is he seems to be at least on a higher level of existence than you are. That's a reality, let's admit it. You don't know whether he is in truth or not. He may be, he may not be; but you have no way of knowing it, isn't it? The only thing you can recognize is he seems to be much clearer than you about everything. He seems to be atleast one step higher than wherever you think you are. So that's why you look up to him.

Right now, let's say we are expecting a flood. You are sitting here in depression, and you cannot see what's coming. Somebody sitting on that pole up there, every five minutes you would ask him, "Where is it? What is happening?" Isn't it? He may not be seeing the whole world, but he is sitting in a more elevated place than you are. He may be on top of the world; that you do not know. You have no way of knowing. So let's go with reality. Let's not go with hallucination; let's not go with belief systems. Let's not simply believe something because those beliefs will crash somewhere. Only reality will sustain itself.

That's the reason why you are sitting with a guru. You don't know whether you will get to the end of the world or beyond the world. But atleast you want to get there where he is, to the next peak. So when you sit in the sathsang, sit totally with me. Don't worry about what's happening to somebody; be absolutely with me. Somebody screams, somebody yells, somebody does whatever nonsense they want; that's not your business. Your business is just to be with me. But you are too concerned about what's happening around you. Nothing will ever happen to you, because you have no focus.

See, there are different kinds of materials in the world. Now, if I strike a match and keep it here, maybe John's shawl will catch fire so much more easily than his T-shirt, yes? Definitely more easily than the marble on which you are sitting; definitely much more easily than the steel pole that is standing there. Isn't it so? So the question is not whether the shawl is better than the marble, or the steel; that's not the point. This catches fire so much more easily; that's all it is. So you don't worry who is catching fire, who is not catching fire; your business is just to be totally there, for the purpose you are there.

You've heard of Dronacharya, that man who took away somebody's thumb? He is supposed to be the ultimate guru in archery, or any kind of arms, for that matter. These 105 brothers are his disciples. You know, the hundred Kauravas and the five Pandavas. Out of these 105, Arjuna became his favourite disciple to whom he revealed most. Arjuna became the greatest archer. Why this is so is not because Dronacharya played favourites, but simply because nobody else had the quality to receive.

One day they were in a class. They lived in an ashram along with Dronacharya. He was saying something about archery. For practical laboratory work, he took them outside. (Laughs) He had set up a toy parrot on the topmost branch of the tree. He took them out and one by one he told them, "There's a little spot on the neck of the parrot. Aim at that spot and shoot." When they drew their bow, they waited till he said shoot. He kept them waiting for a few minutes. Most people cannot keep their focus on one place for more than a few seconds. Have you noticed this with yourself ? So he let them wait for a few minutes with their bows drawn.. It's a stenous thing, physically, holding it and being focused. Then he asked them, "What do you see?" Then they went about describing all the leaves on the tree, the fruits, the flowers, the bird, and even the sky. When Arjuna's turn came, he focused and drew his bow.

Dronacharya asked, "What do you see?"

Arjuna said, 'Just one spot on the neck of the parrot. That's all I see.'

This man gets somewhere. People without focus, if they get anywhere, it's only accidentaly, isn't it? Not because of themselves; inspite of themselves, people get somewhere because so many forces in the existence take them on. But this man will get somewhere because of himself.

So when you are in a sathsang, that's how you must be. You don't worry about what's happening with the rest of the world. You simply be where you have to be, focused on what you have to be. Then what has to happen will happen. What happen to somebody need not happen to you; but what has to happen to you will definitely happen; nobody can deny it to you. But you are so concerned about what's happening to somebody else that time goes waste; life goes waste.

Twilight - Bikram Ghosh and Niladri Kumar - Beautiful music

Sprouts for Optimum Nutrition

Sprouts are considered as wonder foods. They rank as the freshest and most nutritious of all vegetables available to human diet. By a process of natural transmutation, sprouted food aquires vastly improved digestibility and nutritional qualities when compared to non-sprouted embryo from which it derives.
Sprout foods have been part of the diet of many ancient races for thousand of years. Even to this day, the chinese retain their fame for delicious mung bean sprouts. Sprouts provide all essential vitamins and minerals. They should form a vital component of our diet. Sprouting requires no constant care but only an occasional sprinkling of water.
All edible grains, seeds and legumes can be sprouted. Generally the following are used to be sprouted :-
1. Grains :- Wheat, maize, ragi, bajra and barley

2. Seeds :- Alfalfa seeds, radish seeds, fenugreek seeds, carrot seeds, coriander seeds, pumpkin seeds, and musk-melon seeds.

3. Legumes :- Mung, Bengal gram, groundnut and peas.

Alfalfa, as the name in Arabic signifies, is the king of all sprouts. Grown as a plant, its roots are known to burrow as much as 12 metres into the subsoil to bring up the valuable trace minerals of which manganese is especially important to health and digestion; it is vital component of human insulin. Apart from minerals, alfalfa is also rich source of vitamins A, B, C, E and K and amino acids. Sesame seeds are another good source of nourishment. They contain all the essential amino acids in their 20 percent protein content and higher concentration of calcium than does milk. They are high in Lecithin, unsaturated fats, vitamin E and Vitamin B complex, besides other live nutrients.

How to sprout

As a first step good variety of seeds should be used for sprouting. It should be ensured that the seeds, legumes or grains are of the sproutable type. Soyabean do not sprout well since they often become sour. Wheat has to be grown in soil. It is advisable to use seeds which are not chemicaly treated as this slows down the germination rate. The seeds should be washed thorougly and then soaked overnight in a jar of pure water. The jar should be covered with cheesecloth or wire screening. The duration of soaking depends upon the size of the seed. Small seeds are soaked for five hours and beans and grains for 10 to 12 hours.

On the following morning, the seeds should be rinsed and the water drained off. Not more than one-fourth of the jar should be filled with the seeds for sprouting. Soaking makes the seeds, grains or legumes fatty, pulpy and full of water. They will expand about eight times their original size. The jar should be kept at a place which is neither exposed to chill nor hot winds. It should also be ensured that the mouth of the jar is not completely covered so as to allow air in. The seeds should be rinsed and water drained off three times every day till they are ready to eat.

The seeds will germinate and become sprouts in two to three days from commencement of soaking, depending on temprature and humidity. Care should always be taken to ensure that sprouts do not lie in water. They should be kept well drained to prevent souring. To retain their nutrional value, they should be placed in a refrigerator, if they cannot be consumed immediately.

Soaking for a longer period than required makes the seeds rot or ferment. The main factors for germination are water, air, heat and darkness. There may be poor germination or no germination at all if any of these factors are not present such as insufficient water, or too much water, lack of sufficient heat, lack of fresh air, either too cold or too hot surrounding and too much light.

Benefits

In the process of sprouting, the vitamins, minerals and protein increase substantially with corresponding decrease in calories and carbohydrates content. The comparision of nutritional value of sprouted mung beans over dried beans shows the following results :-

• Energy content-calories -----Decrease 15 percent
• Total carbohydrate content----- Decrease 9 percent
• Protein availability------ Increase 30 percent
• Calcium content------ Increase 34 percent
• Potassium content----- Increase 80 percent
• Sodium content----- Increase 690 percent
• Iron content----- Increase 40 percent
• Phosphorous content----- Increase 56 percent
• Vitamin A content----- Increase 285 percent
• Vitamin B1 content----- Increase 208 percent
• Vitamin B2----- Increase 515 %
• Vitamin B3----- Increase 256 %
• Vitamin C content-------- An infinite increase

The increase in protein availability is of great significance. The resultant protein is the most easily digestable of all protein available in foods. Sprouts are an extremely inexpensive method of obtaining concentration of vitamin, minerals and enzymes.

It should however be ensured that seeds and dried beans are purchased from a store where they are fresh, unsprayed and packaged as food. Seeds that are packaged for planting purposes may contain mercury compounds or other toxic chemicals.
Wish you all a wonderful health.

Always find a Living Master - Osho

Blogger's Remark

I found this article of Osho, a living truth of his selfless being. He wished everyone the best of their life, once he is no more. I will always stay indebted to this man, which I was unfortunate to see him alive. But I can feel his presence. Thank you, Osho, for coming in my life. Now, the words of Osho, Source : "The Sword and the Lotus" :-

You can see light, but how can you explain it to a blind man ? There seems to be no way. Whatever you say about light, will not be light. Whatever you say about light, will not be meaningful to the blind man.

Hence always remember, truth cannot be said, it can be shown. It is a finger pointing to the moon. All words are just fingers pointing to the moon, but don't accept the fingers as the moon. The moment you start clinging to the fingers - thats where doctrines, cults, creeds, dogmas, are born - then you have missed the whole point. The fingers were not the point; the point was the moon.

That's why I say, don't get lost in words, don't get lost in doctrines. Rather find a living master whose very being is a finger pointing to the moon. In his presence maybe something transpires in you. Not in his words, but perhaps in his silence. Not in theories, but perhaps in his eyes. There you may find a certain inspiration, a glimpse, a door opening into the mysteries of life.

Books cannot do that; only a living master can. And this is the misery, that people go on carrying dead books, dead words. Perhaps those words were once alive when the master who had spoken them, was there.

When I speak to you, do you think it is only the words that reach to you ? No, my tone, my emphasis on certain words, my silence between two words, my gestures of the hands, my eyes - which I forget completely to blink ! My doctors are after me to continue to blink - but I forget! When I am really speaking to you, then it is not only my words, but my whole being that is involved in it. It is a total expression.... and one never knows what will reach to your heart.

You can write these words. They will be the same - but yet not the same, because the living reality behind them will be missing . My emphasis has always been - while I'm alive do not bother about what I say. Don't listen to what I say, listen to what I am! And when I am gone, just say a goodbye to me. Don't cling to the memories, don't cling to that which is no more. Find another living master - the earth is never empty.

Existence is very compassionate. I don't want you to cling to me. That is one of the faults all the old religions have commited, and I don't want you to do it. Now the pope is not enlightened. Now your eight shankaracharyas have nothing to do with the original shankaracharya; they are not enlightened people. You are unneccesarily wasting your time and their time.

Search and you will always find, because the earth is not barren, it always produces. Whoever is thirsty will always find the well somewhere.

Rather than getting lost into words, use your time in finding a charishmatic personality, a living mystery, a man who has become a legend while he is alive. And when he is gone, be grateful for those moments that you lived with him, but don't get stuck there. Find out, and now it will be easier for you to find out because you have tasted one mystic, you know the taste, you know the vibe. You will be easily pulled towards the direction where you will find another awakened being. Only bodies differ, the expereince of the awakening is the same. So I don't want anybody to remember me, even when I am gone. If you have really loved me, I would like you to find someone of the same quality, so that your love goes on growing, your being goes on maturing, so that one day you are also in a state where you can help thirsty people to quench their thirst.

Can we judge the ways of the Enlightened Master ? Osho talks about Paramahamsa Ramakrishna

Ramakrishna Paramhansa Interest in food

It is said about Ramkrishna that he was much too interested in food; in fact obsessed. That is very unlikely. Even his wife, Sharada, used to feel very embarrassed; because he was such a great saint, only with one flaw – and the flaw was that he was much too interested in food. He was interested so much that while he was giving satsang to his disciples, just in the middle he will say, ”Wait, I am coming,” and he will go to look into the kitchen, what is being cooked. He will just go there and ask, ”What is being prepared today?” and then will come back and start his satsang again.

His closest disciples became worried. They said, ”This doesn’t look good, Paramhansa. And everything is so perfectly beautiful – never has there walked such a beautiful and perfect man – but this small thing, why can’t you drop it?” He will laugh and will not say anything.

One day his wife Sharada insisted too much. He said, ”Okay, if you insist, I will tell. My prarabdha is finished; and I am just clinging with this food. If I drop that I am gone.” The wife could not believe this. It is very difficult for wives to believe in their own husbands – even if the husband is a Paramhansa it makes no difference. The wife must have thought that he is befooling, or he is trying to rationalize. Seeing that, Ramkrishna said, ”Look, I can see that you are not trusting me, but you will know. The day I am going to die, just three days before that day, three days before my death, I will not look at the food. You will bring my thali in, and I will start looking in another direction; then you can know that only three days more am I to be here.”

That too was not believed; they forgot about it. Then, just three days before Ramkrishna died, he was resting, Sharada brought his thali, his food: he turned over, started looking at the other side. Suddenly the wife realized, remembered. The thali fell from her hands, she started crying.

Ramkrishna said, ”Don’t cry now. Now my work is finished; I need not cling.” And exactly after three days he died.

He was clinging in compassion, just trying to create a bondage with one chain. The imprisonment is gone; the prison has disappeared. Out of compassion he was trying to cling, to linger a little longer on this shore, to help those who had gathered around him. But it is difficult to understand a Paramhansa. It is difficult to understand a man who has become a siddha, a Buddha, one who has emptied all his sanchita, all accumulated karmas. It is very difficult. He has no gravitation, so Ramkrishna was clinging to a rock.

The rock has gravitation. He was clinging to a rock so that he could linger on this earth a little longer. When you have samyama, a consciousness fully alert, you can see how much karma is left. It is exactly like when a physician comes and he sees and touches the pulse of a dying man, and he says, ”Not more than two, three hours.” What is he saying? By long experience he has come to know how the pulse beats when a person is going to die. Exactly that way, a man who is alert knows how much prarabdha is left – how much pulse – and he knows when he has to go.

Source: from book "Yoga: The Alpha and the Omega, Vol 8" by Osho

What does it mean to go beyond oneself - Sadhguru talks about the Roadside Rickshawman

A letter written by Abraham Lincoln to the Headmaster of the School

A letter written by Abraham Lincoln to the Headmaster of a school in which his son was studying. It contains advice, which is still relevant today for executives, workers, teachers, parents and students.

A WORD TO TEACHERS

• "My son will have to learn, I know, that all men are not just and are not true. But teach him if you can the wonder of books... but also give him quiet time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun and flowers on a green hillside.
• In school, teach him it is far more honorable to fall than to cheat...
• Teach to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him he is wrong.
• Teach him to be gentle with gentle people and tough with the tough.
• Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone getting on the bandwagon...
• Teach him to listen to all men; but teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth, and take only the good that comes through.
• Teach him, if you can how to laugh when he is sad...
• Teach him there is no shame in tears.
• Teach him to scoff at cynics and to be aware of too much sweetness.
• Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to highest bidders, but never to put a price on his heart and soul.
• Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob... and stand and fight if thinks he is right.
• Treat him gently, but do not cuddle him, because only the test of fire makes fine steel. Let him have the courage to be impatient. Let him have the patience to be brave.
• Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself, because then he will have faith in humankind. This is a big order, but see what you can do. He is such a fine little fellow my son !
  
• Abraham Lincoln

What's wrong in being a fool ? - Sri Sri Ravishankar

We want to find a reason for everything, a purpose for everything. We want to analyze and understand everything. People even try to understand their dreams. What is the use? Whatever dream you have had, so what? Whether you are sitting on horseback or on top of a train in your dream; whether you see a crow or a duck or a pigeon or swan or a mouse or a cat in your dream, what does it matter? Why do you waste so much time interpreting dreams, trying to know something about dreams? We call ourselves wise because we want to understand. We want to do something only if we get something out of it.

A fool is somebody who does something and doesn't get anything out of it. Their foolish acts, even those you can interpret into meaning and purpose, you see they do them without any purpose, without any meaning. Since childhood we have been told, "Don't be a fool." What is wrong with being a fool? What is wrong with standing alone, apart from the crowd? Let the crowd act however it wants. I stand apart from that. I act my way!A fool is somebody who does something very unique, which is not accepted by others.

All entertainment, including games, are foolish acts. Just think of a person from another planet, maybe Mars, comes here and sees a huge crowd watching a team of boys on this side and another team on that side, trying to fight for a ball and put it into a basket. It would appear absolutely funny! One ball in the middle, a team of boys here, trying to push it there, trying to push it that way. Why all this trouble? Why don't they just take the ball and put it in the basket? What difference does it make whether they put it in this basket or that basket? It is so foolish, playing soccer, playing basketball. For hours together other people sit there, howling and yelling and clapping. George Bernard Shaw said somewhere, "Cricket is a game where eleven fools play and eleven thousand watch." It is true. All games are foolish acts. A game is a game because it is foolish. If you find meaning, purpose, aim and competition, you destroy the whole game.

If you are not foolish in your life for some time if possible all the time, if not possible, at least some time-you miss your life. You miss the joy in life. If somebody calls you a fool, how do you act? Your eyes become red. You start grinding your teeth! However, it is a great compliment. You should wait for such a compliment because this is very difficult to get. People may feel that you are a fool and they often don't say it to you. If some people, with great courage, come and tell you that you are a fool, you should feel happy. The greatest problem for us is being a fool. We try not to be fool. All our life we resist and fear arises in us. A fool is one who acts with freedom, who has all freedom, isn't it? That is how he could be a fool. If somebody has not experienced freedom, he cannot be a fool. Freedom is behind every fool. God loves you being a fool. He doesn't love wise men so much. He is bored of their philosophies. He is terribly bored by all the books written about Him.

Make the whole life a game. A game means there is no purpose, there is nothing. Just take it lightly, easily. Play the game. That is worship that is celebration. There is nothing that you do that will please God. There is nothing that you will do that will displease God. He is not waiting there with a staff, just waiting for you to do a mistake so He can punish you. Don?t have such cruel picture of God as someone who is judging, who is going to punish you if you do this or that. If He doesn't want you to do something, you can never do it. It is impossible. The very fact that He has allowed you so much freedom to do anything you like, means He says, Don't take anything seriously, it is all a game. It's all like a dream!

How to take care of the Old - Sri Sri Ravishankar

Old people are no different from children! You should treat them like kids. Like children, they are adamant and repeat the same things! They talk about the same thing over and over again, without realising they have already said it several times! When a pattern sets in them, you accept them as they are. They come into your life and make you realise that. You cannot change old people overnight, or even in a period of time. You need to accept them.

See, there is some wisdom in what they are saying. Sometimes, you are unable to see wisdom in what an experienced, mature person says. They speak from their own experience, over the years. Understand that they have a different set of experiences than yours. So don't get upset if they don't change! If you accept them as they are, a miracle will happen. If you give them space, love and compassion, they slowly start changing. But you need to have a lot of patience. You will learn patience dealing with old people, with grannies, who have certain patterns!

Also, don't take their moods too seriously! If they're upset, don't take it too seriously because then, you won't be able to communicate with them. Don't try to convince them. Sometimes, they just want to pour out their heart to you. If they are grumbling, they are just grumbling. They're saying it, but they don't really mean it! If they say, "I'm so upset" – they may say it, but they will still go and have their food, watch television and do all their things – but when they see you, they say, "Oh, I'm so upset, I never ate food, I didn't do this, I didn't do that!" If you take all their complaints seriously, you become miserable, and won't be able to help them. You should realise it's only their way of communicating. People who are very aged or sick just want to communicate with you, but what is it that they can share? When people don't have enthusiasm, they will only share their grievances. That doesn't mean that they are purely miserable. There is a corner in them that is untouched by any amount of misery. Whether it is extreme joy, happiness or misery, there is a part in every human being that remains untouched. It is the same with people who appear to be very miserable. In reality, they are not that miserable, but they talk, talk, talk and talk! Especially when you know that someone cares for you, you don't always go to him (or her) with a smile and with joy. You go to him (or her) with all your problems and complaints! This is the normal course of things in the world. Isn't that so? Suppose you are at a big party, you will go find your very close friend and complain, "The party is good, but this should have been better and that should have been better. They should have put that thing there. This light is not good. That curtain is a little crooked and you know there is no salt in this food...did you taste the food?!" You will find your close friends and talk, but you won't complain to the host. Out of good manners, you won't go and complain to someone new! The same is true of elderly people!

There is a nice story. A man earned a lot of money and then gave all his property to his son. When his son got everything, he built a small out-house behind the main house for his parents and he told them, "Now you have to stay there." So the old couple stayed there, while their son and his family started living in the big bungalow. One day, while playing, the grandchild came into his grandfather's home, where everything was old and in a very poor, pathetic condition – old utensils, old chairs, all unwanted goods. Things that could break at any time were kept in that house. So the grandchild came and told his grandpa, "Grandpa, be careful with your plate and your chair. Don't break them!" When he asked why, the child said, "Because tomorrow, my father needs all this." The child's father heard this and was shocked. That little boy saying, "Grandpa don't break it because tomorrow, when I grow older, I'm also going to send myfather here. So better save this!" One does not realise this fact. You are also going to be old one day, and are going to be like them. If you find that the elderly people in your home are complaining, and you don't like it, you better not do it today, and if you see them as being so generous, so calm, so serene, so loving, you better start being that way right now. And I tell you, if you're on the path, in the knowledge, and if you keep doing your meditation and the breathing exercises, your ageing reverses! That enthusiasm to learn will exist and your alertness, focus, attention – everything – increases in life. You will not become cynical and senile as you advance in age.