Osho - Weekly Meditation For The Here And Now
Weekly Meditation - Week 6. Needs And Desires
February 5
Needs And Desires
Desires are many, needs are few. Needs can be fulfilled; desires never.
A desire is a need Bone crazy. It is impossible to fulfill it. The more you try to fulfill it, the more it goes on asking and asking' There is a Sufi story that when Alexander died and reached heaven he was carrying all his weight-his whole kingdom, gold, diamonds-of course not in reality, but as an idea. He was burdened too much by being Alexander.
The gatekeeper started laughing and asked, "Why are you carrying such a burden?" Alexander said, "What burden?" So the gatekeeper gave him a scale and put an eye on one side of the scale He told Alexander to put all his weight, all his greatness, treasures and kingdom, on the other side. But that one eye still remained heavier than Alexander's whole kingdom.
The gatekeeper said, "This is a human eye. It represents human desire. It cannot be fulfilled, however great the kingdom and how ever great your efforts." Then the gatekeeper threw a little dust into the eye. The eye immediately blinked and lost all its weight.
A little dust of understanding has to be thrown into the eye 0 desire. The desire disappears and only needs remain, which are no weighty. Needs are very few, and they are beautiful. Desires are ugly and they make monsters of men. They create mad people Once you start learning how to choose the peaceful, a small room is enough; a small quantity of food is enough; a few clothes are enough; one lover is enough.
February 6
Security
There is no security anywhere. Life is insecure, and there is no ground to it-it is groundless.
In the very asking for security, you create the problem. The more you ask the more insecure you will be, because insecurity is the very nature of life. If you don't ask for security, then you will never be worried about insecurity. As trees are green, life is insecure. If you start asking for trees to be white, there is a problem. The problem is created by you, not by the trees-they are green and you ask them to be white! They cannot perform in that way.
Life is insecure, and so is love. And it is good that it is so. life can be secure only if you are dead; then everything can be certain. Underneath a rock there is ground" Underneath a flower there is none; the flower is insecure. With a small breeze the flower may disperse; the petals may fall and disappear. It is a miracle that the flower is there. Life is a miracle-because there is no reason for it to be. It is simply a miracle that you are, otherwise there is every reason for you not to be. Maturity comes to you only when you accept this, and not only accept, but start rejoicing in it.
February 7
Unconditional
Once you know what love is, you are ready to give; the more you give, the more you have it. The more you go on showering on others, the more love springs up in your being.
Love never bothers much about whether the other is worthy of receiving or not. This is a miserly attitude, and love is never a miser. The cloud never bothers about whether the earth is worthy. It rains on the mountains, it rains on the rocks; it rains everywhere and anywhere. It gives without any conditions, without any strings attached.
And that's how love is: It simply gives, it enjoys giving. Whoever is willing to receive, receives it. He need not be worthy, he needs not fit any special category, he needs not fulfill any qualifications. If all these things are required, then what you are giving is not love; it must be something else. Once you know what love is, you are ready to give; the more you give, the more you have. The more you go on showering on others, the more love springs up in your being.
Ordinary economics is totally different: If you give something, you lose it. If you want to keep something, avoid giving it away. Collect it, be miserly. Just the opposite is the case with love: If you want to have it, don't be miserly; otherwise it will go dead, it will become stale. Go on giving, and fresh sources will become available. Fresh streams will flow into your being. The whole of existence starts pouring into you 'when your giving is unconditional, when it is total.
February 8
Electric Mind
Mind goes on changing from negative to positive, from positive to negative.
Those two polarities are as basic to the mind as negative and positive poles are to electricity. With one pole, electricity cannot exist-and mind also cannot exist. Deep down, mind is electrical. That's why the computer can do its work and sometimes will do it better than the human mind. Mind is just a bio-computer. It has these two polarities and goes on moving.
So the problem is not that sometimes you feel magic moments and sometimes you feel dark moments. The darkness of the dark moments will be proportionate to the magicalness of the magical moments. If you reach a higher peak in positivity, then you will touch the lowest in your negativity. The higher the reach of the positive, the lower will be the depth of the negative. So the higher you reach, the deeper abyss you will have to touch.
This has to be understood: If you try not to touch the lower rungs, then higher peaks will disappear. Then you move on plain ground. That's what many people have managed to do; afraid of the depth, they have missed the peaks. One has to take risks. You have to pay for the peak, and the price is to be paid by your depth, your low moments. But it is worth it. Even one moment at the peak, the magic moment, is worth a whole life in the darkest depths. If you can touch heaven for one moment, you can be ready to live for the whole of eternity in hell. And it is always proportionate, half and half, fifty-fifty.
February 9
At Work
One has to remember that the people who are associates at work are not at all concerned with your inner lye. That is your work to do; they have their own inner lives to work out.
Your work colleagues have their own negative moods, their own personal problems and anxieties, just as everybody else, including you, has. But when you are in a working situation with somebody, you need not bring these things in, because if they start bringing in all their negativities and you start bringing in all of yours, it will be a never-ending process.
If you are feeling negative, do something. For example, write out a very negative thing and burn it. Go to the therapy room, beat a pillow and throw it. Do a terrible dance! You have to work it out; it is your problem. And once in a while it is good to ask whoever is working with you whether you have been negative, if they are feeling hurt. Because sometimes you may not know that you have been negative. Small gestures, just a word, even a silence, can be hurtful; the way you look at someone can be hurtful. So once in a while ask their forgiveness.
Tell them, "Every time I ask you, you have to be honest. Just tell me, because I am a human being and sometimes thing: can go wrong from my side and I have to put them right."
February 10
Mediocrity
Never settle jar any mediocrity, because that is a sin against life. Never ask that life should be without risk, and never ask for security, because that is asking for death.
Many people have decided to live on the plain ground, safe, not taking any risks. They never fall to the depths, they never rise to the heights. Their life is a dull affair, a drab thing, monotonous-v.ith no peaks, no valleys, no nights, no days. They just live in a gray world, without colors - the rainbow doesn't exist for them. They live a gray life, and by and by they also become gray and mediocre.
The greatest danger is to reach to the greatest peaks of godliness and to fall to the greatest depths of hell. Become a traveler between these two, unafraid. By and by you will come to understand that there is a transcendence. By and by you will come to know that you are neither the peak nor the depth, neither the peak nor the valley. By and by you will come to know that you are the watcher, the witness.
Something in your mind goes to the peak, something in your mind goes to the valley, but something beyond is always there - just watching, just taking note of it - and that is you.
Both polarities are in you, but you are neither - you tower higher than both. The ground is high and low, both heaven and hell are there, but you are somewhere far from both. You simply watch the whole game of it, the whole play of consciousness.
February 11
Postponing
Life is very short, and much has to be learned; those people who go on postponing go on missing.
Ask yourself constantly whether you are moving into more blissful states or not. If you are moving into more and more blissful states, you are on the right track. Go into it more, have more of it. And if you are feeling miserable, then look: Somewhere you have fallen off track, gone astray. You have been distracted by something; you are no longer natural, you are alienated from nature; hence, misery.
Look, analyze, and whatever you find to be the cause of misery, drop it. And don't postpone for tomorrow; drop it immediately. Life is very short, and much has to be learned; those people who go on postponing go on missing. Today you will postpone for tomorrow and again tomorrow you will postpone. Slowly, slowly postponement becomes your habit. And it is always today that it comes; tomorrow never comes. So you can go on postponing forever.
Whenever you see that something is creating misery, drop it then and there - don't hold it for a single moment. This is courage: courage to live, courage to risk, courage to adventure. And only those who are courageous are one day rewarded by the whole, by light, by love, bliss, and benediction.
