Osho - Weekly Meditation For The Here And Now
Weekly Meditation - Week 9. In An Eggshell
February 26
In An Eggshell
When you can come out of your conditioning, you are free, you are simply a human being. And that is real freedom! Then you don't carry a crust around you. The capsule has broken.
When the bird is in the egg, it cannot fly. When we are “Indian” or “German” or “English” or “American” we are in egg shell. We cannot fly, cannot open our wings, cannot use our tremendous freedom that existence makes available.
There are layers upon layers of conditioning. One is conditioned as a German, one is conditioned as a Christian, and so on. One is conditioned as a man and another is conditioned as a woman. I am not talking about the biological difference - that's okay, that has nothing to do with conditioning - but the man is conditioned as a man. You continuously remember that you are a man, that you are not a woman, that you have to behave like a man - that you are not to cry, that tears are not to be allowed, that that is just feminine, it is not expected of you. This is conditioning, this is a crust around you.
A really free person is neither man nor woman - not that the biological difference disappears, but the psychological difference disappears. A free person is neither black nor white - not that the black becomes white and the white becomes black. The skin remains as it was before, but the psychological color is no longer there.
When all these things drop, you are unburdened. You walk one foot above the earth; for you, gravitation doesn't function anymore. You can open your wings and fly.
February 27
Leave God Out
Have you heard the famous Mulla Nasruddin story?
Mulla had saved up to buy a new shirt. He went to a tailor's shop, full of excitement. The tailor measured him and said, "Come back in a week, and-if Allah wills - your shirt will be ready."
Mulla contained himself for a week and then went back to the shop. The tailor said, "There has been a delay, but-if Allah wills your shirt will be ready tomorrow."
The following day Nasruddin returned. "I am sorry," said the tailor, "but it is not quite finished. Try tomorrow, and - if Allah wills-it will be ready."
"How long will it take," asked the exasperated Nasruddin, "if you leave Allah out of it?"
It is better to leave God out. Ordinarily, whenever we don't know, we say "God knows!" In fact, to hide the fact that we don't know, we say "God knows!" It is better to say, "I don't know," because the moment you say "God knows,” ignorance masquerades as knowledge. It is very dangerous.
February 28
Sin
To repress anything is a crime: It cripples the soul.
It gives more attention to fear than to love, and that is what sin is. To take more note of fear is sin, to take more note of love is virtue. And always remember to take more note of love, because it is through love that one reaches the higher peaks of life, to God. Out of fear one cannot grow. Fear cripples, paralyzes: It creates hell.
All paralyzed people-psychologically paralyzed, spiritually paralyzed - live life in hell. And how do they create it? The secret is that they live in fear; they only do a certain thing when there is no fear, but then there is nothing left worth doing. All that is worth doing has certain fears around it. If you fall in love, there is fear because you may be rejected. Fear says, "Don't fall in love, then nobody will reject you."
That is true - if you don't fall in love, nobody will ever reject you-but then you will live a loveless existence, which is far worse than being rejected. And if one rejects you, somebody else will accept you. Those who live out of fear think mostly of not committing mistakes. They don't commit any mistakes, but they don't do anything else, either; their life is blank. They don't Contribute anything to existence. They come, they exist - they vegetate, rather - and then they die.
March 1
Freedom
Life is insecure - that means life is free. If there is security, then there will be bondage; if everything is certain, then there will be no freedom.
If tomorrow is fixed, then there can be security, but you have no freedom. Then you are just like a robot. You have to fulfill certain things that are already predestined. But tomorrow is beautiful, because tomorrow is total freedom. Nobody knows what is going to happen. Whether you will be breathing, whether you will be alive at all, nobody knows. Hence there is beauty, because everything is in a chaos, everything is a challenge, and everything exists as a possibility.
Don't ask for consolations. If you go on asking, you will remain insecure. Accept insecurity, and insecurity will disappear. This is not a paradox, it is a simple truth - paradoxical, but absolutely true. Up to now you have existed, so why be worried about tomorrow? If you could exist today, if you could exist yesterday, tomorrow will take care of itself too.
Don't think of the morrow, and move freely. A chaos at ease - that's how a person should be. When you carry a revolution within you, every moment brings a new world, a new life... every moment becomes a new birth.
March 2
Death
Nothing is wrong in death. Whenever it happens, it is a great rest.
When your body is completely spent, death is the only thing needed. Then it happens; then you move into another body. You may become a tree or a bird or a tiger or something else, and you go on moving.
The existence gives you a new body when the old is spent. Death is beautiful, but never ask for it, because when you ask for it, the quality of death changes toward suicide. Then it is no longer a natural death. You may not be committing suicide, but the very asking makes you suicidal. When alive, be alive; when dead, he dead. But don't overlap things. There are people who are dying and who go on clinging to life. That too is wrong, because when death has come, you have to go, and you have to go dancing. If you are asking for death, even thinking about it, then you are alive and clinging to the idea of death. It is the same in the reverse direction. Somebody who is dying and goes on clinging to life, does not want to die. Somebody is alive and wants to die: That is non-acceptance.
Accept whatever is there, and once you accept unconditionally, then everything is beautiful. Even pain has 'a purifying effect. So whatever comes on your way, just be thankful.
March 3
Monodrama
It is very difficult to be religious, because you have to be both the experimenter and the experimented upon, both the scientist and the experiment.
There is no separation inside. You are playing a monodrama. In an ordinary drama there are many actors, and the roles are divided. In a monodrama you are alone. All the roles have to be played by you. A Zen monk used to call out loudly every morning, "Bokuju, where are you?" That was his own name. And he would answer, "Yes, sir? I am here."
Then he would say, "Bokuju, remember, another day is given. Be aware and alert and don't be foolish!" He would then say, "Yes, sir, I will try my best." And there was nobody else there!
His disciples started thinking he had gone mad. But he was only playing a monodrama. And that's the inner situation. You are the talker, you are the listener, you are the commander, and you are the commanded. It is difficult, because roles tend to get mixed, to overlap.
It is very easy when somebody else is the led and you are the leader. If the roles ,are divided, things are clear - cut. Nothing overlaps; you have to finish your role, she has to finish hers. It is easy; the situation is arbitrary.
When you play both roles, the situation is natural, not arbitrary, and of course it is more complicated. But you will learn, by and by.
March 4
Balance
When feeling and reason are balanced, one is free. In that very balance is freedom, in that very balance is equilibrium, tranquility, silence.
When the head is too much-and it is too much, it is very murderous - it does not allow anything that is not profitable to exist. And all joy is profitless, all joy is just playfulness; it has no purpose. Love is play, it has no purpose; so is dance, so is beauty. All that is significant to the heart is meaningless to reason.
So in the beginning one has to put much investment into the: heart so the balance is achieved. One has almost to lean too mud toward the heart. One has to go to the other extreme to create: the balance.
By and by one comes into the middle, but first one has to go to the other extreme, because reason has dominated toe much.
