Silence shared in words
Osho International Foundation presents
Osho - Freedom from the Past and the Future
Alexander the great came to India
He saw a fakir holding in his hand
a bright shiny object
He asked, "What is that?"
The fakir said,
"I will not tell you what it is --
i will not be able to tell.
It is a secret which cannot be told."
But Alexander remained adamant.
He said, "I have never accepted defeat in life.
I will have to find out the answer."
The fakir said, "I can tell you one thing,
all your wealth
compared to this little object
weighs nothing."
Immediately Alexander
called for a big weighing scale
collected all the loot
material he had --
diamonds and jewels,
gold and silver,
and put all that wealth on one side of the balance
and the fakir put
the shiny little object on the other side of the balance.
Upon this
the fakir's side of the balance weighed down
and Alexander's side of the balance went up,
as if his side was empty.
Alexander was awestruck;
he bowed down at the fakir's feet;
and said, "Whatsoever happens,
I am at your feet,
but i need to know the secret."
The fakir said,
"It is very difficult to explain the secret.
It cannot be said;
that is why I am not telling you.
But you have bowed down,
so I will tell you one more thing."
He picked up a pinch of dust
and threw it on the shiny bright object.
And you know what happened? --
The fakir's side of the balance became very light
and started moving upwards.
And Alexander's side of the balance
became very heavy
and started to weigh down.
This obviously shocked Alexander further more.
He said, "What is going on here?
You are turning the puzzle into a bigger puzzle
and you are confusing me.
It's a straightforward matter,
if you want to tell, tell me; if you don't want to, don't."
The fakir said, "Now I can tell you.
Now you are asking out of quest;
now there is no enforcement.
This is not anything special;
This is man's eye.
If dust falls on it, it becomes worthless.
If the dust is removed,
then there is nothing more precious than it;
not even the kingdom of the whole world.
All wealth weighs nothing in comparison to it.
Enlightenment means:
opening your inner eye.
And it is not a very difficult task.
There is just a little dust on your vision --
the dust of dreams.
Even the dust is not real --
the dust of your thoughts,
the dust of your imaginations,
the dust of your desires.
Not a real dust either;
just a smoke, a fog.
But that fog has
covered your inner eye.
Just how the clouds cover the sun.
Once the clouds disperse,
the sun becomes manifest.
That's all what enlightenment means:
that the clouds move away
making the sun immediately visible.
You are the sun.
Enlightenment is your intrinsic nature.
But amazingly you have
decorated clouds all around you --
clouds of numerous fancies,
clouds of numerous desires,
which have no value;
which have never come true,
which will never come true.
But you are completely covered up by that
which is not there and wont be there,
and missing out on that which is;
that which always is and will always be.
Enlightenment means:
to live in that, which is;
to see that, which is;
to be one with that, which is.
What does not exist,
to leave the grip off it.
There is no past
and we are busy holding on to our past.
The yesterday that is gone
how carefully we protect it.
As
one protects diamonds and jewels.
It is actually just ashes,
not even a glowing ember anymore.
It is all extinguished.
Like carrying corpses --
so is our past.
Or else
we are busy in our desires of the future.
We are day-dreamers:
thinking this should be so, then that should be so;
may this be so!
How many dreams do you spread!
How many dreams do you weave!
And between these two
slabs of the grinder,
which these both are not
the past is not --
it is gone --
the future is not --
it has yet to happen --
between these two non-existents, that which is --
the tiny moment of the present --
is getting crushed.
Between these two grinding slabs
your very existence is getting crushed.
From the past and the future,
the one who becomes free,
is alone the enlightened one.
He has attained to the enlightenment;
his eye has opened up;
The dust from his eye goes away.
Featuring: 'Music From The World of OSHO' Copyright © OSHO International Foundation, Switzerland.
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