OSHO TALKS 🌞
Buddha was once visiting a village. A man asked him,
Every day you say that everyone can become enlightened.
Then why doesn't everyone become enlightened?"
"My friend," Buddha replied, "do one thing: in the eventing make a list of all the people in the village and write down
their desires next to their names."
The man went into the village and he asked everyone; it
was a small village with only a few people, and they gave
him their answers. He returned in the evening and gave the
list to Buddha. Buddha asked, "How many of these people
seek enlightenment?"
The man was surprised because not a single person had
written that he wanted enlightenment. And Buddha said, "I
say that every man is capable of enlightenment, I do not say
that every man wants enlightenment."
That every man is capable of enlightenment is very different from every man wanting to be enlightened. If you want it,
then consider it to be possible. If your quest is for truth, there
is no power on earth that can stop you. But if you don't long
for truth, then too there is no power which can give it to you.
So first you need to ask if your thirst is a real one. If so,
then rest assured that a path is available. If not, then there is
no path - your thirst will be your path to truth.
The second thing I would like to say by way of an introduction is that you often have a thirst for something, but you
are not hopeful of ever getting what you desire. You have a
desire, but you are not optimistic about it. There is the desire, but with a sense of hopelessness.
Now if the first step is taken optimistically, then the last
step will also end optimistically. This too should be understood: if the first step is taken without any optimism, then
the last step will end in despair. If you want the last step to
be a satisfying and successful one, the first step should be
taken with optimism.
I am saying that during these three days - and I will be saying this as long as I live - you should have a very optimistic attitude. Do you realize that as far as your state of consciousness is concerned, much depends on whether your acts
are rooted in positivity or negativity? If you are a pessimist to
begin with, then it is as if you are sitting on the branch of a
tree, and cutting the branch at the same time.
So I say to you that to be open is very important in this
search. To be optimistic means you feel that if there has been
a single person on this earth who has understood truth, if
there has been a single person in the history of mankind who
has experienced divine bliss and peace, then there is no reason why you also cannot experience it.
Don't look at the millions of people whose lives are filled
with darkness, whose hopes have never seen the light of day:
look at the people in history who have experienced truth.
Don't look at the seeds which never grew into trees, which
rotted and were wasted: look at those few who were successful and who experienced the divine. And remember, what was
possible for those seeds is possible for every seed. What one
man can experience, every other man can also experience.
Your capacity as a seed is the same as that of Buddha, of
Mahavira, of Krishna or Christ. Where enlightenment is concerned nature has shown no favoritism; every man has an
equal possibility. But it does not appear to be so because
there are many among us who have never even tried to turn
this possibility into a reality.
Try it and see! You have lived your whole life with a sense
of hopelessness; now for these three days of the meditation
camp nourish a feeling of optimism. Be as optimistic as possible that the ultimate will happen, that it will definitely happen. Why? In the outer world it is possible to approach
something with optimism and not be successful. But in the
inner world optimism is a very useful device. Whe n you are
full of optimism, every cell of your body is filled with optimism, every pore of your skin is filled with optimism, every
Buddha was once visiting a village. A man asked him,
Every day you say that everyone can become enlightened.
Then why doesn't everyone become enlightened?"
"My friend," Buddha replied, "do one thing: in the eventing make a list of all the people in the village and write down
their desires next to their names."
The man went into the village and he asked everyone; it
was a small village with only a few people, and they gave
him their answers. He returned in the evening and gave the
list to Buddha. Buddha asked, "How many of these people
seek enlightenment?"
The man was surprised because not a single person had
written that he wanted enlightenment. And Buddha said, "I
say that every man is capable of enlightenment, I do not say
that every man wants enlightenment."
That every man is capable of enlightenment is very different from every man wanting to be enlightened. If you want it,
then consider it to be possible. If your quest is for truth, there
is no power on earth that can stop you. But if you don't long
for truth, then too there is no power which can give it to you.
So first you need to ask if your thirst is a real one. If so,
then rest assured that a path is available. If not, then there is
no path - your thirst will be your path to truth.
The second thing I would like to say by way of an introduction is that you often have a thirst for something, but you
are not hopeful of ever getting what you desire. You have a
desire, but you are not optimistic about it. There is the desire, but with a sense of hopelessness.
Now if the first step is taken optimistically, then the last
step will also end optimistically. This too should be understood: if the first step is taken without any optimism, then
the last step will end in despair. If you want the last step to
be a satisfying and successful one, the first step should be
taken with optimism.
I am saying that during these three days - and I will be saying this as long as I live - you should have a very optimistic attitude. Do you realize that as far as your state of consciousness is concerned, much depends on whether your acts
are rooted in positivity or negativity? If you are a pessimist to
begin with, then it is as if you are sitting on the branch of a
tree, and cutting the branch at the same time.
So I say to you that to be open is very important in this
search. To be optimistic means you feel that if there has been
a single person on this earth who has understood truth, if
there has been a single person in the history of mankind who
has experienced divine bliss and peace, then there is no reason why you also cannot experience it.
Don't look at the millions of people whose lives are filled
with darkness, whose hopes have never seen the light of day:
look at the people in history who have experienced truth.
Don't look at the seeds which never grew into trees, which
rotted and were wasted: look at those few who were successful and who experienced the divine. And remember, what was
possible for those seeds is possible for every seed. What one
man can experience, every other man can also experience.
Your capacity as a seed is the same as that of Buddha, of
Mahavira, of Krishna or Christ. Where enlightenment is concerned nature has shown no favoritism; every man has an
equal possibility. But it does not appear to be so because
there are many among us who have never even tried to turn
this possibility into a reality.
Try it and see! You have lived your whole life with a sense
of hopelessness; now for these three days of the meditation
camp nourish a feeling of optimism. Be as optimistic as possible that the ultimate will happen, that it will definitely happen. Why? In the outer world it is possible to approach
something with optimism and not be successful. But in the
inner world optimism is a very useful device. Whe n you are
full of optimism, every cell of your body is filled with optimism, every pore of your skin is filled with optimism, every