God is reflected but,,,

Overcoming Inertia and Passivity

Do you wonder why you are not progressing in every way, and especially spiritually? Do you feel that, no matter how you try to be otherwise, you are a helpless victim of your already formed habits and circumstances? Do you ask yourself at the end of each day whether you have progressed in any way?  Tomorrow should find you better than today.

Very few people are able to use their power of free choice to make themselves what they want to be in life. Most people allow themselves to grow passively in any undirected way, according to their habits or moods. Passive people do not put forth the continued, focused effort necessary for spiritual or material success. The chill of inertia, the failure to make an ongoing effort to progress, is the greatest barrier to success and happiness in life.

How actions of the past and present affect our lives.The soul evolves over many lifetimes. At first, a person sees himself as wholly dependent on whatever happens to him. Like a baby, his personality lacks definition. Gradually, as he develops a stronger sense of self, he decides to participate more actively in the events that concern him directly, and seeks within himself the power to influence those events. His successes and failures over many lifetimes manifest in his current life as distinct karmic tendencies.

If a person’s past success tendencies and current efforts to succeed are weak, his chances of financial success in this life are also weak; in fact, they are almost negligible. However, if a person’s success tendency from the past is strong, even though his present life is marked by inactivity and inertia, he will be born into a wealthy family or suddenly inherit a fortune. On the other hand, those who became indifferent to their wealth in the past may be reborn into a life of poverty and struggle, only to acquire great wealth by a so-called stroke of luck, perhaps a sudden inheritance.

Not surprisingly, the person with a strong prosperity consciousness from the past who makes a strenuous effort to earn money in this life, succeeds in all his ventures. Usually he has unfailing business judgment and seldom makes a losing investment. By contrast, the person with a poverty tendency from previous lifetimes has to struggle uphill to succeed, but his efforts will not be in vain. He will either become prosperous late in life or his next incarnation will be dominated by success.

The devotee must avoid complacencyEvery devotee needs to be aware that both good and bad karmic tendencies (habits) dwell in the kingdom of his consciousness. Devotees who have driven away the forces of restlessness through powerful acts of daily concentration, sometimes become complacent, and refrain from combating mental inertia by ongoing attempts to meditate deeply.

When the devotee, through introspection, beholds the invading hordes of evil tendencies advancing to steal his inner peace, he must act as a spiritual general. To defeat the marauding armies of evil inclinations, he must immediately reinforce his good qualities, the protecting soldiers of his many good tendencies. If instead, the devotee, through inertia, fails to fight the evil inclinations that draw him toward temptation, he will find himself mocked by his own evil habits.

A person must be strong-willed to drive away the mind-paralyzing fears that would destroy his inner peace. Falsely they proclaim that the life of the Spirit holds no potential for peace or happiness.  When tempted to sue for peace at any cost, let the devotee reflect that should the evil pretender win, the first to be banished from the kingdom would be peace and contentment. Thereafter the kingdom would be ruled by chaos. Only if divine love and virtue are victorious will peace and contentment prevail.

Neutrality is worse than negativityDuring any period of vacillation, the sincere devotee listens to the voice of the Infinite within and is intuitively instructed by Spirit. By meditation, the voice of the Infinite becomes more and more tangible. That inner voice says: “Forsake all attachment to the senses, use your power of will to relinquish all unmanly qualities, and refrain from doing anything which goes against the true nature of the soul.”

The word “unmanly” signifies anything which is unbecoming to the positive aspect of the soul. Sense-attachment is unmanly because it tries to appease the soul with evanescent sense-pleasures in preference to lasting soul happiness. It is also unmanly to be negative. In a negative state of mind, the devotee loses sight of the positive nature of the soul, and its dedication to his highest good. Being neutral is worse than being negative. In the negative state, the devotee is afraid to forsake sense-attachments. In the neutral state, however, the devotee has neither attachment to God nor to the senses and loses all power of transcendence.

It requires some mental activity even to be negative, but in neutrality of mind the devotee becomes incapable of any activity, whether good or bad. With unmistakable clarity, the soul warns the devotee about falling into a state of spiritual inertia, in which the desire for good or evil uniformly vanishes.

How to attune to the divine willPassive people want God to do all of the work. They do not use the power of God within them.  In order to succeed, in the early morning and before going to bed, every man or woman interested in material or spiritual prosperity must meditate and make positive contact with God.  Using their full powers of concentration, they should ask God to direct their focused minds to the right understanding and actions for the right kind of success.

Passive people think that by the virtue of prayer alone, God will grant their wishes. This is not true. You must also exercise your will power and through daily meditation strive to attune your will with the Divine Will. This is the way to develop your will: Before you will to do a thing, reason as to what you should do. Make sure that you are directing your will toward accomplishing something good and helpful to you. When your will revolves continuously around an appropriate course of action, it becomes dynamic will. All great saints and masters possess this kind of dynamic will power.

Behind your will is the will of God. God will help you if you first help yourself. Whatever you have done in this life or in past lives can be undone. If a particular karma is strong, it can at least be modified.The key to victory over karma is will power, held in conscious attunement with the Supreme Power through meditation. First use your creative ability to gain success in every worthwhile project that you undertake, making proper use of all your God-given powers. Then pray to Him to help you to bring your efforts to a successful conclusion.

Reborn with the same tendenciesNo matter how many times an individual finds himself, in spite of strong mental resolutions, succumbing to the temptations of sensuality, greed, anger, or egotism, he  should not give up his continuous daily attempts to fight these invading evils. To remain in a state of inertia is to be a prisoner of evil in this life and hereafter. But anyone who continuously struggles against evil tendencies every day in his life, and fails to completely conquer them, will be reborn as a person of great self-control. In other words, all souls who resist failure to the end are reborn as individuals destined for success.

However, anyone who after making no effort to overcome temptations, dies with the thought of being vanquished, through the law of cause and effect, is reborn with the same tendency of failure. For this reason alone, no individual should remain in a state of passivity or inertia when confronted with difficulties, but should bring into proper use all of his God-given powers and  should, if necessary, die struggling. YOGANANDA

Just Live Your Life !

I am a buddha.

I was in Nagpur speaking in a Buddhist conference.

I am not a Buddhist ... only Buddhists were invited to speak; I was the only one who was not a Buddhist.

The president of the conference,
Bhadant Anand Kausalyayan, was a little puzzled.

I was just sitting next to him. He whispered in my ear, ”Have you become a Buddhist?”
I said, ”I don’t need to be a Buddhist.”
He said, ”Then why are you here in a Buddhist conference?”

I said, ”Because I am a buddha.”

He said, ”My God. Then you should be presiding.”
I said, ”That’s true.
Come down.

You are only a Buddhist.

And I have just come by the way after twenty-five centuries, to see how things are going.”
But he could not absorb the shock of my saying that I am the buddha.

In the night he came to meet me in the house of a friend, where I was staying. He was a common friend; he was his friend also.

And he said, ”I had to come, because since the morning I have not been able to drop the idea that a man can say with such authority that he is the buddha.

I have been a Buddhist for fifty years, and I don’t have the guts to say that I am a buddha; I am still a Buddhist, trying to follow the principles of Buddha.

And you don’t seem to follow any principles at all.”
I said, ”Those principles are for Buddhists.

Buddhas make principles, they don’t follow them.

And I can say it with authority because Gautam Buddha himself has said that he will be coming after twenty-five centuries.

Do you think he was lying?”
He said, ”No, I cannot think that way.”
”Do you think he will come exactly in the same body?

That body you have burned. Do you think he will be born as a prince? – because now there are no kings. Where are you going to find a beautiful woman like Yashodhara for him to marry?”

He said, ”My God, in all these details ... naturally they cannot be repeated, because to repeat all those details means to bring that whole century – the kingdoms, the people ... because a single man is not an island, he is connected.”

Now Buddha was the son of a king, Shuddhodhana.

I said, ”First you will have to find
Shuddhodhana, and what about Shuddhodhana’s father?

It is going to be difficult. You will have to find Yashodhara.
What about Yashodhara’s father?
”You will have to manage a son to be born, and on the night the son is born Buddha has to be exactly twenty-nine years old and he has to escape in a golden chariot.

Where are you going to find these things?
You can do it in a drama, but in reality ...

Trust me, I am the buddha – this time born to a different father, this time no Yashodhara, because last time it was enough.

One has to learn from experience. This time no children, I cannot tolerate them; they are the nastiest people in the world.”

He said, ”My God. You have made the thing such that one wants to feel that perhaps you are the Buddha.”

I said, ”It is not a question of feeling.
I don’t depend on your feeling.

I am the buddha, whether you feel it or not.

There were many fools like you in Buddha’s time who never accepted him as the buddha, the enlightened, the awakened.

It is up to you to be wise or to be a fool.

OshO ❤
CHAPTER 24. AROUND ME... SOMETHING HAPPENS
The Osho Upanishad

Feel Happier Right Now ! By Jessica Blanchard

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” ~Arthur Ashe

You dream of a life where you have more freedom—your work nourishes your mind and soul, your home is organized, and you have ample time to exercise and eat right.

It’s not that your current situation is awful, but you long to do more of the things you love. Yet when you contemplate radical changes, your heart rate quickens, and you convince yourself it’s just not the right time.

So you keep waiting for the big moment when you can make that big change that will lead to happiness.

Well, you’re wasting your time …

Our ability to feel happier comes from inside ourselves, not from external circumstances. You don’t need to quit your job, move to an exotic location, or lose weight to be happy. You can embody happiness right now.

I have to catch myself and find my happiness from within again. It might take a few minutes, hours, or days, but I use these mini-habits to help me get there. They cost little to nothing and are portable.

No matter your situation, you can start right now. The following habits will help you stand a little taller, smile from your heart, and shine a little brighter.

For Your Mind

1. Breathe deeply.

Inhale deeply, and exhale completely ten times. Deep breathing slows your thoughts, relaxes your nervous system, and brings you closer to your own intuition.

2. Use a mantra to change your mind-set.

Sha is a Sanskrit root word meaning peace, as in “shanti.” Say “sham” slowly ten to twenty times. By combining sound, breath, and rhythm, mantra channels the flow of energy through the mind-body circuit and calms your nervous system and mind.

3. Express your love.

Write a note or tell a loved one how you appreciate them.  Communicating positive emotion slowers stress hormones, bad cholesterol, and blood pressure, and it strengthens immunity.

4. Rejuvenate your mind.

Close your eyes for a few moments. What do you see in the darkness of your mind’s eye? Notice the patterns that form.  This is a simple meditation that rejuvenates and refocuses your tired mind.

5. Explore healing aromas.

Plants like rosemary, lavender, and sage can improve our moods. Create your own natural spa. Put your favorite essential oils in a spray bottle with a little water.

6. Swap a thought.

Make a list of your positive traits and attributes. When you criticize yourself, refer to this list. Keep this pattern up and you’ll transform your inner dialogue.

7. Allow yourself to be.

Accept all your feelings about your present situation. They are valid, whether you like them or not. Accepting your current situation is the first step to feeling happier.

8. Declutter one spot.

Declutter one surface or area. Starting small is easier. But when your home and workspace are clear from clutter, your mind feels more spacious.

For Your Body

9. Lighten up.

Once a day, laugh at yourself. When you make a mistake, see the humor in your error. Laughing isgreat medicine, it improves your mood, and it relieves stress and tension.

10. Stretch your body.

Sitting in a chair? Push away from your desk. Inhale, and as you exhale, bend forward, moving your ribs toward your thighs. Breathe deeply. Get out of your mind and into your body and the present moment.

11. Give yourself a massage.

Use coconut oil or sesame oil on your skin, massage it on your whole body, and then take a warm shower to help your skin absorb the oil. This is a home spa treatment that is used all over India. Touch is calming, and you can reap its benefits without buying expensive massages.

12. Take a bath.

Relax and enjoy the simple pleasure of a warm bath. Light some candles, and put on your favorite music.  Soothe your body with this simple ritual. Why dream about getting away when you can create a calming environment in your home?

13. Place your palms over your eyelids.

This relaxes your eyes and mind. This is especially helpful if you have a headache or feel fatigued.

14. Practice Yoga Nidra (Yogic Sleep).

Take ten minutes to relax your whole body completely and then each part of your body in turn. This magical practice is as efficient as taking a longer nap.

15. Eat with complete attention. 

Put away all your screens. Savor your meal by noticing all its tastes and textures. You’ll improve your digestion and feel more relaxed as a result.

16. Move every day.

Even if you have very little time. You only need five minutes to stretch or walk outside. Building a little movement into your day is better for your health than one longer weekly workout.

17. Hug someone or something. 

Like your friend, pet, or even yourself. Soothing touch is relaxing and calming.

For Your Spirit

18. Make a mini-gratitude list.

What are three things from the past twenty-four hours that can go on your list? Making gratitude a permanent trait is proven to make us happier, healthier, and live longer.

19. Give thanks for your meals.

Saying thanks for having enough will remind you of how much you have. Remember that eight million people don’t have enough food to lead a healthy, active life.

20. Spend time with friends.

Socializing is a secret of the world’s longest-lived people. Set a weekly meeting. Go for a walk, drink tea, or simply enjoy each others’ presence.

21. Listen.

When people talk, listen to them. Be 100 percent present with your company, and you’ll get their appreciation in return.

22. Love your furry friends.

They can be our best friends and show undying loyalty. Spending time petting a dog can improve your mood and even strengthen your heart.

23. Find a beautiful natural thing around you.

Pick a flower, leaf, twig, or fruit. Remind yourself of all the natural wonders that surround you right now. It’s easy to overlook the beauty in the present moment.

24. Take a mini-vacation.

Once a week, I take my toddler and dog to the park for a picnic lunch. We relax and listen to the birds. Leave your busy life for a few moments to be with loved ones who are crucial to your happiness.

25. Give a little bit.

Carry canned food for people asking for food.  Make eye contact. Recognize the common human spirit in every person you meet, right in your neighborhood.

The Secret That Holds The Key To Your Happiness

Your happiness isn’t dependent on where you live, how much you weigh, or what you do for work. The key to happiness is appreciating what you have at this moment. Sure, we all want to make changes sometimes. But one change, no matter how big, is unlikely to transform misery into elation.

Small things that help you appreciate yourself, your loved ones, and the world around you will add up to big changes in your mind-set.

Pick a couple practices from each category. Write them down. Post them on your mirror so that you remind yourself each morning.

Schedule the activities in your calendar.  Even if they take five minutes, this daily reminder will prompt your memory.

And don’t forget to inhale the sweet fragrance of the jasmine that is blooming right under your nose.

Ahh, doesn’t it smell delicious?

Time & Karma

Aloneness and silence

Aloneness and silence are two aspects of one experience, two sides of the same coin. If one wants to experience silence one has to go into one´s total aloneness. It is there.

We are born alone, we die alone. Between these two realities we create a thousand and one illusions of being together - all kinds of relationships, friends and enemies, loves and hates, nations, races, religions. We create all kinds of hallucinations just to avoid one fact: that we are alone. But whatsoever we do, the truth cannot be changed. It is so, and rather than trying to escape from it, the best way is to rejoice in it.

Rejoicing in your own aloneness is what meditation is all about. The meditator is one who dives deep into one´s aloneness, knowing that we are born alone, we will be dying alone, and deep down we are living alone. So why not experience what this aloneness is? It is our very nature, our very being.

Osho
The Sound of One Hand Clapping, Talk #14

Never Complain !

Whatever Life has given to you, Never Complain.

It is always more than you Deserve.

Always be Grateful.

OshO ❤
CHAPTER 18. DON’T COME DOWN GO HIGHER!
The Osho Upanishad

Butterfly is asleep and dreaming it is a man !

Chwang Tse was a fakir of China. He was always seen laughing, never sad. One day his friends found him sitting in his hut, looking very sad.
His friends were surprised.

”We have always seen you laughing, no matter what the problem. What is it that disturbs you today?”

”It is a problem I cannot solve,” said Chwang Tse.

”But there Was never a problem you could not solve for us. This must be a special problem that worries a person like you. Please tell us about it,” they begged.

”I will,” said Chwang Tse. ” But you will not be able to solve it and I feel I shall never never find an answer to it: Last night, I dreamt that I was a butterfly in a garden. I saw myself flitting from one
flower to another!”

”What is so difficult about that?” they asked. ”This is nothing new. Man becomes a lot of things in dreams!”

”That is all right,” said Chwang Tse. ”But when I got up in the morning, the problem arose. A question confronted me: ’If a man called Chwang Tse could be a butterfly in a dream, could it be possible that now the butterfly is asleep and dreaming it is a man called Chwang Tse? I have been disturbed since morning. If a man can be a butterfly in a dream, a butterfly can also be a man in dreams. Now I cannot decide whether I am a man who dreams he is a butterfly, or I am a butterfly dreaming I am
a man. Who is to decide?”

OSHO

From Dreams Towards Truth
"The Beginning of the Beginning"

Both are Dreams !

A king’s one and only son lay on his death-bed. The doctors had given up hope – death was lurking close, perhaps it would come that very night. The king and the queen kept vigil by his bed-side.
When it was almost dawn, the king fell asleep on his chair. In his sleep was forgotten the ailing son, the large kingdom, the magnificent palace.

And he dreamt: He dreamt that he was the master of the whole world. He had twelve sons – healthy, handsome, strapping youths. His palaces were made of gold with steps inlaid with precious stones.
He could not be happier. And then – all of a sudden, the twelve sons died. His queen began to wail and he was shaken out of sleep. Everything was lost – the mighty kingdom, the golden palaces, the robust sons – all vanished

He found the queen weeping but there was not a tear in his eye. He burst out laughing. The queen was shocked. ”Your only son is dead and you laugh!” she cried.

”There is a reason for it” he told her. ”A moment ago I had twelve sons, a palace of gold, and a vast kingdom. Your cries destroyed them all! And this son, whose very existence I had t forgotten in my dream, along with you and the palace, is now dead. As long as the twelve existed, this one was lost to memory and now that I see this one, the twelve are lost to me. Now for whom shall I cry? This one or the other twelve? And a thought comes to me: perhaps both belong to the dream-world. One dream I dreamt with my eyes closed, the other with my eyes opened. Each was forgotten when the other existed.”

There are dreams we see with our eyes opened, and there are dreams we see with our eyes closed. Both are dreams.

OSHO

From Dreams Towards Truth"The Beginning of the Beginning"

Forefathers come in the form of crows to take the food ???????

It is reported that in Nanak’s life he was in Hardwar, and it was the time when people worship their dead forefathers and give food to the crows –

Thousands of crows; forefathers come in the form of crows to take the food.

I said, ”This is a good idea, but no crow can create this idea.”

But the worship and the food that the crow gets is secondary.

There is a mediator, a priest, who is praying to God to send the ancestors.

It is because of his prayers that crows are coming – and not ordinary crows; they look ordinary, but to the believers they are their forefathers.

Nanak saw this happening.

He said, ”My God, this is great!

People who have died centuries ago are coming.”

He just went to a well where this ceremony was going on – because people have to take a bath and go through certain rituals of prayer.

So he took a bath and started drawing water from the well and
throwing it on the road.

A crowd gathered; they said, ”What is the matter?
What are you doing?”

He was perspiring, drawing the water and throwing it on the road.

And he said, ”Nothing, just watering my fields in Punjab.

If these rituals make it possible to cross the barrier of time, hundreds of centuries...
it is only hundreds of miles.

And I am far away, and right now I cannot go.

And it is the time that water should be given to the fields.”

They said, ”You must be mad. Throwing water here, it cannot reach to your fields.”

He said, ”Crows are eating the sweets, and they are reaching to your parents – and my water is not reaching just a few miles?”

If you look around, there are pretenders who are ready to take all your responsibilities – of this life, of past lives, of future lives.

All that you have to do is to believe in them, to follow them –

Blindly.

Blindness has been up to now the very foundation of religion.

And that’s why all the religions are against me.

Because I say blindness cannot be the foundation.

Eyes are needed.
Better eyes, More Insight is needed.

OshO ❤
CHAPTER 19. RESPONSIBILITY: THE VERY FIRST STEP OF FREEDOM
The Osho Upanishad

Guru

I have not said that a Guru is not necessary. But a Guru need not always be in human form. ~ Sri Ramana.

Vegeterian diet - Consciousness !

Question:" BELOVED OSHO, WHEN YOU WERE TESTING YOUR ENLIGHTENMENT BY SMOKING, DRINKING ALCOHOL, AND HAVING SEX, DID YOU TRY EATING FISH AND MEAT? DOES A VEGETARIAN DIET HAVE A REAL VALUE FOR OUR CONSCIOUSNESS, OR IS IT OPTIONAL, LIKE SMOKING?"
Osho
It is not optional. Before enlightenment, it makes you gross, destroys your sensitivity, does not allow you to feel the life that surrounds you. It keeps you blind to the fact that just for your taste, you are killing living beings. Their bodies may be different, but their spirits are not different from yours.
Just think of cannibals. Has any cannibal ever become enlightened? Fortunately, it has not happened. If it had happened, the cannibals would have eaten that enlightened man first, just to have a little taste of enlightenment.
There is not much difference between cannibals and the people who eat meat and fish; they are all killing living beings. And the person who can kill should not expect his heart to become compassionate, full of love.
So before enlightenment, eating meat will prevent you from experiencing the light, experiencing your being. It is not optional. After enlightenment, it is optional, but no enlightened person can eat meat and fish. Not that by eating meat and fish his enlightenment is going to disappear -- enlightenment cannot disappear, whatever you do.
But the enlightened person becomes so sensitive, so aesthetic, that the very idea of killing somebody just for the few buds on your tongue is simply idiotic.
Before enlightenment it is absolutely not optional. After enlightenment, it is optional, but no enlightened person can manage to eat meat or fish.
I have tried, but I could not succeed. Fish... I cannot even stand its smell. To think of myself, even in imagination, eating fish, seems to be absolutely impossible. Meat has been placed before me, but I could not touch it. The very idea that life has been destroyed.... And enlightenment is all for life; it cannot accept death just to have a little taste. So it is optional but impossible.
I know many of you are brought up in families where meat and fish are normal, routine. You have been conditioned from your very birth to think that God created all these animals for you to eat. And I don't know why He created you -- for the animals to eat?

Gurdjieff jokingly has proposed a theory -- because Mohammedans, Christians, Jews, all believe God created animals for man to eat.
The problem I posed to you was also put before Gurdjieff, that if everything is food for somebody else -- one animal eats another animal, that animal is eaten by another animal, and so on and so forth -- finally there is man. For whom is he food? Or is he an exception?
Gurdjieff was a remarkable man. He said, "Man is also food. He is eaten by the moon." His disciples could not think what he was talking about, but he had many proofs in his favor.
More people go mad on the full-moon night, than on any other night. More people commit suicide on the full-moon night than on any other night. More people commit murder on the full-moon night than on any other night. More people have become enlightened on the full-moon night than on any other night. There seems to be some reason behind it. On the full-moon night, man's psychology, his body, are all affected by the moon. The people who commit suicide... perhaps the moon has better ways of finding its food than you have.
The moon need not come to you with a gun or with an arrow, but in a subtle way its rays come as death to many people, through suicide, murder. Those who somehow escape become mad. And enlightenment is the ultimate death, because the body will be dissolved and the soul will never be reincarnated into any other body. The moon has eaten the enlightened man completely, not leaving even a trace behind.
Gurdjieff was simply joking, but he made it very clear that you should not think yourself exceptional. Otherwise, when you kill a lion, it is a game. And when a lion kills you, then? Nobody calls it a game. In a game both parties are equal. Sometimes one party is victorious, sometimes the other party is victorious, but the game remains a game. When man kills animals, it is a game. When animals manage somehow to kill a man, this is disaster.
You have been brought up in families where you never gave a single thought to what you were eating. Whatever you were given from the beginning, you accepted. You became accustomed to it. That is one of the reasons why the greatest number of enlightened people happened in India, because that is the only country which is vegetarian. In India also there are non-vegetarians, but from non-vegetarians not a single man has become enlightened. The case is similar in the West.
It hurts your conditioning, but the truth is that Moses, Elijah, Jesus, are nothing compared to Gautam Buddha, Vardhamana, Mahavira, Shankara, Nagarjuna-no, just nothing. Their flowering, their height....
The distance between Jesus and Gautam Buddha is so big for the simple reason that these people -- Jesus, Moses, Elijah -- are all gross, they are not sensitive enough to become enlightened. And because they could not become enlightened, they could not preach vegetarianism to their following. If they had become enlightened, the first thing to teach to their followers would have been vegetarianism.
Smoking is a different matter. It does not kill anybody. At the most it can take two or three years off your life. But it is your life, you are not killing anybody else. You are simply settling for seventy years instead of seventy-three. This is purely your personal business. Enlightenment cannot be affected by taking the smoke in and throwing it out. It is just silly, it is nothing like sin.
Alcohol can disturb before enlightenment, because it can make you more unconscious -- that's its whole purpose. Your consciousness is burdened so much with anxieties, worries, anguish, that you take a drink and feel good because your consciousness goes to sleep.
Hence, before enlightenment, any kind of intoxicant is absolutely to be dropped. It affects your consciousness and drags it downwards towards darker realms of unconsciousness. And the whole effort of the seeker is to pull the darker parts out into the light, so this is just the reverse process. But after enlightenment you are free. There is no problem; now no intoxicant can make your consciousness drop from the height it has reached.
You can enjoy intoxicants if you like, there is no danger. But ordinarily, all the enlightened people in the past have not used intoxicants after their enlightenment.
Gautam Buddha was asked once, "Do you think taking something alcoholic would be a disturbance to your achievement?" He said, "No, but if I start drinking, the problem is for my followers who are not enlightened. Seeing me drink, they will say, `Aha! Isn't it groovy to be a follower of Gautam Buddha?'" But I don't want you to remain in darkness about anything. Gautam Buddha was trying to keep his followers in ignorance, howsoever compassionate his act. But keeping anybody in ignorance I cannot accept as compassion.
So I want to tell you that after enlightenment one can drink any alcoholic beverage. But there is no need, because the enlightened one has no tensions, no anxiety. He has nothing to drown in alcohol, so there is no need for him. But just to be a good companion to you, he can drink a little bit once in a while. That will keep him more human, and that will give you more hope! It will destroy the distance between the enlightened and the unenlightened.
And that is my greatest effort -- to destroy any distance between the enlightened and the unenlightened. Of course, there is some existential difference which I cannot destroy. But this is not the existential difference -- that you smoke and I don't smoke, that you drink and I don't drink. This is not existential.
The existential difference is very small, and that is: I am awake and you are asleep. It is not much, because I am just sitting on the same bed where you are asleep. Just a little effort will make you awake. Your sleep gives a guarantee: anybody who is capable of sleeping is capable of awakening, they come together. So what is the fuss about? Take your time.
Whenever you want to wake up, wake. There is no hurry, you have the whole eternity available to you. Yes, I may not be there to wake you up, that is the only unfortunate thing about it. But somebody else.... One day you are going to be awake. If you love me, you would like me to wake you up. That is the only real indication of your love.
If your love is just a word, you will go on sleeping and snoring. And you can talk in sleep. I can hear your snoring, and I can see you asleep, and still you are bubbling, "I love you, Osho." If you really love me, then wake up, because only in your awakened state can we have a communion, a feeling of oneness -- not just a feeling, but really a melting into each other.
You have mentioned sex too. Biologically, sex is natural. It is not a hindrance to enlightenment. It is just like eating food, drinking water, breathing the air in and out, waking up in the morning, going to sleep in the night. Your digested food becomes your blood, your semen. It is a natural phenomenon.
Sex in itself is not a barrier to enlightenment, but all the religions have made it a barrier by repressing it. It is not sex that is the barrier, it is perverted sex that becomes the barrier. Homosexuality is a barrier, lesbianism is a barrier. But because all your religions have been teaching you to be celibate if you want to attain to God, self-realization, liberation, enlightenment -- whatsoever their name is for the ultimate experience -- then celibacy has been taught to be the basic requirement.
It is that idea of celibacy which has driven people into all kinds of perversions. Celibacy has led humanity to the perfect perversion, AIDS. This is a religious disease. This is the blessing your popes and your shankaracharyas and your imams have given to you.
Certainly whenever nature is not allowed to be natural, it takes you off the route of your growth, you start growing in a different direction. Enlightenment is your natural growth. The more natural you are, the easier the growth. Sex is not a problem; celibacy is.
Before enlightenment, enjoy sex as much as you can because after enlightenment there will not be any sex at all. So do your best and be quick! Life is short, who knows? Tomorrow you may become enlightened. After enlightenment, love is the reality. Sex becomes just a past thing; you are out of the bondage of biology. So please, don't call your sex "making love." It is not making love.
Only when you are enlightened is it possible to make love, because then it is no longer a biological necessity, but just beautiful fun; you can enjoy it. And the enlightened person can enjoy it more than anybody else. He enjoys everything more than anybody else. His capacity to enjoy is tremendous. But there is no necessity. If he chooses not to play tennis, there is no biological necessity. If he chooses not to play football, existence is not going to ask him, "Why are you not playing football?" It is simply up to him.
Making love is simply a game between two body energies. If you like the game, and likings differ -- if you like the game, play it, and play it the best you can. If you don't like the game, there is no necessity, and then celibacy is natural.
After enlightenment, sex is no longer a need, but you have all the mechanism: the whole body of a woman or a man. You are still eating, you are still drinking. You are still creating the energy that used to become sex when you were unenlightened. You can use that energy in making love, or in painting, or in creating poetry, or in dancing. And if you don't want to do anything with the energy, a great change in your chemistry and biology happens. You don't create that energy anymore if you don't use it. But then remember, you will become fatter.
You can see in India, sannyasins.... Muktananda's master -- perhaps you have seen his picture. I don't think anybody in the whole world can compete with that man as far as his belly is concerned. It is almost as high as Everest. It was so difficult for Nityananda, Muktananda's master, to sit -- his belly was so big. He was always lying down, and you could see the great slope! Now the energy accumulates. It is better to use it. This is ugly!
An enlightened person should become more beautiful, nicer, more proportionate. But the idea that you have to be celibate creates people like Nityananda. And after a certain point.... For example, Nityananda, even if I had met him and told him... he died before I reached his place. He did well; otherwise I was going to tell him, "Your belly looks like a very foolish thing, attached to a man who is enlightened. Why don't you make love?"
But I think he would be incapable of making love -- the belly would keep the woman miles away! I cannot imagine.... I have looked into the ancientmost scriptures on sexology, Vatsyayana's SUTRAS. He describes all the positions, eighty-four positions of making love; there is not a single exercise applicable to Nityananda. Perhaps Vatsyayana never came across such a personality.
I have looked into the second great treatise on sex written by Pundit Koka. I think sometimes that Coca-Cola must be some relation to Pundit Koka; perhaps Cola was his girlfriend. And they both together have created such a juicy thing.... The Coca-Cola company does not reveal its secrets to anybody. They are preserved in Switzerland in a bank, locked. The company is not ready for any price to sell the secret of the drink. It is ready to lose great markets.
For example, in India Coca-Cola became prohibited for the simple reason that the government wanted to know the formula, how it is made -- "because unless the Indian medical board passes it, we don't know what you are supplying." But the company refused. The company said, "We never give our formula to anybody. We are ready to get out of your market." And since then in India, they have been trying, making many cold drinks, but nothing comes close to Coca-Cola. It cannot, it has a very ancient source.
I looked in Pundit Koka's book of exercises. He is certainly far more advanced than Vatsyayana, because Vatsyayana is three thousand years old; Coca-Cola is only one thousand years old. The name of the wife or the girlfriend is not known. Just the male chauvinist world -- the man gives his name to his wife. Why can't it be vice versa, that the wife gives her name to the man? No man will be ready for that.
I have searched Pundit Koka's book of sexual exercises in every detail. He has more postures, but still nothing for Nityananda. The belly is so big that it seems almost impossible to reach the woman. Before it happens to you, don't accumulate energy. It is good that the energy remains flowing, that it remains fresh, it remains young. Your sex energy becoming stale is dangerous; it will create a certain staleness in all dimensions of your life.
Sex is perfect, no celibacy is needed before enlightenment. After enlightenment sex disappears, giving place to love -- a far more delicate phenomenon. You can have as much fun as you like, in no way can it disturb your enlightenment. It is something bodily, chemical, physiological. How can it affect your consciousness?
The enlightened man can make love, and while he is making love he is still centered in his being. He is just a witness, he is seeing himself and the woman making love; he is a third party. And this is what I mean when I say the enlightened man transcends sex, because he becomes a third party. He can see his own body and the body of his woman completely as a witness. His witnessing is not disturbed by anything.
OSHO
From Death to Deathlessness - Discourse # 5