The Great Path - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 6. THE MAD PROJECTIONIST
People think that religion is for the old; they will require the water from the Ganges only when they
are about to die. Only then will they need someone to recite the prayers. When you are at the point
of death, when there is no energy or power left in you, then you begin to prepare for the journey. You
are bound to fall back into samsara, back into the world again; you will get back into the same boat,
just as you have for innumerable lives.
THE SOUL IS THE DANCER.
THE INNER SOUL IS THE STAGE.
Remember, whatever you see without is what projected from within. In life the only things that you
see are things that you are projecting, and life presents you with so many situations that demonstrate
that this is so.
I have heard: Once three travellers were together in a waiting room. One was an old man of sixty,
another a middle-aged fellow about fort-five, and the third a young man of thirty. The young man
was telling the others, ”I spent last night with the most beautiful woman in world; the pleasure of
having her beyond description.”
The forty-five year old said, ”Nonsense! I have known many women in my lifetime. At the time I
thought they were incomparable, but now I see that the pleasure they gave me was not as great as
I imagined then; in fact, it was no pleasure at all. Now I know the real meaning of joy. Last night I
was invited to the king’s place and Oh! what a glorious banquet! Never have I tasted such wonderful
food.”
”That’s all nonsense,” said the old man. ”Ask me what is the real pleasure. This morning my bowels
emptied so completely. The pleasure of an empty stomach is beyond description. I have never
known such bliss.”
Such is earthly joy: it changes with the years. The trouble is you, who forgets. At the age of thirty
the sex urge seems to give the greatest pleasure. At forty-five food seems to give more pleasure,
therefore people tend to put on weight at about this age. At sixty the interest in food is gone;
the remaining interest is in keeping the bowels empty. The pleasure of samadhi comes from an
altogether different dimension.
The soul within is the stage. Whatever you have put inside. Sex desires flow out from young man’s
eyes. his whole body is filled with aspects of sexual desire; wherever he looks he sees woman.
Sexual desire grips him from all sides.
Mulla Nasruddin was a young man. He went to see an art exhibition with his wife. They were newly
married, so they were going places together. There were many masterpieces in the exhibition. The
Mulla stopped before a particular picture. He was transfixed. He would not budge. It was a picture
of a nude covered only by a few leaves. The caption read; Spring. He was transfixed. The Mulla’s
wife shook his arm and said, ”Are you waiting for Autumn?”
Such is man’s mind. his wife guessed right. Wives usually guess right. They know.
The Great Path 112 Osho