The Great Path - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 7. MEDITATION IS THE SEED
Brahma. But this is the way we are; we are always rummaging around till we come up with some
easy method to fool ourselves with. How long can we maintain this self-deception? All your sacred
threads, all the devices you use to misguide yourself – destroy them! They give false hopes. What
you need is a genuine birth, and that will only happen when you become your own womb. You will
need a body in the state of ’just sitting’ and a mind in the state of meditation. Together they form the
womb within you.
Nicodemus asked Jesus, ”When shall I attain your Kingdom of God?” Jesus replied, ”When you die
and are born again.” You have to end your life as it is, be dead to it, and be born again as you should
be. Only then can you enter the Kingdom of God. Then answer is clear: destroy the seed form and
become the tree.
As you are, you are only a dream, a promise – a promise that some day God will emerge from within
you, but He has not, as yet. Bury this possibility within the soil like a seed. What is the danger?
What is the fear? I can understand the seed’s misgivings. It is afraid of extinction. Besides, it has no
knowledge of the tree that it carries inside. It has never come face to face with the tree. If the tree
is to sprout the seed must die. Besides, the seed is not sure whether, on its death, the vast tree will
come into being. All that the seed can think is: Whatever I am will be lost. And where is the certainty
of attaining this vastness? Exactly that is your anxiety. Of all the Buddhas and Mahavirs and Shivas
you ask this same question: ’What if we lose what we have without gaining anything?”
The fear is natural. Therefore you are afraid to approach the master. If you don’t experience this
fear the master is not worth a penny; run away from him. The master makes you frightened for he
looks like death itself. He will destroy you. And, as you are being destroyed, the mind says: ”Escape
from here.” When the mind gives that danger signal don’t run away! When the mind tells you to wait
a little longer and enjoy the master’s company, then is the time to run! Where the mind is fearful,
know that something is bound to happen, for the seed is frightened only in the face of extinction.
You are not afraid of the priests. You are not afraid of the temples. And the holy places – Kashi and
Bodh Gaya, Gunar, Kaaba, Jerusalem – you can wander there without a care, for there is no one
there who threatens your existence. All the places of pilgrimage, all the holy places, are dead places,
for life is not in the place, in the teertha, but in the tirthankara, the master. When the Tirthankara
is gone a pilgrimage place is built around him, for now there is no fear from the master. A dead
master cannot destroy you, therefore the mind worships the dead master very lovingly. You worship
Mahavir and Buddha, for you know for certain that a stone statue can do you no harm. After all, it is
you who bought it and you can throw it away whenever you want.
The Hindus are clever, they make their idols of clay, because after worshipping them for two or three
weeks they throw them in the river. One thing is certain: we make them and we break them. You
worship if you feel like it; if you don’t feel like it, you don’t worship. Who will ask you to explain
yourself? All this is just a more sophisticated version of the games that children play. They play with
dolls: we play with statues of God.
When Mahavir, Rama and Krishna are no more, then they are worshipped. When such a person is
alive, people run away in fear. People who are deathly afraid of a master think lovingly of visiting
the holy pilgrimage places. Crowds of thousands flock to the annual Kumbha Mela, the meeting of
all the holy men. Have people ever gathered in such numbers around Mahavir or Krishna? Never!
The Great Path 134 Osho