The Great Path - Oshorajneesh.com
The Great Path - Oshorajneesh.com
The Great Path - Oshorajneesh.com
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CHAPTER 8. THE FOURTH STATE<br />
you cannot lose no matter how deep you are in sleep. That which you are is bound to be present. It<br />
can be suppressed, hidden, forgotten, but never destroyed.<br />
Whether you are asleep or dreaming or awake, turiya is ever-present. Deep within you are always<br />
Buddha. However much you may wander, all wandering is only superficial and belongs to the waves<br />
on the surface. Deep within you have never wandered, for deep within there is no way to wander.<br />
<strong>The</strong>refore, the fourth state is not to be attained but revealed. It has not to be achieved but uncovered.<br />
It lies hidden within like a buried treasure. You dig through a few layers of soil and be<strong>com</strong>e rich as a<br />
king. You need not seek anywhere, the treasure lies within. You keep getting glimpses of it, but you<br />
pay them no heed.<br />
In the morning you get up and say you slept long and deep, that the sleep was very refreshing.<br />
When you say this, have you ever wondered who it is who knows that the sleep was enjoyable? If all<br />
of your being was asleep, who was there to give remembrance? Who is it who says that the sleep<br />
was deep and refreshing? Surely someone saw into the depth of the slumber. Some dim light shone<br />
all through your sleep. <strong>The</strong> darkness was never total; it could be seen.<br />
You dream at night. In the morning you remember some fragments of your dream. You say you had<br />
a nightmare. So the observer was separate from your sleep, he was not lost in the sleep. A part<br />
of you stood aside and did not be<strong>com</strong>e one with the dream. You were the observer, the spectator,<br />
when the dream was being played on the stage of the soul within. But you were outside the play,<br />
otherwise you would not have remembered.<br />
When anger gets hold of you during the day, it is not that you are totally asleep; there are glimpses<br />
within. You are aware of anger when it <strong>com</strong>es, you feel it <strong>com</strong>ing. As the skies fill with clouds before<br />
the rain falls, you feel the smoke rising before the fire of anger erupts.<br />
When you are filled with attachments, when you are tranquil, when you are restless – there is<br />
someone within who keeps a constant watch; but you take no notice of this observer. Your attention<br />
flows toward what is seen in the world, and you are one with what you see; it doesn’t occur to you<br />
to turn and see the observer within who watches. This is all you have to do: turn within and see<br />
the observer. Your unconsciousness will break and you will attain the fourth state. He who attains<br />
the fourth state attains all. He who does not attain the fourth state, finds at the time of death that<br />
whatever he has earned, whatever he has gathered, is not worth a penny. It is all useless.<br />
I have heard:<br />
Once Nasruddin ran to the river to catch a boat. He was going on a journey and he was in a great<br />
hurry for fear of missing the boat. When he reached the river he saw the boat just a little ways from<br />
the shore. He took a jump and landed on the deck, but in the process he slipped and fell. His elbows<br />
were bruised, his clothes torn, but he was happy; he had caught the boat. He looked at his fellow<br />
travelers and beamed, ”Well, I made it.”<br />
One of them replied, ”I don’t understand, Mulla. Why such a hurry? This boat isn’t going anywhere,<br />
it’s just <strong>com</strong>ing in to shore.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Great</strong> <strong>Path</strong> 142 Osho