The Great Path - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 8. THE FOURTH STATE
will break, but other dreams will continue; but if you awaken in a deep sleep where there are no
dreams then you will never dream again. This happens because all dreams occur in a desire-ridden
mind.
What is a dream? If you have a desire which remains unfulfilled during the day, you fulfill it during
the night. Everybody cannot be a king: there is a lot of struggle and competition, so the beggar
gratifies his desires by dreaming of becoming a king. The balance is maintained: the one who is
king in the day is not conscious of his kingdom in his sleep; the beggar begs all day and dreams he
is a king when he sleeps.
It happened once: Aurangzeb was very angry with a fakir. He sent for him one morning with the idea
of punishing him. People had told Aurangzeb that it was impossible to displease this man. He said,
”We shall see.” It was a cold night, a cold Delhi night. He had the fakir stand naked all night in the
river Jamuna, while all night there warmth and merriment in the palace.
The fakir spent the night standing in the cold river. In the morning Aurangzeb sent for him and asked,
”How as it with you last night?
The fakir replied, ”It was the same for me as it was for you, and at times it was better.”
”I don’t follow you,” said Aurangzeb.
”I kept dreaming,” said the fakir, ”that I was king. I sat in a brilliantly lit palace and there was
merrymaking all around. I took as much pleasure from my palace and my revelry as you did from
yours, so my night was sometimes like yours. And when I was filled with awareness then my dream
broke. You still do not know what awareness is like.”
You complete at night what is half-finished during the day. You cannot fulfill all your desires in the
daytime; there are difficulties. Besides, it is not easy to gratify desires for they are really unfulfillable.
There is no way to fulfill desires; in fact, it is the very nature of desire that it can never be fulfilled.
Even if you attain all the wealth in the world your desires will not be satisfied.
It is said: Diogenes told Alexander the Great, ”The day you conquer the whole world you will really
find yourself in great trouble. Forget about this whole business. As it stands you are facing great
trouble. After you have conquered the world you will find yourself in even greater difficulty.”
It is said that Alexander became sad and replied, ”Please, don’t talk like this, for the very thought
of having conquered the whole world makes me sad. Once the world is conquered what shall I do?
There is no other world to conquer. My mind will torment me no end, for it is never satisfied.”
Kings dream and so do beggars; each completes what was left undone during the day. Dreams
are kind to you; that is one of their qualities. If you are misled into observing austerities and
fasts by some sadhu or sannyasin, and if you have almost died of hunger during the day, in the
night when you dream you will find yourself a guest at a banquet. You will eat food that is tasty
beyond description. Dreams are infinitely kinder than your sadhus and sannyasins. And there is no
difference between the taste of the actual food and the dream food; possibly dream food is tastier! If
you have been unsuccessful in your running after women then in your dreams you will find yourself
attracting women as beautiful as your mind can possible imagine.
The Great Path 146 Osho