The Great Path - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 10. THE ETERNAL SPRING
sounding of the mantra going on within. It is exactly like ’Om’ though is it not ’Om’, for it is difficult to
express it in any language. If you listen very silently you are bound to hear it.
Now you are standing apart from the body. The first step severed your connection with the body; the
second step severed your connection with the mind; now the third step is the witnessing attitude,
the feeling that ’I am the witness’.
No mantra is greater than ’Om’; no mantra is more wonderful. Ram, Krishna, Mahavir, Buddha are
all beautiful sounds, but they cannot take you beyond the mind, for they have an image, a form;
whereas ’Om’ is formless. Besides, you have a relationship with Buddha, Krishna and Jesus; you
have feelings of love, attachment, fondness, affection. These will not allow you to step out of your
mind. ’Om’ is absolutely meaningless. It is unique. It has no meaning, no form, no image – not
even an outline. And it is not a part of the alphabet. It is closest to the sound which is actually
continuously resonating within you, which is the very nature of your existence. Just as the brook
does not babble, but its very flow causes the babbling sound; just as when the wind passes through
the branches and the leaves rustle in the same way, your being is such that ’Om’ resounds within
you. It is the sound of your being.
Hence, ’Om’ does not belong to any religion. It is neither Hindu nor Jaina nor Christian, nor Buddhist,
nor Moslem. It is the non-sectarian mantra. You will be surprised to know that the Jainas, the
Muslims, the Christians all make use of this mantra, though there are slight variations: the Muslims
say amin, the Christians say amen. These are only altered forms of ’Om’. On the course of its
journey from India to distant lands this mutation took place. ’Om’ is not connected with any thought.
Whoever was observed into the no-thought state, heard it.
For the first two steps you will pronounce the mantra, and in the third step you will just listen to it.
You will be the listener, the witness. In the first two steps you are the doer, for the body and mind
are parts of the doer; the third is the witness state. In it you listen, just listen. The body is cut off, so
is the mind; the layers of the onion are peeled off, and only pure existence remains – only you! And
that is Shivahood!
Also, once you get the taste, you will thirst for more and more. The taste will draw you, pull you
inside; it becomes like a magnet. We are drawn towards things that appeal to us and we naturally
go towards them. The trouble only arises of you do not get the taste; you meditate but you do not
enjoy it. This is because you have not yet got the taste of meditation. Once you get the taste there
is no difficulty; for then the mind hovers there by itself. Whenever you are free, even for a short time,
your eyes will close, your head will drop and you will see the beloved’s face in the mirror of your
heart. Then it does not matter where you are, in the house or in the marketplace, it is all the same.
It is only the first step that is very difficult. It amounts to one-half the journey hover there like a
bee, ever thirsting for more and more. It is the mind’s nature to go again and again to the place of
pleasure. It is only because you have not yet enjoyed the pleasure that you have to find ways to turn
the mind towards meditation.
Now your mind keeps saying, ”Why not go to the market! Why waste time just sitting here! You can
do all that later on when you have the time; now is the time for the shop or the office!” The mind
takes you to the place where it gets pleasure. The mind is not to be blamed for this. Once you have
The Great Path 180 Osho