The Great Path - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 2. THE STARS MIRRORED
reach such a turbulent position, which can only be won after a mad race. The greater mad defeats
the lesser mad and makes it to the top. How Coolidge reached there is a miracle. It is said that he
was so quiet by nature that he hardly spoke at all. It is said, that there were days when he would not
utter more than five or ten words!
At the end of his term his friends implored him to run for office again. Everyone was eager to have
him there again. He refused. People asked, ”Why? All the countrymen are in your favor.” He said,
”The first time was a mistake. What have I gained from it all? I will not waste another five years of
my life. And there is nothing ahead of the president. I have experienced that position. There is no
further to go. Had there been something, my dream would have continued.”
You do not realize it, but no man is a greater failure than the one who has realized his dreams.
Because at the very edge of success he finds that all he struggled for, all that he toiled so hard to
reach, had nothing to offer. But the successful man hides his disappointment and defeat from others
who, being equally foolish, are struggling to reach where he stands. If all the people in the world who
have attained success were to be honest and declare the futility of their attainments, many of these
mad races arising from their dreams would stop instantly. But the successful man cannot do that,
for it would hurt his ego to declare that he had attained nothing after a life-long struggle. Instead
he exaggerates the pleasures of his achievements. He whose tail is cut, arranges for others to lose
theirs too; otherwise, he would be ashamed of himself that he is the only one without a tail.
Whenever the dream current begins, become awake and alert, and watch: What am I doing? All
stories of Sheikh Chilli in the children’s books apply to you. Your mind is Sheikh Chilli, and as long as
you keep dreaming you will remain Sheikh Chilli. The meaning of Sheikh Chilli is one who dreams
useless dreams and then takes them to be true. God forbid that these dreams ever come true! They
will demand tremendous energy.
If your dreams are realized you will find that you have not achieved anything. Your hands are full of
dust. All successes of the mundane world turn to ashes. By the time you have attained them, your
life has passed by and there is no way to turn back. And you are left with no alternative but to hide
your failures; that your life was not spent in vain, you have attained something. Your life was fruitful.
Thought-waves are nothing but dreams. Do not strengthen them. When the dream starts running
within, shake yourself and break the dream as quickly as you can. Mantras can be useful. We shall
talk in detail later how they can be tools for breaking dreams. Mantra definitely shatters dreams.
UNCONSCIOUSNESS AND LACK OF SELF-AWARENESS IS DEEP SLEEP.
In it, everything is lost. There is no discrimination, no wisdom, no awareness – either within or
without. You are like a rock, in deep trance. Just think of it, how restless your life must be! It is only
when you sleep deeply, do you get up in the morning and say what an enjoyable sleep you had. Just
think about it: what hell your life must be that you find happiness only in the oblivion of sleep, when
you are unconscious. The rest of the time you are filled with pain and suffering.
You only feel at ease after a good sleep, and sleep means nothing but unconsciousness. But you
are right. For you, it is more than enough, because your life is one long tale of worries, anxieties,
tensions and turmoil. You rest for a while and you feel fulfilled, but in reality there is nothing to feel
fulfilled about.
The Great Path 40 Osho