The Great Path - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 2. THE STARS MIRRORED
just to have faith in him, or demands that they give a certain amount to charity, perform good deeds
or build a temple. These are ’bargains’ that lead nowhere; they merely mislead you. You must follow
the path.
There are some who try even cheaper methods. They take hemp or hashish and believe they are
in samadhi, that they have attained knowledge. There are thousands of sannyasins and sadhus
who take drugs, like opium and hemp. The West is very much influenced by them, and they have
discovered even better drugs, like l.s.d., hashish, marijuana. They also have injections that take you
into samadhi. Like instant coffee, they now make instant samadhi.
If only it were so easy! If only someone had attained under the influence of drugs, then the world
would have become an enlightened place. It is not that easy, but the mind hunts for cheaper ways.
The mind wants to bypass the long, arduous journey and enter directly into samadhi. That cannot
be, for salvation lies in the traversing of the path. The path is not a readymade path; it is also your
development.
So this is the difficulty. In the outside world the journey can be shortened. The plane flies directly
from London to Bombay, with no stops in-between, but the man who boards at London is the same
as the man who gets down at Bombay. This man is the same as he was before. No growth has taken
place in him during the flight. But this is an outward journey. In the inner journey, one cannot reach
the destination without growing from what he was at the point of departure. Those who say that it
is possible are simply deceiving you because it is not a journey from one place to another place, it
is a journey from one state of being to another state of being. You have to grow in the process of
the journey because it is in that growth that you will be cleaned, purified and transformed. It is in the
agony of the process of the journey that you will grow. This pain, this agony is indispensable. If you
seek short cuts you are only deceiving yourself.
There is a great search for short cuts in the West, therefore people like Mahesh Yogi make a big
impact there. The reason for this is that Mahesh Yogi says, ”Whatever I am saying is like a jet-speed.”
He gives a small mantra which the seeker must repeat for fifteen minutes daily. This is all there is to
be done and you attain. There is no need to change your behavior, your lifestyle, nor is it necessary
to give up anything in the outside world. This is all: relax every day for fifteen minutes and repeat
the mantra. The mantra is everything.
The mantra is valuable, but it is not everything. The mantra can destroy dreams but it cannot give
the truth. Destruction of dreams is part of the way to the destination of truth, but if anyone thinks that
repeating the mantra is sufficient, that telling of beads is enough, he is only childish. This person is
not yet worthy even to talk about the path, let alone attain the goal.
The path is difficult, but it has to be travelled. Therefore the sutra says that enormous effort is the
path. Will is required to undertake such a mighty effort. You must be willing to stake your own self
in the effort. Liberation can be bought only if you stake yourself totally. Nothing less will do. If you
give something else, it will not do; you have not paid the full price. Only when you give completely
of yourself is the price enough and you attain.
Enough for today.
The Great Path 43 Osho