The Great Path - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 3. MAXIMS OF YOGA: A SENSE OF WONDER
It is said that when Moses reached the mountain Sanai, he cried, he laughed but he did not speak
at all. When he returned, his disciples asked: ”What have you done? God was present himself.
He said unto you, ’Remove you shoes because this is holy land and I am present here.’ And you
removed your shoes. You cried, you laughed but why didn’t you say something? Why did you miss
this opportunity? You could have asked whatever you wanted to ask. You could have at least asked
for the key that opens all the doors.”
Moses replied, ”When He was present in front of me, my mind disappeared; only heart was
throbbing. I laughed, I cried out of sheer joy!”
And this is the interesting part of life – happiness can make you cry and happiness can make you
laugh, too. So do not think that people always cry out of grief. It is a calculation of logic. Life does
not believe in logic. The river of life breaks all the frontiers and overflows like a total wave. One can
cry out of happiness. Then one’s tears have a different quality. Then bliss is reflected in the tears.
He can cry, too! These opposites can express one principle. This is the mystery of life.
So Moses said, ”Not only heart, I also lost my intellect. It seems that I dropped my conditioning
along with my shoes.”
And do not only remove your shoes outside the temple, drop your head, too! One who drops his
head along with the shoes, can only enter the temple. And shoes and head get along very well!
That’s why when you get angry with someone, you hit his head with your shoe. A monk hits his head
with his own shoes.
These are the two extremes, two poles. The head is on one extreme... you are at the center. And
that central point is a meeting place of all opposites. Your head and your feet are uniting there. Your
heart abides there.
So Moses said, ”I cried, I laughed because I was filled with wonder. I became speechless. Now I
will not be able to sleep. I cannot erase that which I have seen. That which has happened cannot
be wiped out. The Moses who lived before is no more. Now I am a different man.”
This is a new birth. Hindus call it ’dvija’: twice born – when is born second time. All brahmins are
not dwijas. Once in a while some brahmin becomes dwija. You do not become a dwija by wearing a
sacred thread around your neck. Dwija means twice born. Moses said, ”Now I am twice born. Now
I am a different man. That person is dead.”
If you experience wonder, your old will die and the new will be born. And if you perpetually remain
in the sense of wonder, the new is born and the old dies every moment. Every moment the old
disappears and the new appears. And your flow is eternal. Then you will never become old; then
the eternal life pulsates within you.
Shiva therefore says, the sense of wonder is the foundation of yoga.
The second maxim: TO BE ESTABLISHED IN ONESELF IS STRENGTH.
The sense of wonder is the foundation. Wonder means an enquiry inwards. An internal search of
the question: who am I? If you move outside, there is surprise. If you move outside, there is logic. If
The Great Path 52 Osho