The Great Path - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 3. MAXIMS OF YOGA: A SENSE OF WONDER
In the same way, when you move outwards from yourself, things begin to fall apart, and the further
you go the greater becomes the difference between them. Therefore, we find many different
branches of science because the distance is becoming bigger and bigger. New theories are born
every day, and scientists are facing a dilemma: one science cannot understand the language of the
other. There is no such person on earth who can understand all the sciences, who can synthesize
the different branches of science.
As it is, it is impossible to know a single branch of science. There is no dearth of knowledge in the
world, but we have lost the power of synthesis. Religion is one, no matter how many names you
give it, because no sooner does a man begin to go within himself than the distances decrease, and
all things merge into the center. The center is the ultimate synthesis.
Vitark or vivek, intelligence or awareness, discrimination leads to self-realization. Do not dissect
things. Do not go outwards; do not pay attention to ’the other’. Direct your attention inwards;
synthesize! Move slowly towards the center, where your life-force is focussed. Become established
at this point and great energy will arise within you.
The light we see around Mahavir or Buddha, the bliss we find around Krishna, Meera, Chaitanya –
what bliss is this? What light is it? What does it signify? It indicates that these people have reached
the point which is the source of infinite energy. They are no longer miserable, they are no longer
poor. They are emperors in their own right. This is also your potential, but you have to proceed step
by step.
First comes a sense of wonder; then being centered in the self; then intelligence as a way of reaching
the self.
The fourth sutra:
TO ENJOY THE BLISS OF EXISTENCE IS SAMADHI.
When you have reached the self and are firmly established in it, you have reached the most profound
state of existence. Existence is at its greatest density at this point, for everything is created out of
here. Your center is not only your center but the center of all creation.
We are separated only at the circumference. ’You’ and ’I’ are separations of the body. As we leave
the body and turn within, the distance gets smaller and smaller. The day you know the soul you
will also have known God. The day you know your own self you will know the self of all creation,
because at the center all is one. Distances only exist at the periphery.
Shiva says: By attaining this existence within one’s self, the joy of samadhi is attained.
Samadhi-sukham, the ’bliss of samadhi’; these words should be understood. You have known many
joys: the joy of a good dinner, the joy of good health and well-being. When you quench your
thirst or enjoy sex – such bodily joys you know fully, but understand well that all these joys carry
complementary sorrows with them. If you are not thirsty, water will bring no joy. If you are prepared
to undergo the torment of thirst, only then will you enjoy drinking water. The affliction, the agony,
comes first and is long; the ensuing joy is only momentary. As soon as the water slides down the
The Great Path 58 Osho