Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy - Osho - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 8. HE ALONE WINS WHO DOES NOT WANT TO WIN
Let us understand it in another way which will accord with McLuhan. We look at the stars with the
help of a telescope, and the stars that were invisible to the naked eye become visible at once. Can
you say that the telescope and the eyes are separate? No, the telescope is an extension of the eyes
made possible by science. Now, with the help of the telescope your eyes can see much more than
they saw before. Or, I touch you with my hands. Is it I who touch you or is it my hands that do so?
Apparently my hands touch you, but is there a distance between me and my hands? Where do my
hands separate from me? No, my hands are extensions of my being, they are not different from me,
Even if I touch you with the help of a stick, it is again I who touch you. The stick is just an extension of
my hand. And when I speak with you through the telephone, the latter becomes my own extended
form. It is the same as when I look at the stars with the help of the telescope – the latter is the
extension of my eyes. Even the stars are not separate from me. Or are they? There must be some
inner connection between the stars and my eyes; otherwise, how can I see them with my eyes? I
cannot see them with my ears. For certain there is some intimate connection between my eyes and
the stars. Therefore, not only the telescope, even the stars are extensions of my eyes. Or, seen
conversely, my eyes are extensions of the stars.
This is the vision of the non-dual, the advait. Then all things are extensions of one and the same.
And there is an inner harmony permeating them all. Then the medium is the message, and the
message is the medium.
It is right to ask if Krishna’s flute and its songs are prayers to God. I will not say it is a prayer,
because a man like Krishna does not pray. To whom is he going to pray? Prayer creates a distance,
a separation between the one who prays and the object of his prayer. Prayer is dualistic. And it
would be good to understand this point clearly.
Prayer is dualistic; Krishna cannot pray. Playing the flute, Krishna is in meditation, because
meditation is non-dualistic. There is a basic difference between prayer and meditation. Prayer is
the discovery of the dualist who believes that he and God are separate, that God is somewhere far
away in the distant heavens, and that he needs to pray for his mercy, for his grace, or whatever.
Prayer is a kind of supplication. Meditation is a non-dualistic state: it says God is not somewhere
else, away from me, nor am I here, separate from him; whatever is, is one whole. So Krishna’s
flute is not a prayer, it is the voice of meditation. It is not a supplication to some God; it is just a
thanksgiving, directed not to God but to oneself. The musical notes of the flute are an expression of
gratefulness, utter gratefulness.
It is only in gratefulness that one is free and expansive. In prayer you are inhibited and afraid,
because prayer flows from some desire and desire creates fear. You are afraid if your prayer is
going to be heard at all. You are also afraid if there is someone listening to your prayer or if it is
being lost in the wilderness. In thanksgiving you are fearless and free, because you don’t want
anything in return. And you are not afraid about its acknowledgement it is just an outpouring of your
heart. It is not addressed to someone; it is unaddressed – or, it is directed to the whole. The winds
will hear it and carry it on their wings. The skies will hear it, the clouds will hear it, the flowers will
hear it. It is not a means to some end; it is an end unto itself, Prayer is enough unto itself. Playing
the flute is all and everything.
It is for this reason that Krishna plays his flute with immense bliss. Meera could not dance with
that abandon and blissfulness, because there is no meditation in her dance. Her dance is a kind
Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy 151 Osho