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

CHAPTER 8. HE ALONE WINS WHO DOES NOT WANT TO WIN
of prayer, a prayer to her beloved Krishna, who, in spite of all her closeness, all her intimacy with
him, is separate and distant from her. Meera’s dance lacks that freedom there is in the dance of
Krishna. There is an ache of separation in the songs of Meera; they are wet with her tears. Her
songs are addressed to Krishna for whom she makes a beautiful bed and awaits with utter fondness.
Her songs have a purpose, and therefore are tinged with her desire and fear. Krishna is utterly free
from desire and fear. His songs are not addressed to any God, they are God’s own songs. There
is no cause behind Krishna’s flute; it is causeless. He is utterly fulfilled, and he is celebrating this
fulfillment with flute and dance.
Usually we associate the flute with a state of ease. We say in a Hindi proverb that ”So-and-so is
playing a flute of ease”. It means that someone is at ease, and now he has nothing more to do
except play his flute. It is an act without a purpose, and so it is an act of real thanksgiving.
Question 7
QUESTIONER: YOU OFTEN SAY THAT PRAYER IS A STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS. AND YOU
ALSO SAY THAT PRAYER IS A STATE OF GRATEFULNESS. THEN HOW IS IT THAT PRAYER IS
NOT NON-DUALISTIC?
No, I never say that prayer is a state of mind, I say that prayerfulness is a state of mind. My word is
not prayer, it is prayerfulness. And there is a great difference between prayer and prayerfulness,
Someone offers a prayer in the morning; it is a kind of ritual. Another person is prayerful even where
he just rises from his seat and walks in the garden. He is prayerful, in a state of prayerfulness even
as he ties the laces of his shoes. And when he takes off his shoes and puts them in their place, he
does so as if he is handling an idol of God. This man is prayerful. When he stops by a flower on
the road-side, he stands there as if he has come across God himself. This man is prayerful; he is
not praying. He never prays, yet he is in prayer, in a state of prayer. I don’t call prayer a state of
consciousness; prayerfulness is that state. A prayerful heart is altogether different; such a heart is
in meditation. To be prayerful and to be meditative are the same.
Only he who goes to prayer is not prayerful. How can a prayerful person pray? He lives in prayer;
he is prayer itself, and he does not do anything except prayer. And one who prays does many other
things at the same time. He runs a shop, he competes with others, he is jealous, he is angry, he
hates, and he and one things – one of which is prayer. Prayer is a small item in the long list of hi
activities.
Prayerful is he who is prayerful even when he is selling tea in a tea shop. Kabir is prayerful. He is a
weaver by trade, and he has attained to the highest in life, he has found God. Yet he continues to
weave and sell clothes. Someone asks him why he does so even after attaining to lofty sagehood.
In answer Kabir tells him, ”It is my prayer.” Kabir says, ”It is meditation when I walk, it is meditation
when I eat, and it is meditation when I weave the cloth.” He says, ”O monk, the enlightenment that is
natural, is of the highest. Whatever I do is meditation, prayer and worship. When Kabir goes to the
market with a bundle of cloth to sell, he goes there dancing. He addresses his customer as Rama,
his God, and tells him that he has woven this piece of cloth especially for him, that he has interlaced
it with prayers. For him both the seller and buyer are God; it is God who sells and it is again God
who buys.
Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy 152 Osho