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

CHAPTER 12. DISCIPLINE, DEVOTION AND KRISHNA
Let us look at samyama in the context of real life. In the context of real life, in the sense of the
interiority of life, a person of samyama has two connotations. Such a person is neither an ascetic
nor a hedonist – or he is both. Such a person is a renunciate and a hedonist together. His indulgence
is blended with renunciation and his renunciation mixed with indulgence.
But none of the old traditions of renunciation will agree with this definition of samyama. To these
traditions samyama means aversion to enjoyment and asamyama, imbalance, means addiction to
enjoyments. One who gives up his attachments and takes to asceticism is a samyami in the eyes of
the traditionalists.
Krishna is neither a renunciate nor a hedonist. If we have to place him somewhere, he will be midway
between Charvaka and Mahavira. In indulgence he will equal Charvaka, and in renunciation he will
not lag behind Mahavira. If we can have a blending of Charvaka and Mahavira, it will be Krishna.
So in terms of Krishna, all such words as samyama and asamyama will undergo a transformation.
The words will be the same, but their meanings will be radically different. The meanings will stem
from Krishna’s own being.
The second part of your question is: WHAT IS KRISHNA’S SADHANA OR SPIRITUAL
DISCIPLINE? WHAT IS HIS WAY OF WORSHIP.
There is nothing like sadhana – or spiritual discipline in the life of Krishna. There cannot be. The
basic element of spiritual discipline is effort; without effort sadhana is not possible. And the second
inescapable element of sadhana is ego; without the ego, the ”?”, spiritual discipline falls apart. Who
will discipline himself? Effort implies a doer; there has to be somebody to make the effort. Effort
ceases if there is no doer.
If we go into the matter deeply we will know that sadhana is an invention of the godless people,
people who don’t accept God. Those who deny God and accept only the soul believe in sadhana or
spiritual discipline. They believe the soul has to make efforts to uncover itself, to be itself.
Upasana, devotion, is the way of a very different kind of people, who say there is no soul, only God
is. Ordinarily we think that sadhana and upasana – discipline and worship – go together, but it is not
so. Theists believe in devotion and worship; they don’t believe in effort. They say all one has to do
is to get closer and closer to God.
The word upasana is beautiful; it means to sit near God, to get close to one’s object of worship. And
the worshipper disappears; his ego evaporates in the very process of getting close to God. There is
nothing more to be done. The theists believe that it is really one’s ego that separates him from God;
ego is the gulf between the seeker and the sought. The greater the ego, the greater is the distance
between the two. Ego is the measure of distance between the seeker and God. To the extent this
ego melts and evaporates, one gets closer and closer to God. And the day the ego disappears
completely, the day the seeker ceases to be, his upasana is complete and he is God himself.
It is like ice turns into water, and water in turn evaporates and disappears into the sky. Does ice
have to make efforts to become water? If it makes efforts, it will only become more hardened as ice.
Efforts will make ice more and more crystallized, solid. So if a seeker resorts to sadhana or spiritual
discipline, it will only strengthen his ego, harden it and solidify it.
Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy 221 Osho