surrender

By thinking, He cannot be reduced to thought, even by thinking hundreds of thousands of times.
By remaining silent, inner silence is not obtained, even by remaining lovingly absorbed deep within.
The hunger of the hungry is not appeased, even by piling up loads of worldly goods.
Hundreds of thousands of clever tricks, but not even one of them will go along with you in the end. So how can you become truthful? And how can the veil of illusion be torn away?
O Nanak, it is written that you shall obey the Hukam of His Command, and walk in the Way of His Will.

-- from Guru Nanak Dev Ji's Japji Sahib (first page of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji)

wholeness

Paradoxically, we achieve true wholeness only by embracing our fragility and sometimes, our brokenness. Wholeness is a natural radiance of Love, and Love demands that we allow the destruction of our old self for the sake of the new.

-- Jalaja Bonheim
Aphrodite's Daughters

letting go

Letting Go

But How Difficult It Is ...

But Why Do We Hold on?

The Parable of the Rope.

the true name (sat-naam)

In an earlier post, there was a link to audio files of Osho lectures on Guru Nanak ji's Japji Sahib. Link below is the e-book of English translation of the same lecture. You need to use IE to view this page, it doesn't work with FireFox browser.

The True Name - English translation of Osho's lecture on Guru Nanak's Japji Sahib

an excerpt:

What is fear? Fear always involves the other: if someone can take something away from you it destroys your security. Then there is death and there is illness -- both are the other. Hell is being surrounded by the other; hell is the other. But how can you escape the other? Should you run away to the Himalayas you will still not be alone. Sit under a tree; a crow's dropping falls on your head, and you are filled with anger towards the crow. There are the rains and the sun -- irritations everywhere. How will you escape the other who is present everywhere? The only way to escape the other is to seek the one; then no other remains. Then all fear fades away. There is no death, no illness; there are no inconveniences, because there is no other. Finally you are alone. Fear persists as long as the other remains the other for you. Ek Omkar Satnam. Once this mantra has penetrated your being, where is fear? God has no fear. Whom should He fear? He is the only one, there is no one besides Him.

what is love?

It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80's, arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am. I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him. I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound.

On examination, it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound. While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife. I inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer's Disease. As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now. I was surprised, and asked him, "And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?" He smiled as he patted my hand and said, "She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is."

I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps on my arm, and thought, "That is the kind of love I want in my life." True love is neither physical, nor romantic. True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.

... By the way, peace is seeing a sunset and knowing Who to thank. And the happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

-- from a forwarded email

salvation is for Christians only

One of the primary complaints non-Christians have about some Christians is that they believe only Christians can attain salvation and go to heaven and everybody else goes to hell.

What's meant by Christian? It's not someone who is born to Christian parents or someone who goes to church every Sunday or someone who identifies himself/herself with the Christianity religion.

Christian is one who has surrendered to Lord. Can anyone attain salvation without surrendering? Only by his Grace, one may attain salvation. To realize this is the essence of surrender.

Instead of getting defensive due to our attachment to our form of religion, we can see the truth behind what it really means. It's really the same as what other religions have to say.

Osho's Commentary on Guru Nanak's Japji Sahib

list of audio files in MP3

let go

source of peace

The season of spring has come, and all the plants have blossomed forth.
This mind blossoms forth, in association with the True Guru.
So meditate on the True Lord, O my foolish mind.
Only then shall you find peace, O my mind.
This mind blossoms forth, and I am in ecstasy.
I am blessed with the Ambrosial Fruit of the Naam, the Name of the Lord of the Universe.
Everyone speaks and says that the Lord is the One and Only.
By understanding the Hukam of His Command, we come to know the One Lord.
Says Nanak, no one can describe the Lord by speaking through ego.
All speech and insight comes from our Lord and Master.

banasapath moulee charriaa basa(n)th
eihu man mouliaa sathiguroo sa(n)g
thumh saach dhhiaavahu mugadhh manaa
thaa(n) sukh paavahu maerae manaa
eith man mouliai bhaeiaa ana(n)dh
a(n)mrith fal paaeiaa naam gobi(n)dh
eaeko eaek sabh aakh vakhaanai
hukam boojhai thaa(n) eaeko jaanai
kehath naanak houmai kehai n koe
aakhan vaekhan sabh saahib thae hoe

- By Guru Amar Daas Ji in Raag Basant on Page 1176 of Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

being sick

When we are sick, it's very easy to think that We are sick. It's really not Us who are sick but it's our body. It's easy to identify with a sick body. The pain feeling is strong and treatment from others reinforces the false identification. Ego has found a way to come back in a big way. It will find ways to stay around with full energy. A treasure has been lost, let's not use our mind to find it again, thoughts are straight from ego; they will not help. Acknowledge the short lived reign of the ego and surrender and ask for help. Accept you don't have any solutions, I come to You, You show me the way.

baggage

Once a while we get these flashes of memory from past events that bother us. These are situations which we did not accept fully when they occurred. They become part of this baggage that we carry with us. Eckhart Tolle calls this pain body.

We need to take care of this baggage from two fronts. On one side we need to decrease its growth and on the other side we need to start getting rid of what's in the baggage from past.

As new events occur in our life everyday, we need to accept them as they are. This will make sure these don't get added to the baggage.

As we get memory flashes from past, we need to accept those past events unconditionally so they are removed from the baggage.

Acceptance his Will (Hukam) as it unfolds in everyday life will trigger His Grace. The Grace will align us to the flow of life. The alignment is the purpose of our life. Being in alignment does not require effort. It's about being not doing.