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YAA-HOO! THE MYSTIC ROSE
Beginning March 19, 1988, Osho starts
a series of talks that will turn out to be the last
series devoted only to responses to questions. During
these talks he begins to develop a "let-go"
meditation, which he personally leads. He also introduces
what he calls a "mantra salute"—based
on a joke that he has told during one of the talks—that
involves raising both arms in the air and shouting "Yaa-Hoo!"
On April 30, Osho announces that he has developed a
new process that he calls a "meditative therapy."
The process is refined, after the first experiments,
to take place three hours a day over a period of three
weeks: one week of laughter, one week of tears, and
one week of silent witnessing. There is no interaction
among the participants and no "therapist"
but only a facilitator who has been trained in conducting
the process. It is called "The Mystic Rose."
No meditation can give you so much as this small strategy.
This is my experience of many meditations, that what
has to be done is to break two layers in you. Your laughter
has been repressed; you have been told, "Don't
laugh, it is a serious matter." You are not allowed
to laugh in church, or in a university class. . . .
So the first layer is of laughter, but once laughter
is over you will suddenly find yourself flooded with
tears, agony. But that too will be a great unburdening
phenomenon. Many lives of pain and suffering will disappear.
If you can get rid of these two layers you have found
yourself. I have invented many meditations, but perhaps
this will be the most essential and fundamental one.
IN THE WEEKS TO COME, OSHO ADDS TWO MORE MEDITATIVE
THERA-pies: "No-Mind" is a structure that
involves gibberish followed by silent watching, and
"Bom Again" allows participants the freedom
to play as if they were children. He also suggests that
therapists who are skilled in guided meditations and
hypnosis revive an ancient Tibetan technique of body-mind
healing, which he names "Reminding Yourself of
the Forgotten Language of Talking to the Body."
THE ZEN DISCOURSES
After completing the Mystic Rose series,
Osho begins to speak on Zen stories and haikus.As part
of the Zen talks he answers questions from his editor
about the meaning of the stories or haikus and often
comments on current world affairs and social concerns.
But he never again answers questions about people's
relationships or other personal problems. He often dedicates
his talks to the trees surrounding the meditation hall,
to the birds, to the clouds or rains, and other elements
of nature. It is one of the most fundamental things
to be remembered by all of you that a religion is living
only when there is no organized doctrine, no system
of beliefs, no dogma, no theology. When there is just
this silence and the trees enjoying the dance in the
breeze, in your heart something grows. It is your own,
it does not come from any scripture; nobody can give
it to you because it is not knowledge. That is the greatest
difference between all the religions on one side and
Zen on the other side. All religions except Zen are
dead. They have become fossilized theologies, systems
of philosophies, doctrines, but they have forgotten
the language of the trees. They have forgotten the silence
in which even trees can be heard and understood. They
have forgotten the joy that has to be natural and spontaneous
to the heart of every living being. The moment the experience
becomes an explanation, an expression, it breathes no
more; it is dead—and all over the world people
are carrying dead doctrines. I call Zen the only living
religion because it is not a religion but only a religiousness.
It has no dogma, it does not depend on any founder.
It has no past; in fact it has nothing to teach you.
It is the strangest thing that has happened in the whole
history of mankind—strangest because it enjoys
in emptiness, it blossoms in nothingness. It is fulfilled
in innocence, in not knowing. It does not discriminate
between the mundane and the sacred. For Zen, all that
is, is sacred. THE GUIDED MEDITATIONS AT THE END OF
THE ZEN TALKS CROW longer, and Osho adds a stage of
gibberish. This is followed by silent sitting, a "let-go"
(relaxing the. body and falling to the floor), coming
back to a sitting position for more silence, and finally
celebration as Osho leaves the hall. Osho guides the
assembly through the silent stages, and each stage is
announced by a drumbeat. Be silent. Close your eyes,
feel your body to be completely frozen. Now look inward,
gathering all your consciousness—almost like an
arrow, forcing toward the center. At the center you
are the buddha. On the circumference you may be anybody,
Tom, Dick, Harry; on the circumference you are all different,
but at the center your essential nature is that of a
buddha, the man of Tao. Deeper and deeper—because
the deeper you go, the more will be your experience
of your eternal reality. Flowers will start showering
on you, the whole existence will rejoice your silence.
Just be a witness, from the center, and you have arrived
home.
To make it clear . . .
(Drumbeat)
Relax. Just remember that you are only a witness. The
body is not you, the mind is not you. You are just a
mirror. And as you settle down into a mirrorlike witnessing,
the whole existence takes on a tremendously beautiful
form. Everything becomes divine. This evening was beautiful
on its own, but Joshu's lion's roar has made it tremendously
beautiful. This very moment you are a buddha. When you
come back, bring the buddha with you. You have to live
out the buddha in your day-to-day life. I am against
renouncing the world—I am for re-creating the
world. The more buddhas there are, the world will have
new skies, new dimensions, new doors opening . . . new
mysteries, new miracles.
Collect as much fragrance and flowers as you can.
(Drumbeat)
Come back, but come back as a buddha—peacefully,
gracefully. Sit for a few moments just to recollect
your experience of the space that you have visited and
the splendor that you have experienced.
Every day you have to go deeper and deeper. So always
remember how far you have gone: Tomorrow you have to
go a little more. It may take two, or five, or twenty,
or thirty years—but you are to become a buddha.
As far as I am concerned you are right now a buddha,
you have only to gain courage. In those thirty years
you will not be changing into a buddha—you are
a buddha already. Those thirty years are just to drop
the doubt, the doubt that you—how can you be a
buddha? Even if I say it, even if all the buddhas try
to convince you, deep down is the doubt: "My god,
me? And a buddha?" But one day you will become
convinced by your own experience. There is no real conversion
without your own experience.
THE END OF BHAGWAN
In December 1988, Osho is again gravely
ill, requiring the attendance of his personal physician
twenty-four hours a day. When he returns to the meditation
hall after a three-week absence, he makes a startling
announcement. A Japanese seeress has sent a message
that she believes Gautam Buddha is using Osho as a vehicle.
He confirms that this is true and announces that he
is dropping the name Bhagwan. He also removes the sunglasses
that he has been wearing for several months because
the video lights had disturbed his eyes and gives them
to one of his disciples. His new name goes through several
variations over the next few days, and one comes about
in response to a question from a UPI reporter: Gautam
the Buddha has taken shelter in me. I am the host, he
is the guest. There is no question of any conversion
[to Buddhism]. I am a buddha in my own right, and that
is the reason he has felt to use my vehicle for his
remaining work. He has been waiting, a wandering cloud
for twenty-five centuries, for a right vehicle. I am
not a Buddhist. Neither is Gautam the Buddha's intention
to create Buddhists, or to create an organized religion.
Even twenty-five centuries before, he never created
an organized religion. The moment truth is organized
it becomes a lie. An organized religion is nothing but
a hidden politics, a deep exploitation by the priesthood.
They may be shankaracharyas, imams, rabbis, or popes—it
makes no difference. Gautam Buddha did not leave behind
him any successor. His last words were, "Don't
make my statues, don't collect my words. I don't want
to become a symbol that has to be worshiped. My deepest
longing is that you will not be imitators. You don't
have to be Buddhists because your own potential is to
be a buddha." I would like to say: I don't teach
Buddhism, or any 'ism,' for that matter. I teach the
buddha himself. The people who are with me are not part
of any organized religion. They are independent, individual
seekers. My relationship with them is that of a fellow
traveler. By the way, I have to remind you of Gautam
Buddha's prophecy twenty-five centuries ago: "When
I come again I will not be able to be born through a
woman's womb. I will have to take shelter in a man of
similar consciousness and the same height and the same
open sky. I will be called 'The Friend.' ' A tremendous
freedom is implied in the word. He does not want to
be anybody's guru, he simply wants to be a friend. He
has something to share, with no conditions attached
to the sharing. This also will help you, because a few
sannyasins have been confused how they will make the
difference between the ancient Gautam Buddha and me.
Gautam Buddha's prophecy helps to clarify the confusion.
Although he has taken shelter in me, I will not be called
Gautam the Buddha. I will love to be called according
to his prophecy: Maitreya the Buddha. Maitreya means
"the friend." That will keep the distinction.
There will not be any confusion. ON THE FIFTH NIGHT
OF THE UNUSUAL VISIT, OSHO COMES TO THE meditation hall
with another announcement. Gautam Buddha has left, because
of certain incompatibilities in the respective lifestyles
of guest and host. These four days have been of immense
difficulty to me. I had thought that Gautam Buddha would
be understanding of the change of times, but it was
impossible. I tried my hardest, but he is so much disciplined
in his own way— twenty-five centuries back—he
has become a hard bone. Small things became difficult.
He used to sleep only on the right side. He did not
use a pillow; he used his hand as a pillow. The pillow
was, for him, a luxury. I told him, "The poor pillow
is not a luxury, and it is sheer torture to keep your
hand the whole night under your head. And do you think
to lie down on the right side is right, and the left
is wrong? As far as I am concerned, this is my basic
fundamental, that I synthesize both the sides."
He was eating only one time per day, and he wanted,
without saying a word, that I should do it also. He
used to beg his food. He asked me, "Where is my
begging bowl?" This evening exactly at six o'clock
when I was taking my Jacuzzi, he became very much disturbed—"Jacuzzi?"
Taking a bath twice a day was again a luxury. I said,
"You have fulfilled your prophecy that you will
be coming back. Four days are enough—I say good-bye
to you! And now you need not wander around the earth;
you just disappear in the ultimate blue sky. "You
have seen for four days that I am doing the work that
you wanted to do, and I am doing it according to the
times and the needs. I am not in any way ready to be
dictated to. I am a free individual. Out of my freedom
and love I have received you as a guest, but don't try
to become a host." These four days I have had a
headache. I had not known it for thirty years, I had
completely forgotten what it means to have a headache.
Everything was impossible. He is so accustomed to his
way, and that way is no longer relevant. So now I make
a far greater historical statement, that I am just myself.
You can continue to call me the buddha, but' it has
nothing to do with Gautam the Buddha or Maitreya the
Buddha. I am a buddha in my own right. The word buddha
simply means "the awakened one." Now I declare
that my name should be Shree Rajneesh Zorba the Buddha.
SHREE RAJNEESH ZORBA THE BUDDHA SOON DROPS ALL HIS NAMES
and says that he will simply remain nameless. His sannyasins,
however, are at a loss without a name to use in addressing
him and suggest "Osho," which has appeared
often in the Zen stories as a term of respect and honor.
Osho agrees and adds his own meaning to the word, relating
it to William James's term oceanic. Later he says it
is not his name at all but just a healing sound.
THE ZEN MANIFESTO: FREEDOM FROM ONESELF
In the weeks following the "visitation"
by Gautam Buddha, Osho seems to tap into new reservoirs
of strength and energy. His talks grow longer—on
a couple of occasions he speaks for nearly four hours
without a break—and his speaking is noticeably
more fiery and energetic. In different series of talks,
he relates Zen to the work of Friedrich Nietzsche and
Walt Whitman, compares it with Christianity, and recommends
it to Gorbachev as a path to ease the transition from
communism to capitalism. But in February 1989, two days
into a new series of talks entitled "The Zen Manifesto,"
Osho is taken ill again and does not appear in the meditation
hall until the beginning of April. "The Zen Manifesto"
will prove to be his last series of talks. The Zen manifesto
is absolutely needed, because all old religions are
falling apart. And before they fall apart and humanity
goes completely bananas, Zen has to be spread wide around
the whole earth. Before the old house falls down, you
have to create a new house. And this time don't commit
the same mistake. You have been living in a house that
was not there; hence you were suffering rain, winter,
sun, because the house was only an imagination. This
time really enter into your original home, not into
any man-made temple, any man-made religion. Enter into
your own existence. Why be continuously a carbon copy?
This time is very valuable. You are born in a very fortunate
moment, when the old has lost its validity, its proof,
when the old is simply hanging around you because you
are not courageous enough to get out of the prison.
Otherwise the doors are open—in fact, there have
never been any doors, because the house you are living
in is completely imaginary. Your gods are imaginary,
your priests are imaginary, your holy scriptures are
imaginary. This time don't commit the same mistake.
This time humanity has to take a quantum leap from the
old rotten lies to the fresh, eternally fresh truth.
This is the manifesto of Zen.
OSHO'S LAST WORDS SPOKEN IN PUBLIC ARE AT THE
END OF THE
meditation for the evening of April 10,
1989: This moment you are the most blessed people on
the earth. Remembering yourself as a buddha is the most
precious experience, because it is your eternity, it
is your immortality. It is not you, it is your very
existence. You are one with the stars and the trees
and the sky and the ocean. You are no longer separate.
The last word of Buddha was sammasati. Remember that
you are a buddha—sammasati.
THE INNER CIRCLE
On April 6, Osho sets up what he calls
an "Inner Circle" of twenty-one disciples
who will take care of the practical administration of
the commune. He does not discuss it in public, but later
he makes it clear in guidelines to the group that their
purpose is not to provide spiritual direction but to
take care of the practical aspects of making his work
available. Members of the Inner Circle who die or for
some other reason decide to leave will be replaced by
unanimous decision of the remaining members, and all
decisions reached by the group will be through consensus.
You cannot avoid a tradition; it is beyond your hands.
Once you are dead, what people will be doing you cannot
prevent. Rather than leaving it in the hands of the
ignorant, it is better you should give the right guidelines.
PREPARING FOR DEPARTURE
april 10, 1989:Osho tells his secretary
that as he finished the discourse, his energy completely
changed. He explains that in the same way one enters
the world through nine months in the womb, nine months
before dying the energy again enters an incubatory period
for death. This evening's discourse was to have been
the beginning of a new series titled "Awakening
of the Buddha."
may 19: In a general meeting in the meditation hall,
it is announced that Osho will not speak publicly again.
may 23:It is announced that Osho will come to the meditation
hall in the evenings. When he arrives, music will be
playing so that everyone can celebrate with him, and
this will be followed by a period of silent meditation,
after which Osho will leave. A video of one of his talks
will be shown after he has left the hall.
june—july:Osho Multiversity is formed, with different
"faculties" to look after the various workshops
and programs offered by the commune. These include the
Center for Transformation, Mystery School, School of
Creative Arts, and School of Martial Arts. People are
asked to wear white robes for the evening meetings,
and this change is instituted during a traditional Indian
festival honoring enlightened masters during the full
moon of July, which has long been celebrated by the
commune.
august 25:Osho suggests that arrangements be made so
maroon robes are worn during all daytime activities
within the commune.
august 31:A new bedroom for Osho is completed in the
former Chuang Tzu Auditorium adjoining his residence.
He has been directly involved in the design of the new
room, which is lined with marble and lit by a large
chandelier, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking
the surrounding jungle garden.
september 14:Osho moves back to his former bedroom,
and the new room is used for Mystic Rose and No-Mind
meditative therapies. A new enclosed and air-conditioned
glass walkway, which has been built for Osho to take
walks in the garden, will be used for vipassana, zazen,
and other silent meditation groups.
november 17:Osho gives instructions about what should
happen when he leaves his body. He also asks for a group
to be formed to translate his Hindi books into English
and gives further instructions on how the Inner Circle
will function.
december 24: The Sunday Mail, UK, prints an article
about the Vatican being partly responsible for Osho's
expulsion from the United States.
january 17, 1990:Osho'sphysician announces that he will
not be able to sit in the meditation hall during the
evening meditation from now on but will appear briefly
to greet the assembly and leave immediately afterward.
When Osho appears in the hall, it is obvious that he
is very fragile and unsteady on his feet.
january 18: Osho remains in his room during the evening
meeting but sends a message that his presence will befell
as if he were there.
january 19, 1990:Osho leaves his
body at five p.m., refusing extraordinary treatment
suggested by his doctor with the the words "existence
decides its timing" and peacefully closing his
eyes and slipping away. His doctor makes the announcement
at seven p.m., when people have gathered in the meditation
hall for the usual evening meeting. After a brief interval
to allow friends to inform those who might not be present
in the hall but want to come, Osho's body is brought
into the hall for a ten-minute celebration, then carried
in procession to the nearby burning ghats where his
send-off celebration continues throughout the night.
Two days later, Osho's ashes are brought to Chuang Tzu
Auditorium—the room that had been renovated as
a new "bedroom"—where he had given talks
and met with sannyasins and seekers for many years.
The ashes are placed, according to Osho's instructions,
"under the bed"—a marble slab at the
center of one end of the room that had indeed been designed
as a bed platform—and covered by a plaque on which
are inscribed the words he had dictated some months
before:
OSHO
NEVER BORN
NEVER DIED
ONLY VISITED THIS
PLANET EARTH BETWEEN
DEC 11 1931- JAN 19 1990
EPILOGUE:
1990-PRESENT
Osho Commune International in Pune continues
to thrive and has expanded into a luxury resort for
meditation and self-discovery according to the vision
Osho laid out in the months before his death. He was
personally involved in much of the design of the expanded
facilities—including pyramid-shaped buildings
for meditations and workshops, a spa, recreation and
sports complex, and a new pyramid-shaped meditation
hall that is scheduled to be completed by January 2001.
My trust in existence is absolute. If there is any truth
in what I am saying, it will survive. The people who
remain interested in my work will be simply carrying
the torch but not imposing anything on anyone. I will
remain a source of inspiration to my people. And that's
what most sannyasins will feel. I want them to grow
on their own—qualities like love, around which
no church can be created, like awareness, which is nobody's
monopoly; like celebration, rejoicing, and maintaining
fresh, childlike eyes . . .
I want my people to know themselves, not to be according
to someone else. And the way is in.
For
ore information about Osho International Foundation , Pune. Clickwww.osho.com
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