“Aloneness, solitude is positive. It is overflowing joy for no reason. It is our very nature to be joyous; hence there is no need to depend on anybody else. There is no other motive in it, it is simply there. Just as the water flows downwards, your being rises upwards. Just give it a chance — give it solitude. And remember again, solitude is not solitariness, just as aloneness is not loneliness.” – Osho
Hello Spiritual Warriors!!! Welcome to another week of Life Tools. We’ve spent the month honoring the masters of ancient wisdom and this week we explore Osho…so buckle-up…he’s sure to push a few buttons. Osho was born Chandra Mohan Jain in 1931. When he turned 30, he went by the name Acharya Rajneesh; in the 70s, he changed his name to Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh; and in 1989 to Osho. He died in January of 1990, a month after his 60th birthday.
Osho is one of the most controversial spiritual leaders to have emerged from India. His message of sexual, emotional, spiritual and institutional liberation and the pleasure he derived in causing offence ensured that his life was surrounded by controversy. Osho was known as the “sex guru” in India and the “Rolls-Royce guru” in the United States (because of his fleet of almost 100 Rolls Royces. He attacked the concept of nationalism, was contemptuous of politicians and poked fun at the leading figures of a number of religions.
Osho’s ideas on sex, marriage, family and relationships contradicted traditional views, arousing anger and opposition around the world. His movement was feared and despised as a cult; he lived “in ostentation and offensive opulence”, while his followers (most of whom had severed ties with outside friends and family and donated all—or most—of their money and possessions to the commune) did not.
During his early days as Acharya Rajneesh, a correspondent asked Rajneesh for his “ten commandments”. He noted that it was a difficult matter because he was against any kind of commandment, and any kind of religion, but “just for fun” he presented this list:
1. Never obey anyone’s command unless it is coming from within you.
2. There is no God other than life itself.
3. Truth is within you; do not search for it elsewhere.
4. Love is prayer.
5. To become a nothingness is the door to truth. Nothingness itself is the means, the goal, and the attainment.
6. Life is now and here.
7. Live wakefully.
8. Do not swim—float.
9. Die each moment so that you can be new each moment.
10. Do not search. That which is, is. Stop and see.
He underlined numbers 3, 7, 9 and 10 as the core of his belief system.
Perhaps his teachings irritate you. Maybe you find them irreverent. That was always his purpose – to allow you to reach deep within your soul and find your own constrictions – turn everything upside down and perhaps peel away one more layer of this existence. As much as Osho irritated and offended people, his message of love was the over-riding one that he taught every day when he wasn’t being interviewed or trying to stir up the world’s consciousness. This week, select one of Osho’s “commandments” and see if you can live it, own it, share it, and become it.
In the meantime, keep meditating. I’ll see you in the gap!! Peace. -davidji