Death will take everything away from you

DEATH WILL TAKE EVERYTHING AWAY FROM YOU. Empty-handed you come and empty-handed you will go... UNLESS AND UNTIL YOU LOOK WITHIN, you will remain empty.

    LOOK WITHIN, AND YOU BECOME AN EMPEROR; the beggar immediately disappears from you. The mind is a beggar, and the soul is an emperor.

    TO KNOW ONESELF IS TO KNOW THAT NOTHING IS NEEDED, THAT ALL IS ALREADY GIVEN: "That I have the greatest treasure, that I have the whole kingdom of God, that there is no point in adding anything to it -- nothing can be added to it, it is already perfect."

    So if you want to search and seek, SEARCH AND SEEK THE TRUE TREASURE -- WHICH CANNOT BE TAKEN AWAY BY DEATH. This is the criterion: that which can be taken away by death is a false treasure; that which cannot be taken away by death is a true treasure....

    AND THERE WILL BE MANY TROUBLES and many PAINS in life -- THEY ARE PART OF GROWTH. ACCEPT THEM for what they are. That does not mean to become morbid; that does not mean to become a masochist.

    WHATSOEVER HAPPENS, ENDURE IT -- but if you can improve upon it, IF YOU CAN MODIFY IT, MODIFY IT. A very sane advice.

    The danger is there. One danger is that PEOPLE START FIGHTING WITH EVERY PAIN IN LIFE; they want to AVOID all pains -- BUT THEN GROWTH IS AVOIDED. This is one pitfall. The other pitfall is: PEOPLE START ACCEPTING PAINS, not only accepting them -- INVITING; not only inviting but CREATING pains. As if by going through many pains they will grow faster. They become self-destructive, they become suicidal. Both are extremes and both have to be avoided.

    IF SOME PAIN COMES IN YOUR LIFE, ACCEPT IT, ENDURE IT -- WATCHFULLY GROW THROUGH IT. If you can see that you can modify it a little bit here and there, then modify it -- because MODIFYING IT IS ALSO PART OF GROWTH....

    AND THE WISE MAN IS NOT EXPOSED, REALLY, TO ANY AGONY, ANY HELL. Whatsoever the sage is exposed to is part -- part of a growing life. LIFE CANNOT GROW WITHOUT CHALLENGES; and pains, miseries, sufferings bring challenges. You cannot become aware without suffering. Suffering evokes awareness in you.

OSHO
Philosophia Perennis
Vol 1, Ch #6: Logos: Power: Necessity
am in Buddha Hall

posted by Subhuti at RiverIIOsho