In a matter of minutes his rifle was brought to him. Raising it and taking aim, he was tapped on the shoulder by the butler who whispered, “If I may say so sir, remember you are a true sportsman. Get him on the rise!”
Now the butler is not British, not at all…has more of a sense of humor!
Two Englishmen were coming home late at night from a poker party. One said, “I am always afraid when I return home late from a party like this. I shut off the engine of my car a half a block from home and coast into the garage. I take off my shoes and sneak into the house. I am as quiet as possible, but invariably, about the time I settle down into bed, my wife sits up and starts to berate me.”
The other man said, “You just have the wrong technique. I never have any trouble. I barge into the garage, slam the door, stomp into the house, and make a hell of a racket. Then I go upstairs to the bedroom, pat my wife and say, ‘How about it, kid?’ She always pretends she is asleep.”
The sixth question:
Osho,
No passion, no jealousy, and so much loving. Can it be true that this suffering is over?
One of the most fundamental things to be remembered is that you will have to be constantly aware. You cannot take it for granted that the suffering is over. If you take it for granted that the suffering is over, the suffering will be back, by the back door. You have to be constantly alert and aware.
Yes, for the moment there is “…no jealousy, no passion and yet so much loving,” naturally. When there is no passion and no jealousy, all the energies move into the direction of love. It is the same energy that becomes passion, becomes jealousy. When there is no jealousy, no passion, all the energy is available for the flowers of love to bloom. But don’t take it for granted. Don’t think that the suffering is over for ever.
Life is a continuous evolution and you have to be constantly alert. Otherwise you can fall back into the old patterns very easily. And the old patterns have persisted so long. They have become so ingrained in your blood, in your bones, in your very marrow, that one moment of unconsciousness and you are back. You have to go on being aware.
Something beautiful is happening; much more is going to happen. One never knows how much more is possible. We are never aware of our potential unless it becomes actual.
You have seen a beautiful space of non-jealous love. Passion is a kind of fever and it consumes much energy. Fever naturally consumes energy. And passion is fever. When passion disappears, compassion arises. And compassion is cool. Passion is hot, it burns you. Compassion is cool, not cold, remember. Hatred is cold, lust is hot. Exactly between the two is the golden mean, neither hot nor cold. Then you are in a state of cool-warmth. Very paradoxical it seems: cool-warmth. It is not hot, but it is warm; it is not cold, but it is cool.
And the real flower of love opens up only in that climate of cool-warmth. A warm-coolness is the right climate for the lotus of love to blossom.
But don’t take it for granted. Never take anything for granted! Each moment you have to conquer it again and again. Life is a continuous conquest. It is not that once and for all it is settled and then you can fall asleep and be unconscious and there is no worry left. Again you will be back in the same rut.
I am happy. I have been watching you. You are looking both warm and cool. It is a non-ending process. Be alert, be watchful. Don’t destroy this beautiful flower that is growing in you.
When you have something precious you have to be more aware. When you have nothing to lose you can be unconscious, you can sleep; there is no problem. But when you have something to lose – and this is something precious – be more conscious, be more alert. You have discovered a treasure.
The seventh question:
Osho,
What is intelligence?
First, know well that intellectuality is not intelligence. To be intellectual is to be phony, it is pretending intelligence. It is not real because it is not yours, it is borrowed. Intelligence is the growth of inner consciousness. It has nothing to do with knowledge. It has something to do with meditativeness.
An intelligent person does not function out of his past experience, he functions in the present. He does not react, he responds. Hence he is always unpredictable. One can never be certain what he is going to do.
A Catholic, a Protestant and a Jew were talking to a friend who said he had just been given six months to live. “What would you do,” he asked the Catholic, “if your doctor gave you six months to live?”
“Ah!” said the Catholic. “I would give all my belongings to the Church, take communion every Sunday, and say my ‘Hail Marys’ regularly.”
“And you?” he asked the Protestant.
“I would sell up everything and go on a world cruise and have a great time!”
“And you?” he said to the Jew.
“Me? I would see another doctor.”
That is intelligence!
Janet, a pert secretary, sashayed into the boss’ office. “I have some good news and some bad news.” she announced.
“No jokes, please,” said her boss, “not on quarterly report day. Just give me the good news.”
“Okay,” declared the girl, “the good news is that you are not sterile.”
This is intelligence!
The outraged husband discovered his wife in bed with another man. “What is the meaning of this?” he demanded. “Who is this fellow?”
“That seems like a fair question.” said the wife, rolling over. “What is your name?”
That is intelligence!
Enough for today.
Chapter: 3
The State of No-Mind
One day the King of Yen visited the Master Chao Chou, who did not even get up when he saw him coming. The king asked, “Which is higher, a worldly king, or the ‘King of Dharma’?”
Chao Chou replied, “Among human kings I am higher; among the Kings of Dharma I am also higher.” Hearing this surprising answer, the king was very pleased.
The next day a general came to visit Chao Chou, who not only got up from his seat when he saw the general coming, but also showed him more hospitality in every way than he had shown to the king.
After the general had left, Chao Chou’s attendant monks asked him, “Why did you get up from your seat when a person of lower rank came to see you, yet did not do so for one of the highest rank?”
Chao Chou replied, “You don’t understand. When people of the highest quality come to see me, I do not get up from my seat; when they are of middle quality, I do; but when they are of the lowest quality, I go outside of the gate to receive them.”
Man lives in a very upside-down state. Hence, whenever there is an enlightened master, his actions, his words, his behavior; all appear absurd to the ordinary man. Jesus is misunderstood for the simple reason that a man of eyes is talking to the men who are blind. Socrates is not understood for the same reason, because he is talking to people who are utterly deaf. And so is the case with all the buddhas of all the countries, of all the races. Unfortunately, this is going to remain the case forever. It is something in the very nature of things.
Man is unconscious. He understands the language of unconsciousness. And whenever somebody talks from the peaks of consciousness it becomes utterly un-understandable, unintelligible. He is so far away! By the time his words reach the dark valleys of our unconscious, we have distorted them to such an extent that they have no reference at all anymore to their origin.
The master looks sometimes mad, sometimes irrational, sometimes stubborn. But the only reason that he