This is my birthday blog. I was born on April 28th, and my spiritual rebirth happened on April 7th, (the day I was initiated into Sannyas by Osho.) Mysticism has been my eternal calling, and therefore, I would like to celebrate mystics and mysticism in this blog. There are many paths leading to one source. And there are many mystical messages, which hold most potent wisdom, inspiring the evolution of human consciousness. I bow down in deepest respect to all the great Masters and Mystics who hold aloft a beacon of light on the path of awakening.
What follows are some quotes that have touched me deeply. Perhaps among these, you will find golden nuggets of inspiration. And perhaps you too have your store of golden nuggets. If so, I would be delighted if you feel to send any for printing in future newsletters.
This is a letter from Osho to one of his disciples. I have spent many years endeavouring to embody the ultimate wisdom of these words.
“Love,
I am one with all things
In beauty, in ugliness
For whatsoever is
There I am
Not only in virtue
But in sin too I am a partner
And not only heaven
But hell too is mine.
Buddha, Jesus, Lao Tzu
It is easy to be their heir,
But Genghis, Taimur and Hitler?
They are also within me!
No, not half—I am the whole of mankind!
Whatsoever is man’s is mine
Flowers and thorns
Darkness as well as light,
And if nectar is mine, whose is poison?
Nectar and poison- both are mine.
Whoever experiences this,
I call religious
For only the anguish of such experience
Can revolutionize life on earth.”
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The following quote is from a true translation of Jesus, taken directly from his language, Aramaic. Most of the translations of Jesus, which we see, have been taken from Greek, or Latin, meaning, much has been lost in translation. Check this out, these are words of a true master….
“O Birther! Father-Mother of the Cosmos,
you create all that moves
in light
O Thou! The Breathing Life of all,
Creator of the Shimmering Sound that
touches us.
Respiration of all worlds
We hear you breathing-in and out-
in silence.
Source of Sound: in the roar and in the whisper,
In the breeze and in the whirlwind, we
hear your Name.
Radiant One: you shine within us,
outside us—even darkness shines-when
we remember.
Name of names, our small identity
unravels in you, you give it back
as a lesson.
Wordless Action, Silent Potency-
Where ears and eyes awaken, there
heaven comes.
O Birther! Father-Mother of the Cosmos!”
The translation above was done by Neil Douglas Klotz in his book Prayers of the Cosmos
Below, just for comparison, you can read the same text as it appears in the King James Bible: Mathew 6:9-13
Our Father which art in heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.
Amen
It was very inspirational for me to read the translation directly from Aramaic, as I always felt Jesus to be a great master, but the way he has been translated in the bible has made me feel sick to my stomach. Thank you Neil Klotz for clearing the fog of ages!
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I tend to love Rascal Masters, like Osho, Gurdjieff or Bodhidharma. Below is a quote from Bodhidharma, who brought Buddha’s teachings from India to China, and is considered to be the first Zen Master.
“Every suffering is a Buddha-seed, because suffering impels to seek wisdom. But you can only say that suffering gives rise to Buddhahood. You can’t say that suffering is Buddhahood. Your body and mind are the field. Suffering is the seed, wisdom the sprout and Buddhahood the grain.”
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The next quote is from a great Sufi Master, Hakim Sanai.
“Good and evil have no meaning in the world of ‘The Word’;
they are mere names, coined
in the world of ‘me’ and ‘you’
Your life is just a morsel in His mouth,
His feast is both a wedding and a wake.
Why should darkness grieve the heart?
-for night is pregnant with new day.”
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The next offering comes from an enlightened female mystic, Sahajo from India. In this poem, she expresses the whole spiritual path for women. A woman’s path naturally revolves around love and devotion, and as she disappears into love she discovers the ultimate reality.
“Those gone mad in love
All life is transformed for them
Sahajo says, They don’t see who is a beggar or a king.
Those gone mad in love
Caste and colour have disappeared for them.
Sahajo says; the world calls them crazy
And everyone near runs off
Those gone mad in love
Sahajo says, their bodies waver
And their feet stagger out of control
Then the Divine takes care
The mind is blissful
The body is drunk with ecstasy
Sahajo is with no one
And no one is with Sahajo”
Pythagoras from Greece, is a most interesting Mystic. He travelled many paths leading to the one. Perhaps because he had experienced so much diversity, he preaches the Golden Mean. Moving forward in life from a completely balanced perspective, he offers us these wise words:
“Listen, and in thine heart engrave my words. Keep closed both eye and ear against prejudice of others. Example; fear, think for thyself. Consult, deliberate, and freely choose.
Let fools act aimlessly and without cause. Thou shouldest, in the present, contemplate the future. That which thou dost not know, pretend not that thou dost. Instruct thyself, for time and patience favour all.
Neglect not thy health. Dispense with moderation, food to the body, and to the mind, repose. Too much attention or too little, shun. For envy thus, to either excess is alike attached.
Luxury and avarice, have similar results. One must choose in all things, a mean, just and good.”
When Osho was asked which Mystic he would choose above all others, he named a minimum of five who would be all important. One of those five is Gorakhnath from India. Khajuraho, the famed Tantra temples in India, were inspired by the teachings of Gorakh. He is one of the greatest Tantra Masters that ever lived. It was he who has put the 112 sutras of the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra into a readable and understandable format. Osho was asked what the most fundamental teaching of Gorakhnath is and he quoted this passage.
“Laughing, playing, making merry,
Neither lust nor anger remains
Laughing, playing, singing a song,
Keeping consciousness well centered.”
And another one:
“Sound itself is the lock, sound itself is the key.
Sound awakens sound.
Sound is intimate with sound.
Sound dissolves into sound.”
There is a beautiful book of Osho’s talks on Gorakhnath called Die Yogi Die.
Another great Tantra Master, Tilopa, says:
“The supreme understanding
transcends all this and that
The supreme action
Embraces great resourcefulness without attachment.
The supreme accomplishment
Is to realize imminence without hope.
At first a Yogi feels his mind
Is tumbling like a waterfall,
In mid course, like the Ganges,
It flows on slow and gentle;
In the end it is a great vast ocean
Where the lights of son and mother merge in one.”
There are thousands of mystical teachings which I could include. It is a challenge to choose only a few. However, this offering would not be complete without a song from the Baul Mystics of Bengal.
“Tell me my silent Master
O my Lord
What worship may open me
To my Beloved’s Lotus bloom?
The stars and the moon
Eternally move
With no sound at all
Each cycle of the universe
In silence prays
Welling up with the
Essence of love.”
And lastly, I would like to honour and celebrate a great living Master who not many people know about. His name is Kohrogi Sensei, from Japan. He uses the Japanese word Natsukashi to describe a quality of being which means, ‘coming back home.’ (discovering your original face.)
“There is a whole universe in you. I’m not talking about a universe at a cellular level. It’s really in us, nature, the rivers, mountains and valleys. To recognize this is the Natsukashi of your existence, Natsukashi of your life. Then you will know why human beings are taking this form. “
In summary, I would like to share an insight about mysticism. Those people who have awakened their consciousness discover that life itself is the Master. Each moment offers us a teaching.
Life would like us to know ultimate harmony and balance. Situations and conditions are presented to us, in alignment with our level of consciousness, to help awaken our innate sense of wholeness. We are in essence, one with all that is, and anything that creates inner division becomes the lesson we rub up against. Each life situation is a portal into oneness with creation.
All teachings of the awakened ones function like a surfboard. We can jump on, and ride it to crest the wave coming our way. A good surfer loves the next wave. A deep meditator enjoys each wave life brings, and embraces the lessons being presented with gratitude and trust. For those who have lessons on suffering being presented to them, I would like to offer a statement of Osho, which I have found to be very helpful, “when you relax in the valley, the valley becomes the peak.”
And remember the wise rhyme you heard as a child,
“April showers bring May flowers!”
Love Sarita
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