:: BOOK OF THE MONTH ::

THE LAST MORNING STAR

In these discourses, Osho calls all who will hear him to go beyond everything they know or have experienced. "The path of devotion is the path of the heart", he says. "Only the mad succeed there, only those who can laugh and cry with their whole heart, who are not afraid to drink the wine of the divine- because when you drink that wine, you will become intoxicated, you will lose all control over your life. The you will walk when the divine makes you walk, you will stand when the divine lifts you up. And although you are being made to walk, you are being made to stand, your life goes on very beautifully, very blissfully. Right now, your life is nothing but sorrow; then your life will be nothing but bliss. But this happens only when your life is not under your control. And that is the fear." To put aside that fear, to trust, is the beginning of a complete transformation of one's life.

Daya and Sahajo were both disciples of the great master Charandas (1703-1783). Charandas had great respect for the classical Indian traditions of the Upanishads, the Puranas and Hath Yoga, but became famous in his maturity for his ecstatic devotion. He was iconoclastic, indifferent to ritual, opposed to caste, and a major poet. Both Daya and Sahajo were renowned disciples of Charandas, and Sahajo, his cousin, was to succeed him as an important master in her own right after his death. Like Charandas, both his women disciples also wrote poetry.

Osho has spoken on all three of these "singers, poets and madmen," praising the purity of their vision and the strong simplicity of their writing. His discourses on Sahajo bear the title Showering White Clouds, a phrase drawn from Daya's verse. The title of this Volume, The Last Morning Star, is taken from Sahajo's poetry.

In Books I Have Loved, Osho describes Daya as "a contemporary of Meera and Sahajo" but "far more profound than either of them". He says: " Daya is a little cuckoo, but don't be worried. In fact, it does not have the meaning of being nuts. Daya is really a cuckoo-not nuts, but a sweet singer like the Indian koyal. On an Indian summer night….the distant call of the cuckoo, that's what Daya is….a distant call in the hot summer of this world."

Daya's poetry is carefully crafted, passionate and full of rasa, different poetic moods. It is gentle - flowing naturally and spontaneously. Her poems cover such topics as devotion to the master, continual awareness of the presence of the divine, love and courageous commitment to the spiritual journey, abiding in the company of other seekers, and the final merging with the ultimate through the process of ajapa jap, the "unchanted chanting," the soundless sound, which fills the disciples with awareness of the oneness of existence.

Osho takes up these various topics in his own unique manner, speaking intimately as a lover, a friend and a master to those seekers for whom Daya's concerns are a natural part of their daily existence. These discourses are filled with beautiful poetry, as in this series of talks Osho is using poems rather than jokes to underline any particular point he is making. As he draws us further along the spiritual path, we are treated to a master's many different ways and methods. He is beguiling as he is encourages us to recognize the condition of the world, which is as beautiful and as fleeting as "the last morning star." He is stern with those who are filled with their own importance and learning. He is compassionate as he speaks of the ecstasy and madness of the enlightened mystics - drunk with the divine - who laugh and sing, fall down, rise up again, and who "put their feet in one spot, but they land elsewhere." He points to the mystery which is experienced when the disciple lets go of the master's hand and enters into the light of existence, still full of love for the master.

Here, the Sufi master, Mulla Nasruddin, is present in many jokes and anecdotes and there are many other delightful stories as well. In the second discourse, Osho tells the story of a Sufi fakir, meditating each day in the forest, and an old woodcutter. The fakir encourages the old man to go further and further into the forest. In turn the old man finds a copper mine, a silver mine and then a gold mine. Still the fakir insists. The old man is now comfortable for the first time in his life. He and his children are well provided for. But he goes further, and finds a diamond mine. Still the fakir calls him on, "Go further." The old man asks: "What could be better than diamonds?" And the fakir replies: "I am better than diamonds. Come." The old man does come, and from just sitting with the mystic he is filled with absolute peace and bliss. Yet even here the fakir insists: "Go further, go further. There is more."

As Osho insists: "These verses of Daya are unique. They can bring a total revolution in your life. Daya says, 'A tiny spark of fire burns the greatest forest.' And even a tiny spark of these verses falls into you, your darkness will be completely destroyed." Come, come further.