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• Guru's Charisma Leads You to Your Self
• Work can be Therapeutic
• Osho's Message: Learn & Laugh

THE SPEAKING TREE: Guru's Charisma Leads You to Your Self
What is the difference between a Guru, Sadguru and Mahaguru?
Swami Chaitanya Keerti
JULY 20, 2005

Gurus are not just spiritual gurus. Some teach music or dance forms; they have their particular gharanas and schools. Some gurus teach yoga and meditation. Then there are sadgurus or maha-gurus who may have left the human form but disciples continue feeling their presence even after. Mahagurus exist in higher planes of consciousness. The Buddha, Krishna, Jesus, Kabir, Guru Nanak and other enlightened mystics exist in such realms of consciousness.

Osho says that J Krishnamurti was allergic to gurus. "The word 'guru' means heavy with heaven, with joy, ecstasy, svaha; heavy like a rain cloud ready to shower on anybody who is thirsty, ready to share. Guru means heavy, heavy with heaven...A guru is one who makes you free. A guru is one who delivers to you freedom; he liberates you. Kabir sang thus: "It is the mercy of my true guru that has made me to know the unknown;/ I have learned from him how to walk without feet,/ to see without eyes, to hear without ears, to drink without mouth, to fly without wings;/ I have brought my love and my meditation into the land where there is no sun and moon, nor day and night".

Osho explains that "Guru means one who has gravitation, around whom you suddenly feel as if you are being pulled. He is a tremendous magnet, with only one difference: he has charisma. You are pulled towards him. A man of charisma may become a great leader, a great politician. Adolf Hitler had charisma. Then what is the difference between a charismatic leader and a guru? The difference is tremendous: When you are pulled towards a guru you are pulled inwards, not outwards".

When you are pulled towards Kabir, Nanak and Buddha, you feel that you are being pulled towards them and at the same time you are being pulled inwards. So the closer you come to your guru, the closer you come to your self. The more you become attracted towards the guru, the more you become independent. The more you become surrendered to the guru, the more you feel that you have freedom you never had before. If you are pulled towards someone and that pull creates slavery, he is not a guru. That man may have charisma, but you will be going away from your self. It will be an infatuation. Avoid such people. Remember, if your surrendering gives you freedom, then the man is a guru, a master. By surrendering to the guru you gain more will power, you become powerful, not powerless.

The guru functions as a mediator; via the guru, you arrive at your own self. Because you cannot go directly, he helps you. A true guru will never impose himself or his lifestyle on you. He will never give you rigid discipline. He will not enforce anything on you, regiment you. He will not try to create a soldier of you. He will help you to be yourself, whatsoever that is. He will help to give you more and more understanding about yourself. You will become more and more centred, rooted, near him. More and more you will feel he has given you back to yourself — that which was lost or forgotten, he has made you aware of it.

Compiled from Osho's discourse: Ecstasy, the Forgotten Language.

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WORK CAN BE THERAPEUTIC
Hindustan Times
July 19, 2005

Work thatwe do as meditation can become very therapeutic. Any ordinary work done with dedication to the divine becomes a healing force.

There are people who fall sick and keep complaining that nothing heals them. They need to know only one secret- that they should put all their energy in their work.

Their energy that gets entangled in unnecessary complaints will become free from their mind that is over-burdened with worries about their health. All our energy need to understand that our main problem is our mind and nothing else. The constant flow of thoughts, unwanted thoughts, sucks our energy and makes us sick. The same energy needs to be freed from the mind.

This is done by channelising work that is absorbing. Then this work becomes a source of creativity for us. Creativity gives satisfaction and joy.

Osho explains: A man of meditation functions differently. Whatever profession he chooses, he will bring to his profession so me quality of sacredness.

He may be making shoes, or he may be cleaning the roads, but he will bring to his work some quality, some grace, some beauty, which is not possible without samadhi.

We can fill the whole world with ecstatic people. Just a simple thing has to be accepted, whatever you are going to become, that does not matter. Meditation should be the foundation for every profession, for every dimension of education.

Osho adds: Happiness happens when you fit with your life, when you fir so harmoniously that whatsoever you are doing is your joy. Then suddenly you will come to know: meditation follows you. If you love the work that you are doing, if you love the way you are living, then you are meditative.

(Swami Chaitanya Keerti is the editor of Osho World magazine published from New Delhi)

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OSHO'S MESSAGE: LEARN & LAUGH
The Pioneer
Vivacity (Team viva)
July 21, 2005

Spirituality and humour proved to be a perfect combo at the launch of Swami Chaitanya Keerti's book Osho Fragrance. The swami has penned in the book his 20 years of learning under Osho. Briefing the audience about Osho Fragrance, Keerti said, "When a disciple meditates in the presence of his or her guru, it is called satsang. This book talks about my satsangs with guru Osho." The purpose of the book? "To spread Osho's message, the way fragrance spreads itself. That should also explain the book's title," he said.

And in that direction, Osho's recorded message was played before the guests who were asked to close their eyes, while listening to it.

Among the audience was the Union Minister of Human Resource and Development Arjun Singh, who also unveiled the book. In his address to the guests, Singh regretted the lack of awareness of Osho's philosophy in the country and advised the guests to to follow the "great man's message". He also stated that he should be considered as initiated in the Osho sect.

The star of the evening, however, was char line-a Surendra Sharma. The poet skillfully interwove his characteristic jokes with public interest messages. His take on women using Karva Chauth to get their husbands to fulfil their demands and the plight of Shiva and Vishnu harassed by their wives to the extent that Shiva had no clothes to wear and Vishnu no water to drink, put the audience in splits. Braking the audience's loud laughter, Sharmaji related an enlightening conversation between a river and a well.

At the end of it, the book launch was in line with Osho's philosophy - learn and laugh at the same time!

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