:: BOOK OF THE MONTH ::

THE NEW DAWN


Being in the presence of an enlightened master each day, being surrounded with other people in search of themselves, one’s whole gestalt changes. The change can be described very simply: from ‘out’ to ‘in’. The normally important things in life –the race for power, prestige, money – lose all significance in this oasis of seekers. It is not that they have to be suppressed; in the light of the peace and silence one feels when one goes ‘in’ in meditation, they simply look ridiculous.

Through June and July of 1987, while the rest of the world continued its endless squabbling – nation with nation, race with race, ideology with ideology – Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was responding to the questions of people from all over the world, who were gathered in a small auditorium attached to His house, surrounded by a jungle of garden. Simply, lovingly, and often with great hilarity, each question was artfully dismantled, exposing the workings of the mind that created it, leaving the questioner with only the essential mystery of the quest.

About this process, Bhagwan says, “Nobody needs to know the question and nobody needs to know the answer either; everybody needs to know himself. And that revelation of oneself, that realization of oneself comes only when there are no questions, no answers…just a pure sky without any clouds…

I allow you to question because if I don’t allow you to question, they will go on and on inside you, whirling and driving you mad. My answers are simply a death to your questions.”

This book is full of the real stories and true-life dilemmas of those who are working towards more consciousness, struggling for an authentic life – and the patient, sparklingly clear responses from one who is awakened. The questions cover an immense range of experiences, from one woman’s “loopy energy” to the “language of enlightenment”, from questions about the role of journalism to the intricacies of relationship. And Bhagwan has said that when He answers one person, He answers everybody; if it is not your question today, it may be tomorrow.

Bhagwan speaks about the New Dawn: a complete break from the past which has led us to our present situation- a world perched on the edge of ecological and nuclear disaster, a population of unhappy, frustrated people – and the beginnings of a New Man who is loving, alive, nonserious, respectful of this earth; who will possess all these qualities that everyone, consciously or unconsciously, desires.

Does the world not look very dark right now? Every newspaper and magazine article on the world situation is pleading for changes in the way the world is managed, and in all of them there is a sense of despair. Scientists can say what needs to be done to reverse the slide towards ecological disaster, but they cannot force the politicians to carry out their suggestions. The despair and darkness are heavier than ever.

However, Bhagwan reminds us of the well known fact that the darkest part of the night is just before the dawn. He says, “A great adventurous moment is coming close to us; there is nothing to be feared. You cannot do anything to prevent it, but you can be in such a way that your very being prevents it”.

In fact, the first few rays of the dawn are in sight, just creeping over the horizon. But don’t search for them outside. The sun is waiting to rise in all of our inner worlds, we just have to look there. We are fortunate, in this age of darkness, where we have all lost the way to the inner, to have a man like Bhagwan to remind us.

Around this illuminated being of Bhagwan, small flames are tentatively flickering. In these pages you may catch the flame, you may get a glimpse of your own New Dawn.