Earth

 

 

Question 1

Osho,

I have to ask you this esoteric question. how can you say with such certainty that this earth is the only place in the universe where life has blossomed, and consciousness has arisen?

How do you know?

 

 

It is not an esoteric question; it belongs to the inner science of man. The moment one becomes enlightened, he is no longer confined in his own body; his vision is as big as the whole universe.

 

So when I said that this earth is the only place where life has blossomed, where not only life but consciousness has arisen, not only that but there have been a few people who have reached to the ultimate expression of consciousness – to me, that is godliness – I can say it with authority because it is my own vision. But a few things have to be added to it.

 

There are almost fifty thousand planets in the whole universe where life has reached to the animal stage… some planets where life has only reached to the vegetable state. But there is no planet other than earth where there exists something similar to man – not only alive… Animals are alive, but man is conscious of his life. To become conscious of one’s consciousness is the highest stage, and that is not far away.

 

You are aware of your life.

 

You can be aware of your awareness.

 

Self-awareness will reveal you the mystery of existence.

 

You have not to accept it on my word. If you accept it, it becomes esoteric for you. To me it is an actual experience, and there are many experiences which I am not telling you about for the simple reason that they will look esoteric – because you cannot conceive of them. To me they are realities, but to you they have to become realities.

 

I mention this point especially, because I am immensely concerned that life on the earth is not destroyed; it is existence’s most ambitious flight.

 

You are not alive; existence is alive in you.

 

You are not conscious; existence has become conscious in you. The moment you become conscious of consciousness, existence achieves its fulfillment. You are so blessed in that moment that you can bless the whole universe; that is the meaning of the word ‘Bhagwan’. It does not mean God; it simply means the blessed one, one who is blessed and who is capable now to share his blessing with anybody who is ready to receive it.

 

There is nothing esoteric in it, but it belongs to the science of the inner journey – it is not part of the objective science. So to those who are addicted with the objective science it may look esoteric, but to those who are not addicted to the objective… and remember that the object cannot exist alone without your subjectivity; your subject, your consciousness, is the polarity.

 

It is strange that logical scientists go on denying that there is anything inner in man. They accept the outer and they deny the inner; they accept the things in their house and they deny themselves. It is simply ludicrous, but it cannot go on for long. More and more intelligent people are searching inwards because the outer search has led to death – to the ultimate death.

 

The inner search will lead you to deeper layers of life and finally to the eternal life in the same way as the outer search leads you to death, because objects are dead. Studying dead objects, and denying the living subject who is studying them… Do you think one object can study another object? – that is impossible. Do you think one stone can observe another stone? Can it do research about the other stone?

 

To enquire into the objective world, you need an inner consciousness, a subjectivity. That subjectivity is your consciousness. And objective science has come to nuclear weapons, ready to destroy the whole of life on the earth and turn it into pure objectivity without any subject. Just the opposite happens when you reach to your innermost being: everything becomes alive, conscious. The whole existence becomes a dancing, singing, rejoicing universe, and your vision has no limits; you can see things which are not possible with objective eyes.

 

I had to state this just to emphasize the fact that to destroy life on the earth is going to be the greatest loss to existence, because nowhere else has it evolved to the point where a Zorba can become a Buddha. Nowhere else has it blossomed into the ultimate potential, transforming it into an actuality.

 

Galileo proved that this small earth moves around the sun. It may be a factual thing, but I say unto you that the whole universe, not only the sun but the millions of other suns which you see as stars in the night, and millions of solar systems are all really moving around the earth – not factually, but in a symbolic sense because this is the only sacred place where life exists, where consciousness exists, and where a few people have been capable of achieving the ultimate expression of being, enlightenment.

 

-Osho, "Socrates Poisoned Again After 25 Centuries, #22, Q1“