Jaya means inner victory, conquering oneself, and ananda means bliss – bliss that comes out of conquering oneself. And that is the only bliss there is. You can conquer the whole world and you will remain miserable; of course your misery will become a thousand-fold – the misery of an alexander is bound to be tremendous… but you never become happy. That is not the way of happiness at all.

 

You can have all the things and still you will be at a loss. One can pile up money, power, prestige. And the more you have, the more you become aware of the futility of it all and the more you feel an inner emptiness.

 

Only the rich man comes to know what inner poverty is, because he can compare; he can compare notes. He has a background and he can see his own inner poverty against it. He is rich as far as the outside is concerned, but the inside is simply starving.

 

Hence the paradox: the richer a man becomes, the poorer he feels. The more knowledgeable a man becomes the more ignorant he feels. The more you have, the more you become aware of how much you are missing.

 

The only bliss possible is that which comes through the inward journey – and that is called jaya. One has to come to one’s own self, to one’s own treasures. They are infinite… immeasurable. Once known, you are never a beggar again. You may not have anything of the world – still you remain an emperor. Your emperorhood has an inner luminousness.

 

You are emperor – not because you have a kingdom, but because you are an emperor. Your emperorhood doesn’t depend on a kingdom. It is independent of all kingdoms. Then one is truly a king, because nobody can rob one, nobody can take anything away from one… not even death. One has something which is eternal, which cannot be robbed, cannot be taken away. And only when you have something which cannot be taken away from you does fear disappear – never before it. And in those moments you start feeling the deathless.

 

So let this be a key – that you have to look more and more inwards. Temptations are there, desires are there – natural. And I’m not saying to become an escapist. I’m not saying to escape from the world. I’m simply saying to be in the world but to give more and more energy and time to the inner search. Do whatsoever is needed on the outside, but don’t become too much occupied with it. Things are needed: food is needed, a shelter is needed – absolutely okay, so one should work for them. They are necessities, they are needed to be happy, but they are not enough. They are basic requirements.

 

A hungry person cannot sing. Food is needed, but food in itself cannot become a song. Just because you have eaten and your belly is full, there is no guarantee that a song is going to be born. You may fall asleep at the most – and you will have nightmares.

 

Outer things are needed, but they are not enough. Fulfill them, but don’t expect too much out of them. They are needs, and the inner life is something more than needs – it is a luxury. The inner life is always aristocratic. Yes, it is aristocracy.

 

So outside just fulfill your needs – and they are the minimum; they are not much. And once they are fulfilled, don’t waste your time. In fact they are to be fulfilled so that you can have time to go in. One should work in the world so that one can work in one’s inner world. One should earn a little money so that outer things no more trouble one, no more distract one. One can close one’s eyes and go into meditation. If money serves meditation, money is good and one should use it. But if money becomes your meditation, you are going to be neurotic.

 

- Osho, “The Buddha Disease, #7”