The ultimate void is another name for god. The word 'god' has become ugly. The priests have exploited the word so much. That it has lost all beauty.
The ultimate void simply means That from which everything arises And into which everything disappears finally, The source and the goal of all.
Meditation is the only way to experience it. Meditation means moving inwards to the point Where that ultimate void is still in existence.
Our body has a form, our mind has a form But our consciousness is formless. When you move deeper than the body and the mind Suddenly , you stumble into an ultimate void -- Don't be afraid of that. It is the most beautiful experience of life. It is the experience!
Courage is the greatest religious quality,
Everything else is secondary.
You cannot be truthful, if you are not courageous
You cannot be loving, if you are not courageous
You cannot be trusting, if you are not courageous
You cannot enquire into reality, If you are not courageous;
Hence courage comes first, And everything else follows.
But the so-called religious people Have been teaching just the opposite. Rather than helping people to be courageous. They help people to be more and more afraid. They create fear of god in people Fear of hell, fear of punishment. And out of fear they hope to create love for god. That is sheer nonsense, that is impossible.
It is only out of fearlessness That love can arise.
It is only out of fearlessness That one can go into the enquiry of the ultimate.
It is a long voyage And it is a voyage into the unknown.
Cowards won't be able to leave this shore. And religion means a great longing For the other shore, the farther shore Which is not visible from this side.
So gather courage! By becoming a sannyasin You are taking the first step Into something absolutely unknown. And that is the first step into god. There is only one victory And that is over oneself. All other victories are pseudo substitutes. All other victories are only toys to play with. Money, power and prestige can keep you occupied But they are utterly meaningless. They may attract the childish mind But they can't attract a mature person. A mature person becomes interested In only one thing:
How to be a master of oneself. Before death comes This miracle has to be made possible. No stone should be left unturned. Every effort should be made to conquer The unconscious darkness within oneself. And once consciousness Has conquered the unconscious, life is a joy And a joy forever, one that knows no ending. It is eternal. Unless you love the world you cannot be creative unless you love the beauty of the world you cannot be creative.
If you don't love the beauty of the trees why would you paint trees?
If you don't love the song of the birds why should you sing?
If you don't love the music of the wind passing through the pine trees why should you play on a violin?
Only somebody who is in deep love with existence can be creative. And the old idea of sannyas - of monks and nuns was very uncreative. They destroyed many people; many creative potentialities remained just potentialities because of the old idea. The idea was basically wrong. My sannyas has to be creative.
My message is: To be creative is the only way to be religious. If god is a creator, then to be creative is the only way to participate with god, to participate in his being, to rejoice in his being.
- Osho, "Eighty Four Thousand Poems, #17"