Osho on Swami Sivanand of Rishikesh

 

 

Just the other day I was reading a lecture of U. G. Krishnamurti. He says he went to see Ramana Maharshi. He was not attracted -- because he was chopping vegetables. Yes, Ramana Maharshi was that kind of man, very ordinary. Chopping vegetables! U. G. Krishnamurti must have gone to see somebody extraordinary sitting on a golden throne or something. Ramana Maharshi just sitting on the floor and chopping vegetables? preparing vegetables for the kitchen! He was very much frustrated.

 

Then another day he went and saw him reading jokes. Finished for ever! This man knows nothing. This man is very ordinary. He left the ashram; it was not worth it. But I would like to say to you: this man, Ramana Maharshi, is one of the greatest Buddhas ever born to the world. That was his Buddhahood in action!

 

U. G. Krishnamurti must have been in search of a pretender. He could not see the ordinariness and the beauty of it and the grace of it. And this same man, U. G. Krishnamurti, lived with Swami Sivanand of Rishikesh for seven years -- and that chap was just stupid -- and practised yoga with him. And after seven years he recognized that he has nothing; but after seven years, he took seven years. That simply shows that he also has a mighty dull mind. Seven years to see that Sivanand has nothing. Seven seconds are more than enough! And with Ramana Maharshi, seven seconds were enough -- because he saw him chopping vegetables or reading jokes, looking at cartoons. That's how the ordinary mind, the egoistic mind functions.

 

The ego is always searching for something bigger, some bigger ego. And the true sage has no ego; he is an ordinary man. He is utterly ordinary -- that is his extraordinariness!

 

-Osho, "Take It Easy, Vol 1, #5"

 

 

 

 

Now your so-called saints have always been afraid of sleep.

 

Once a young man was brought to me. He was going crazy. He was a follower of Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh. I asked him 'What is the matter with you?' He said 'Nothing is the matter. I am a spiritual man. People think I am going crazy.' I inquired of his parents -- they were very worried -- I went into the details.

 

The details were this: he went to Swami Sivananda, and Sivananda said 'You sleep too much. This is not good for spiritual health. You should sleep less.' So he cut his sleep to three hours -- from eight hours to three! Now he started feeling sleepy the whole day, naturally. So Sivananda said 'You are TAMASIC, you have very low, bad energy in you. Change your food. You must be taking food which makes you heavy and sleepy.' So he started living just on milk. Now he started becoming weak. First sleep was cut, then food was cut. Now he was in such a state that at any time he could topple over.

 

Without food it becomes more difficult for you to go into deep sleep even for three hours; food is a must for a good sleep. When the stomach has nothing to digest, the whole energy moves into the head -- that's why on a fasting-day you cannot sleep well. The energy is not in the stomach, it is releasing to the head. When the energy is needed in the stomach, the head cannot get it because the head is secondary, the stomach is primary.

 

There is a certain hierarchy in the body... first things first. The stomach is basic. The stomach can exist without the head, but the head cannot exist without the stomach; so the stomach is basic, more fundamental. When the stomach needs energy, it pulls energy from everywhere.

 

Now, he could not even sleep for three hours. His eyes became dull, dead. His body lost all lustre, aliveness, and there was a subtle trembling. Holding his hand, I could feel his whole body trembling; the body had not rested for months. And now he thought that he was becoming spiritual.

 

This type of nonsense has continued long enough to have become respectable. When a thing continues for long enough it becomes respectable -- just because it has been there for so long.

 

In fact, listen to your body, your bodily needs. Listen to your mind, listen to your mind's needs. Don't avoid. Go into those needs, explore those needs with loving care. Befriend your body, befriend your mind, if you want to get beyond them one day. Befriending is very essential. That is the Tantra vision of life: Befriend life energies. Don't become antagonistic.

 

-Osho, "The Tantra Vision, Vol 2, #3"

 

 

 

 

Now, this U. G. Krishnamurti missed Sri Ramana -- and something great was happening. Almost like Buddha giving his flower to Mahakashyap, Sri Ramana giving a joke book to a man who is asking about God, or Ma Tzu giving a terrific kick in the pants. U. G. Krishnamurti missed Ramana. Then he missed J. Krishnamurti too. He lived for years with J. Krishnamurti.

 

Now, J. Krishnamurti is totally different in his expression, very logical, very rational. The beginning of his work is always with the mind; then slowly slowly he leads you beyond the mind, But there U. G. Krishnamurti thought it was all abstraction, philosophy. He stopped going there because "It is all abstraction." He left Sri Ramana because there was no philosophy. He left Krishnamurti because there was too much philosophy. In both the cases he missed.

 

And he lived with Sri Sivananda of Rishikesh for seven years doing yoga postures. There for seven years he thought, "Something is here." And there was nothing! Sivananda is a very ordinary teacher. You can find dozens of them all around this country teaching people how to stand on their heads, teaching people stupid things. There he remained for seven years, became a disciple.

 

Now, he missed two pinnacles... and this is what goes on happening. You have a mind, a certain mind. When you go to a master, you look from your mind. If it fits, you are happy; you start clinging. But that is not going to help -- because it fits, it will strengthen the same mind that you had brought with you. If by chance you come across a real master, nothing is going to fit. He is going to disrupt all your ideas about how a master should be; he is going to sabotage you. He is going to take all expectations. He is to frustrate you, he is to disappoint you in every possible way -- because that is the only way real work can start. And if you still can be with him, then... then you are going to be awakened.

 

Sleep is easy, cheap; awakening is arduous. You will have to renounce your dreams and you will have to re-nounce much comfort, much convenience. You will have to renounce many ideas that you have always thought very valuable.

 

-Osho, "Take It Easy, Vol 1, #6"