Belief is a conditioning...

Have you looked into the word "atheist"? It contains "theist"; it is only a reaction. Just think, if all theisms disappear, what will happen to atheists? They will have to die. They will lose all the excitement of denying God, because nobody is proposing the exists. The theist knows not, but believes. The atheist also knows not, but believes.

Have you really searched every nook and corner of existence and found that there is no God? Forget about every nook and corner of existence -- have you searched within yourself? Your atheism is just an ideology, a negative belief.

There is a very beautiful story in Indian scriptures:

When Narda, a devotee, a great devotee, was dying God appeared to him. Such things used to happen in the past; they don't happen anymore. And God asked him what he would like, if he had any desire to be fulfilled in the next life.

He said, "Yes, I want to be born an atheist."

Even God was puzzled. Remember, such things used to happen in the past; now they no longer happen. God said,'What? You want to be an atheist? Such a great devotee, such a believer, such a religious man who has been singing and singing my name?"

Narda said, "Yes, because although I am a devotee, I continuously go on forgetting you, but I have seen atheists who never forget you. That's why I want to be an atheist next time: so that I can remember you continuously. I don't want to forget you even for a single moment. Now you are only one of the items of my mind, but for the atheist you seem to be his whole heart -- although he denies you, he remembers you. So just give me one blessing: that I should be born an atheist so that I can talk about you continuously."

This story is beautiful. It says in a very symbolic way that the atheist and the theist are not in different boats.

expect Free Size, which everyone can use...

Every religion has a few methods, but we are going to have ALL the methods of all the religions of the past and of all the religions that are going to happen in the future. We are going to create a space for ALL kinds of people, not for any particular type. The old religions are missing in that way.

For example, only a particular type of person can be helped by Mahavira's methods -- only the type who belongs to Mahavira's type can be helped. It is a very limited methodology. Mahavira attained to the holy fruit; he taught the same method by which he attained. Jesus had his own method, Mohammed had his own method. So no religion of the past could be universal because it belonged to a certain type and only that type could be benefited by it.

Hence one problem has arisen: you may be born in a Jaina family and you may not be of the same type which the Jaina method can help. Then you are in a difficulty; your whole life will be a wastage. You will try the method; it won't suit you -- and you will not change your method. You will think it is because of your past karmas that the method is not working, that it will take time. You will rationalize. You may be born in a Hindu family and Hindu methods may not work.

There are so many types of people in the world, and as the world has grown and people's consciousnesses have grown, more and more new types, more and more crossbreeds have come into existence which were never there before -- which never existed in Mahavira's time, which never existed in Krishna's time. There are many new types, crossbreeds. And in the future this is going to happen more and more; the world is becoming a small village.

choose your own way...

I have heard about a man who became very famous in Germany -- even today his statues are there and some squares and some streets are still named after him. His name was Dr. Daniel Gottlieb Schreber. He was the real founder of Fascism. He died in 1861, but he created the situation for Adolf Hitler to come -- of course, unknowingly.

This man "... had very pronounced views on how to bring up children. He wrote many books. Those books were translated into many languages. Some of them ran into fifty editions." His books were loved tremendously, respected tremendously, because his views were not exceptional -- his views were very common. He was saying things which everybody has believed down the centuries. He was the spokesman for the ordinary mind, the mediocre mind.

"He believed in disciplining children from the time they were six months old" -- because he said if you don't discipline a child when he is six months old you will miss the real opportunity of disciplining him. When a child is very tender and soft, unaware of the ways of the world, make a deep imprint -- then he will always follow that imprint. And he will not even be aware that he is being manipulated. He will think he is doing all this of his own will -- because when a child is six months old he has no will yet; the will will come later on, and the discipline will come earlier than the will. So the will will always think: 'This is my own idea.'

This is corrupting a child. But all the religions of the world and all the demagogues and all the dictatorial people of the world, and all the so-called gurus and the priests, they all have believed in doing this.

This seems to be the basic cause why man is unhappy, because no man is moving freely, no man is sensing, groping his path with his own consciousness. He has been corrupted at the very root.

But Schreber called it discipline, as all parents call it. "He believed in disciplining children from the time they were six months old in such a way that they would never after question their parents and yet believe that they were acting of their own free will. He wrote that on the first appearance of self-will one has to..." stop it immediately, kill it immediately. When you see the child becoming a person, an individual, you have to destroy the first ray of his individuality, immediately, not a single moment should be lost.

When the first appearance of self-will is noticed "... one has to step forward in a positive manner... stern words, threatening gestures, rapping against the bed... bodily admonishments, consistently repeated until the child calms down or falls asleep.

Make the child so afraid, shake him to his very roots! And those roots are very tender yet -- a six-month-old child. Threaten him with gestures, with a deep hatred, enmity in your eyes, as if you are going to destroy the child himself. Make it clear to the child that either he can live or his self-will -- both cannot be allowed to live. If he wants his self-will then he will have to die. Once the child comes to know that he can live only at the cost of self-will, he will drop his self-will and he will choose survival. That's natural! Survival one has to choose first; everything else comes secondary.

"And then one is master of the child forever. From now on, a glance, a word or a single threatening gesture is sufficient to rule the child."

Down the centuries, parents have been destroying people. They were destroyed by their parents, and so on and so forth. It seems to be a chronic state. Your parents were not happy; whatsoever they knew made them only more unhappy and more unhappy -- and they trained you for it, and they have made a replica of themselves in you.

Happiness happens when you fit with your life, when you fit so harmoniously that whatsoever you are doing is your joy. Then suddenly you will come to know: meditation follows you. If you love the work that you are doing, if you love the way you are living, then you are meditative. Then nothing distracts you. When things distract you, that simply shows that you are not really interested in those things.

We have been distracted into unnatural motivations: money, prestige, power. Listening to the cuckoo is not going to give you money. Listening to the cuckoo is not going to give you power, prestige. Watching the butterfly is not going to help you economically, politically, socially. These things are not paying, but these things make you happy.

A real person takes the courage to move with things that make him happy. If he remains poor, he remains poor; he has no complaint about it, he has no grudge. He says: "I have chosen my way -- I have chosen the cuckoos and the butterflies and the flowers. I cannot be rich, that's okay! But I am rich because I am happy."

This type of man will never need any method to concentrate, because there is no need -- he is in concentration. His concentration is spread all over his life. Twenty-four hours he is in concentration.

Stop THINKING...

THINKING cannot be stopped. Not that it does not stop, but it cannot be stopped. It stops of its own accord. This distinction has to be understood, otherwise you can go mad chasing your mind.

No-mind does not arise by stopping thinking. When the thinking is no more, no-mind is. The very effort to stop will create more anxiety, it will create conflict, it will make you split. You will be in a constant turmoil within. This is not going to help.
And even if you succeed in stopping it forcibly for a few moments, it is not an achievement at all -- because those few moments will be almost dead, they will not be alive. You may feel a sort of stillness, but not silence, because a forced stillness is not silence. Underneath it, deep in the unconscious, the repressed mind goes on working.

So, there is no way to stop the mind. But the mind stops -- that is certain. It stops of its own accord.

So what to do? -- your question is relevant. Watch -- don't try to stop. There is no need to do any action against the mind. In the first place, who will do it? It will be mind fighting mind itself. You will divide your mind into two; one that is trying to boss over -- the top-dog -- trying to kill the other part of itself, which is absurd. It is a foolish game. It can drive you crazy. Don't try to stop the mind or the thinking -- just watch it, allow it. Allow it total freedom. Let it run as fast as it wants. You don't try in any way to control it. You just be a witness. It is beautiful!

Mind is one of the most beautiful mechanisms. Science has not yet been able to create anything parallel to mind. Mind still remains the masterpiece -- so complicated, so tremendously powerful, with so many potentialities. Watch it! Enjoy it!

Finally, eventually, one day, you become master. Then when you want to think, you think; if thought is needed, you use it; if thought is not needed, you allow it to rest. Not that mind is simply no more there: mind is there, but you can use it or not use it. Now it is your decision. Just like legs: if you want to run you use them; if you don't want to run you simply rest -- legs are there. In the same way, mind is always there.

As he is not playing - LIFE has no why, no purpose, no reason...

Millions of people are being massacred and it is God's play? Why can't he play golf? or chess? Why torture people? So much misery in the world, and these fools go on saying it is God's play? Children are being born paralyzed, blind, deaf, dumb...God's play? What kind of God is this? Either he is nuts or he is not God at all, at least not godly. Must be very evil.

Now, these answers don't help -- they create more questions. Life has no purpose, cannot have any purpose.

All purposes are within life. Yes, a car has a purpose; it can take you from one place to another. And food has a purpose; it can nourish you, it can keep you alive. A house has a purpose; it can give you shelter when it rains and when it is hot. And clothes have a purpose.... All purposes are within life, but life itself cannot have any purpose because it is not a means to some end. A car is a means, a house is a means.

Life has no goal, life is not going anywhere. Life is simply here! It has never been created -- forget that idea of creation. That creates many stupid questions in the mind. It has never been created, it has always been here, and it will always be here -- in different forms, in different ways, the dance will continue. It is eternal. Aes dhammo sanantano -- so is the ultimate law.

There is no purpose -- that's the beauty of life! If there were some purpose, then life would not be so beautiful. Then there would be a motivation, then it would be businesslike, then it would be very serious. Look at the roses and the lotuses and the lilies -- what purpose? The lotus in the early morning sun opening up, and the cuckoo starts calling...what purpose? Is it not intrinsically beautiful? Does everything need a purpose outside itself?

Life is intrinsically beautiful. It has no extrinsic purpose, it is not purposive. It is just like the song of a bird in the dark of the night, or the sound of water, or the sound of the wind passing through the pine trees....
Man is goal-oriented because your mind is goal-oriented. It creates questions like this: "What is the goal of life?" There must be some goal. But if somebody says, "This is the goal of life," then you will ask, "What is the goal of this goal? Why should we attain it? What purpose is it going to serve?" And then somebody says, "This is the goal of this goal." The same question arises again, and you fall into a regress, ad infinitum.

"What is the purpose of creation?"
The world has never been created. The word 'creation' is not right. It has always been here, it is eternal. There is no creator. God is not the creator of the world: God is the very creative energy of existence -- creativity rather than a creator. He is not the poet but the poetry, not the dancer but the dance, not the flower but the fragrance.

"Why does life exist?"
These questions look very philosophical, and can torture you very much, but are absurd. It is like asking, "What is the taste of the color green?" Now, it is irrelevant. The color green has no taste; color and taste are not related at all. "Why does life exist?" Just look at the words: 'life' and 'existence' mean the same thing; it is a tautology. If you are asking: Why is life life? then it will be clear to you. But when you ask, "Why does life exist?" the language deceives you.

You are asking: Why is life life? You are asking: Why is a rose a rose? Would you be satisfied if the rose were a marigold? Then you would ask: Why is a marigold a marigold? How are you going to be satisfied?

If life does not exist, will you be satisfied? Just conceive of yourself without body, without mind, a ghost, asking the question: Why doesn't life exist? What happened to life? Why did it disappear? The same question will persist and persecute you.

Life is a mystery. There is no why, no purpose, no reason. It is simply here. Take it or leave it, but it is simply here. And when it is here, why not take it? Why waste your time in philosophizing? Why not dance and sing and love and meditate? Why not go deeper and deeper into this thing called "life"? Maybe at the ultimate core you will know the answer. But the answer comes in such a way that it cannot be expressed. It is like the dumb man's taste of sugar. It is sweet -- he knows that it is sweet, but he cannot say it.

The buddhas know but they cannot say. And the idiots know not and they go on saying, and they go on giving you answers. Idiots are very clever in that way -- in finding, fabricating, manufacturing answers. Ask any question and they will answer you.

ancient story : Last Initiation...

The last initiation was going to be given to the disciple. The Master said, "Your last initiation will be given in a very indirect way." The disciple had passed all the hurdles that the Master had put in his way; he had proved his mettle. Now the last initiation... and once he has passed the last initiation, he will be declared enlightened The disciple touched the feet of the Master and said, "I am ready. Just order me and I will do whatsoever needs to be done."

The Master said, "You will have to go to the King, and go early in the morning; be the first visitor to the King. Because the King has a habit: whosoever comes to him first, whatsoever he asks, the King gives. But the country is so rich that it is very rare that anybody goes. Years pass and nobody goes to ask for anything. But don't take any chances -- be there very early. The King comes in the morning into his garden, as the sun rises the King enters the garden -- be there. And he will ask you, 'What do you want?' And whatsoever you want, ask him."

The disciple could not understand what kind of initiation this last one was. But the order had to be followed. He went. He didn't take any chance: three o'clock early in the morning he was waiting for the King.

As the sun was rising, the King entered. The young man bowed down to the King; the King said, "Have you come to ask for something? You can ask for anything! Whatsoever you ask, I will give it to you."

A great desire possessed the young man. He was a poor man, had come from a very poor family, "And the King says whatsoever...?" To be certain, he asked again, "What do you mean by 'whatsoever'?"

The King said, "Exactly that I mean -- whatsoever. Even if you demand my kingdom I will give it to you. You can ask for as much money as you want..."
The poor young man could not think much. He thought, "Maybe ten thousand rupees will do." But a desire came that "Why ten thousand? You may never get such a chance again -- why not one hundred thousand?"

And then another desire, and desires upon desires... because mind constantly asks for more. So whatsoever he decided, the mind was still asking for more.
The King said, "It seems you are not yet ready to ask. I will go for my morning walk, meanwhile you decide. And when I return, whatsoever you ask will be given to you."
That half an hour was a torture. He went on and on, "I can ask for this and that, and a golden chariot, and so many millions of rupees, and so much land -- I will create a small kingdom of my own."

Desires and dreams... and the King came; that half hour had passed so fast. The King was standing there and he said, "Young man, have you not decided yet?"
And then suddenly the young man thought, "Whatsoever I ask will be less than the King has, so why not ask for all? Be finished with the figures!"
So he said, "Sir, if you are so willing to give, I ask for every-thing! -- all that you have. Your whole kingdom, all your riches, your palaces -- everything. You simply get out of the palace! And you cannot go back in. You may take something. You simply get out -- forget all about it. I can allow you only these clothes that you are wearing."

Even that he did reluctantly; even that much he would have less.

The King fell on his knees, started praying to God, tears rolling down from his eyes -- of great joy, ecstasy! And he was thanking God saying "I have been waiting for such a man. How long I waited! But finally you heard my prayer, and now he has come and I am free of all this nonsense. Thank you! You heard my prayer, although it has been so long and I had to wait so long, but still you heard it. I am grateful."

When he was saying these things to God, the young man was standing there and he started thinking, "What is the matter? If this man is feeling so happy renouncing the kingdom, what am I getting into? If this man has been praying for thirty years, as he is saying, 'Send a man who can take my whole kingdom, who can ask for my whole kingdom!' -- if for thirty years he has been praying, then it is not worthwhile at all. I am getting into unnecessary trouble."

He also fell on his knees, touched the King's feet and said, "Sir, I am a young man -- I am a young fool. Please excuse me. I don't want anything. Your prayer to God, your thankfulness to God has finished my whole mind. I am going back to the forest to my Master."

The King tried to persuade him, "Don't go. Just have a look. Come into the palace! I will not only give you my palace, my kingdom, my riches, but my beautiful daughter also. Come and just have a look!"

But the young man said, "I cannot stay here, not even a single moment -- because the mind can betray me. An insight has happened, and I am thankful to you just as you are thankful to God. I am finished!"

And when the young man reached back to his Master and told the whole story, the Master said, "Your last initiation is over. Now nothing will ever make a slave of you. Now you are alert, conscious, free. You have passed -- I am happy. I was watching from here, and when you had asked for the whole kingdom, my heart was crying. I was thinking, 'So, fifteen years' work on this fool, and all finished.' You can't imagine my happiness," said the Master, "that you are back, that you could see the point, that you were observant."

Be observant, just watch.... People HAVE money, people have great palaces, people have all that you can desire -- just watch, just see: are they happy? are they contented? They may be more happy than you are and more discontented than you are -- then don't follow them. They are blind! They have followed other blind people. Don't follow them, don't imitate the crowd.

The really religious person is one who gets out of the entanglement of the mass psychology, of the mass hypnosis. The mass conditions you: rebel against it; go out of this mass conditioning, become an individual. Then only can you re-member from where you come, because only then will you know who you are.

Right now you know you are a Hindu or a Mohammedan or a Christian. You are not all these things: you are neither white nor black, you are neither man nor woman -- you are just a pure consciousness with no adjectives attached to it. There is no frame to this consciousness; this consciousness is infinite. If you drop the mass conditionings you will be coming closer home.

A device not to meditate...

Chanting a mantra is nothing but a process of thought, concentrated thought. It is again a new device, a device not to meditate. People are repeating Christian prayers, Mohammedan prayers, Hindu prayers, all ways to avoid meditation. These are not meditations, remember. Mind is so cunning that in-the name of meditation it has created many pseudo-phenomena.

Meditation is when you are not doing anything at all, when the mind is not functioning at all. That non-functioning of the mind is meditation -- no chanting, no mantra, no image, no concentration. One just simply is. In that isness the ego disappears, and with the ego the shadow of the ego disappears. That shadow is fear.