Discourse: OSHO - Times of India - India
Saturday, August 5, 2006
The Qur'an says three basic qualities have to be in the heart of the seeker. The first is khushu or humility. The second is karamat or charity, and what this means is sharing, to experience the joy of giving. And the third is sijd or truthfulness, which means authenticity. That is, recognising that which you are. These are the three pillars of Sufism.
Humility does not mean the ordinary so-called humbleness. The humble person is not egoless. He carries a new kind of ego, of being humble. He thinks he is humble, “Nobody is as humble as I am”. He goes on comparing. The ego has not changed, the ego has only taken a new posture, more subtle. First the ego was very gross.
That's when you go on bragging about your money. One day you renounce all your money and then you start bragging that you have renounced all. This is subtle, but the bragging continues. The claim was for somebody, now it is for nobody.
The claim is still there. Now it has taken a subtle form. Humility, khushu, means a man who has understood all the ways of the ego. And by understanding all the ways of the ego, the ego has disappeared.
This is one of the most essential qualities for those who want to move towards godliness — because if you are too much you will not be moving. You have to be liquid, you have to melt; you cannot remain frozen in your ego.
The second is charity, karamat. Charity does not mean that you give and you feel very good that you have given, that you give and you oblige the person to whom you have given. Then it is not karamat; then it is not charity.
Charity is when you give and you feel obliged that the other has taken it; when you give with no idea that you are obliging anybody in any way; when you give because you have too much. It is not that the other needs.
Charity is when you give out of your abundance. The flower has blossomed and the words spread the fragrance to the winds — what else can the flower do? The lamp has been lit and it shares its light, it spreads its light. The cloud is full of water and it showers — what else can it do?
The third is truthfulness. It does not mean saying the truth, it means being the truth. Saying is only half-way; being is the true thing.
You can say truth a few times when it doesn't harm you — that's what people go on doing. When truth is not going to harm them they become truthful. And if sometimes truth is going to harm others they persist in being very truthful.
But when the truth is not going to help you then you drop it, then it is no more meaningful. That's why people say "Honesty is the best policy". Policy? The very word is dishonest.
Truth cannot be a policy and honesty cannot be a policy. They can only be your very heart — not policies. Policies can be used and dropped. Policies are political. When honesty pays, you are honest — that's what it means.
When it does not pay, you become dishonest. You have no relationship with honesty. You use it. Sijd means to be truthful, to be true. It is not only a question of policy.
Whatsoever happens, whatsoever the result, not thinking of the result but just to be true, to risk all for truth — that's what sijd is. It is to risk everything for truth — because if truth is saved, all is saved, and if truth is lost, all is lost.
Friday, November 17, 2006
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Friday, November 17, 2006
The Three Pillars of Sufism: Humility, Charity, Truth
Discourse: OSHO - Times of India - India
Saturday, August 5, 2006
The Qur'an says three basic qualities have to be in the heart of the seeker. The first is khushu or humility. The second is karamat or charity, and what this means is sharing, to experience the joy of giving. And the third is sijd or truthfulness, which means authenticity. That is, recognising that which you are. These are the three pillars of Sufism.
Humility does not mean the ordinary so-called humbleness. The humble person is not egoless. He carries a new kind of ego, of being humble. He thinks he is humble, “Nobody is as humble as I am”. He goes on comparing. The ego has not changed, the ego has only taken a new posture, more subtle. First the ego was very gross.
That's when you go on bragging about your money. One day you renounce all your money and then you start bragging that you have renounced all. This is subtle, but the bragging continues. The claim was for somebody, now it is for nobody.
The claim is still there. Now it has taken a subtle form. Humility, khushu, means a man who has understood all the ways of the ego. And by understanding all the ways of the ego, the ego has disappeared.
This is one of the most essential qualities for those who want to move towards godliness — because if you are too much you will not be moving. You have to be liquid, you have to melt; you cannot remain frozen in your ego.
The second is charity, karamat. Charity does not mean that you give and you feel very good that you have given, that you give and you oblige the person to whom you have given. Then it is not karamat; then it is not charity.
Charity is when you give and you feel obliged that the other has taken it; when you give with no idea that you are obliging anybody in any way; when you give because you have too much. It is not that the other needs.
Charity is when you give out of your abundance. The flower has blossomed and the words spread the fragrance to the winds — what else can the flower do? The lamp has been lit and it shares its light, it spreads its light. The cloud is full of water and it showers — what else can it do?
The third is truthfulness. It does not mean saying the truth, it means being the truth. Saying is only half-way; being is the true thing.
You can say truth a few times when it doesn't harm you — that's what people go on doing. When truth is not going to harm them they become truthful. And if sometimes truth is going to harm others they persist in being very truthful.
But when the truth is not going to help you then you drop it, then it is no more meaningful. That's why people say "Honesty is the best policy". Policy? The very word is dishonest.
Truth cannot be a policy and honesty cannot be a policy. They can only be your very heart — not policies. Policies can be used and dropped. Policies are political. When honesty pays, you are honest — that's what it means.
When it does not pay, you become dishonest. You have no relationship with honesty. You use it. Sijd means to be truthful, to be true. It is not only a question of policy.
Whatsoever happens, whatsoever the result, not thinking of the result but just to be true, to risk all for truth — that's what sijd is. It is to risk everything for truth — because if truth is saved, all is saved, and if truth is lost, all is lost.
Saturday, August 5, 2006
The Qur'an says three basic qualities have to be in the heart of the seeker. The first is khushu or humility. The second is karamat or charity, and what this means is sharing, to experience the joy of giving. And the third is sijd or truthfulness, which means authenticity. That is, recognising that which you are. These are the three pillars of Sufism.
Humility does not mean the ordinary so-called humbleness. The humble person is not egoless. He carries a new kind of ego, of being humble. He thinks he is humble, “Nobody is as humble as I am”. He goes on comparing. The ego has not changed, the ego has only taken a new posture, more subtle. First the ego was very gross.
That's when you go on bragging about your money. One day you renounce all your money and then you start bragging that you have renounced all. This is subtle, but the bragging continues. The claim was for somebody, now it is for nobody.
The claim is still there. Now it has taken a subtle form. Humility, khushu, means a man who has understood all the ways of the ego. And by understanding all the ways of the ego, the ego has disappeared.
This is one of the most essential qualities for those who want to move towards godliness — because if you are too much you will not be moving. You have to be liquid, you have to melt; you cannot remain frozen in your ego.
The second is charity, karamat. Charity does not mean that you give and you feel very good that you have given, that you give and you oblige the person to whom you have given. Then it is not karamat; then it is not charity.
Charity is when you give and you feel obliged that the other has taken it; when you give with no idea that you are obliging anybody in any way; when you give because you have too much. It is not that the other needs.
Charity is when you give out of your abundance. The flower has blossomed and the words spread the fragrance to the winds — what else can the flower do? The lamp has been lit and it shares its light, it spreads its light. The cloud is full of water and it showers — what else can it do?
The third is truthfulness. It does not mean saying the truth, it means being the truth. Saying is only half-way; being is the true thing.
You can say truth a few times when it doesn't harm you — that's what people go on doing. When truth is not going to harm them they become truthful. And if sometimes truth is going to harm others they persist in being very truthful.
But when the truth is not going to help you then you drop it, then it is no more meaningful. That's why people say "Honesty is the best policy". Policy? The very word is dishonest.
Truth cannot be a policy and honesty cannot be a policy. They can only be your very heart — not policies. Policies can be used and dropped. Policies are political. When honesty pays, you are honest — that's what it means.
When it does not pay, you become dishonest. You have no relationship with honesty. You use it. Sijd means to be truthful, to be true. It is not only a question of policy.
Whatsoever happens, whatsoever the result, not thinking of the result but just to be true, to risk all for truth — that's what sijd is. It is to risk everything for truth — because if truth is saved, all is saved, and if truth is lost, all is lost.
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