Light to yourself

Osho on Buddha Words - Be a light unto yourself: APPO DEEPO BHAVA

Osho - Just listen to me with insight. Nothing has to be practised. Let it be decided for ever with me: nothing has to be practised, practice is not the point. Understanding, insight -- just look into it. While I am talking to you, forget all about practising, forget all about notes. Forget that you are to do anything with these words that I am saying to you.

You are not to do anything, you have just to look into these words as deeply as possible, right now! If you look into these words right now, something will start changing in you. You will see that 'Yes, this is true' -- not that you have to practise it, but 'this is true'.

And when truth dawns on you, it transforms you. That's what Jesus means when he says: Truth liberates, nothing else -- not doctrines, not theories, not dogmas, not scriptures. Only truth liberates.

But don't ask how to get truth. If you bring the 'how' in, you have brought desire in. The 'how' is the manager of your desiring mind. It always says, 'How? How to do it?' It is not a question of doing at all. Just see it, just see the way it is. See how your mind goes on functioning, how you have functioned up to now. With no motive, have a look into it -- with no motive.

'Insight is freedom. Clarity brings choicelessness.' Tremendously beautiful words of Hui-neng: Clarity brings choicelessness. When you are clear, you need not choose; you choose only because you are confused. Choice is out of confusion -- choice means, 'Should I go this way, or that way?' You are confused, you cannot see, so you are wavering -- 'Should I take sannyas, should I not take sannyas? Should I meditate, should I not meditate? Should I love this woman, should I not love this woman? Should I do in this direction, should I do in that direction?'

These things exist because you are not clear. And your so-called religious teachers, your so-called religious priests, go on giving you what you should do. That is not the work of a real master; these are the pseudo-masters. You go to them with a confused mind, and you say, 'I have two alternatives, a and b. What should I do?' And they say, 'You do a -- a is right, b is wrong.' They don't help you to be clear, they don't give you clarity. They simply give you something to cling to, they give you the idea of right and wrong.

Now, life is very mysterious -- something is right in the morning, by the afternoon it becomes wrong. Then go to the priest again; then go on following the priest.

A real master never gives you any idea of right and wrong, he simply gives you INSIGHT. Because in the afternoon I may not be with you....

Just the other day, Chinmaya was with me. He has become afraid of death. Good, very good. Doctors have told him that there is some danger for his life, so he is shaking, trembling, for three days he has not been able to sleep. A rare opportunity -- because death will come to everybody, but it never comes with such information beforehand.

So he was there last night, and he is very much afraid. And I told him, 'Look into it: What do you have to lose? What have you gained in your life? The fear means that you have much in your life, and death will take it away. What have you got? If you look deeply, and you find that you don't have anything, then what is the fear? You are not going to lose anything.'

I told him to look into the fear of death and get into it as deeply as possible, don't avoid it. Everybody is telling him, 'Forget about it, it is nothing, don't be worried. Some medicine, some operation, something will be done.' Everybody is consoling him, he is consoling himself -- finding ways and rationalizations.

I told him to look into the face of death. Death exists at the very center of our being; it is nothing AGAINST US. We are closer to death than we are close to life. Death is closer to us than life is, because life is the wheel revolving, and death is the hub.

And I told him, 'You are fortunate that death is coming with a message, that death has a date with you. And you are also fortunate because I am here, and I can help you to look into death.'

While I was saying these things, I could see he was waiting for some consolation. He didn't want to hear these things, to look into death. He wanted me to say something to him, promise him something. I should say, 'Don't be worried, I will protect you.' He was waiting, in the comer of his eyes, for me to say something consoling.

But a master is not to console you, a master is to awake you. If death is coming, death is coming. Accept it, go into it, have a great insight into it. It may not come -- because doctors are not reliable -- but why miss this opportunity? It may not come -- but if the idea has arisen, then why not go into it? and why not have a taste of it? If it doesn't come, good. If it comes, good -- but you be ready for it. You go into it, you go with deep acceptance and receptivity. And in that acceptance and receptivity, something will be revealed to you: your innermost core.

And feeling in tune with this innermost core, all fear disappears.

And I told him, 'You may not die this time -- some day you will die. Next time I may not be here to tell you, next time I may not be here to console you. So if I really love you, I will not console you -- because next time what will you do when I am not here and you die? Then you will not be able to find a way.'

Consolation is not the way. Insight -- what Buddha calls VIPASSANA, looking into. A master gives you clarity to look into things. And when you look into things, the obvious is SO obvious that there is no question of choice. You don't choose then, your clarity leads you -- it becomes a lamp, it directs you.

And this is what Buddha says, these were his last words when he was departing from the world. His monks started crying and weeping. He said, 'Stop all this nonsense! Listen to me: Be a light unto yourself. Remember, these are my last words. Be a light unto yourself: APPO DEEPO BHAVA.'

What is this light? This clarity to see into things. If it is death, see into death. If it is love, see into love. If it is life, see into life. If it is anger, see into anger. It is ONE thing: see into it. In the morning it is love, in the evening it may be death. In the afternoon it may be something else, in the night something else again. But if you have the capacity to see into things, you will be able to see the obvious. Once the obvious is known as the obvious, choice disappears.

That's what Krishnamurti means when he says, 'Be choiceless.' But you cannot be choiceless, you cannot CHOOSE choicelessness. You cannot decide one day: 'Now, from now onwards I am going to be choiceless' -- this is a choice.

Choicelessness cannot be chosen, desirelessness cannot be desired, non-attachment cannot be practised. This is the message of Zen: Look into things, and the obvious reveals itself. And when you know this is the door and this is the wall, you need not choose from where to go, you go through the door. You don't ask the question: 'Should I go through the wall or through the door?' -- you simply go through the door.

Now the story. The story is simple but tremendously beautiful; all beautiful things are always simple. Very obvious, very clear. This is a parable Buddha used many times. In fact it happened; it is not only a parable. Buddha was passing by the side of a river, and he saw these children playing and he saw this whole thing. Next morning he talked about it -- he made a parable out of it. A great parable it is. Go into it with insight into each single word.

Source: Osho Book "Zen: The Path of Paradox, Vol2"