The jump happens spontaneously without effort and without conflict.

In today’s world, we are living in an atmosphere of conflicts— conflict between family members, social institutes, so-called religious groups, political parties, and nations. No one knows the real reason of conflicts, but every one knows that it is always the other who is at fault. This has become so common everywhere that we always blame the others for any conflict, we do not take any responsibility ourselves. This way we end up having no solution to any of our conflicts. What happens that one conflict generates million more conflicts. Then it all goes out of control. In this unconscious spread of unlimited tension between people, it is natural that we desire to have some moments of peace. That too seems to have become impossible. It is impossible because we don’t know the real cause—the central cause of conflict. Discussing on this eternal human problem in The Book of Life, the enlightened mystic J. Krishnamurti says: Do not think by merely wishing for peace, you will have peace, when in your daily life of relationship you are aggressive, acquisitive, seeking psychological security here or in the hereafter. You have to understand the central cause of conflict and sorrow and then dissolve it and not merely look to the outside for peace.

He points out the problem: But you see, most of us are indolent. We are too lazy to take hold of ourselves and understand ourselves, and being lazy, which is really a form of conceit, we think others will solve this problem for us and give us peace, or that we should destroy the apparently few people that are causing wars.

Every enlightened mystic, from Ashtavakra to Zarathusthra, from Gautama the Buddha, Mahavira to Jesus Christ, from Lord Krishna to the sages of Upanishads, and so many luminous souls like Gorakh, Kabir, Guru Nanak, Meera, Rabiya-al -Adaviya, Raidas, Sufi and Zen masters, all have emphasised the individual revolution, the individual transformation: the individual must go through a metamorphosis and resolve or dissolve conflict within himself. When the individual is in conflict within himself he must inevitably create conflict without, and only he can bring about peace within himself and so in the world, for he is the world.

In his letter to a disciple who was in conflict, Osho wrote: There is conflict in the mind –always, because the mind cannot exist without the conflict. It gets strengthened through conflict; even warring against conflict is conflict and struggling to go beyond the mind is mind. See this deeply and immediately without motive, just as if you have come across a snake in the street – and the jump. Then it is not that you jump but – the jump. The jump happens spontaneously without effort and without conflict. When this happens there is no-mind and no-mind is the door to the divine.

Today’s scenario is that India is also on the path of becoming more and more affluent and less and less happy.

It was an amazing piece of positive news that came recently from the UK that the British government had appointed a “Minister for Loneliness.” This news created a certain amount of wonder, though some people ridiculed it also. Stephen Colbert, on his TV show in the USA, said:“This is so British. They’ve defined the most ineffable human problem and come up with the most cold, bureaucratic solution.”

Loneliness in the modern world of instant connectivity is a totally paradoxical problem and is certainly a matter of concern. It is a good thing if the governments of the world also become sensitive and help people to deal with it. Inspired by Bhutan, a Ministry of Happiness was created in July 2016 to ensure happiness in the lives of the common people on the lines of the neighbouring country.  Ministry of Happiness is a positive name while Loneliness is a negative name. A positive approach is better because it suggests dealing with not just loneliness but several other killers like anxiety and anguish, sadness and stress, despair and depression.  The Ministry of Happiness can search for intelligent people from various fields, such as philosophy and psychology, art and culture, yoga and meditation, and science and spirituality.

But the Indian situation is very different from the situation in the Western countries. The West has reached a certain level of affluence while India has to deal with the basic problems of food, cloth, and shelter. Only after this is solved, the people will need something more to be happy in their lives. As Goswami Tulsidas, the great author of Ramayana wrote:  “Bhukhe Bhajan Nahi Hoi Gopala” (God is not remembered on empty stomach).

Today’s scenario is that India is also on the path of becoming more and more affluent and less and happy. The problems of loneliness and depression are also creeping into the psyche of this supposedly spiritual country. India needs to wake up and find solutions urgently for the vast population that we are blessed with.  It is already turning out to be a curse.

Osho’s message is good for both India and the rest of the world:  We need to learn the art of transforming loneliness into aloneness. He says:  Loneliness is misunderstood as aloneness. Aloneness has a beauty and grandeur, a positivity; loneliness is poor, negative, dark, dismal. He says:  The capacity to be alone is the capacity to love. It may look paradoxical to you, but it’s not. It is an existential truth: only those people who are capable of being alone are capable of love, of sharing, of going into the deepest core of another person–without possessing the other, without becoming dependent on the other, without reducing the other to a thing, and without becoming addicted to the other. They allow the other absolute freedom because they know that if the other leaves, they will be as happy as they are now. Their happiness cannot be taken by the other, because it is not given by the other.

A true guru does not console people to please them. He may even shock them because his purpose is to awaken them.

It is the time of Guru Purnima — the full moon in the month of July. Every year it happens on a different date — not like the fixed dates celebrated by the United Nations. Some people think of guru as a teacher who gives us knowledge. That’s why people have started calling Google as the guru. The teacher is not the right translation of the word guru. The guru is a mystical phenomenon, which has been experienced in the East mainly. The Western world finds it hard to understand this phenomenon and does not go beyond the level of a teacher. A teacher teaches you something and you pay for it — and there it ends. It is a mundane affair — very businesslike.

The guru is neither a teacher nor a preacher. He may be illiterate himself. He does not look for students to sell his knowledge. He seeks disciples with whom he can share his being and consciousness. He functions like a catalytic agent — his very presence transforms the disciples. So a guru is truly a mystical presence. He is a mystic and a master.

The guru is a rare phenomenon, not so easy to find. Of course, we come across thousands of teachers and preachers who claim to be gurus. Some of them publicise their personality on such a large scale and people start following them. They gather followers in millions and have powerful politicians sitting at their feet. They may be doing some social service too like opening schools, hospitals and orphanages. But all this has nothing to do with being a true guru.

A true guru does not console people to please them. He may even shock them because his purpose is to awaken them. He himself is an awakened one, which is the exact definition of a true guru. The people cannot go to him for worldly favours for a successful life. He will not oblige. He simply shows us the way to attain self-realisation, even if it means to fail in worldly matters. For a guru these are meaningless things. He himself has transcended all this and he wants us to transcend these mundane affairs too. He takes us towards the unknown and the unknowable.

Mystic Kabir sings: “It is the mercy of my true guru that has made me know the unknown; I have learned from him how to walk without feet, to see without eyes, to hear without ears, to drink without mouth, to fly without wings; I have brought my love and my meditation into the land where there is no sun and moon, nor day and night.” Kabir says: “The guru is great beyond words, and great is the good fortune of the disciple.”

The enlightened mystic Osho concludes: “The role of the guru is to give you a glimpse of the real — not a teaching, but an awakening. The guru is not a teacher: the guru is an awakener.”

Tantra is quite an ancient spiritual science—at least since the time of Lord Shiva, the wonderful Mahayogi, and the Mystic. He is also the greatest Tantrik master well-known in the world of spirituality. He is reported to have given 112 methods of transformation to his beloved consort Devi Parvati in deep intimacy. These methods were compiled in Vigyana Bhairva Tantra. The world is really indebted to Devi who asked the Lord some questions:  OH SHIVA, WHAT IS YOUR REALITY? WHAT IS THIS WONDER-FILLED UNIVERSE? WHAT CONSTITUTES SEED? WHO CENTERS THE UNIVERSAL WHEEL? WHAT IS THIS LIFE BEYOND FORM PERVADING FORMS? HOW MAY WE ENTER IT FULLY, ABOVE SPACE AND TIME, NAMES AND DESCRIPTIONS? LET MY DOUBTS BE CLEARED!