Osho - The Psychology of the Esoteric

ISBN: 978-0-88050-455-3

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This book is a series oforiginal talks by Osho, given to a live audience. All of Oshos talks have beenpublished in full as books, and are also available as original audio recordings.Audio recordings and the complete text archive can be found via the online OSHOLibrary at www.osho.com

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ISBN : 978-0-88050-455-3

Preface

If esoteric work is introduced to you without any foundation, youare not going to work for the foundation, because that is not interesting. Theesoteric work is really very interesting, but I dont want you to make a templewithout a foundation. It has happened many times; then the temple falls anddestroys those who were building it.

The word esoteric simply means you cannot put itobjectively, scientifically. It is something inner, something subjective,something so mysterious, so miraculous that you can experience it but youcannot explain it. You can have it, but still you cannot explain it. It remainsbeyond explanation. It is good that there is something in life which you cannotbring down to language, which you cannot bring down to the objective world,something which remains always beyond. You can become one with it and that isgoing to be the work of the school.

I have been spontaneous in my work, but these are the mysteriesof life, that existence itself has taken care. I have left it to existence,Whatever you want me to do, I will do. I am not the doer; I am just a passagefor existence to reach people. So I have never planned, but existence functionsin a very planned way. So all the phases that have passed were necessary, andnow we are ready to enter into the last phase the ultimate ecstasy.

Ecstasy cannot be pragmatic.

Love cannot be pragmatic.

Trust cannot be pragmatic.

All that is valuable is esoteric.

Osho, Beyond Psychology

Chapter: 1
Inward Revolution

Osho,
On mans path of evolution, is it possible that at some time in the futurehumanity as a whole can attain enlightenment? At what point of evolution is mantoday?

With man, the natural, automatic process of evolution ends. Manis the last product of unconscious evolution. With man, conscious evolutionbegins. Many things are to be taken into account.

First, unconscious evolution is mechanical and natural. Ithappens by itself. Through this type of evolution, consciousness evolves. Butthe moment consciousness comes into being, unconscious evolution stops becauseits purpose has been fulfilled. Unconscious evolution is needed only up to thepoint where the conscious comes into being. Man has become conscious. In a way,he has transcended nature. Now nature cannot do anything; the last product thatwas possible through natural evolution has come into being. Now man becomesfree to decide whether to evolve or not to evolve.

Secondly, unconscious evolution is collective, but the momentevolution becomes conscious it becomes individual. No collective, automaticevolution proceeds further than mankind. From now on, evolution becomes anindividual process. Consciousness creates individuality. Before consciousnessevolves, there is no individuality; only species exist, not individuality.

When evolution is still unconscious, it is an automatic process;there is no uncertainty about it. Things happen through the law of cause andeffect. Existence is mechanical and certain. But with man, with consciousness,uncertainty comes into existence. Now nothing is certain. Evolution may takeplace or it may not. The potential is there, but the choice will rest entirelywith each individual. That is why anxiety is a human phenomenon. Below manthere is no anxiety because there is no choice. Everything happens as it must.There is no choice so there is no chooser, and in the absence of the chooser,anxiety is impossible. Who is to be anxious? Who is to be tense?

With the possibility of choice, anxiety follows like a shadow.Now everything has to be chosen; everything is a conscious effort. You aloneare responsible. If you fail, you fail. It is your responsibility. If yousucceed, you succeed. It is again your responsibility. And every choice isultimate in a sense. You cannot undo it, you cannot forget it, you cannot goback on it. Your choice becomes your destiny. It will remain with you and be apart of you; you cannot deny it. But your choice is always a gamble. Everychoice is made in darkness because nothing is certain.

That is why man suffers from anxiety. He is anxious to his veryroots. What torments him, to begin with, is: To be or not to be? To do or notto do? To do this or to do that? No choice is not possible. If you do notchoose, then you are choosing not to choose; it is a choice. So you are forcedto choose; you are not free not to choose. Not choosing will have as mucheffect as any other choice.

The dignity, the beauty and the glory of man is thisconsciousness. But it is a burden also. The glory and the burden comesimultaneously the minute you become conscious. Every step is a movementbetween the two. With man, choice and conscious individuality come into existence.You can evolve, but your evolution will be an individual endeavor. You mayevolve to become a buddha or you may not. The choice is yours.

So there are two types of evolution: collective evolution andindividual, conscious evolution. Evolution implies unconscious,collective progress, so it would be better to use the word revolution intalking about man. With man, revolution becomes possible.

Revolution, as I am using the word here, means aconscious, individual effort toward evolution. It is bringing individualresponsibility to a peak. Only you are responsible for your own evolution.Ordinarily, man tries to escape from his responsibility for his own evolution,from the responsibility of freedom of choice. There is a great fear of freedom.When you are a slave the responsibility for your life is never yours; someoneelse is responsible. So in a way, slavery is a very comfortable thing. There isno burden. In this respect, slavery is a freedom: freedom from consciouschoice.

The moment you become completely free, you have to make your ownchoices. No one forces you to do anything; all alternatives are open to you.Then the struggle with the mind begins. So one becomes afraid of freedom.

Part of the appeal of ideologies such as communism and fascism isthat they provide an escape from individual freedom and a shirking ofindividual responsibility. The burden of responsibility is taken away from theindividual; the society becomes responsible. When something goes wrong, you canalways point to the state, the organization. Man becomes just a part of thecollective structure. But in denying individual freedom, fascism and communismalso deny the possibility of human evolution. It is a falling back from thegreat possibility that revolution offers: the total transformation of humanbeings. When this happens, you destroy the possibility of achieving theultimate. You fall back; you again become like animals.