Suffering Is Not the Problem. Clinging – That’s Your Problem

What do I do if I feel miserable?

“Meditation is a jump beyond life. It is not getting out of life, it is getting to the very center of life. The people who have entered at the very center of life have shown such grace, such beauty, such presence that they have even become a tremendous inspiration for millions. Just their very presence has transformed people. The question is not of time but of understanding.

Everybody can be freed from nightmares, from sufferings, from miseries, but of course not directly. The problem is that you cannot be freed from your suffering directly because you are clinging to it.

“It is not the suffering that is the problem, it is you who are clinging which is the problem. You don’t want to leave it. You brag about it, you talk about it. You even talk about how to get out of this misery. But one who has eyes can see that you are clinging to the misery as hard as possible.

“Just the presence of a master can help you to see whether the misery is clinging to you, or you are clinging to the misery. That is a very decisive point.

Once you see that you are clinging to the misery, you are freed. Just the seeing of it, the very understanding, is freedom.

“Looking deep into your minds, you will find how you are clinging. Somebody insulted you ten years ago and you still remember it as if it is something precious. In fact it was his problem that he shouted and was angry, it was not your problem. If you had simply remained a watcher, there would have been no scratch in your mind for these ten years, and whenever you see the person, the scratch becomes deeper.

All that is needed is to pass through life as a reflecting mirror, not as the film of a camera.

“The film of a camera catches hold of whatever is reflected on it – that is its function. The mirror also reflects but it never catches it. Things go on passing – the camera goes on filling with new pictures, reflections, but the mirror remains empty.

“Remain empty in this world not holding on to anything, and you have entered into a new field of energy which is your own. You have just been neglecting it because you were too occupied with unnecessary non-essentials.”

END

To continue reading and see all available formats of this talk:
Osho, The Original Man, Talk #1 – You Simply Are