Introduction to Buddhism

Lokesh reflects on the old Osho adage

Of all the Osho quotes ‘Existence is not a problem to be solved it is a mystery to be lived.’ is perhaps one of the most well known and commonly repeated by sannyasins. I myself have quoted it over the years. It comes in handy when confronted with something you cannot figure out with the mind, and serves well when someone else is in that position and needs a little advice to put their mind at ease. Yes, it is a poignant saying that holds much appeal, but recently I have began to question it. I think it is a great mistake to repeat things Osho said as if they are irrefutable, especially if it has become a sort of personal mantra. How about sannyas or suicide? Sounds a bit extreme these days, but once upon a time it made perfect sense to many of us. According to Ramana Maharshi, ‘Mystery and suffering only exist in the mind.’ Does that mean all this ‘Mystery School’ business is just a mind trip? Could it be that seeing life as a great mystery is actually not conductive to awakening, thatit is actually a trap for the seeker after truth? When set in a historical context keeping life mysterious has always been a foundation stone in any organized religion’s framework and worldview. Enter the priests, who have the keys to the door of the mysterious and will give you a glimpse of what lies behind it…for a price. Another pitfall of being logged into a worldview that subscribes to life being ever so mysterious is that it is easy to write things off by shrouding them in a cloak of mystery. An image of sannyasins back in the Ranch days comes to mind. Instead of saying to each other, I think something is fundamentally wrong in the way Sheela is running the commune, it was all written off as part and parcel of Osho’s great rock and Rolls Royceing magical mystery tour. In other words, adopting an attitude wherein one sees everything as a great mystery can and sometimes does short-circuit our critical faculties and, like dosey sheep being fattened for the abattoir in a verdantalpine meadow, leave one ripe for exploitation and manipulation. According to Osho, and in direct contradiction to life not being a problem,  there exists one very big problem and that is the mind, very much a part of life which, when one considers it, is quite a biggie that we all deal with on a daily basis. Osho and many other mystics seem to agree that all other problems will fade to insignificance if we can sort out the problem of the mind. Nothing mysterious there as this has pretty much been established as a fact of our spiritual reality. To round this off I’d say that there is another problem,  and there is nothing mysterious about it either. This problem has to do with the fact that we have become totally identified with our body-mind complex and forgotten who we really are,  and as a result all manner of problems have arisen…you name it we got it! Our job as seekers is to rid ourselves of this mistaken identity. This means we have to debunk the mystery package that has alwaysbeen part and parcel of all all religions and religious cults…sannyas being no exclusion, for in itself sannyas fills many of the criteria as to what it is that constitutes a cult or cultish mentallity. Our situation is such that it is only through embracing our aloneness and diving directly into ourselves that we will come to know the truth. We don’t need any social framework for this. We don’t need to belong to a mystery school. We, you, can enter the kingdom right now, by simply closing the eyes, relaxing and maintaining inner awareness. In so doing all of our problems dissolve and our lives will become concentrated in this very moment,  and there will be no longer a need for any mystery or problems that need solving. It is important to understand that we are all destined for enlightenment. End of story.