Don’t be afraid of losing.

A day comes when this whole existence is your beloved. That is our potential. And anybody who is not achieving it is wasting his life.

Yes, you will have to lose a few things, but they are worthless. You will be gaining so much that you will never think again of what you have lost.

A pure impersonal lovingness which can penetrate into anybody’s being – that is the outcome of meditativeness, of silence, of diving deep within your own being.

I am simply trying to persuade you. Don’t be afraid of losing what you have.

I am reminded of a story.

A woodcutter used to go into the woods every day. Sometimes he had to remain hungry because it was raining; sometimes it was too hot, sometimes it was too cold.

He would see this old man, a mystic, sitting silently, always there — summer, winter, rain. He would touch his feet before entering the forest, and every time he would do that the old man would smile and say, “You are such an idiot.”

The woodcutter would be shocked: “Why? — I touch his feet, but rather than giving me a blessing, he simply smiles and says, `You are such an idiot.'”

One day he gathered courage and asked, “What do you mean?”

A mystic lived in the woods. He watched the woodcutter growing old, sick, hungry, working hard the whole day. The old man said, “I mean that you have been cutting trees in this forest for your whole life, and if you go just a little deeper into it you will find a copper mine. Only an idiot could miss it! Your whole life you have been in this forest… you can collect the copper and that will be enough for seven days’ comfortable living, no need to cut wood every day in your old age.”

The man could not believe it because he knew the whole forest — He must be joking! The woodcutter thought, “What am I going to get a little further? More wood? Unnecessarily carrying that wood for miles? But perhaps he was right… and there was no harm in going a little further and being alert and watching to see whether there was some copper mine.”

And he went in, and he found a copper mine. He said, “Now I know why he was continually saying, `You are such an idiot, working every day in your old age.'” And he was so happy… he came back and fell at the feet of the mystic.

Now he was going only once every week. But the old tradition continued: he would touch his feet, and the old man would smile and say, `You are such an idiot!'”

“But,” he said, “now this is not right! Because I have found the copper mine.”

The mystic said, “Don’t rejoice too much right now. You have to go a little deeper into the woods.

“But,” he said, “what is the point? Now I have got seven days’ food.”

The mystic said, “Still….”

But the man said, “I will lose the copper mine if I go further.”

He said, “You go. You certainly will lose the copper mine, but there is a silver mine. And whatsoever you can bring will be enough for three months.”

He said, “My God, why didn’t you tell me before?”

The old man said, “You didn’t believe me even about the copper mine — how could you have believed about the silver mine? Just go a little further.”

This time there was suspicion but not so much; there was a certain trust arising.

“The mystic has proved right about the copper mine,” the woodcutter thought. “Perhaps he is also right about the silver mine.” And he went in and found the silver mine.

And he came dancing, and he said, “How can I pay you? My gratitude knows no bounds.”

The mystic said, “Don’t be in a hurry. Go a little deeper.”

He said, “No! I cannot. I will lose the silver mine. Now I have found silver enough that I will be coming only once in a month. I will miss you very much. I will miss your blessing very much. I have started loving to hear from you, `What an idiot you are.'”

But the old man said, “You are still an idiot, it makes no difference.”

The woodcutter said, “Even though I have found the silver mine?”

The mystic said, “Yes, even then. You are just an idiot and nothing more — because if you go just a little deeper there is gold. So don’t wait for a month, come tomorrow. There is a gold mine just few steps deeper.””

The woodcutter was hesitant. In fact, he was such a poor man, that having a silver mine – he had never dreamed of it.

Now the woodcutter thought he must be joking. If there is gold, why should he be sitting here under this tree in old rags, with no shelter from the rain, no shelter from the sun, depending on people who bring food to him… sometimes they bring it, sometimes they don’t…” And if he knows where the gold is, I don’t think… this time he is certainly joking! But there is no harm. He has always been right. Who knows? This old guy is a little mysterious.”

He went further and found a big gold mine. He could not believe his own eyes — this is the forest he has been working in for his whole life, and this is the forest where that old man is sitting….

And he found the gold mine. Now it was enough to come once a year.

But the mystic said, “It will be a long time – one year from now you will be coming here. I am getting old – I may not be here, I may be gone. So I have to tell you, don’t stop at the gold mine. Just a little more….”

But the man said, “Why? What is the point? You show me one thing, and the moment I get it, you immediately tell me to drop that and go ahead! Now I have found the gold mine!”

He brought much gold, and he said, “I think you will not say anymore that I am an idiot.”

He said, “I will continue. Come tomorrow because this is not the end; this is only the beginning.”

He said, “What? Gold is just a beginning?”

The mystic said, “Come tomorrow. Just a little deeper in the forest you will find diamonds – but that too is not the end. But I will not tell you too much; otherwise you will not be able to sleep tonight. Just go home. Tomorrow morning, first you find the diamonds, and then come to me.”

He really could not sleep the whole night. A poor woodcutter… he could not imagine that he was going to become the owner of all these mines — gold and silver and copper, and now diamonds! And the old man was saying this was only the beginning. He thought and thought… what can be more than diamonds?

In the morning he went very early — the old man was asleep. He touched his feet. The old man opened his eyes and said, “Have you come? I knew you would come, you couldn’t sleep. First go and see the diamonds.”

The woodcutter said, “Can you tell me what can be more?”

He said, “First find the diamonds — step by step; otherwise, you will go crazy.”

He found the diamonds and he came dancing to the old man. He said, “Now you cannot say that `I am an idiot. I have found the diamonds!”, he said, “This will be enough for my whole life.”

The woodcutter insisted and said, “Now I will not leave you unless you explain it to me.”

The old man said, “You can see that I know all about these mines — silver, gold, diamonds — and I don’t care about them. Because there is something more which is not in the forest but WITHIN YOU, just a little deeper — not outside but inside. And because I have found that, I don’t care about all these diamonds. Now it is up to you: you can stop your journey at the diamonds but remember, you will remain an idiot. And I am a proof — because I know about all these mines, and I have not bothered with them. This can make you understand that there is something more which is never found outside however far you go; it is found inside you.”

The mystic said, “Now perhaps we may not meet again, so my last message is: now that you have enough for your whole life, GO IN! Forget the forest, the copper mine, the silver mine, the gold mine, the diamond mine. Now I give you the ultimate secret, the ultimate treasure that is WITHIN YOU. Your outer needs are fulfilled. Sit the way I am sitting here.”

The man dropped the diamonds. He said, “I am going to sit by your side. Unless you drop this idea that I am an idiot, I am not going to move from here!”

He was a simple, innocent woodcutter. It is difficult for knowledgeable people to go in.

The poor man said, “Yes, I was wondering… you know all these things – why do you go on sitting here? The question has arisen again and again. And I was just going to ask, ‘Why don’t you get all those diamonds lying there? Only you know about them. All that gold! Why do you go on sitting under this tree?’”

The mystic said, “After finding the diamonds, my master told me, ‘Now sit under this tree and go in.’”

The man dropped all the diamonds there, and he said, “Perhaps we may not meet again. I don’t want to go home – I am going to sit here by your side. Please teach me how to go in, because I am a woodcutter. I know how to go deeper into the woods, but I don’t know how to go in.”

The mystic said, “But all your diamonds, gold, copper, silver – all that will be lost, because all these things are valueless for one who goes in.”

The woodcutter said, “Don’t be bothered about that. You have been right up to now. I trust you, that you will be right in this last stage too.”

It was not difficult for the woodcutter. Soon he was entering into a deep silence — a joy, a blissfulness, a benediction.

And the old man shook him and said, “This is the place. Now you need not go into the forest. And I withdraw my word `idiot` about you, you have become a wise man. You can open your eyes. You will see the same world but not in the same light; the same colors, but now they have become psychedelic; the same people, but they are no longer just skeletons covered with skin, they are luminous spiritual beings… the same cosmos, but for the first time it is an ocean of consciousness.”

The woodcutter opened his eyes.

He said, “You are a strange fellow. Why did you wait so long? I have been coming here almost my whole life and I have seen you sitting under this tree. You could have said this any day.”

The old man said, “I was waiting for the right moment… for the ripe moment, for the time when you would be able not only to hear but to understand it. The journey is short, but you should not stop at every achievement. Because every achievement is so fulfilling that your imagination cannot think there can be more than this.”

It is possible… make it your realization. Become the light yourself, and then whatever is experienced is inexpressible.

Osho, From Death to Deathlessness – Answers to the Seekers of the Path, Ch 17, Q 2 (excerpt)
Osho: Beyond Enlightenment Chapter #27 Chapter title: Whatsoever happens in silence is your friend Q 1 (Excerpts)

ढूँढने से यूँ तो इस दुनिया में क्या मिलता नहीं ?!
सच अगर पूछो तो सच्चा आश्ना मिलता नहीं……………………दत्तात्रिया कैफ़ी
(आश्ना — मित्र,दोस्त, यार, प्रेमी, महबूब, आशिक)

DhūñDhne se yuuñ to is duniyā meñ kyā miltā nahīñ ?!
sach agar pūchho to sachchā āshnā miltā nahīñ…………………….DATTATRIYA KAIFI

What is there in this world that you can’t get through search?!
the truth is, what you don’t get is your beloved / true friend.

God is within you …Tat Tvam Asi (तत्वम असि)…is beautifully explained by Kabir Das ji in his poetry. Enjoy this soulful bhajan and sitar rendition by Ustad Shujaat Hussain Khan ji.

(27) Moko kahaan dhoondhe re bande Kabir Das Ji by– Ustad Shujaat Hussain Khan – YouTube