A man with three hairs on his otherwise bald head came into a hair saloon and asked to get his hair shampooed and braided.
The hairdresser got on with his job but just as he was about to finish combing it, one of the hairs fell out.
The hairdresser was very embarrassed but the man only said, “Well, what to do? I guess I will have to part my hair in the middle!”
The hairdresser very carefully put one hair to the right side and was about to put the other to the left side when that one fell out too.
The hairdresser could not apologize enough but the man took it really cool.
“Well,” he said, “I guess now I will have to run around with my hair all ruffled up.”
This is tathata, this is total acceptance! You cannot disturb such a man. He is always contented, he always finds a way to be contented. It is a great art. And a man who is always contented and always finds a way to remain contented has the capacity to see things transparently.
Discontent clouds your eyes and your vision; contentment makes your eyes unclouded and your vision clear. You can see through and through, you can understand things as they are.
Tathata is also translated as suchness; that too is one of its meanings. You see things as they are in their suchness; you don’t impose any idea of your own on them.
And that is a miracle, a magic key. If you can see anger as it is, without any judgment, you will be surprised: seeing anger without judgment, without condemnation, without saying it is bad or good, should be or should not be, without bringing any “shoulds” in… if you can see your anger as it is, with no prejudice for or against, a miracle happens: anger disappears and its energy becomes absorbed in you. Just by pure insight you transform anger, greed, jealousy. And all that goes on dragging you hither and thither, keeps you running, never allows you rest and relaxation, is absorbed; more energy becomes available to you.
And slowly slowly, when there is no anger – not that you have rejected it but you have absorbed it, digested it – no greed, no jealousy, no possessiveness, no sexuality… you have digested all these phenomena in you. You are becoming greater and greater and you have energies available to rise higher; you have fuel enough to keep your fire burning bright and without smoke.
Tathata is a method of transforming your energies into your friends. Ordinarily you are taught such stupid ways that your own energies become your enemies and you are constantly fighting with yourself. Now there can be no greater stupidity than this; this is the most stupid act in the world that people go on doing – fighting with themselves. You cannot win, you cannot defeat. You will remain quarrelling with yourself, you will destroy yourself in quarrelling your whole life.
You will die, and you will never know what life was. You will never know the glories of life, the grandeur of life and the tremendous gift that life was and could have been if you had lived with right mindfulness, with tathata, with acceptance.
Osho, The Dhammapada – The Way of the Buddha, Vol 6, Ch 10, Q 3 (excerpt)
रास आने लगी दुनिया तो कहा दिल ने कि जा
अब तुझे दर्द की दौलत नहीं मिलने वाली ………………इफ़्तिख़ार आरिफ़
raas aane lagī duniyā to kahā dil ne ki jā
ab tujhe dard kī daulat nahīñ milne vaalī ………………Iftikhar Arif
When one fully embraces and accepts life as it is,
the pain associated with resistance or longing fades away.
Having grasped the meaning of “Tathata,” I realize that this ghazal’s essence closely embodies the sentiment of non-resistance and total acceptance. Allow me to again share this beautiful ghazal by Nida Fazli, performed by Jagjit Singh.
Apni marzi se kaha apne safar ke hum thai By Jagjit Singh Writer Nida Fazali (youtube.com)
अपनी मर्ज़ी से कहाँ अपने सफ़र के हम हैं
रुख़ हवाओं का जिधर का है उधर के हम हैं
पहले हर चीज़ थी अपनी मगर अब लगता है
अपने ही घर में किसी दूसरे घर के हम हैं
वक़्त के साथ है मिटी का सफ़र सदियों से
किस को मालूम कहाँ के हैं किधर के हम हैं
चलते रहते हैं कि चलना है मुसाफ़िर का नसीब
सोचते रहते हैं किस राहगुज़र के हम हैं
हम वहाँ हैं जहाँ कुछ भी नहीं रस्ता न दयार
अपने ही खोए हुए शाम ओ सहर के हम हैं
गिनतियों में ही गिने जाते हैं हर दौर में हम
हर क़लमकार की बे-नाम ख़बर के हम हैं – निदा फ़ाज़ली