THE CONCEPT OF ZERO WAS BORN IN INDIA. In fact, the nine digits and zero were invented by Indians. But zero in itself is meaningless. It has meaning only when you join it together with some digit. If you put it behind one, it becomes meaningful – one becomes ten; zero carries the meaning of being equivalent to nine. If you put it behind two, it becomes twenty; the zero carries the meaning of nineteen now. You go on putting bigger figures in front of it and the zero goes on becoming bigger and bigger and feels very substantial.
That’s what we are doing in life. A man is born like a zero. Then put a bank-balance in front of him — he becomes substantial. Then tell him that “You have become the president of our country” — he becomes very substantial. The zero carries much meaning now: he has money, power, prestige, name, fame — then the zero becomes more and more substantial. That’s why we hanker after name, fame, money, prestige: to put something so we don’t feel empty.
But whatsoever you do is in vain, because empty you are. Emptiness is your nature. You can deceive, but you cannot change the reality.
So, this is my suggestion, that even in your ordinary reality, when you descend from your meditative state, bring that zero — and don’t try to fill it with anything, because that is very violent. That is like an elephant; that’s what Indian scriptures say:
The elephant goes to the river, he takes a good bath, showers himself with water, and then comes out of the river and throws dust upon himself. That’s how Indian scriptures describe the man who goes into meditation, attains to the purity of nothingness, comes back, and throws dust upon himself. That is foolish, that is suicidal. Avoid it. That is a natural tendency but avoid it. Don’t be an elephant.
You ask, “When I return to routine reality, I find I seek a meaning to give life some substance. That meaning is love. Is love something pertaining to the human dimension?”
The love that pertains to the human dimension is not really love; it is just a deep urge to fill oneself with the other’s being, to put somebody else in front of your zero so you become meaningful. We go on finding somehow, with something, to block this experience of nothingness.
No, human love is not really love. It is just a trick to deceive. The real love is something beyond human. And the real love is something which has nothing to do with filling the inner space — just the contrary. It has something to do with SHARING the inner space. You don’t go like a beggar to the other; you go like an emperor. You don’t go to beg; you go to share. And remember these two words.
If you are begging something from somebody, then it is not love. If you are sharing, then it is love. Sharing is in a way beyond human beings, and yet in a way within human capacity. Sharing is the bridge which joins the human to the Divine. That’s why love is the bridge which joins the human to the Divine.
So don’t try to find a friend, a girlfriend, somebody to fill your inner space. No. Find someone to share with. Don’t find a figure — one, two, three — don’t find a figure. Find somebody who is also like a zero. When two zeros meet, there is love. When two emptiness meet, there is love.
And remember when two zeros meet, there are not two zeros — there is only one zero.
Zero plus zero plus zero — you can go on putting as many zeros as you want, but it always comes to one zero. The total is never more than one zero. (0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + ….= 0)
Love is when two persons disappear. Love is when the lover is not, and the beloved is not. Even in great love affairs, there are only a few rare moments when love is.
Let me tell you in this way: I have read many great poems, many great epics, but even in a great epic, even in Shakespeare, in Kalidas. in Tulsidas, in Milton, in Dante, only rarely are there a few lines which are poetic. Sometimes just a fragment of a line is poetic; sometimes only a word, just a nuance is poetic. Even in a great love affair that’s how it is: only a few rare moments are of love. But only when you completely disappear and two are not two and a non-duality exists, and the personalities are no more clashing, personalities have been dropped — then love happens. That love has the quality of timelessness. That love has the quality of prayer. That love is God.
You say, “Is love something pertaining to the human dimension?”
It can pertain to the human dimension — if you work for it, if you create opportunities for it, if you become vulnerable to it. Naturally, it is not available. Ordinarily it is not available. Ordinarily only sex is available, and sex is nothing but a device — an UPAYA – – to forget yourself.
Love is a tremendous remembering, a great awareness, a brilliant flame with no smoke.
But it exists as a seed in you. You can grow it, you can grow into that reality of love. You have the potentiality, but it has to be made actual.
“Is it something we create, or is it ALL THERE IS and HERE for us to discover?”
No, we don’t create it — love cannot be created. It cannot be manufactured; it is not manmade. Love that is manufactured is false love; it is like plastic flowers. Love that is discovered is real love. You are not to manufacture it — you are to drift into it. You have to relax into it.
Yes, right is Buddha when he says: Become like a timber floating down the stream – you will reach to the ocean. I assure you, you will reach to the ocean. The ocean is already there: the river has to discover it; it is not to create it. How can the river create the ocean?
Just think of the ridiculous idea! — a river? How can it create the ocean? If a river creates an ocean, it will be just a small pool of water, it will not be an ocean, it will not be infinite. And if a river creates an ocean, it will become dirty, it will become stale, it will be dead.
The river has to seek and discover. The ocean exists already. The ocean exists before the river ever existed. In fact, the river has come out of the ocean, through the clouds. We reach ultimately to the original source, nowhere else. The river falls into the ocean because the river came out of the ocean. We become gods because we come out of God.
Love has to be discovered — it is already there. And how to discover it? The more you are, the less is the possibility to discover love; the less you are, the more is the possibility to discover it. When the river disappears into the ocean, it discovers the ocean – it becomes the ocean.
Osho: The Discipline of Transcendence, Vol 3 Chapter #6 Chapter title: When Two Zeros Meet Q 3 (excerpts)
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A few days from now, on this Valentine’s Day, let us celebrate the profound beauty of love – not as two separate beings, but as a union where distinctions dissolve. True love is when egos disappear, and all that remains is the infinite oneness of togetherness. May your hearts flow like rivers, seeking and merging with the eternal ocean of love, discovering not just each other, but the divine essence within.
Happy Valentine’s Day 2025!
उसकी बाँहों में मरने का इरादा है,
डूब के एक दरिया में समंदर पाने का इरादा है।………………..राहत इंदौरी
Uski baahon mein marne ka irada hai,
Doob ke ek darya mein samundar paane ka irada hai.” …………..Rahat Indori
In their arms, I plan to dissolve,
To find the ocean by diving into a river.
“Tere Bina Zindagi Se Koi Shikwa Toh Nahin“ from the film Aandhi (1975) Captures the idea of incompleteness yet a deep connection that transcends individuality. Singers Lata Mangeshkar and Kishor Kumar, Lyrics by Gulzar and music by R.D.Burman.
Zero is infinite and infinite is in zero. Isn’t it contradictory? .well it all depends on how we look at it. This can be feeling which is difficult to express in words. The movement you try to explain, it becomes untrue.
Pranams..🙏
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पुर्णमुदच्यते
पूर्णश्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते॥
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः॥
Your profound exploration of love, zero, and the essence of existence is truly enlightening. The way you weave philosophy, spirituality, and human experience into a tapestry of wisdom is remarkable. Your words remind us that love is not about filling emptiness but sharing it, and that true connection lies in the dissolution of ego. This Valentine’s Day, your message serves as a timeless reminder to seek the divine within and embrace the infinite oneness of love. Thank you for sharing such a beautiful perspective with the world.