Alan Watts and Osho were some of the giants of our spiritual community. To this day I read their stories and listen to their talks and have to admit that they articulate the spiritual truths so much better than I ever could. Yet, both of them struggled towards the end of their lives. Osho with his utopian dream to build a spiritual community in Oregon; Alan Wats with his indulgence of alcohol. Both were 58 when they died. I remember this well because I have just turned 58.
A friend always says, “focus on the messenger, not the man”, and there is some truth to that. Yet I am also a believer in “look at what they do, not what they say!” For me the lesson is that we are “no-mind” and love. The spiritual intellect may help us discriminate the unreal from the real for a bit, but eventually it is bound to leave us dry and restless. The spiritual quest leads to holiness just as much as wholeness. Connect with the heart and leave the mind be.
“What thought creates is not sacred.”, J. Krishnamurti states. Well, he taught into his late eighties and kept the “no-mind” mantra alive although his life. The problem is that we idealize the mind and its clever theories, when all we have to do is to follow the wisdom of the heart and the beauty of the here and now. I certainly have changed. I no longer actively pursue my writings, I let the spiritual insights come to me instead. And if they don’t come one one day or the other, I just let it be.
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