How to find my Beloved?

You go on looking for the woman outside, for men outside. 
But nobody has ever found any woman outside, 
Or any man outside, to fulfill the desire, 
The longing to become one complete whole. 

But the basic understanding is right, 
That somehow man and woman have to merge their energies into one. 
Just one thing is missing: 
That miracle can happen only within you, 
It is not something outside. 
It is something that as you become silent and peaceful and joyous, 
As you enter deeper into meditative states, 
As your intelligence becomes more sharp, 
You will see: 
The other that you have been searching for is within. 

And there is no problem with the inner woman, 
With the inner man. 
Once you recognize them, 
They start melting into each other 
Without any effort on your part. 
Just your recognition is enough 
To trigger the process of the merger. 

By Osho

Discover Love in Everything

 

A few days a couple of writers distributed this chart in slightly different forms in the Spiritual Networks community. One claimed it was taken from the Judeo-Christian framework while the other claimed it was Taoism. Unfortunately we spiritual travelers often only see a hierarchy in this concept. We look down on the desires of the body; we at best tolerate the longings of the soul; and we run after that illusive Self that somehow has to be realized. We believe that we can will ourselves to God but mostly discover that life doesn't quite work that way.

The way of the Tao is to experience the yin and yang of life without getting lost in it. Every moment is an opportunity to see and experience what truly is and not what appears to be. Our body was given to us to experience the divine Matrix and to discover our Self. Life is tailored perfectly so that we can express the longings of our soul. Emotions come and go; some point the Way while others are distracting.Thoughts sometimes pollute us, and sometimes bring beautiful insights. The longings of the body are sometimes in the Way and sometimes are the Way.

Our will can be used to cut out interferences. Actually, when you experience the Way you don't have to will a thing, everything is magically connected and taken care of. Along the Way we have a natural interplay of body, soul and Self. There are times when we see the Christ in our interactions; there are times when we see the divine Mother and there are also times when we merge with our divine Lover. Body, soul and Self can be in holy communion every step of the Way and this communion can certainly include sex. Writes Osho, "Tantra loves, and loves unconditionally. It never says no to anything whatsoever, because everything is part of the whole. And everything has its own place in the whole and the whole cannot exist with anything missing from it." 

Discover love in everything - realize your Self with your body and soul!

The Time When a Man Was Still a Man

Your whole idea about yourself is borrowed - borrowed from those who have no idea who they are themselves. 

(Osho)

As I was flipping channels the other night I came across a couple of scenes out of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly". Clint Eastwood at his best - the time of the Wild West was the time when a man was still a man, or was it?

Male energy is different from female energy even though from an individual perspective, yin and yang energies can be all over the place. You can have "feminine" men just as "masculine" females. And yes, there probably always will be a few Clint Eastwood's around. For every individual it is hard to tell what exactly is nature and what is nurturing, but that's what a spiritual path is all about. You find out who exactly you are after all the false expectations have been washed away after years of traveling the Path.

 

No doubt, each gender and each individual has to cope with big expectations from parents, friends and society. Michael S. Kimmel in "The Gender of Desire" quotes the four phases of society's imprint of what it means to be a boy and a man from Robert Brannon and Deborah David:

1. "No Sissy Stuff!" One may never do anything that even remotely suggests femininity. Masculinity is the relentless repudiation of the feminine. 

2. "Be a Big Wheel." Masculinity is measured by power, success, wealth, and status. As the current saying goes, "He who has the most toys when he dies wins." 

3. "Be a Sturdy Oak." Masculinity depends on remaining calm and reliable able in a crisis, holding emotions in check. In fact, proving you're a man depends on never showing your emotions at all. Boys don't cry. 

4. "Give `Em Hell." Exude an aura of manly daring and aggression. Go for it. Take risks.

We all have to cope with the problem that we are running around with artificial personas. But the going gets easier with every decade and century that passes. We are opening up to our differences, we accept homo-sexuality, we recognize the validities of having different cultures; we allow competing schooling philosophies and we have limitless career paths at our disposal to express whatever energy we wish. We have spiritual communities that allow everyone to express their respective idiosyncratic style.

The idea that along a spiritual path male and female energies have to converge for everyone into a wholesome balance may be as unrealistic as the expectation that every guy has to be another Clint Eastwood. We all can be our unique type that becomes totally free of all superimposed expectations. Clear your mind of everything and just be as God created you. When you are true to yourself everyone will be amazed and no one will be disappointed. That is the Way!

Let the Tao Answer Your Prayer

Osho has a very interesting observation about how people pray to God.  He said when people pray, they often try to change God's Mind about what they should get. God should fix the problems they have. Isn't that how we all are? We have opinions about life and think that things should be otherwise.

God is outside of us as long as we run after our illusions, just as a magical world is opening up to us when we start recognizing God's loving messengers. But there is even something magnificent about the troubles that we have created for ourselves. These challenges are subconsciously designed to bring as back into God's arms. There is only one requirement, let go of your expectations and deal with, even honor everything that comes your way; independent of whether you think it is a blessing or a nuisance.

Why don’t we switch our mindset instead?  Instead of seeking our notion of happiness, success, and stability, we take life as it is.  Let’s face and accept the fact that life is never an centrally controlled air conditioner; life is wild and mostly out of our control no matter how hard we try. This is actually the fun part.  Let’s welcome life as it is and drop the idea of changing or controlling it.  Let’s go downhill skiing while it snows and let's go surfing or boating in the summer; enjoy the flowers blooming in the spring and float with the drifting beautiful leaves in the autumn wind.  Let’s tune into the rhythm of life and be in peace with it!  When you do that, observe for yourself how your expectations and opinions are swallowed by the Now.

God is always there for you and every single prayer of yours is answered. Yet there is one requirement to receive Her messages, let go of the manufactured world that you created for yourself. If you truly want to meet God we have good news for you. Let life - the Tao - bring you to Her. Embrace life and get lost in it. Without your grandiose expectations you will start seeing glimmers of love that you have never noticed before. A small opening to this divine parallel universe is all that is needed. Soon you will be bathing in a blazing light that shines away the small and stale world of yours. Life wants to give you so much more. Go out, face the music and dance to your heart's desire. The secrets and the mystery of the Tao are waiting for you. Take the first step and you will have a lot of fun.

By Christian and Su Zhen