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Some
Remarks About Effort
By
OSHO
Some
people think that effort cannot bring them closer to
enlightenment. Here's a quote on this topic from Osho's
book In Search of the Miraculous. The title "Some
Remarks About Effort" has been added here; it doesn't
appear in the book.
THOSE WHO HAVE attained God have invariably said, "Who
are we and what value do our efforts have? We are just
nobodies and our worth is not even equal to a particle
of dust; yet we attained him. And if we meditated a
while, how valuable was that compared to this priceless
treasure we attained? There is no comparison between
our efforts and our gain." So those who have attained
enlightenment have maintained that it was not the result
of their effort. "It was his grace, it was his
wish to bless us; otherwise, could we ever have found
him?" they always ask.
This is
the statement of a person without ego who realizes the
magnificence and magnitude of his attainment. However,
if this becomes the way of thinking of those who have
not yet attained God, it will be very dangerous. When
it comes from those who have attained him, this statement
is fitting and distinguished by its refinement of feeling...
What they
say is correct but... there is an inherent difficulty...
because they are the statements of those who know and
are being read by those who do not. They take it according
to their understanding and say, "Okay. If God meets
only him whom he wishes to meet, according to his own
liking, why should we bother? Why should we do anything?"
Then the declaration of the person without ego excuses
our lethargy.
There is
a vast difference between the two -- like between the
sky and the earth. The humble and unegotistical statements
of enlightened people justify our dullness and laziness.
Then we say, "Well, God meets only whom he wants
to meet and he does not meet those he does not want
to..."
This is
what the scriptures have done to the whole world. Scriptures
are the words of those who are enlightened. However,
those who know do not read the scriptures while those
who do not know do read them, and the difference in
understanding is poles apart. The meaning we give to
their words is our own and not the actual meaning.
From
In
Search of the Miraculous, pages 42-43
Copyright
1996 Osho International Foundation
Osho
International Foundation
Osho was
a college professor who became a guru and attracted an
enormous following. He taught in India and the United
States in the twentieth century.
Related
Reading
The
main page for Osho on this website is here.
This
page was published on January 12, 2000 and last revised
on May 13, 2000.
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