Interesting Osho Quote on Enlightenment
Summary: Continuing with the series on how various teachings and masters of meditation view enlightenment, this article looks at how Mystic Master Osho (Rajneesh) brilliantly defines what enlightenment is. You will find the first entry of this series here, Zen Definition of Enlightenment.
Osho Quote on Spiritual Enlightenment
What is Enlightenment?
There are many different definitions of Enlightenment. Such as, seeing the oneness of everything, seeing yourself and God as one, seeing the false nature of a separate self, encountering your blissful nature, spontaneous action, etc, etc. These definitions are all good, but there is one that I think is more helpful than these. It is a particular way that the great mystic master Osho (Rajneesh) describes it and below I would like to discuss this perspective with you.
The problem with trying to define enlightenment, is that enlightenment is not a fixed point. There have been countless enlightenment experiences in the history of man, and hopefully, there will be countless more, and the one thing that will stand out is the great variety of these experiences. In my own experience, enlightenment episodes, awakenings and states have had enormous variety, and if you are interested you can read about a few of these that I have shared with you here, Anmol’s Journal - Enlightenment Experiences. There is, of course, also the question of whether enlightenment should even be defined in the context of an experience?
Given the above, here is Osho’s perspective on enlightenment, which I think is a rather nice way to look at it. He says, "Enlightenment is the reward for watching yourself in action". That’s it. This definition is quite ingenious and from it the following can be understood regarding enlightenment.
Enlightenment is a reward. Nothing more needs to be said about what it is. Rewards are generally good to get and the same holds true here. Always nice to be rewarded with enlightened :-). Further a reward is given to you, you cannot acquire it. This is very important to understand. Chasing enlightenment is futile. You can chase it all you like, but you cannot summon it. It is beyond your volition and will. It simply comes to you, when it comes to you. That being said, this definition does assign you with a great task.
"Enlightenment is the reward for watching yourself in action". That is what you must do. You need to watch yourself like a hawk. This watching can be understood as observing all three dimensions of yourself in action. The physical, emotional and mental dimensions. You job is to watch these 3 dimensions of yourself as you go through life. That’s it. That is your job. Be aware of whatsoever you are doing, feeling and thinking as best you can. If you can do this, life will be pleased and the reward of enlightenment may be presented to you. It’s simple, yet it’s hard.
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on January 9th, 2008 at 6:28 am
Hi Anmol,
You might be interested in Dave Oshana’s teaching on Enlightenment, some similarities and some distinctions.
More importantly Oshana empowers others to get enlightened. It is a definite point imho.
Cool preview panel you have. What software drives your blog?
Shesh
on January 9th, 2008 at 6:32 am
Oh and some links are:
Spiritual Enlightenment Blog
Enlightenment-Now.Com
on January 9th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Will certainly check it out, thanks for the info. This blog is driven by Wordpress.
Cheers,
Anmol
on January 10th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Thanks. A simple, do-able diections to receive enlightenment.As you have said earlier live “consciously” should be our Mantra. I enjoy every bit you write and wait for the next jem to show up..
on August 11th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Hi Anmol,
Me and my wife have been discovering the philosophy of Eckhard Tolle, who teaches how to bring awareness into our daily routines by being present and aware through all our senses. Just last night we were watching his webcast series on Oprah.com and I found your post this morning about the same topic. Quite a coincidence. What do you think of Tolle’s techniques/ philosophy?
on August 11th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
We are lucky to have Master Tolle in our midst. Although I have not read The Power of Now or A New Earth, I am aware of his teachings via discussions with friends and some other sources.
Great to hear you are integrating his teachings of mindful living in the moment into your lives. Stick with it.
Best,
Anmol
on August 27th, 2008 at 3:07 am
ET is great isn’t he? For the nuts and bolts of how it all fits to physical reality through Quantum science, watch this short film
http://video.google.com/videop.....revolution
on August 27th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Thanks for sharing, will check out the video for sure, certainly an intriguing topic which has interested me for a long time as well.
Will share my thoughts on it as well.
Cheers,
Anmol
on April 28th, 2009 at 10:11 am
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on October 26th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
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on November 19th, 2009 at 11:42 am
ENDLESS THANKS AND LOVE FOR YOUR GIVING…YOUR COMPASSION IS BLOSSOMING IN MANY, GOD BLESS.
on January 14th, 2010 at 8:56 pm
Hello, Anmol Mehta. You quote Osho here as supposedly saying, ” “Enlightenment is the reward for watching yourself in action”. I’ve been an Osho sannyasin for 30 years. I’ve never come across that quote. After seeing it here, I searched my Osho database. I can’t find anything even similar to this. I’ve done a Google search. There are a few repeats of the quote, but no source whatsoever. Can you please tell me where you got this quote? I personally doubt that Osho said it. I don’t think that he would ever equate enlightenment with a reward, not even in this context. But of course, I could be wrong. Can you give me a source for this quote? Thanks.
on January 15th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
Yes this is an Osho quote. It is either from the book “Courage” or “Awareness”. I will check on it for you when I get a chance.
All Good Wishes,
Anmol