Gaudapada says: - the merciful Veda teaches karma and upaasana to people of lower and middling intellect, while jnana is taught to those of higher intellect.

Gaudapada says: - the merciful Veda teaches karma and upaasana to people of lower and middling intellect, while jnana is taught to those of higher intellect.

So they clearly indicate rituals and theories are not meant for those who are searching for the higher knowledge or wisdom. The path of wisdom is the only means.

All the orthodox Advaitins indulge and immersed themselves in ritualistic oriented life style and follow the path of karma and upasana which is meant for lower and middling intellect and not for realizing the Advaitic truth. Many chose these orthodox scholars as their gurus. But these gurus are good to learn the conceptual Adavaita meant for those orthodox who believe their conduct oriented life style leads to Moksha [liberation]. But religious based Adavaita is not the means to acquire self –knowledge or nondual wisdom. Those who are seeking truth have to do their own homework in order to acquire self-knowledge.

Doubts and Confusions arise when seeker finds the scripters and yoga are inadequate or useless to quench his spiritual thirst. Disappointments in religion or yoga or even science imply error or ignorance.

When serious seeker reaches a stage with all his baggage of accumulate knowledge, then uncertainty haunts him. Whether he is right?" Where is the certainty that he is proceeding on right lines?" Thus doubts arise and the inquiring spirit comes and impels to search elsewhere for truth where it will not be possible even to have doubt. The test is therefore in experience. And only in non-duality, where there are no two to argue about views or to have difference of opinion can such doubtlessness be possible. Belief depends upon unstable bases whereas certainty depends on proof.

The Seeker of truth has to get rid of his doubts through deeper inquiry, analysis and reasoning on his own, to realize the fact that, the self is not the form but self is formless. Thus his analysis and reasoning has to be based on the formless not on the form. By simply go on believing and accepting whatever said by the punditry will not lead one towards path of wisdom. All the doubt has to be got rid of "by the sword of Self - Knowledge." The scriptures, yoga are not necessary if one follows the inner (formless)path. Religion and yoga are not the means to path of wisdom.

Consciousness the innermost Self is hidden and pervades in everything and everywhere in the three states as their formless substance and witness

Consciousness the innermost Self is hidden and pervades in everything and everywhere in the three states as their formless substance and witness; but it is seen by Gnanis through their one—pointed and subtle intellects.

The serious seeker should merge his speech in his mind and his mind in his intellect by understanding the fact that all his experiences are created out of Atman or consciousness.

Seeker has to arise! Awake and learn to know the fact that the experience of duality [waking/dream] is created out of consciousness, without understanding this fact that, there is no unity in diversity. The path of truth is like the sharp edge of a razor, so it is hard to tread and difficult to cross without perfect understanding.

Having realized consciousness is self , which is soundless, intangible, formless, undecaying and likewise tasteless, eternal and odourless; having realized That which is without beginning and end, beyond the Great and unchanging—one is freed from experiencing the duality as reality.

It is through Atman that one perceives all objects in sleep or in the waking state. Having realized the vast, all—pervading Atman, one enters into non dual tranquility.

He who knows the soul as true self, the formless witness of the three states, , free from experiencing the past ,present and the future as reality.

Atman is undistorted Consciousness. He who meditates on Atman is free from experiencing the pain and pleasure as reality, liberated from the bonds of ignorance; he becomes free from experiencing the diversity as reality.

The soul, when identifies with the body and dwelling in it by experiencing the duality as reality. If it is torn away from the body and its experience, is freed from it, what then remains? Whatever prevails is non-dual Atman or consciousness.

The Atman or consciousness , which remains awake while the sense—organs are asleep, shaping one lovely form after another that indeed is the Pure, that is consciousness and that alone is called the Immortal. All three states are contained in consciousness and none can pass beyond.

Awareness is not an individual experience but it is the nature of the soul or consciousness, the innermost self

Investigation of the Self and Investigations of the 3 states of existence - waking, sleeping, deep sleep,  the self has a single unitary existence; its inherent nature is "Existence, Consciousness and Bliss". Universe and its contents are truly this at its core, but have seemingly forgotten about their true nature, in the present state of duality, which is caused by ignorance of the reality.

Awareness  is not an individual experience but it is the nature of the soul or  consciousness,  the innermost self. Consciousness pervades all the three states thus the self is not limited to the waking entity or waking world or dream entity or dream world. Consciousness is the formless witness of all the three states and witnesses the waking or dream experience as a whole without the physical apparatus.

This uninterrupted Blissful state is achievable by every being in this life itself, once he/she realizes this and works towards discarding the "unreal” by discriminating between real and unreal mentally.

Consciousness, which is the “true self”, does not have birth, life and death. It has not taken birth and it will not take birth. It is beyond birth, life and death, it is immortal, and it is ancient, it does not perish when the mind, which is in the form of universe, perishes. The universe or mind is like the wave of the see but not the sea, which is the “true self” or consciousness.

Consciousness cannot be cut, cannot be burnt, cannot be melted; neither can be dried. It is eternal, unmoveable, unlike the universe or mind which perishes. It is the cause of duality. It is the consciousness or self, which oversees the duality or the universe or the mind.

The consciousness projects itself as the inherent power of the universe. The self-i.e., Consciousness is the essence of all happenings and circumstances in, which the seeker attempts to know the truth of his true existence.

All experiences of individual actions, conducts happenings are within the universe are mere mirage created out of the true self, which is consciousness. All the conceivable actions and happenings are attributable to the true self in the form consciousness.

Consciousness is real and consciousness is both real and unreal because the unreal universe or mind is erupted out of the real, which is consciousness. Whoever does not know the truth that the self is consciousness, falls prey to his ignorance and suffers by experiencing the illusory pain and pleasure as reality.

All the experiences of happenings such as birth, life and death, good or bad pain and pleasure, past ,present and future are mere mirage created out of consciousness itself . When wisdom dawns, the ignorance vanishes and the consciousness alone prevails as eternal reality.

Self-Knowledge is achievable without the grace of any guru or conceptual god or the mercy of some god men. Seeker has to simply wake up to the Reality [consciousness], which is the formless substance and witness of the unreality [universe of mind].

At the end of the quest the seeker becomes aware of the fact that, the true self is consciousness. There is nothing exists other than consciousness. Thus consciousness is Ultimate Reality.

Consciousness is being identified by another name "Nothingness", because truly if there was Nothingness in the end, there must be one "final witness" to that Nothingness.

The revolution starts within and ends within.

A Gnani do not consider himself as wise and others are less wise. No one is wise or less wise in in pursuit of truth. The inner revolution starts within and ends within.

Gnani is neither a scriptural scholar nor he is a philosopher. Gnani neither a teacher nor he has any teaching. He silently works and helps the fellow seekers inspiring them guiding them towards inner reality in his own way. The scholar will remain as scholars and philosophers will remain as philosophers and intellectual remains as intellectuals arguing on their point of view. I am not propagating any philosophy because philosophy is nothing to do with pursuit of truth.

I respect all the sages of truth of the past. Sharing the knowledge is my only mission. Inspiring the serious and sincere seekers of truth and divert their attention towards the inward reality is very much necessary. And I humbly request all my fellow seekers do not hold any teacher or teaching or wise men as a yardstick and indulge in argument instead try to list out the doubts and confusion arises from that teaching or declaration and try to find answer independently on their own, which opens the inner dialogue, and the inner discrimination will start on its own in subconscious, and then the truth will start revealing on its own without intellectual spoon feeding. It is not my advice but it is my humble suggestion because the advice comes from the ego and suggestion comes from the inner core of the existence.

There is no need to follow anyone. If one wants Brahman follow the inner guru not Hinduism. If one wants ultimate truth follow Christ within not Christianity. If one wants Nirvana follow Buddha not Buddhism. By glorifying the form and name of the sages will not yield truth. Deeper self-search is needed in order to realize what is what. It is not the man who has to get self-realization but it is the self that has to realize it is not the man and the world but it is consciousness. Thus it is the self, which has urge for freedom from this illusory prison called universe or mind.

The universe will not vanish, when wisdom dawns, only the ignorance disappears and unreal nature of the universe or mind or waking is exposed, same way as the unreal nature of the dream exposed when waking takes place. The wisdom dawns in the midst of duality because in reality there is no duality.

Nothing is needed other than perfect understanding of what is what is needed. The truth cannot be experienced. Because it is prior to any experience. Experience belongs to individuality. And individuality is falsehood. There is neither individual nor his experience in reality.

Man and his experience of the world cannot exist without waking experience. Whatever we are discussing, we are discussing within the waking experience, which is mere illusion from ultimate standpoint. Thus whatever is known, seen, believed and experienced as a person is bound to be falsehood.

The path of religion, path of yoga and path of wisdom are meant for different classes of people. Mixing up with one another is like mixing oil in water.

Most of the saints and sages of the past are mostly social reformers not Gnanais,

Most of the saints and sages of the past are mostly social reformers not Gnanais, Thus they are more concerned to the humanism rather than the truth. Their contribution is very valuable to live in the practical world. Thus humanism is part and parcel of the universe, which is mere illusion.

People think love is the means to self-realization but they are unaware of the fact that, love and hate are made of the same stuff. Love is not the means of self –realization. Love is very much necessary in practical life within the practical world. Love implies duality. Whatever is of duality is falsehood. Thus love is reality within the falsehood. Lover and love ceases to exist in reality because the experience of duality is not reality. The experience of practical life within practical world is reality within the waking experience but waking experience itself is mere illusion created out of consciousness. Thus lover and love are one in essence. Thus path of love is religious path because religion is path of individuality or duality.

The humanism is limited to practical life within the practical world. The path of love is path for humanity therefore, it is individualized path. Thus path of love is limited to the physical structure, it cannot transport one to ultimate end. Thus seeker has to understand the fact that the practical life and practical world are part of the mirage from the ultimate standpoint.

The simple reason is that the average person may have desire for knowledge but when the whole society is immersed in belief system and feeling himself out of place because of societal fear and surroundings circumstances and he thinks it unfits him to pursue the path of truth.

The seeker of truth is one who is ready verify and has courage to accept and reject the truth when he finds out what is truth and what is untruth. The meek will stick to their inherited conditioning remain experiencing duality as reality.

When a yogi realizes that yoga is not the means to acquire self-knowledge than takes up deeper self-search by dropping all the yogic discipline. Yoga is inadequate and useless in quenching his inner thirst. By indulging in deeper self –search he realizes the self is formless consciousness and the three states are mere mirage created out of consciousness. Therefore he attains Gnana.

The ignorance is the cause of experiencing all sorrow and calamities as reality. Thus eradicating the ignorance completely is necessary. And this is possible only through self-knowledge or Gnana. Thus, there is no other road to freedom other than Gnana. There is no other entrance other than except Gnana. The ignorance will vanish only when the nondual wisdom dawns.

That is why Sri Sankara, indicated in Bhaja Govindam says: - [Jnana Viheena Sarva Mathena Bajathi na Muktim janma Shatena] - one without knowledge does not obtain liberation even in a hundred births, no matter which religious faith he follows.

Then it is no use going roundabout way, trace the Brahman which is the formless substance and witness of the universe, which is in the form of mind. By tracing the source of the mind or universe one will be able to realize the Brahman.

Thus, self-knowledge is meant only for those who have intense urge, and courage to accept the truth with humility and reject the untruth. Since people start comparing with their scriptural knowledge, it becomes impossible to assimilate and realize the non-dual truth. Therefore, there is no need to convince anyone other than our own-selves to get the firm conviction.

So they clearly indicate rituals and theories are not meant for those who are searching for the higher knowledge or wisdom. The path of wisdom is the only means.

All the orthodox Advaitins indulge and immersed themselves in ritualistic oriented life style and follow the path of karma and upasana which is meant for lower and middling intellect and not for realizing the Advaitic truth. Many chose these orthodox scholars as their gurus. But these gurus are good to learn the conceptual Adavaita meant for those orthodox who believe their conduct oriented life style leads to Moksha [liberation]. But religious based Adavaita is not the means to acquire self –knowledge or nondual wisdom. Those who are seeking truth have to do their own homework in order to acquire self-knowledge.

Holding the Love and compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony as the means to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana is erroneous, because the individuality has no place in in the realm of truth.

Spirituality is nothing to do with the religion. Thus Religion is concerned with belief in the claims to salvation of one faith tradition or another--an aspect of which is acceptance of some form of meta-physical or philosophical reality, including perhaps an idea of heaven or hell. Connected with this are religious teachings or dogma, ritual, prayers and so on.

Religion is also concerned with the human attributes such as love and compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony, which bring harmony within the society. Thus religion is good only for physical living (illusion) and it is a great obstacle in pursuit of truth. 

Love and compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony are part of the diversity. Without the sense of duality the Love and compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony ceases to exist. Holding the Love and compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony as the means to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana  is erroneous, because the individuality has no place in in the realm  of truth.  It is only to discover what becomes dual (waking or dream) and what becomes non-dual (deep sleep) experiences.  Religion is greatest obstacle to get unity in diversity, because it is based on the individual self or  ego.  

The formless  soul  is the ocean; we all think we are individual waves in the ocean.  When we become aware of our true identity is Ocean (soul), the waves (ego) disappear and remains as Ocean. 

When we become aware of the all our human attributes such as love and compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony part of the wave, and is mere illusion on the standpoint of the Ocean ( soul). Thus we all are heading towards the ocean (soul) inspiring and encouraging each wave (individual) to realize it is not the wave but the Ocean (soul) thus let us hold each others hand move a head in this pursuit of truth  until we become one with the ocean (soul) which is non-dual.

The orthodox non-dualistic scholars have not reached anywhere, because they also hold the ‘I’ itself as the witness or self , therefore they will never reach the ultimate end.

The orthodox scholars have not reached anywhere, because they also  hold the ‘I’ itself as the  witness or self , therefore  they will never reach the ultimate end. 

Scholastic knowledge is not wisdom. Most of them write big volumes of books and indulge self-glorification.   It is a waste of time and effort to indulge discussion with people who are conduct oriented and based on karma theory. It is meant for those who are not seeking truth but for those who are born in orthodox cult.   There is no need to condemn them because they are conditioned to accept whatever they inherited from one generation as ultimate truth. 

This non-dualistic scholars or pundits like the  dualists Sages could not distinguish between ‘I’ and ‘formless witness.’ The 'I' was the witness. Their highest was the Jiva. One is so much attached to the 'I' that he does not want to think that 'I' does not exist. Again one is unable to detach the ‘I’ from the Real witness.

Scholastic arguments and their orthodox attitude is out-dated and not fit for the modern mind-sets who are capable of thinking using their own reason.  It is no use of arguing with people who live in self-imposed orthodox prison and who impose their false inherited baggage to the next generation.   It is high time for the orthodox cult to wake up and indulge is self-search their belief to realize the non-dualistic truth expounded by the great sage scientists, Sri, Sankara and Goudpada.

A Gnani never considers himself as a Gnani. A Gnani do not consider himself as wise and others are less wise. No one is wise or less wise in in pursuit of truth. The inner revolution starts within and ends within. A Gnani is neither a scriptural scholar nor he is a philosopher.  

A Gnani neither a teacher nor he has any teaching.  He silently works and helps the fellow seekers inspiring them guiding them towards inner reality in his own way. The scholar will remain as scholars and philosophers will remain as philosophers and intellectual remains as intellectuals arguing on their point of view. A Gnani does not propagating any philosophy because philosophy is nothing to do with the pursuit of truth.  

A Gnani respects all the sages of the truth of the past. Sharing the knowledge is his only mission.  Inspiring the serious and sincere seekers of truth and divert their attention towards the inward reality is very much necessary.  Seekers should not hold any teacher or teaching or wise men as a yardstick and indulge in argument instead try to list out the doubts and confusion arises from that teaching or declaration and try to find the answer independently on their own, which opens the inner dialog, and the inner discrimination will start on its own in  The subconscious, and then the truth will start revealing on its own without intellectual spoon feeding. It is not my advice but it is my humble suggestion because the advice comes from the ego and suggestion comes from the inner core of the existence

The existence beyond limitations of form, time and space is known as Moksha or Nirvana.

There is nothing more rational, more intelligible and more un-dogmatic insights of Sri, Sankara, is to drop all the theistic non-duality or Advaita which is meant for those who are incapable and not receptive to realize the ultimate truth or Brahman.

If one merely theories  tries to understand through his intellect and there contended he cannot become a Gnani but he becomes a scholar or pundit. The  seeker of truth must reflect constantly  on the nature of the mind to get firm conviction of the non- dualistic truth or ultimate truth or Brahman,   than only it is possible for him to transcend all the limitations of the experience of form, time and space.    

The existence beyond limitations of form, time and space is known as Moksha or Nirvana. Spiritual freedom or self-realization is the goal of every seeker of truth.  

Sage Sri, Sankara says in VC 63-  - Without causing the objective universe to vanish and without knowing the truth of the Self, how is one to achieve Liberation by the mere utterance of the word Brahman? — It would result merely in an effort of speech.

Pundits do not even bother to go deeper in self-search what really Sri, Sankara declared because there can be no correct exposition in the Upanishads unless the guru has had realized of the truth. Otherwise it is merely adding words to words. 

That is why Sage  Sri, Sankara says :-

VC- 58. Loud speech consisting of a shower of words, the skill in expounding the Scriptures, and likewise erudition - these merely bring on a little personal enjoyment to the scholar, but are no good for Liberation.

59. The study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.

60. The Scriptures consisting of many words are a dense forest which merely causes the mind to ramble. Hence men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing the true nature of the Self.

61. For one who has been bitten by the serpent of Ignorance, the only remedy is the knowledge of Brahman. Of what avail are the Vedas and (other) Scriptures, Mantras (sacred formulae) and medicines to such a one?

62. A disease does not leave off if one simply utter the name of the medicine, without taking it; (similarly) without direct realisation one cannot be liberated by the mere utterance of the word Brahman.

Thus what is the use of holding the scriptures as proof or pramaana or source of knowledge? When Sri, Sankara instructed clear cut message it is foolish to hold scriptures as authenticated authority.

Thus Sankara clearly suggests direct realization of truth is not possible through punditry or orthodoxy.  Why to follow the traditional path, which does not yield any fruit.  Therefore, Seeker of truth has to take the direct path and avoid losing precious time and effort loosing himself in philosophical studies and traditional path. --FORMLESS PATH 

Gautam Buddha Enlightenment*****

Gautam Buddha Enlightenment

Osho : I would like to tell you... Buddha tried for six years continuously to know what the divine is, and it cannot be said that he left anything undone. He did everything that is humanly possible, even some things which seem humanly impossible. He did everything. Whatever was known up to his day he practiced. Whatever methods were taught to him, he became a master of them.

He went to all the gurus that existed in his time, to everyone. And whatever they could teach, he learned, he practiced. And then he said, "Anything more, Sir?" And the guru said, "Now you can go, because all that I could give you I have given, and I cannot say, as I say in other cases, that you have not practiced. You have practiced. This is all that I can give." Buddha said, "I have not known the divine yet."

With each guru this happened. Then he left all the gurus. Then he invented his own methods. Continuously, for six years, he was in a struggle of life and death. He did everything that could be done. Then, at last, he was so tired of doing, so deadly tired, that one day when he was taking his evening bath in the Niranjana River near Bodhgaya, he felt so weak and so tired that he could not come out of the river. He just clung to a root of a tree and a thought came to his mind, "I have become so weak, I cannot even cross this small river. How will I be alive to cross the whole ocean of the world? I have done everything, and I have not found the divine. I have only tired my body."

He felt that he was on the verge of death. At that very moment he felt that he had done everything, and now there was nothing to do. He relaxed, and new energy came upon him because of his relaxation. All that was suppressed through those six years flowered. He came out of the river, he felt just like a feather, a bird's feather -- weightless. He relaxed under a Bodhi tree.

It was a bright fullmoon night. Someone came -- a girl, a shudra girl named Sujata. The name shows that the girl must have been a shudra because to have the name Sujata means she has not come from a higher caste. Sujata means wellborn. She had promised the Bodhi tree to pay it some homage daily, so she has come with some sweets.

Buddha is there -- tired, pale, bloodless, but relaxed, absolutely unburdened -- and it is a fullmoon night with nobody around. The girl, Sujata, felt that the deity of the tree had come to receive her homage. Had it been another day, Buddha could have refused. He would not rest in the night, he would not eat any food. But today he was totally relaxed. He took the food, and he slept. This was the first night after six years that he really slept.

He was relaxed with nothing to do. Then there was no worry. There was no tomorrow even, because tomorrow exists only because one has to do something. If one has not to do anything, then there is no tomorrow. Then the moment is enough.

Buddha slept, and in the morning, at five o'clock, when the last star was withering away, he was out of the sleep. He saw the last star disappearing, with no mind, because when you have nothing to do there is no mind. The mind is just a faculty for doing something, a technical faculty. No mind, nothing to do, no effort on his part, indifferent to whether he was alive or dead, he just opened his eyes, and he began to dance. He had come to that knowing to which he could not come through so many efforts.

Whenever someone would ask him how he achieved, he would say, "The more I tried to achieve, the more I was at a loss. I could not achieve. So how can I say I have achieved? The more I tried, the more I was involved. I could not achieve. The mind was trying to transcend itself, which was impossible. It is just like trying to be a father to yourself, just trying to give birth to yourself."

So Buddha would say, "I cannot say I achieved. I can only say I tried so much that I was annihilated. I tried so much that any effort became absurd. And the moment came when I was not trying, when the mind was not, when I was not thinking. Then there was no future because there was no past. Both were always together. Past is behind, future is in front; they are always conjoined. If one drops, the other drops simultaneously. Then there was no future, no past, no mind. I was mindless, I was I-less. Then something happened, and I cannot say that this something happened in that moment. I can only say that this was always happening, only I was not aware. It was always happening, only I was closed. So I cannot say I have achieved something."

Buddha said, "I can only say I have lost something -- the ego, the mind -- I have not achieved anything at all. Now I know that all that I have was always there. It was in every layer, it was in every stone, in every flower, but now I recognize it was always so. Only I was blind. So I have lost my blindness; I have not achieved anything, I have lost something."

If you begin with the divine, then you begin to achieve. If you begin with yourself, then you begin to lose. Things will begin to disappear, and ultimately you will disappear. And when you are not, the divine is -- with all its grace, with all its love, with all its compassion, but only when you are not. Your nonexistence is the categorical condition. For no one can it be relaxed. It is categorical, it is the absolute. You are the barrier. Fall down, and then you know. And only when you know, you know. You cannot understand it, I cannot explain it to you. I cannot make you understand it. So whatever I am saying, I am not saying anything metaphysical. I am only trying to show you that you must begin with yourself.

If you begin with yourself, you will end with the divine, because that is your other part, the other pole. But begin from this bank. Do not begin from the other, where you are not. You cannot begin from there. Begin from where you are, and the more you will go deep, the less you will be.

The more you will know yourself, the less a self you will be. And once you have come to total understanding about yourself, you will be annihilated, you will go into nonexistence, you will be totally negative -- not. And in that not, in that total negation, you will know the grace which is always falling, which is always raining down from eternity. You will know the love which is always around you. It has always been, but you have not paid any attention to it. Be annihilated, and you will be aware of it.

A spiritually incorrect mystic*****

A spiritually incorrect mystic

By Khushwant Singh

The Tribune

I am currently reading the autobiography of the late Acharya Rajneesh, known to his disciples as Osho. It is entitled Autobiography of a Spiritually Incorrect Mystic. I try to read everything I can spoken by him on tape or taken down by his followers and printed in the weekly Osho Times and the innumerable books containing his sermons. I do so because I regard him as a propounder of new ideas on existence, its purpose and whatever, if anything, remains of us after death. He was an iconoclast who held nothing sacred, questioned the veracity of religious dogma and cleared cobwebs of confused thinking from people's minds. He was much the most erudite of world's religious philosophers. He was witty, humorous and often ended his sermons with a dirty joke with four letter words. He was a rare phenomenon.

Rajneesh was lucky to have broad-minded parents. Although they were Jains and his father did his best to conform to society's norms, his mother rejected all customs and encouraged her son to question his school teachers, preachers of religion and think for himself. It is in their childhood that parents start brainwashing their children and make them incapable of breaking free from the mental chains in which they are bound from infancy.

Writing about his mother, Rajneesh says: "Now I can say that woman was really great, because as far as religion is concerned, everybody is lying. Christians, Jews, Jains, Mohammedans -- everybody is lying. They all talk of God, heaven and hell, angels and all kinds of nonsense, without knowing anything at all. She was great, not because she knew, but because she was unable to lie to a child".

"Nobody should lie -- to a child, at least -- it is unforgivable. Children have been exploited for centuries just because they are willing to trust.. You can lie to them very easily and they will trust you. If you are a father, a mother, they will think you are bound to be true. That's how the whole of humanity lives in corruption, in a very slippery mud of lies told to children for centuries. If we can do just one thing, a simple thing -- not lie to children and to confess to them our ignorance -- then we will be religious and we will put them on the path of religion. Children are innocent: leave them not your so-called knowledge. But you yourself must first be innocent, unlying, true."

Rajneesh thought for himself. He rejected all religions as false. He rejected conventional notions of the man- woman relationship, love and marriage as based on false promises and preached the gospel of free-love. His disciples shed their inhibitions as they shed their clothes. He came to be maligned as a preacher of promiscuity and sex guru. Although I had vast admiration for Rajneesh, I did not accept all his ideas as he often said contradictory things and believed in re-birth after death, which has not been scientifically proved, and practiced meditation which I regard as a waste of time.

Once I visited Osho's commune in Pune. I was charmed by the happy atmosphere that prevailed there: greenery, flowers, music, meditation combined with a large library, reading rooms and people going about their daily chores with smiling faces. I did not see Rajneesh; he was unwell. I wondered how long his commune would last after he was gone. It has become big business with 750 meditation centres across 80 countries, including 200 in India, 1500 books published in 40 languages with 3.5 million copies sold every year; tapes of music and

sermons.

I got to know some Osho disciples, notably his attractive lady secretary Ma Neelam and Chaitanya Keerti who looked after his press relations. Neelam was then living in the commune before she rented a flat nearby. She spent a better part of each morning in the meditation hall. Chaitanya Keerti looked after publications in Delhi. Both have now been banned from entering the Pune commune which was, to them, their Makka and Medina.

The Osho empire is split down the middle. The cause is greed. A group based in New York and Zurich has laid claims to having the copyright all of Osho's works as well as his techniques of meditation. I could understand Americans trying to grab patent rights over Basmati rice and neem products -- where they mercifully failed -- but how can anyone patent thought and meditation? Sounds preposterous. The attempt is also contrary to what Osho stood for. In his book Om Shantih Shantih Shantih, he copyrighted, and certainly meditations cannot be copyrighted. They are not things of the marketplace.

Nobody can monopolise anything. But perhaps the West cannot understand the difference between an objective commodity and an inner experience. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has copyrighted transcendental meditation and just underneath in a small circle you will find written TM -- that means trademark! For ten thousand years the East has been meditating  nd nobody has put trademarks upon meditations. And above all, that transcendental meditation is neither transcendental nor meditation... just a trademark. I have told Neelam to reply to these people. You don't understand what meditation is. It is nobody's belonging, possession. You cannot have any copyright. Perhaps if your country gives you trademarks and copyrights on things like meditation, it will be good to have a copyright on stupidity. That will help the whole world to be relieved..... Only you will be stupid and nobody else can be stupid; it will be illegal."

How can you catch the sea breeze in a net? The slogan of true Osho disciples is "Osho, everybody's birthright;

nobody's copyright."