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Part X : 1987-1990 Poona-Two : Coleman
Barks and sufism
In October 1988, Coleman Barks, the noted American translator
of Sufi poetry, visits the ashram. In answer to his question,
Osho suggests he move from Sufism to Zen, since the former is
based on out-dated concept of God.
Professor Coleman Barks has asked a question:
I feel very grateful for your enlightenment, your wisdom, your
daring experiments, your life. Thank you!
Rumi said, "I want burning, burning…." What is
that burning? Shams said, "I am fire." What do the burning
and the fire have to do with my own enlightenment?
Coleman, you have asked a very dangerous question!—because
burning has nothing to do with your enlightenment. On the path
of enlightenment there is no question of burning.
But because you are in love with Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi…I
also love the man. But you have to understand that Sufism still
depends on a hypothetical God. It is not free from the hypothesis
of God. And particularly Sufism has the concept of God as a woman.
Love is their method—love God as totally as possible. Now
you are loving an impossible hypothesis, and totality is asked.
You will feel the same kind of burning, in a more intensive way,
as lovers feel on a smaller scale….
So although I love Sufis…I don't want, Coleman, to hurt
your feelings, but I would certainly say that you will have one
day to change from Sufis to Zen. Sufis are still living in imagination;
they have not known the state of no-mind. And because they have
not known the state of no-mind, however beautiful their personalities
may become, they are still just close to enlightenment, but not
enlightened. Remember, even to be very close is not to be enlightened….
So it is perfectly good, Coleman; enjoy the poetry, but don't
think that these poetries are coming out of enlightenment. They
have not even heard the word enlightenment. No word exists in
Persian, in Urdu, in Arabic, equivalent to enlightenment. They
have "God realization," realization of the beloved—but
the beloved is separate from you….
And I say unto you, the same is true with us. We are born in godliness,
we live in godliness, we die in godliness. Just one thing has
to be remembered: either you can pass through this tremendous
experience of life asleep, or fully awakened.
Meditation is the only way to make you aware. And once you are
fully aware, all around is the ocean of godliness. The very life,
the very consciousness is divine. It expresses in all the forms—in
the roses and in the lotuses and in the birds and in the trees.
Wherever life is, it is nothing but godliness. We are living in
the ocean of godliness. So don't search anywhere. Just look within,
because that is the closest point you can find.
Sufism is beautiful but is not the ultimate answer, and you
should not stop at Sufism. It is a good training to begin with.
End up with Zen….
You are asking, "What do the burning and the fire have
to do with my own enlightenment?" Nothing at all. You are
enlightened in this very moment; just enter silently into your
own being. Find the center of your being and you have found the
center of the whole universe. We are separate on the periphery
but we are one at the center. I call this the buddha experience.
Unless you become a buddha—and remember, it is the poverty
of language that I have to say "Unless you become….
" You already are. So I have to say, unless you recognize,
unless you remember what you have forgotten…. rinzai02
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