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Part X : 1987-1990 Poona-Two : Let-go Meditation
at the end of discourse and the Yaa-Hoo! Mantra salute
On 24 March 1988, Osho introduces a let-go meditation to be
done at the end of discourse. Osho tells a joke featuring the
yell 'Yaa-Hoo!'. He asks Niskriya to shout 'Yaa-Hoo!' to signal
the beginning of the meditation. Osho experiments with this meditation,
and leads it at the end of every discourse from then on.
Recently, you said: "Remember, 'let-go' is the most important
word in existence." It penetrated me like an arrow. Since
then your words have been haunting me. Beloved Master, could you
please speak a little more on the art of letting go?
Let-go is certainly the most fundamental principle of religiousness.
It simply means no goal, no desire, no longing, no past, no future—just
being here in utter totality, drowning in this silence, without
any resistance.
There is no art, there is no knack, there is no method; just
a simple understanding. Who is preventing you? Your own past,
that you think is valuable…how can you drop it? It is a
treasure, it is your heritage! The future…how can you drop
it?—although you don't have it. Still, you are worried how
to drop it: "How can one drop the future? Future is all that
we have. All the dreams, all the tomorrows, all the great things
that have to happen are in the future."
And when I say to you, "Drop the past, drop the future,
just simply be"…
In that moment of simple being, immense blessings descend on you,
silences, ecstasies—effortlessly. And because you have not
made any effort and the flowers go on showering on you, it creates
a very new dimension in your being: the dimension of gratitude,
which religions have wrongly interpreted as prayer.
You cannot pray before you have known let-go. All the churches
and all the temples are full of people who are praying, but they
don't know; they are not in a state in which prayer arises on
its own as gratitude.
Prayer cannot mean anything else but gratitude—gratitude
for so much that is given to you each moment without your asking.
You could not have conceived of any more than what happens in
the moment, if you allow it to happen.
And the allowing is very simple:
No past, no future—just this moment…. (there is
a long pause)
This silence is let-go.
You are not creating it.
It is surrounding you.
It is overwhelmingly here.
It is all around you. If it can touch your heart, you have understood
more than anybody can elaborate on let-go.
O'Reilly walks into the pub, orders a triple whiskey, swallows
it in one gulp, spins around and falls flat, face down on the
floor.
"That's what I like about O'Reilly," remarks the bartender
to the others in the bar. "He always knows when he has had
enough."
Just learn something from Mr. O'Reilly. Existence is not to be
understood but to be drunk. It is alcoholic, there is no other
drug that makes you more silent, more festive, more in tune with
existence. Just one gulp of it…and flat on the ground! What
more can be said about it? It happens every day to almost everybody
except a few dodos. Just the ground is not much, so people spin
in their own places.
But if you want I can allow it one day: Don't bother who is
sitting by your side or in front of you or behind you. Just fall
flat! And enjoy let-go.
Niskriya…(Niskriya lets go!) That's the way, right! Today
we will do it in the end, after the prayer.
So a few prayers to prepare you for the final let-go. And let
us see how many dodos are there. Once in a while, it is good to
check….
A pretty girl is driving through the American West when her car
runs out of gas. An Indian comes past and gives her a ride to
a gas station, sitting behind him on his pony. Every few minutes
as they ride along, he lets out a wild whooping yell that echoes
around the hills. Finally, he drops her off with a last, "Yaa-Hoo!"
"My god," says the gas station owner, "what were
you doing to that Indian to make him shout like that?"
"Nothing," says the girl, "I just sat behind him
with my arms around his sides, holding onto his saddle horn."
"Miss," says the man, "Indians don't use saddles."
Now, before the let-go, there are a few questions which have been
waiting for long. So, Maneesha, you can ask your questions before
the great Yaa-Hoo! happens.
It is going to happen, there is no way to avoid it. How else are
you going to learn let-go?
Now, the dodos are looking very afraid. I can see how many dodos
are all around.
Just do it carefully, because poor Niskriya's camera is there,
somebody's glasses are there. Do Yaa-Hoo! but just have a look
all around. Meanwhile, I will answer a few questions. You take
a careful look, which side will be good to do Yaa-Hoo! And don't
do it on the poor musicians. Just a little care has to be taken.
So, one question more…
Beloved Osho,
As I write this question my hands are shaking.
Soon, more than your hands…everything will shake! Okay,
let them shake.
You ask the question. Go on!
Even the dodos are laughing now. By the time your question is
complete, I don't think anybody here will dare not to let-go.
(Given the festive mood, everyone laughs uproariously at the seriousness
of the question and Maneesha is forced to pause. Osho himself
is laughing, which tickles everybody into even more laughter.)
While reading the chapter called "the wanderer" from
the sound of running water I saw that the culminating sentence
was, "Yet the call is heard, as somewhere in our being the
promise is remembered." With this sentence there was an explosion
of energy in my heart, bringing tears to my eyes.
Yes, it will happen again. An explosion too will happen. And tears
will also come to your eyes—they are already coming!
Complete the question.
(The reading of the question is accompanied by continuous laughter,
as Osho jokes about the coming let-go…)
Osho, I have always known—but I feel so afraid: even as
the explosion happened…
You have been always afraid and now it is going to happen!
Just gather courage.
Go on.
Even as the explosion happened, I was escaping. Osho, I call you
"Beloved Master" but still I escape.
(There is a silence as Osho searches through the pages of his
clipboard, and chuckles.)
You read the next question now because the reading of your questions
is preparing people. Go on.
Beloved Osho,
Ten years of sannyas have finally brought me to a total chaos.
Give a good applause! Somebody has come to a total chaos!
But you have not known total chaos—just wait…
On the one hand I welcome it; on the other hand there is so much
fear about whether I'll come out of it.
There is no hope—once you are in it, you are in it. Nobody
has ever come out of the chaos.
(Everyone is overwhelmed with laughter…)
Just complete his question.
And this "tiger" about whom you were speaking to me
comes closer and closer.
That's true.
What to do at such a meeting? My fear is of dying or going cuckoo.
Most probably cuckoo, because in let-go nobody is going to die.
A few people will shout "Yaa-Hoo!"—that means
they have gone cuckoo. A few will remain sane and try…but
they will be stupid. Such chances rarely come in life.
Beloved Osho, My heart is trembling. Can you please say something?
I don't know what to say! Should we do the exercise?
Niskriya, stand up. Yeah.
Now, give the order—"Yaa-Hoo!"
(Everyone falls from their meditation cushions onto the ground
in a great let-go)
That is good! Now…stop!
Come back…
Okay, Maneesha?
Yes, Osho. yaahoo06
Let-go is a simple phenomenon. It is not a question of who is
going into this let-go. And last night when you went into let-go,
there was nobody. Everybody was gone.
Seeing that everybody was gone, I was gone too. I was feeling
hungry and I said, "I don't know when these people are going
to be back." And I sent Shunyo to check whether people had
come back or gone. She reported, "Don't be worried; a few
have come back, but most are still flat. A few are coming back,
a few are moving towards the canteen…" But now I see
that everybody has come back.
So this let-go is beautiful; you take a dip, and you come out
fresh and young.
Last night must have been the most beautiful night in your life.
yaahoo07
The Hitler-like salute becomes the two-armed salute with a shout
of "Yaa-Hoo!". This is known as the 'mantra salute'*.
*Note:In 1989 this is changed to a shout of "Osho",
with the two armed salute
What do you mean by the raised hand and "Yaa-Hoo"?
Neelam, you must have seen that today I have raised both my hands,
because the German idiots have made a law in Germany that raising
one hand is a criminal act. And what about all the dogs? They
are not just raising one hand, they are raising one leg all over
the Fatherland and pissing! They are the real followers of Adolf
Hitler.
I had not been aware that Germany will never become intelligent.
It is unfortunate that they have banned me from entering Germany;
otherwise I would have been in jail by now, another deportation…I
have missed a great experience!
Because if you have seen a German jail the American jail is nothing
you have seen the very hell. But the Germans themselves have prevented
me; otherwise I would have raised one hand, without fail!
But thinking of my sannyasins…I don't want to create more
trouble for you. I have created so much trouble already. So we
leave behind that son-of-a-bitch Adolf Hitler. We will be raising
both hands, meaning that our longing is for the stars.
And as far as "Yaa-Hoo" is concerned, it means nothing,
but it has tremendous significance. It somehow vibrates you without
saying anything; just say, "Yaa-Hoo!" and something
in your belly…
And, as I have told you, all other greetings are born out of war.
This is the only greeting which is born out of laughter, out of
love in fact, out of a joke. I searched the whole day for the
Red Indian who created the trouble, because in India you can find
Indians, but Red Indians…very difficult. But in America,
they will not allow me to enter; otherwise I would have searched
there and asked the fellow, "What was the reason?"
But a great salute certainly has to have some meaning. And all
words have to be given meaning by us; no word has a meaning on
its own. You must have heard Mohammedans say, ya allah. It means,
"Ah, God." Yaa-Hoo means "Ah, God."
It is easy to give meaning, just a little searching I have to
do. I am a lazy man I could not find any Red Indian. What to say
about Red Indian, it is very rare to find an Indian here. I looked
all around; then I finally thought, "It is better that I
should put in a little of my own effort and work out the meaning."
Now it is absolutely clean, clear: it means "Ah, God."
So you need not be worried if somebody asks you what it means.
And naturally, two hands reaching to the stars…you have
to shout, "Ah God!" in our language; why should we borrow
from anybody else? Adolf Hitler himself has borrowed his swastika
from India; we never objected. And now, my raising one hand they
will discuss in their parliament: "One more reason that this
man is criminal." And certainly, according to the definition
I become a criminal.
Unfortunately, I am not in their territory so they cannot do anything
to me. But many of the sannyasins come from Germany. For them,
I had to find a way. And I am not a man to step back. To step
forward is my way so from one hand, I have gone to two hands.
Now let them make a law against raising two hands….
And you call these countries democracies, where you cannot raise
your hands? It is a crime, and dogs are free and man is in all
kinds of chains. Just on the first day, when I raised one hand,
Premda…he is a doctor and my personal optician. He became
afraid because he was sitting in the front row, and his picture
was also taken. He started trying to find ways…"Somehow
drop my picture, because if this picture is found in Germany,
I am finished!"
In fact I told my people, "Don't let him remove his picture"…because
as it happens he is the head of the darkroom! Then I understood
also that Niskriya looks so innocent but is not so innocent…that
cunning fellow was raising both hands, knowing perfectly well
that one hand can create trouble back home!
I was thinking, "What is the matter? Why is he raising
two hands?" But there is no need to be worried. Now, knowing
that those idiots have passed a law that raising one hand is a
crime…I had even to consult one of my sannyasins who is
an attorney in Germany to ask him what is the situation. He said,
"One hand is going to create great trouble, unless we can
prove that it was raised in a comedy or in a drama."
I said, "It will be very difficult because it is not comic
and it is not a drama. And even if it were because of me it is
impossible for any court to accept that this is a drama."
So I told my sannyasin attorney, Sadhu, that I would change it.
And why not find something better? Why bother about a dirty
past and an ugly nightmare? I had raised that hand only to provoke
those two dodos who had come from Bunte magazine. That work is
done. Now we settle for two hands and a good full-heart "Yaa-Hoo!"
Just give me a demonstration….
That's good! yaahoo08
Now the let-go meditation is preceded by two-minutes silence:
Now we can do our prayer. Two minutes of absolute silence, and
no movement. And when I say, "Let go," then simply allow
your body to fall, without any effort on your part. So, begin.
Relax…
Okay, come back. yaahoo18
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