The last words of Gautama The Buddha

Be a lamp unto yourself. those are the last words of Gautama the Buddha but they contain the whole message of all the masters. Be a lamp unto yourself' Don't search for light anywhere else; the light is already there, the fire is already there. Just probe a little deeper into your being, enquire. Maybe much ash has gathered around the fire... just t?robe deep inside, and you will find the spark again. And once you have found a single spark inside yourself, you will become a flame soon, you will be a fire -- a fire that purifies, a fire that transforms, a fire that gives you a new birth and a new being.

It is because of this that Martin Heidegger uses the word 'releasement' instead of 'enlightenment'. His word is beautiful. It is a releasement: something is already there, it has only to be released. Just like the seed sprouting, becoming a big tree, and then comes the spring... and there is great joy, and the tree bursts forth into thousands of flowers. But they were all hidden in the seed, the small seed. The seed has been carrying the blueprint for all that: the colour, the shape, the fragrance -- all was hidden in the seed. The tree is not anything new. The seed was unmanifest; the tree is its manifestation. It is a releasement.

I like Heidegger's word, it is beautiful. It is a releasement: enlightenment is a releasement.

You are already that. You have never been other than that. Remember, remind yourself, shake yourself into awareness. Use all the opportunities of life as triggering points, as occasions, so that you can become alert and aware of who you are.

These words of one of the great Greek mystics, Plotinus, will be of help. 'You do not really go away from It, for It is there; you do not "go" anywhere but remain present to It, yet you turn your back on It.' Or as Raman Maharshi used to say 'Enlightenment is simply to admit that you are already enlightened.'

Just to admit... Yes, Raman is stating the simple fact: it is only admitting.

You are enlightened; you consist of it. You are made of light; light is the stuff' that you are made of. Then why can't you admit it? Why can't you recognize it? And rather than recognizing it, you do a thousand and one other things: you search for God, you go to the Himalayas, you move to the monasteries, you torture yourselves, you become masochists in the name of religion, you destroy yourselves, you slowly slowly commit suicide. You do everything, but just a simple thing you never do: you don't admit. Why can't you admit it? And nothing is being taken away from you. In recognizing the fact, all is gained, nothing is lost. But you have become too attached to your chains, you have become too attached to your misery -- you have started thinking that this is you.

It is like an emperor who has fallen asleep and dreams that he has become a beggar. And in his dream he has a begging bowl and rotten rags, and somebody is trying to snatch the begging bowl from him. And he will fight, he will fight to the very bitter end. It is a question of life and death -- somebody trying to snatch his begging bowl? He will give a great fight; he is not going to give it easily -- that's all that he has.

That's what has happened. Misery is all that you have. You cannot admit that you are enlightened because then you will not be able to afford misery any more. So, many times you come to the brink, many times the recognition is very close by -- you see the point -- but you withdraw, you immediately start getting as far away from it as possible.

You withdraw, you turn back. You have become too attached to your misery: that looks as if that is your kingdom.

This is my observation: listening to thousands of sannyasins, one thing seems to be absolutely certain: that nobody wants to renounce his misery. People are even ready to renounce their little bits of happiness; they are ready. This is strange, but this is how it is. If I say to them 'Renounce your wife, renounce your children, renounce your home' they are ready, they say 'We are ready to go with you, Osho, wherever you say. We can renounce.' But if I say 'Renounce your misery, renounce your chains' then immediately I see that they cannot gather that much courage. They cling to it, they will fight for it.

Raman is simply saying that all that is needed for enlightenment is to admit that you are enlightened. Just think of it. Just for a moment meditate over it. Can you admit that you are enlightened? And immediately you will see that it is difficult, because if you admit that you are enlightened then there will be trouble. And the trouble will be: you cannot be angry, and you cannot be sad, and you cannot fight with your wife or with your husband, and you cannot be possessive. All is lost, and that has been your whole life. Now, this is too much, you will say 'How can one become enlightened so suddenly? First I will have to practise.' That is only a way of postponing.

Osho

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