12

It is impossible to help because you are not ordinary --

nobody is, nobody can be. Everybody is unique and

extraordinary. The problem arises when you start trying

to be that which you already are, then you fail. If you were

ordinary, there would be no difficulty in attaining to

extraordinariness; there would be every possibility. But the

fish is in the ocean and is trying to be in the ocean; failure is

absolute -- it is doomed.

How can you be ordinary? This whole existence is

extraordinary. Each pebble on the shore is extraordinary, each

grass leaf is extraordinary. And I am not only talking about

lotuses and roses -- of course, they too are extraordinary --

but an ordinary grass flower is not ordinary. All that exists is

divine, how can it be ordinary?

Don't try to be ordinary; otherwise, you will keep failing

and you will create misery for yourself. Even I cannot help,

It is impossible to help

because you are not

ordinary -- nobody is,

nobody can be.

Everybody is unique

and extraordinary. The

problem arises when

you start trying to be

that which you already

are, then you fail. If

you were ordinary,

there would be no

difficulty in attaining

to extraordinariness;

there would be every

possibility

Please help me to be happy, to be ordinary. I find that all my

upsets, conflicts, turmoils, have to do with this desire to be

special and nothing else.

Help Me to be

Nobody

13JUNE 2009

even I cannot go against the Tao,

against the fundamental law of life.

God only creates the extraordinary;

this whole existence is special.

These raindrops, this morning, the

people around you this moment is

extraordinary; it can't be repeated

again, no, never -- not even in the

whole of eternity can it be repeated

again. You will never find these

raindrops falling again, this sound,

this morning, these people. This

whole situation is extraordinary; it

only happens once.

You will not find another one

like yourself all around the world.

You can go on searching, and not

only in the present time, but even in

the past or in the future, and no one

will ever be repeated. This is how

we are. Once you start trying to be

extraordinary you will get into

difficulties.

To accept yourself as you are,

and to accept the whole as it is -- if

you can understand the

extraordinariness of everything that

is -- you have become ordinary.

It is not that you want to be

extraordinary, you want to be

special compared with other

people. That too is absurdity -- no

comparison is possible. How can

you be compared with anybody? --

nobody is like you. You don't

compare a dog with a parrot, or do

you? There is no similarity, there is

no likeness, how can you compare a

dog with a parrot? Or a tree with a

man? Or a rock with a river? In fact,

no two individuals are alike, hence

they are incomparable. You are you,

and the other is the other.

To understand this is to be both

extraordinary and ordinary.

Extraordinary in the sense that

existence only creates unique

people, and ordinary in the sense

that everybody is extraordinary.

There is nothing extraordinary in

being extraordinary; everybody is

so. The comparison disappears; and

when there is no comparison, there

is no possibility of the ego.

You ask me: Please help me to

be happy….

I can only help you not to be

miserable, I cannot help you to be

happy. But if you are not miserable,

you will be happy. But no direct

way is possible to make you happy.

If it were possible, I would have

made you happy long before now. I

am not a miser, I would have given

it to you if it were possible to give

at all -- but there is no possibility.

Happiness is not something that

is going to happen to you from the

outside. Once you stop being

miserable, happiness is, happiness

wells up within your being. It

simply arises out of you; you start

blooming -- the hindrances have

been removed.

And this seems to be your

greatest obstacle: you want to be

extraordinary. I declare it, you are.

But remember, everybody else is

too. So now there is no need to be

worried, I certify you; you need not

prove it. Let this obstacle disappear.

Accept your extraordinariness,

rejoice in it, celebrate it. Walt

Whitman says 'I celebrate myself, I

sing myself...' Celebrate and sing.

You are extraordinary, God has not

made another person like you, will

never make another person like

you. It is only once that God exists

as you, in you, in this form. This

form is unrepeatable. Now, what is

Only one who is

nobody is fully

awake, fully alert.

And in his

alertness he gains

the whole world;

in his nobodiness

the whole universe

can disappear. It is

so vast. Your

somebodiness is

so small. The more

you are somebody,

the more small you

are. The more you

are nobody, the

bigger.... Be

absolutely nobody,

and you are one

with the existence

itself

14

lacking? All your misery is arising

because you are trying to become it.

It is your being; becoming is

irrelevant. And then suddenly you

will see... If you can see the point...

Don't think about it, Sudha, just see

the point -- it is so crystal clear --

and a great burden from your chest

will disappear. So you are

extraordinary! You will take a deep

breath, you will relax, and

suddenly there is happiness.

Happiness is not something that

we have to produce or do anything

for; it is natural, it is spontaneous. I

can help you not to be in miserable.

Misery is your creation, happiness

is God's creation. Misery is the gift

that you have given to yourself,

happiness is the gift that God has

given to you. But you cling to

misery, and when you cling, you

feed it by your clinging. Drop it.

Start dancing and singing and

celebrating. End it right now. And

don't say 'Tomorrow', because

tomorrow never comes. And don't

say 'I will think it over'; either you

have understood or you have

missed. Thinking is not going to

help. It is a simple fact.

Let me repeat it again:

everybody is extraordinary, so

nobody needs to try. Don't suffer

with this unnecessary inferiority.

And if you suffer from it, you can

keep suffering for ages; you can go

on creating, and you can go on

finding new ways and means.

Somebody has a longer nose than

you -- you are inferior. Somebody

has blond hair -- you are inferior.

Somebody has those beautiful eyes

-- and you are inferior. Somebody is

more intelligent -- and you are

inferior. Somebody is a little taller --

and you are inferior. If you go on

looking and searching for misery, it

is available; you can find it in every

person that passes by, you will find

something or other is missing in

you. But this is your way of looking

at things that creates misery.

Forget everybody, just look into

the gifts that God has given to you,

and gratitude arises. In fact, there is

no reason, no raison d'etre for this

existence to be, no reason for this

rain this morning, for this melody,

this beautiful song, that the clouds

are singing around you. If it were

not there, we could not have

complained. If it were not there, we

could not have asked that it should

be. It is simply there without our

asking. It is there. We have not even

knocked at the door, and the door is

open. And millions of gifts are

showering on you; just look at those

gifts, and you will be surprised.

You will be surprised at how you

have been missing them. Just the

joy of breathing is enough to be

grateful for, just the joy of meeting

a friend is enough to be grateful for,

just the joy of sitting silently doing

nothing... The joy of a morning or

an evening, the joy of night... Just

keep looking for the joyous, and

you will find it.

You only find that which you

look for.

You have been looking for

misery; now, you can create misery.

Today it is raining and tomorrow it

will not be raining, then tomorrow

you can be miserable -- 'Why is it

not raining today?' And when it is

raining you are not grateful.

Start feeling grateful. Happiness

comes closer and closer the more

A small thought

can become a

barrier and you

can miss the whole

beauty of the vast

Himalayas. You

can be there,

watching the

beautiful peaks

of the Himalayas,

and the sun falling

on the Himalayan

snow, showering

gold all around,

and a thought

comes into your

mind, and the

Himalayas have

disappeared, the

thought clouds

you.

15JUNE 2009

and more you become grateful.

Gratitude functions like a

magnetism; the complaining mind

repels happiness -- it closes doors. It

all depends on you. I can show you

the way, but you will have to walk

on it. Buddha has said 'Buddhas

can only point the way; they cannot

walk for you.' You will have to

walk. I am showing you the way,

but you have become very clever,

efficient, in creating misery for

yourself. Change the direction of

your energies; channelise them

towards the joy, the beauty... this

cuckoo calling from far away. And,

slowly, you will see that so many

things were there but you were not

seeing them. Your eyes were full of

misery hence you were missing

them. Your eyes were clouded, they

were hazy, foggy, that's why you

were missing them. And one can

miss by a small margin; one can

miss by only a small thought. A

small thought can become a barrier

and you can miss the whole beauty

of the vast Himalayas. You can be

there, watching the beautiful peaks

of the Himalayas, and the sun

falling on the Himalayan snow,

showering gold all around, and a

thought comes into your mind, and

the Himalayas have disappeared,

the thought clouds you. You

remember something: the other day

somebody had insulted you, and

that's enough. Or you start

planning for the future, 'Tomorrow

I have to leave', and the Himalayas

have disappeared. And the thought

is so small, and the Himalayas are

so big... But even a small thought

can hinder. The thought is so close

to you, and it can stand in between.

Just a small particle of dust can fall

in your eye, and just a small particle

-- almost invisible -- can make you

blind, and you cannot open your

eyes, and you cannot see the sun

shining.

Do only one thing: start

dropping the very concept of

inferiority, the very concept that

you have to be extraordinary. Now,

even this question contains it; she

has signed the question... your

ordinary Buddha. Even in that, the

ego is claiming that 'I am no

ordinary Buddha. I am an ordinary

Buddha.' You follow me? 'Buddhas

are extraordinary people; I am not

like them -- I am an ordinary

Buddha.' This is claiming

extraordinariness.

Help me to be ordinary.

You want to be extraordinarily

ordinary? The ego can keep playing

games, subtle games. You will have

to look through and through. Just

Happiness is not

something that we

have to produce or

do anything for; it

is natural, it is

spontaneous. I can

help you not to be

in miserable.

Misery is your

creation,

happiness is God's

creation. Misery is

the gift that you

have given to

yourself,

happiness is the

gift that God has

given to you. But

you cling to

misery, and when

you cling, you feed

it by your clinging.

Drop it. Start

dancing and

singing and

celebrating. End it

right now

16

remember two things. Once, you

are already what you want to be,

hence there is no need to do

anything for it. You can call it

ordinariness, you can call it

extraordinariness -- it makes no

difference -- you are already that,

you can never be anything other

than that. What you call it does not

matter. If you are in love with the

word 'ordinary' then everybody is

ordinary. If you love the word

'extraordinary' then everybody is

extraordinary. Remember only one

thing, that whatever you claim for

yourself, you have claimed for the

whole. And that is the trouble, you

would like to be special, not like

everybody else.

It happened...

There is a beautiful parable...

A man worshipped God for

many years and was always asking

'Fulfil only one of my desires.' God

must have got tired, bored. One day

he appeared and he said 'Okay, you

won't leave me alone. Morning,

evening, you continuously keep

harping on the same note "Fulfil

one of my desires." All right, I am

here, what is your desire?'

And the man said 'Whatever I

ask for should be immediately

given to me, that is my desire.' Very

cunning man! God must have

thought -- out of his innocence --

that he would ask for one thing; he

asked for it all! He said that he had

only one desire that 'Whatever I ask

should be given immediately to

me.' But you cannot defeat God,

because cunningness never defeats

innocence. God said, 'Perfectly fine,

this will be so, but remember one

thing: whatever you ask, your

neighbours will get double.'

Now, the man was finished.

Months passed, and God would

come repeatedly. 'You have not

asked for anything...?' He stopped

praying, and God would come

again and again, morning, evening,

and he would say 'What! You have

not asked yet?' And the man

became very bored with God. He

thought and thought, but whatever

he got, neighbours received double.

'It is pointless!' He always wanted

to have a beautiful palace, 'But

what is the point now? The

neighbours will have doubly big

palaces.' The very idea was

crushing him. killing him; he lost all

joy of life. Now there was no

possibility of ever being happy, and

this God would come morning and

evening and torture him. So one

day he said 'all right, give me a

beautiful golden palace.'

Immediately his hut became a

golden palace, and he saw that the

whole town had golden palaces --

bigger palaces, doubly bigger, all

golden -- only his was the poorest

one.

He went to a lawyer -- because

where else can you go when such

legal problems arise? The lawyer

said, 'You don't be worried' -- and

of course God cannot win with a

lawyer -- the lawyer said, 'You ask

"Now, make a big well in front of

my house without a wall".' So a big

well appeared before his palace and

two wells appeared before

everybody else's. The lawyer said,

'Now ask "Make me one-eyed, let

one eye disappear".' The man said,

'What are you saying?' and the

lawyer said 'Just wait. Law is law.'

His one eye disappeared and both

of his neighbours' eyes

disappeared. Now, the whole town

was blind... two wells in each palace

garden... people started falling into

wells, people started dying. And

the man was utterly happy. He said,

'Now, my desires are fulfilled!'

So, I know, you will find it

difficult: I declare you

extraordinary, but everybody else,

all your neighbours, are doubly

extraordinary.

-Osho

The Sun Rises in the Evening

Ch 8

Remember only

one thing, that

whatever you

claim for yourself,

you have claimed

for the whole