Just now I was reading that the most prestigious directory of the royal family’s noble blood has
dropped many names out of it in the new edition because they were all AIDS victims. Now, you can
see even noble people have ways which are not noble at all: noble people with ignoble lifestyles.
But that is all underground. On the surface everything seems to be the way it should be. More or
less it is the same all over the world; nobody wants really to drop their suffering.
You have to ask this question very sincerely:
Are you ready to be lonely?
At least your suffering, your pain, your misery, makes you somebody special. It gives you a certain
character, it gives you a certain identity. Moreover it is your misery, nobody else’s. It is your
possession, your prestige. If it is just taken away from you, you will be a beggar.
You ask me, why is misery so difficult to get rid of?
It is difficult because you don’t want to get rid of it.
It is also difficult because you have many misunderstandings.
You say, ”pain, misery, suffering or anguish.” That shows you don’t understand. You can get rid of
pain, misery, suffering, which are your own creations; you can withdraw. They cannot stand without
your support, they need constant nourishment from you. They suck you, they are parasites – but
you can throw them away.
Anguish you cannot get rid of.
So don’t say ”suffering or anguish.”
Anguish is a totally different plane.
Anguish is something spiritual.
Anguish you are not to get rid of; anguish you have to become more acquainted with.
If you are standing with your back towards anguish, it appears like suffering.
If you turn your face towards anguish, it becomes blissfulness.
You are not to get rid of it. And it is nothing to do with you, so you cannot get rid of it. Even if you
want to get rid of this blessing, then too it is not in your power. It is something intrinsic to your nature.
If you are not facing yourself, you will feel anguish; if you turn towards yourself, the same anguish
becomes the greatest blessing in the world.
So don’t say suffering or anguish. That shows your utter ignorance of your own inner world.
Suffering, misery, pain, are all outside.
Anguish is within.
Anguish you are born with.
Suffering, misery, pain, are your creations.
That is also one of the causes why you cannot get rid of them. You have created them, they are your
children.
You just look at people when they are talking about their suffering; watch their faces, watch their
eyes – and you will be surprised. Are they talking about their suffering or are they bragging about it?
– because their face seems to be radiant when they talk about their suffering. And remember, you
know! – because you are doing the same. You always exaggerate your pain, your suffering, your
misery; you make it as big as possible. Why? If it is something to get rid of, why are you magnifying
it? You are enjoying it.
One of my friends is a Catholic priest. I asked him once, ”You hear people’s confessions. Have you
ever wondered whether they may be exaggerating?”
He said, ”What! Exaggerating? They are confessing their sins, why should they exaggerate?”
I said, ”People exaggerate everything. If sinners are standing in a queue, you would like to stand
first, you would like to be the greatest sinner. You would not like to be just third-class, standing at the
end of the queue. And if somebody asks what kind of sin you committed – you have stolen a hen!
When there are Genghis Khan and Tamerlane, and Nadirshah, and Alexander the Great, and Ivan
the Terrible – your whole life you only stole a hen? You must be an idiot! Such a long life – seventy
years – you could not do anything else? And you have some nerve to stand in the line with such
great people: Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Joseph Stalin. Get lost! Don’t count yourself a
sinner!
No, you will have to magnify it as much as possible.
A small boy came running into his home and, huffing and perspiring, told his mother, ”A lion has
been following me! But I was not afraid.”
The mother said, ”Lion? In the middle of the city? I have told you a thousand times: Don’t
exaggerate. Where is the lion?”
He said, ”He is standing outside the door.”
The mother went to the door; a small dog was standing there.
The boy said, ”Yes, this is the lion.”
The mother said, ”You know perfectly this is a dog.”
dropped many names out of it in the new edition because they were all AIDS victims. Now, you can
see even noble people have ways which are not noble at all: noble people with ignoble lifestyles.
But that is all underground. On the surface everything seems to be the way it should be. More or
less it is the same all over the world; nobody wants really to drop their suffering.
You have to ask this question very sincerely:
Are you ready to be lonely?
At least your suffering, your pain, your misery, makes you somebody special. It gives you a certain
character, it gives you a certain identity. Moreover it is your misery, nobody else’s. It is your
possession, your prestige. If it is just taken away from you, you will be a beggar.
You ask me, why is misery so difficult to get rid of?
It is difficult because you don’t want to get rid of it.
It is also difficult because you have many misunderstandings.
You say, ”pain, misery, suffering or anguish.” That shows you don’t understand. You can get rid of
pain, misery, suffering, which are your own creations; you can withdraw. They cannot stand without
your support, they need constant nourishment from you. They suck you, they are parasites – but
you can throw them away.
Anguish you cannot get rid of.
So don’t say ”suffering or anguish.”
Anguish is a totally different plane.
Anguish is something spiritual.
Anguish you are not to get rid of; anguish you have to become more acquainted with.
If you are standing with your back towards anguish, it appears like suffering.
If you turn your face towards anguish, it becomes blissfulness.
You are not to get rid of it. And it is nothing to do with you, so you cannot get rid of it. Even if you
want to get rid of this blessing, then too it is not in your power. It is something intrinsic to your nature.
If you are not facing yourself, you will feel anguish; if you turn towards yourself, the same anguish
becomes the greatest blessing in the world.
So don’t say suffering or anguish. That shows your utter ignorance of your own inner world.
Suffering, misery, pain, are all outside.
Anguish is within.
Anguish you are born with.
Suffering, misery, pain, are your creations.
That is also one of the causes why you cannot get rid of them. You have created them, they are your
children.
You just look at people when they are talking about their suffering; watch their faces, watch their
eyes – and you will be surprised. Are they talking about their suffering or are they bragging about it?
– because their face seems to be radiant when they talk about their suffering. And remember, you
know! – because you are doing the same. You always exaggerate your pain, your suffering, your
misery; you make it as big as possible. Why? If it is something to get rid of, why are you magnifying
it? You are enjoying it.
One of my friends is a Catholic priest. I asked him once, ”You hear people’s confessions. Have you
ever wondered whether they may be exaggerating?”
He said, ”What! Exaggerating? They are confessing their sins, why should they exaggerate?”
I said, ”People exaggerate everything. If sinners are standing in a queue, you would like to stand
first, you would like to be the greatest sinner. You would not like to be just third-class, standing at the
end of the queue. And if somebody asks what kind of sin you committed – you have stolen a hen!
When there are Genghis Khan and Tamerlane, and Nadirshah, and Alexander the Great, and Ivan
the Terrible – your whole life you only stole a hen? You must be an idiot! Such a long life – seventy
years – you could not do anything else? And you have some nerve to stand in the line with such
great people: Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Joseph Stalin. Get lost! Don’t count yourself a
sinner!
No, you will have to magnify it as much as possible.
A small boy came running into his home and, huffing and perspiring, told his mother, ”A lion has
been following me! But I was not afraid.”
The mother said, ”Lion? In the middle of the city? I have told you a thousand times: Don’t
exaggerate. Where is the lion?”
He said, ”He is standing outside the door.”
The mother went to the door; a small dog was standing there.
The boy said, ”Yes, this is the lion.”
The mother said, ”You know perfectly this is a dog.”
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