| Reading Osho is for
me like playing a cosmic game of strip poker. Every time I turn a page, read a line and recognize what he says as true, I need to take something off. I call it “cosmic” strip poker because instead of taking off my pants or my necktie, I am stripping away one of my judgments or beliefs. And it’s a tough game because Osho is so good at playing cosmic games. Let me explain how it works: you read a few pages, and pretty soon Osho says something radical, because that’s the way he is. “Radical” is his business. “Radical” is his milieu. He’s invented new dimensions of a word that is, well...already pretty radical. In fact, you don’t even know what radical means until you’ve read Osho. He is the original poker face. Already, before I begin the game, I know that I am loaded with excess baggage: I hate my father, I loathe my mother, I can’t stand society, I don’t love myself, there is no such thing as “the truth.” I’m heavy with all the self doubt, comparisons and blame that has been stuffed into me since birth by a whole succession of well-wishers like mom, dad, teachers, siblings, politicians, priests, girlfriends, TV talk show hosts, newspaper editors, agony column advisors. But if I stick to the game, Osho’s radical statements start to strip away these layers and I find myself getting lighter and lighter. By chapter three page twenty-nine I am stripped naked of all my judgments and it feels so good to expose myself to reality. You can play this game too. Check it out for yourself, because personal experience is the only thing that really counts. If you find, at the end of the book, that you don’t feel a sense of freedom, a sense of unburdening, then make a donation to your favorite church and join the congregation! In the cosmic game of strip poker, you end up as an individual, facing yourself as you really are. Basically, it’s like peeling away the layers of the onion – as Osho reminds us, “Only losers win in this game.” courtesy Krishna Prem - kissenlightenment.com |
