The first thing to be understood is that becoming is driving you crazy. You are not to become anything, you are already that. You have to accept yourself and relax in that acceptance. The person who is trying to become something is bound to remain tense, naturally: the constant fear of whether he is going to make it or not, the constant fear of whether what he is doing is going to lead him to the goal or not, whether he has chosen the right path or not, the constant fear of whether he is doing enough to achieve or not, the constant fear that there are others who may reach before him.
Becoming creates fear, becoming creates competition, and becoming drives you crazy, neurotic.Becoming takes you farther and farther away from your being. Do not become… be, just be. Becoming is the root cause of all confusion, misery and anguish – confusion because in fact you cannot become that which you are not. The rose can try as much as possible, but it is going to remain a rose, it can’t become a lotus. The lotus can try hard, can practise all kinds of yoga exercises, but the lotus is going to remain a lotus, it can’t become a rose. A rose is a rose and a lotus is a lotus. But the lotus is beautiful and the rose is beautiful and there is NO confusion, because the rose is perfectly happy in being a rose and the lotus is perfectly happy in being a lotus. Only man is miserable. The only being who is miserable on the earth is man, because he is not happy in being himself; he wants to become something else. We have been brought up with this poison: ”Become!” We have been driven by the society, by the church, by the parents, by the teachers: ”Become!” Nobody says to us: ”Be!” And if you can find a person who says to you, ”Be!” that is the person to listen to, that is the real Master, because he is giving you the most fundamental thing. Through that vision you will be able to relax, and in relaxation there is clarity.Confusion arises out of the idea of becoming because you become a duality – that which you are and that which you would like to be. You become a duality and a great tension, and you have to deny your reality and you have to impose the unreal upon yourself. You become phony, you become pseudo, you become split. And what I am saying is not theoretical; you can look all around – the whole humanity is split because everybody is trying to become somebody else. Somebody is trying to become a Christ, somebody else is trying to become a Buddha, somebody else is trying to become the richest man in the world, somebody is trying to become the president of a country, but becoming… in the name of religion also, becoming.
Then what is the difference between religion and the ordinary worldly affairs? If the worldly man is trying to become the richest man or the most powerful man, and the religious man also is trying to become somebody – a Buddha, a Krishna – then where is the difference? Both are in the same boat; the name of the boat is becoming.
The truly religious person is one who drops out of the whole trip of becoming, who relaxes in his being, who rejoices in his being, who says, ”I am that” – AHAM BRAHMASMI – ”I am already that”; ANA’L HAQ – ”I am truth, I am God.” These are just expressions of being. The basic message is: ”I am already that, so I need not try to become.”
I have heard one of the most beautiful stories about a Hassid Master, Sosya. About seven hundred years ago a great Master and mystic named Sosya, ripe with years and honors, lay dying. His students and disciples asked if he was afraid to die. ”Yes,” he said. ”I am afraid to meet my maker.” ”How can that be? You have lived such an exemplary life. You have led us out of the wilderness of ignorance like Moses. You have judged between us wisely, like Solomon.”
Sosya replied, ”When I meet my maker, He will not ask, ’Have you been Moses or Solomon?’ He will ask, ’Have you been Sosya?’” This is one of the most beautiful stories; meditate over it. Sosya says: ”God will not ask me, ’Have you been Moses or Solomon?’ He will ask me, ’Have you been Sosya?’”And remember, God is going to ask you the same thing. He will not ask you, ”Have you been Jesus or Buddha or Kabir?” He will simply ask you, ”Have you been yourself?” – and that is not happening, not to millions of people. They are all trying to be somebody else, something else; rejecting their beings they go on rushing towards some idea of becoming. They remain in confusion because they remain in duality, and they remain in misery because it is not possible; they are trying the impossible.
Remember, misery arises only when you try the impossible, because it can’t happen in the nature of things and you want it to happen. You want two plus two to be five: you will be miserable unless you see the point that two plus two CANNOT be five. You may even believe for a few moments that they are five, but sooner or later the truth will reveal itself – they are four. How long can you deceive, and what is the point of deceiving? You are simply wasting your life.
Don’t try the impossible – and becoming is trying the impossible. You cannot be anybody other than you are; let this idea sink deep into your heart. Let me repeat: you cannot be anybody other than you are, there is no becoming. All becoming is the world. Not to be a part of becoming is to be a sannyasin.
Who is a sannyasin? – one who is no more worried about becoming somebody because he is absolutely attuned with his being, he knows who he is and he is happy in being that; one who is grateful in being that. Misery comes whenever you try the impossible, so whenever you are miserable remember: you must be trying something impossible.
Bliss is an outcome of simply being the natural. Bliss is not an achievement, it is a by-product of relaxing with yourself, of simply being that which you are. Then THIS very moment all misery can disappear, and THIS very moment there is bliss, and THIS very moment there is benediction… and the heavens open up and God starts showering. And suddenly, a great stirring is felt in the heart: one who has been asleep becomes awake.
vishalchoudhary23
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