Osho on Hasidism : A few things about Hasidism. First, the word ‘hasid’ comes from a Hebrew word which means pious, pure. It is derived from the noun ‘hased’ which means grace. This word ‘hasid’ is very beautiful. The whole standpoint of Hasidism is based on grace. It is not that YOU do something — life is already happening, youjust be silent, passive, alert, receiving. God comes through his grace, not throughyour effort.
So Hasidism has no austerities prescribed for you. Hasidism believes in life, in joy, Hasidism is one of the religions in the world which is life-affirmative. It hasno renunciation in it; you are not to renounce anything. Rather, you have to celebrate. The founder of Hasidism, Baal-Shem, is reported tohave said, ‘I have come to teach you a new way. It is not fasting and penance, and it is not indulgence, but joy in God.’
The Hasid loves life, tries to experience life. That very experience starts giving you a balance. And in that state of balance, some day, when you are really balanced, neither leaning on this side nor leaning on that side, when you are exactly in the middle, you transcend. The middle is the beyond, the middle is the door from where one goes beyond.
Osho on Hasidism – Hasidism teaches life in community. It is a very communal approach.It says that man is not an island, man is not an ego — should not be an ego, should not be an island. Man should live a life of community. We are growing a Hasidic community here. To live in a community is to live in love; to live in a community is to live in commitment, caring for others.
Osho on Hasidism – Hasidism is not a path of meditation, it is a path of prayer. Prayer has notechnique. Meditation can have millions of techniques because meditation is a scientific approach to inner reality. Hasidism is not a science, it is an art. Hasidism does not believe in techniques but in love. Remember well, the technological mind is a mathematical mind. The mind of the lover is
Enjoy it so deeplyand with such gratitude that every ordinary thing becomes hallowed, becomes holy, each small thing in life becomes sacred. Transform everything into a sacred thing – the profane disappears when you bring your energy of love, grace, gratitude.
A tremendous urge has arisen in your being, a new LOVE towards existence — callit God. Because when love arises, existence becomes personal. Then it is no more’it’; it becomes ‘thou’. Then it is a relationship between ‘I’ and ‘thou’.