Osho – This is a paradox, but of tremendous import – that enlightenment becomes possible only when you forget about it. When the desire for enlightenment disappears, only then does it become possible You desire money or you desire meditation – it makes no difference – the desire is the same… the nature of the desire is the same. The object can change, but just by changing the object the nature of the desire never changes.
So one can want worldly power, somebody can want spiritual power, but both persons are worldly. One desires respectability, prestige; another desires moksha, nirvana, god – but they are both the same. Their psychology is not different – they desire. And desire means dreaming. Desire means motivation. Desire means you are not herenow – and nirvana is always herenow. Desire means you are somewhere else – and god is always herenow, so obviously you never meet: you remain in your desire and god remains just around you. He remains close-by, but you are never close to yourself – you are projected into great desires.
And nirvana is the greatest desire a man can have – the last, the ultimate desire… to become enlightened, to come to know who he is, to know the truth. That is the ultimate desire – and a hindrance. So if one really wants to be enlightened, one has to forget all about it, otherwise enlightenment itself becomes a new obsession. The zen people call it’the buddha disease’. One can become obsessed: one has to become a buddha or a christ.
These are not things that one can become. They don’t relate to the process of becoming. Becoming means desire. Buddha is when there is no desire and you are. Christ is when there is no desire and only being exists. To be in the being is to be free. To be in the becoming is to be in the bondage. To give you this feeling – that god is not to be desired – this name will be helpful.
In fact nothing needs to be desired. Enjoy whatsoever comes by the way… and you will enjoy much more. Small things of life can become of tremendous beauty. When you are not bothered about tomorrow, very small things…. This silent night… this noise of the insects…. No music is comparable to it. Even the greatest musician will feel jealous. And it is so freely available – but nobody is ready to listen. People are rushing towards the future – and the future never comes. It cannot come – by its very nature. All that is, is already here.
’Veet nirvana’ will mean to remain beyond the desire of enlightenment. People are rushing into the world, then one day they get fed up. Success proves to be a tremendous failure. Money simply proves, to be a rubbish heap, and all affairs of the world lose meaning one day. If a person is a little bit intelligent, he comes one day or other to know that it is all meaningless then he starts moving inwards. But now he projects a new desire. The desire now hovers around a new object. Again the desire has deceived him.
The moment one is fed up with the world, one should not be fed up with the world – one should be fed up with desiring. Because desiring is the real world – nothing else is there. When one is fed up, one should not be fed up with money but fed up with desiring. Not fed up with wife and children and the house – poor things, they have not done anything wrong to you. Not fed up with the society – that has not done anything to you… just fed up with desiring.
Looking into the nature of desiring one comes to understand that it simply brings misery. It promises bliss – brings misery. It allures and promises but never delivers bliss. Misery and anguish always come in from the back door. It is the greatest deception there is.
Knowing this, realising this, one stops desiring. Then what will you do? When you stop desiring, naturally the question arises,’What are you going to do now?’ The energy is released. The whole energy was put into desiring – a thousand and one desires were there, and you were engaged. Now suddenly if desiring is futile, what will you do with your energy?
You delight! Now you enjoy pure energy as such. You dance, you sing, you eat, you sleep, you sit, you walk, you sing, you love… you delight! A person who moves into desires never delights. And a person who stops moving into desire is so immensely delighted. Each moment is such a benediction… and that’s what nirvana is.
Source – Osho Book “The Buddha Disease”