Panch Mahavrat or The Perennial Path The Art of Living

Author(s): Osho Rajnish
Publisher: Osho Rajnish

Page 75

CHAPTER 7. TANTRIC PATH TO SUPER ENERGY
have really abused and criticized pleasure - sexual pleasure. There must be the attraction for pleasures in his mind, otherwise there is no reason for abuses of this kind. If he had sincerely given up pleasure he would not find any interest in abusing it.
Why does the pleasure-seeker praise? He praises in order to remove his sorrow and repentance. He is trying to persuade himself that repentance has no meaning. He believes that it was a momentary weakness, there was attraction, there is heaven. He is admiring pleasures with a view to wash out his regrets and so sings false praises. Praising is never true. In contrast to this, the hermit is denouncing pleasures. He is trying to falsify the memories of happiness derived at the moment of enjoying sexual pleasure. He says to himself, this is all false, it is absolutely hell. The mind gives him memories of heaven and calls them hell, thus he tries to destroy those memories, but both are trying suppression. The pleasure seeker is suppressing renunciation and the recluse is suppressing pleasure. Both these are suppressive minds. The is important to bear in mind.
Generally we call a recluse a man who suppresses himself but we do not call a pleasure seeker the same. This is a mistaken view. The recluse also practises suppression he suppresses pleasures. The pleasure seeker also does so, he suppresses his repentances, his renunciations. Both are suppressed. Tantra teaches us not to suppress but to observe, to know and to recognize. Save yourself from the duality of both of them. This duality is false.
Neither admire nor censure, because if you admire now, you are sure to censure after some time. The circle of admiration followed by censure and censure followed by admiration is revolving round and round just as day is followed by night and night is followed by day. Tantra says, to understand its meaninglessness and see that the energy is neutral. It is neither good nor bad. It is neither worth renunciation nor enjoyment. If a person, saving himself from this duality, can see his life energy, what would be the result?
According to Tantra when a person sees life energy just as energy without any valuation, without any estimate, it stops at once. It neither moves forward nor does it go backward. Only we cause it move. By admiration, we push it outward and by censure we take it inward. We have seen the pendulum of a clock moving to and fro, but you may not have thought of the principle that while going towards the left side, the pendulum gains the energy-power to go to the right, and when it moves towards the right, it is accumulating energy to go to the left. This is how it moves to and fro. When you are praising and complimenting your sex energy, you are also at the same time preparing yourself to censure it and when you are censuring it, you are preparing yourself to admire it. This idea of reverse effect will not be comprehended all at once. It is called the Law of Reverse Effect. Opposite kinds of energy are getting collected in man's mind.
A Jewish saint Hasid has written a book. It was a revolutionary book, so the orthodox Jews were dead set against it. Hasid gave the book to one of his devotees and asked him to give the book as a gift to the most religious man among the jews. That devotee was very confused. He said, 'I don't know, how he would react.' Hasid told him not to react to what the religious man said or did but just observe him and see how he behaves. He should only be a witness so that he could bring back the correct information. The devotee went there as a witness. It was evening and the Rabbi was sitting in his garden with his wife. The devotee gave the book and said, Saint Hasid has sent this gift for you. On hearing the name, Rabbi lifted the book and threw lit away angrily and asked him to keep it away from his house. For a moment the devotee felt something should be done, something should
The Perennial Path: The Art of Living
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Osho