Those who have known death from inside lose all fear of death.
And remember, that is the criterion. If a person can enjoy and celebrate his death, that shows he has lived rightly; there is no other criterion. Your death will prove how you have lived.
Hence the tension, the anxiety, the anguish of humanity. The more you fight with death, the more anxiety-ridden you will become, you are bound to become. That’s a natural consequence of it.
Only those persons who have lived, really lived, are ready, welcoming, receptive, thankful to death. Then death is not the enemy. Then death becomes the fulfillment.
To me, man means awareness of death. I am not saying become afraid of death; that is not awareness. Just be aware of the fact that death is coming nearer and nearer and you have to be prepared for it...
So the first thing: become aware of death. Think about it, look at it, contemplate it. Do not be afraid, do not escape the fact. It is there and you cannot escape it! It has come into existence with you.
In life you may be poor or rich, but death is the great equalizer. The greatest communism is in death. Howsoever you live, it makes no difference; death happens equally. In life, equality is impossible; in death, inequality is impossible. Become aware of it, contemplate it.
Life is not a tragedy, it is a comedy. To be alive means to have a sense of humor.
You can come to know the truth only when you are in love. But love never argues. There is no argument in love, because there is no aggression.
If you love, love totally; if you hate, hate totally. Don’t be fragmentary; suffer the consequences. Because of consequences you try to deceive.
Surrender is just like love. That’s why I say only lovers can become sannyasins – because they know a little of how to surrender. Love is the first step towards the divine, surrender is the last. And two steps is the whole journey.
Deep love creates deep fear. It looks like death because the I disappears, the you disappears – and it is a sort of death. And when you die, only then do you enter into the divine.
Nothing has to be changed, because all is beautiful – that is enlightenment. All is as it should be, everything is perfect. This is the most perfect world, this moment lacks nothing – the experience of this is what enlightenment is.
My own experience is that everybody is born with a certain talent, and unless he lives that talent to its fullest, something in him will remain missing. He will go on feeling that somehow something is not there that should be.
People expect too much. People who expect heaven always fall into hell – that is the law. Expect heaven and hell is certain. Don’t expect heaven and there will never be any hell.
Frustration is out of expectation; expectation is our projection. All kinds of love frustrate unless love is based in meditation.
Any expectation, even the expectation of peace, brings restlessness. The tension has to go. As soon as this happens a divine peace sets in.
All expectations belong to the mind, all disciplines belong to the mind, all so-called saintliness and so-called sin belong to the mind. When there is no mind, there is no sinner and no saint, and the gift simply showers on you.
Remember, frustration is out of expectation, and ego is always expecting. The ego is a beggar.
Each moment brings new surprises to the one who has no expectations, who comes with an absolutely open mind. Then incredible things start happening. Even if you had wanted them you could not have expected them; you could not have found yourself worthy enough to expect them.