Sunday, March 21, 2010

Osho's zen philosophy

I have been reading Osho's book on Zen and i must say that the book is very interesting. Some of the arguments he makes are quite convincing but some of them are very controversial too. In some passages, he comes across as a supreme human and in some as a very real human :-)
One of the most controversial lesson that he imparts is about the mind's penchant for seeking pleasures even when the person is pretending to be abstinating from it. The example he gives is that of rishis meditating in himalayas who start dreaming of company with beautiful girls (the apsaras) who come from heaven to sleep with them. Osho says this is because the mind is fed up of meditation, of solitude and it has started craving for company. And this is all society's fault. Society at large frowns upon pleasures and encourages the constant clamoring for painful experiences. So if someone likes to drink a lot, the society would force him to give up drinking. The person would pretend to give it up but his mind is still attached with drinking so in reality he hasn't let go of it. The problem is still there, it has been hidden and kept out of sight. The person would start exhibiting different symptoms but the problem has not yet been addressed. Osho says that if someone is really attached to something, let him come out of this attachment on his own, at his own speed. Once he does that, the problem would be solved from the core.
And I feel this particular lesson has been used and misused and contorted to malign him. People accused him of encouraging promiscuity, of leading young people to extremes of pleasure seeking. This could have been true, but Osho's intent was something else. Of course I can't call myself an expert on his views from a half read book :-)
On the work front, there were a lot of issues, both on poker client and on casino client. One of the issues was very vexing. I wanted the client to close the gameboard if an important message is lost en route. But the darned window won't close properly. When it started closing, the darned thing won't start. When it started restarting, the darned thing won't work. The darned stuff killed me almost :-)
On Tuesday night, we had a drinking session with boss and his favorite prodigal employee AP. It was really painful watching them going bonkers in praising each other and of kissing and of twisted fingers being pointed for peace sign, of strange sounds emanating such as Ouch and Peace. It was so painful that I couldn't even enjoy my drink. After 3 hours I threw in the towel, drove home and slept fitfully. It took me 2 days to let go of all the frustrations that had crept in.

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