Osho on Playfulness
To be religious does not mean to renounce. It simply means to see what is the case. If you can see that competition is a game, there is no problem. Don’t be serious about it. Seriousness is the problem, competition is not the problem at all! Then it is a game. Enjoy it, but know it is a game. And whether you succeed or fail does not make much difference; it doesn’t matter, it is irrelevant. All that matters is that you enjoyed the game, that it was fun. The loser and the gainer both enjoyed the game. A kind of sportsmanship is needed, that’s all.
When you play cards the real thing is not to win, the real thing is to pass time. The real thing is to enjoy the game, the nuances of the game, the strategies of the game — that is the real thing. One is bound to be defeated, one is bound to succeed: that is not the point at all, that is not the target.
If you can live in the world and play it like a game, if you can live in all kinds of relationships and remember that the world is a GREAT drama — the stage is big and you cannot see where it begins and where it ends, but it is a drama, it is a very dramatic world — if you can remember that it is a drama, then there is no problem. Then you are simply playing a role but it will not create any worry in you, it will not create any strain or tension in you. You will play the game, and by the evening, when you come home, you will forget all about it.
If you are serious then there is trouble. But if you are serious, you can renounce the world, you can renounce competitive games and you can move to the Himalayas — sitting in the cave you will remain serious. Then your meditation will take the flavor of seriousness and it will create strain. What will be the difference? You are on Wall Street, fighting tooth-and-nail, a cut-throat competition, murderous, and you are seriously in it, and worried day and night about whether you are going to succeed, whether you are going to make it or not! Then you will be sitting in a Himalayan cave, meditating SERIOUSLY, tooth-and-nail. Now you will not have any other throat to cut but your own, but it will remain cut-throat. Now you will be in competition with yourself, with your body, with your mind, and fighting and fighting. You will divide yourself and the fight will start.
And now you will be worried about whether you are going to make it or not — “When is this enlightenment going to happen?” — whether it is going to happen or not. And I would like to tell you: this will be more of a worry than being there on Wall Street, because many people are known to have made it there, and in the Himalayan caves… very rarely, once in a while. You will be in more trouble.
My suggestion is: drop seriousness. Take life as a fun, take life as a play. Enjoy it, it is worth enjoying. It is a beautiful game, it is a great opportunity — to learn, to see, to understand. But don’t be serious. Life is non-purposive. It is not going anywhere, it has no goal. The journey is the goal itself! That’s what I want my sannyasins to learn: the journey is the goal itself. Move non-seriously, playfully, and then whatsoever you are doing is meditation. Any act done playfully becomes meditative. Meditation is the quality that arises naturally when you are enjoying, non-seriously.
Yes, playing cards can be meditative, gambling can be meditative, business can be meditative. Anything can be turned into meditation. The only thing that needs to be added is a non-serious playfulness. Then it doesn’t create any tension in you, no stress is produced. You remain relaxed. Learn how to remain relaxed and Wall Street is as good as any Himalayan cave.
Source:
Listen to complete discourse at mentioned below link.
Discourse Series: The Wisdom of the Sands, Vol 1 Chapter #3
Question 2
Chapter title: The Journey is the Goal Itself
23 February 1978 am in Buddha Hall
References:
Osho has spoken on ‘Playfulness, Seriousness, Meditation, Life, Journey’ in many of His discourses. More on the subject can be referred to in the following books/discourse titles:
- Ancient Music in the Pines
- From Personality to Individuality
- From Death to Deathlessness
- Isan: No Footprints in the Blue Sky
- The Great Pilgrimage: From Here to Here
- The Rebellious Spirit
- Unio Mystica, Vol 1
- Walk Without Feet, Fly Without Wings and Think Without Mind
- Zen: Zest, Zip, Zap and Zing
