Penguin Books

"Osho is one of the most influential spiritual teachers of the second half of the 20th century and many thousands of people -- of all ages, from all countries and all spiritual backgrounds -- have been inspired by the simplicity and directness of his teachings." Penguin Books

Osho was my master! What does that mean? It means that with his help, even though I only knew his teachings through books and video tapes - over twenty
years ago - I made it to the other side - the way a ferry man takes you across the river. Once on the other shore there is no more need for the master, just infinite gratitude. He was the gate through which I stepped because my love and trust of his silence, serenity, sincerity and peace was greater than my fear of death and annihilation.

To reach this silence we need to disappear and it feels like death. It is not for the faint-hearted. He was one of the most controversial figures of the 20th century, seen as an enlightened master or terrorist depending on who you ask. To me he was pure silence, peace, love, and eternal serenity.

Coming across the above quote by Penguin Books I decided to look them up on Google. Low and behold they are the publisher of Eckhart Tolle's book The New Earth. On my Amazon listing page it says that people who buy Here You Are, also buy The New Earth, so I was happy to see all these connections. During one of Oprah's Monday Evening Webcast Events with spiritual teacher Tolle, a woman from Ireland called in to ask whether there was a book like Eckhart's for children - to teach children to be in the present. The question went unanswered.

It cannot be answered because it is a wrong question. It is like asking: "Is there a book that can teach children how to be children?" Children already live in the present, and it is the adults who need to join them there - even it that means playing a video game with them. You may remember Jesus advising the apostles to become like little children in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, after the apostles tried to send them away, considering them a disturbance.

Here You Are confirms to children who they are, and they "feel seen" after reading the book, often convinced the book was written for them personally. It slowly but surely pulls the adult who may be reading the book to their child, into the present moment with them for a magical moment of being together - here, now. Even though it does not take long to read Here You Are, Here You Are creates a moment of eternity for its readers, young and old.

Osho said: "What is an Absence in a very young child, becomes a Presence in a sage." - which is one of my favorite quotes. To come full circle like that - into the present - requires love, trust, devotion, humility, infinite patience, courage, and the willingness to face death and suffering. "March of the Penguins" comes to mind - the by now famous movie about those brave little souls on the south pole who have fascinated all of us with these qualities. What a nice name for a publishing company, publishing spiritual and other fun books. Here's their blog.

The Power of Words on Water Crystalization

The "F" word. There are many defenders and fans. I am not one of them. It is such a satisfying word to so many and in such casual use, though, it seems silly to be "against" it, especially for someone like me who understands how silly it is to be "against" anything that exists in creation. That does not mean that I don't make clear choices when it comes to my own actions.

At the Kushi Institute studying Macrobiotics, we learned that people who again and again use words that have the "k" sound in it to express themselves and their feelings, may be suffering from liver congestion. Liver congestion causes anger and impatience. So it is seen as a symptom of an imbalance, not as a spiritual or moral problem. The people that use this word the most, from what I have been able to observe over the years, are drug - and especially, Cocaine addicts.

It is a harsh word as far as sound is concerned. Sex can be debasing and ugly - the way the word seems to describe it. For some though, it can reach the level of sacred, and for most it is somewhere in between. People now seem to be compromising, by replacing the old "F" word, with the word "frickin' " - with a nice soft "n" at the end, and the guttural "u" replaced with a chirpy "ri". Many say "Friggin' " softening the "k" sound with a "g". Maybe people are getting healthier. Although, my little guy still thinks this is a bad word, too. It still has that "k" in it. Think of other words - like "kill", "kick" - oh, well - and then there is "kids", and "Kinder" in German. Either the theory is all wrong or people carry around just a little bit of hostility towards children and babies...

Healthier and more sensitive people, especially children, and some oriental people I have observed, cringe when they hear someone say those kinds of words. I have seen it many times. It is not a moral or spiritual outrage reaction. It seems to literally cause physical discomfort.

I am reminded of two things. One is Osho's famous "F" discourse, where this famous Indian Philosophy professor turned Mystic and Spiritual Master, poses that when the "highest" word and concept in one's language - in our case "God" - gets lost and set aside, the whole mentality and level of consciousness and sensitivity in a culture, goes all the way downwards.

Here is the YouTube link.
It is a very funny video about the many grammatical uses and variations of the "F"word. It is so funny that the spiritual message gets lost if you don't pay close attention in the very beginning.

The other thing I am reminded of, are the water crystal images of Dr. Emoto, a Japanese scientist who has photographed water in the process of freezing and arranging itself into crystal patterns while saying certain words. Interestingly, it isn't the sound, but the idea, maybe the brainwaves, or thought vibrations, that shape the crystal's respective harmony and beauty, or ugliness. In other words, it doesn't matter in what language a thought or word is uttered. See the difference between "Hitler" and "Thank You". I have to do more research on how this was done and how repeatable an experiment this is, but just what I have seen and read about this so far, is pretty interesting and makes sense to me.

Here is the link to Dr Emoto's website
and the link to the Amazon Page to find his many books.

Previously in this post I had a few crystal pictures for you, but they disappeared. You'll have to go to Dr. Emoto's website to see how differently love and hate crystallize in water.

On the website there are also images of polluted water, and clean mountain spring water, as well as polluted water that has been prayed over. Prayer - not surprisingly - even if it is not "logical" - can be healing and beautiful, especially when it is not a form of begging, but an expression of love, appreciation and gratitude.

Waiting

I was recently invited to read "Here You Are" at the Seattle Children's Hospital. A four-year-old little girl sat down with me on a red couch, excited about such a shiny, colorful book she knew I was going to give to her as a present. I started reading and when we read the "Why am I here" page she told me she was here for waiting. As we moved on to the Wondering pages, she said she was wondering whether her Dad would ever come home. That he keeps leaving and coming back, but that he hadn't come back in a long time. We just wondered together about it in silence for a while. I was wondering about the circumstances her family might be in. Was it a divorce, a soldier Dad away on duty, or something else? We were strangely OK without answers, both of us, while looking out of the window next to us, with the leaves on a tree blowing in the wind outside. After a nice moment of silence and waiting we read the rest of the book that she seemed very satisfied with. She proudly held her new shiny book with her right arm that barely fit around it, while holding on to her rolling lillie-pad IV stand with her left as she left the playroom.

It reminded me of Osho, an Indian Mystic, who once said:"For those who can wait infinitely, things happen instantaneously." One of my favorite statements about enlightenment.