seven quotes from Tao: The Pathless Path, Chapter Three
A collection of quotes from Chapter Three: No Regrets of “Tao: The Pathless Path” by Osho
When you approach life through the head and only through the head, it is a partial approach; misunderstanding is bound to be there. A man who is trying to "figure it out" is bound to fall into a tremendous trap and will not be able to come out of it easily. Once you start intellectualizing about life, you start going astray. Life has to be lived. Life has to be lived existentially and not intellectually. Intellect is not a bridge but a barrier.
The Taoist maturity is so tremendous, is of such splendor, is of such depth and height, that no religion can be compared to it; they all look like kindergarten schools - made especially for children. Made especially for children - that's why God is the "Father"; children cannot be independent, they need a father. If your real father has disappeared then you still need an imaginary father in heaven to control you; you are not mature enough, you cannot be on your own, you have to lean on somebody or other.
No university can give you what religious people call real knowing. Whatsoever you can get from the universities is information - stale, borrowed, dirty, because it has passed through thousands of hands; it is like a currency note. That's why the note is called "currency", because it goes on moving like a current from one hand to another, from one pocket to another pocket. But then it goes on becoming dirtier and dirtier. So it is with knowledge: down the centuries, it goes on from one generation to another generation, from one generation of professors to another generation of professors.
An ambitious man will always regret. Alexander died sad, in great frustration, because ambition by its very nature is unfulfillable. It is said, when Alexander was in India he went to see an astrologer and he asked the astrologer about his future. The astrologer looked at his hand and said, "One thing I have to say to you: you will be able to win this world, but remember there is no other world. And then you will be stuck. Then what will you do?" The astrologer must have been a great wise man, and it is said that listening to this - there is no other world - Alexander became sad. Now even this idea... "Once you have conquered this world what are you going to do? There is no other world..." An ambitious mind will simply feel stuck - what to do then?
Again the question is meaningful: "What happiness have you had... ?" Remember, if there is a cause to happiness, then the cause is bound to be in the past. Causes are always in the past. If you are happy, the question is, "What has made you happy?" and that which has made you happy has gone into the past. So a caused happiness is past-oriented. Past-oriented means that which is no more; it is fictitious, it is imaginary, it is illusory.
A real seeker is agnostic. He never claims, "I know", and he never says, "This is the truth." He is very open, he is not closed. He has no dogma, he has no creed, he is simply conscious and aware, and is ready to face any reality whatsoever. Whatsoever reality comes to be revealed, he is ready to go into it. He trusts life. People who don't trust life create beliefs, dogmas, theories, to protect themselves. The real wise man is vulnerable; he does not protect himself. He is open to rains, to winds, to the sun, to the moon, to life, to death, to darkness, to light - he is open to all. He has no protection; his vulnerability is total.
Truth cannot be divided - either you have found it, the whole of it, or you don't have it at all. It is impossible to have a little bit of truth. It cannot be fragmented, it cannot be cut into slices. Truth is total, truth is whole - either you have it or you don't have it. It is not possible to have a little of truth.
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