A Homage to Buddha, Osho and other Masters

When the disciple is ready the Master will appear

Yesterday I wrote to some friends about this statement:

Always remember that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

Stay in an attitude of readiness at times, and the teachers and the teachings will manifest for you.

And I realized how true this has been in my life.

When the disciple is ready the Master will appear

The moment I was ready Masters, teachers and teachings have appeared in my life. And I am immensely grateful to all of them. I will mention only the most important ones here, but there have been many influences, all contributing to an ever deepening insightfulness. This continues up to today and beyond.

My spiritual journey in this life started on a more conscious level in 1971 during a holiday on the magical, at that time still unspoiled, island of Ibiza.  At Ibiza I read a book: Sri Aurobindo or the adventure of consciousness written by Satprem, one of his chief disciples.

 This book had a great impact on me. Together with the magical energy of Ibiza, it opened up a new world. Coming home, I experienced a hard time adjusting to the ‘normal craziness’. I really got the taste of wisdom teachings and found myself reading more and more from different sources. The more I was reading, the thirstier I got. When the disciple is ready the Master will appear indeed.

 I ‘heard’ a strong call from Osho in 1973, although it took some years before I asked Osho to become his disciple, called sannyasin at the time. Osho reconnected me also with two Masters from past lives; Buddha and Rumi. This recognition happened right away when giving me my name Deva Deep, which means Divine Light on which occasion he mentioned the saying of Buddha: Be a light unto yourself.

Buddha-Osho

Osho has spoken a lot about Buddha. I have been present when Osho experienced Buddha entering Him. Simultaneously, in the middle of the night in a pitch dark closed room, I woke up suddenly from an incredible bright beam of light. Osho spoke the next day about His experience and He also told that two of his sannyasins had the same experience. I can give more illustrations, but I tell this only to indicate that Buddha and Osho are the embodiment of the same ultimate flowering to me.

Osho left his body in 1991, but He never left me. Osho told his sannyasins just before leaving His body:

 “So remember, when I am gone, you are not going to lose anything. Perhaps you may gain something of which you are absolutely unaware.

Right now I am available to you only embodied, imprisoned in a certain shape and form. When I am gone, where can I go? I will be here in the winds, in the ocean; and if you have loved me, if you have trusted me, you will feel me in a thousand and one ways. In your silent moments you will suddenly feel my presence.

Once I am unembodied, my consciousness is universal. Right now you have to come to me. Then, you will not need to seek and search for me. Wherever you are…your thirst, your love…and you will find me in your heart, in your very heartbeat.” (Beyond Enlightenment, Chapter 11)

And that is precisely what I experience.

Miracles can happen any time

This eternal spiritual journey has been intensified in 2010 on another magical paradisiacal island in Malaysia while listening to audio books from Wayne Dyer. To honor him, I give just one quote from his book Inspiration:

Many experiences in my life, taught me that the laws of the material world truly do not apply in the presence of God-realization. And I know that I have the choice to live at this level of inspiration. When I do so, it seems that the world changes: Animals behave differently than their biological genetics would seem to allow, people at a distance seem to hear me telepathically and respond to my highest thoughts, objects seem to materialize in defiance of what scientists say is possible, and healing takes place in spite of modern medicine saying otherwise. In other words, miracles seem to be ordinary. The world looks like a place where everything is possible, where restrictions and limitations are nonexistent, and where the power of our Creator seems to roll right up and land at my feet, begging me to hop on board and witness the infinite possibilities it offers. This is how I feel when I align myself to Spirit: cocky inside because I know something that so few ever come to realize, but humble and awestruck on the outside at the miraculous-ness of it all!

Part 1

From here butterflies the symbol of transformation and human search

started to play an important role in the unfolding of this website.

Wayne Dyer wrote this after having a profound experience with a butterfly coming to him. I had a similar experience in Malaysia when I visited a butterfly farm, with a group of people. Several beautiful butterflies came to me and sat on me. This happened to nobody else.

Wayne Dyer touches me so much, because we seem to have so many similar experiences. After writing the first part of this article, I took a break and went for a walk. On coming home, my screensaver showed a wonderful butterfly which was radiating from my monitor. Mind you, this screen saver ONLY produces abstracts normally. I waited a moment in awe and wonder and the butterfly image transformed into a more abstract image. The butterfly is the symbol of transformation and that is exactly what my screensaver did with it, full of symbolism.

This incredible source tells me again and again: "Yes Deva Deep miracles are possible, transformation of humanity is happening and we support you in every way." Oh my God, thank you so much!

Why Wayne Dyer appeals to me so strongly? 

What I love about Wayne Dyer is that he is just an ordinary human being. Being married with eight kids, he has gone trough all the up’s and down’s most of us will encounter in life.

He has only one burning desire in his heart to serve humanity and as the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad declares:

 You are what your deep, driving desire is.

As your desire is, so is your will.

As your will is, so is your deed.

As your deed is, so is your destiny.

(The Upanishads are ancient, sacred texts that form the final part of Hindu religious thought. The Sanskrit word ‘Upanishad’ literally means ‘to sit at the feet of a master to receive instruction’).

This is Wayne Dyer’s statement about his heart's desire:

I anticipate a planet at peace—along with health, abundance, and love in my life and in the lives of all others—and I know that it's moving in this direction. I know that for every act of apparent evil, there are a million acts of kindness. That's where I place my attention, and that's what I choose to give away. By doing so for the larger percentage of my days, my reward is a feeling of being in harmony with purpose.

Osho about being with a Master and Buddha statues

But back now to the Buddha and Osho. This morning I listened again to a tape I have made in 1985. With this compilation I wanted to express what being with Osho means for me. It is all about being with a Master, Love and Buddha:  being a light unto yourself and your ultimate flowering. I combined Osho’s words with beautiful uplifting music of one of Osho sannyasins at that time.

Listen to Osho with Music: Be a light unto yourself (37 min.)

In 2001, after having spent years in ashrams in India, I started travelling through Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, China and other Asian countries. From the first moment I was so touched by these magnificent Buddha statues, monks chanting Mantras and marvelous temples.  I got the inspiration to take photos of these Buddha statues, the temples and the monks. A voice whispered to me: “When you put 10.000 Buddha statues on a website, your karma will be solved”. So I did.

This was not so difficult as it sounds. Because the Pindaya caves in Myanmar have already 8000 Buddha statues.  My original Buddha statue page came very high in the search engines; so many visitors could feel something of their energy and maybe buy a Buddha statue themselves. According to recent research photos can convey energy too.

All these vivid images passed my mind and I felt so much gratitude for all the blessings. After listening to the tape, I took a book of Osho, opened it at a random page and found this relevant discourse of Osho about being with a Master and being in a Buddhafield and the radiance of a Buddha statue.

Osho: The Tantra Vision Vol 2 chapter 6: I am enough alone 6 May 1977 Question 1 and 2 This is an EXTRACT, you can read the original discourse as pdf

Question 1:

WHAT HAPPENS TO MY VOICE WHEN YOU SPEAK TO ME? WHAT IS THE GAME?

The question is from Somendra.

When you are really in communion with me, you cannot speak. When you are really listening to me, you will lose your voice because in that moment I am your voice. The communion that happens between me and you is not between two persons. It is not a discussion, it is not a debate, it is not an argument, it is not even a dialogue. The communion happens only when you are lost, when you are not there. At the highest peak it is not even an 'I-thou' relationship. It is not a relationship at all. I am not, and there comes a moment to you also, when you are not. In that moment two zeros disappear into each other.

That's why, Somendra, whenever you come to me, you lose your voice. And it is not happening only to you, it is happening to all those who are really coming closer to me.

How can you come closer to me and still keep your voice? How can you be near me and still be yourself? Your voice is the voice of YOU. When the ‘you’ starts disappearing, naturally, the voice also starts disappearing.

Secondly, there is nothing to say. When you are in love with me, you know that if there is something to say, I will know. And if I don't know it, then it is not needed, then it must be some irrelevant, vagrant thought. It has no need even to be uttered; it will be a sheer wastage of energy.

The mind goes on catching a thousand and one thoughts from everywhere, from all sources. All your thoughts are not yours; thoughts go on jumping from one head into another --even without talking, even without being conveyed. Thoughts are continuously jumping from one head to another head. You catch hold of them, and for a moment you are possessed by the thought and you think it is something essential. When you come to me, suddenly those thoughts that you have caught from others disappear.

It happens to many sannyasins. They come ready with many questions, and then, just sitting in front of me, they are at a loss those questions have disappeared. It is significantly meaningful. It shows that those questions were not yours, they were not TRULY yours.

When you are in front of me --really in front of me --when you are looking at me, only that which is essential will be left; the non-essential will go. Sometimes all your thoughts can disappear: not only do you lose your voice, you lose your mind too. And that is the only way to be around a Master. Go on losing your mind.

Question 2:

WHILE IN AN ART MUSEUM IN FRANKFURT RECENTLY, I ENTERED ONE ROOM WITH NOTHING BUT STATUES AND CARVINGS OF BUDDHA. I PUT ABSOLUTELY NO FAITH IN STONE IDOLS, BUT I WAS SURPRISED TO FEEL A VERY STRONG ENERGY CURRENT IN THE ROOM, SIMILAR TO WHAT I FEEL HERE IN THE LECTURE. WAS I IMAGINING THINGS? AND IF SO, HOW CAN I TRUST WHAT I FEEL HERE WITH YOU?

Watching a Buddha statue is watching a YANTRA. The figure of the statue, the geometry of the statue, creates a figure inside you. And that inside figure creates a certain vibe. It was not just imagination that happened to you, Samagra, in the Frankfurt museum; those Buddha statues created a certain vibe in you.

Watch the state of Buddha sitting so silently, in a certain yoga posture. If you go on watching the statue, you will find something like that is happening within you too.

If you are in company where ten persons are sad, and you are the eleventh person, how long can you remain happy? Those ten persons will function like a YANTRA, a YANTRA of sadness: you will fall into sadness sooner or later. If you are unhappy and you go into company where people are joking and laughing, how long can you remain sad? Those laughing people will create laughter in you. They will change your focus, they will change your gear; you will start moving in a different direction. This happens every day --knowingly, unknowingly.

When you watch a full moon, what happens to you? Or when you listen to the birds and look at the green trees, what happens to you? When you go into a forest and look at the greenery, what happens to you? Something green inside starts happening. Green is the colour of nature, green is the colour of spontaneity, green is the colour of life --something green starts happening in you. The outer colour reflects something inside, vibrates with something inside, creates something inside. Looking at a green tree you become more alive... you become younger!

When you go to the Himalayas and you see the mountains, the snow-capped mountains --eternal. snow which has never melted, the purest snow where no man has ever walked, uncontaminated by human society and human touch --when you look at a Himalayan peak, that uncorrupted, virgin snow creates something virgin in you. A subtle peace starts happening inside.

The outer is not the outer, and the inner is not just the inner; they are joined together. So beware of what you see, beware of what you listen to, beware of what you read, beware of where you go --because all that creates you.

That's what happened in Frankfurt. The Buddha statues, the many statues all around you created a certain geometry. You will be surprised: that is the basic reason why statues were created. They are not idols, as you think. The Christian and the Mohammedan and the Judaic idea has given a very wrong notion to the world. They are not idols, they are very scientific. They are not objects to be worshipped, they are geometries to be imbibed. It is a totally different thing.

In China there is one Buddha temple which has ten thousand Buddha statues, all Buddha statues. Wherever you look --the same figure. The ceiling has the same figure, all the sides have the same figure, the walls have the same figure. Ten thousand Buddha statues! Just think, sitting cross-legged in a Buddha posture and you are also surrounded by ten thousand Buddhas! It creates a geometry. From everywhere Buddha impinges upon you. From every nook and corner he starts surrounding you. You are gone. Your ordinary geometry is no longer there. Your ordinary life is no longer there. For a few moments you are moving on higher planes, at higher altitudes.

That's what is happening here. While listening to me something is created -by my presence, by my words, by your attitude, by so many orange people around you. It is a situation, it is a temple. A temple is a situation. It is not just that you are sitting in a lecture hall. So many people listening to me with such love, gratitude, with such silence, with such sympathy, with such rapport this place becomes holy. This place becomes a TEERTHA; it is sacred. When you come into this place you are riding on a wave, you need not make much effort. You can simply allow it to happen. You will be taken away, far away to the other shore.

Buddha is a rose flower: that is the highest possibility. And remember, it is not exactly a Buddha figure; nobody knows what Buddha looked like. But that is not the point. We were not interested in those days, at least not in the East, we were not interested in the real at all; we were interested in the ultimately real. We were not interested in the factual; we were interested in truth itself.

Nobody knows exactly how Buddha looked. The statues are very feminine, very round; they don't look masculine. Have you ever seen any statue with a moustache and beard? No, the people who painted Jesus were more realistic. The people who painted Buddha were not concerned with facticity, they were concerned with ultimate truth. They were not concerned how Buddha looked, they were concerned how Buddha’s should look. The emphasis was not on Buddha but on the people who would be looking at these statues --how this statue was going to help those people.

So Buddha is not painted as old. He must have become old, he became eighty-two. He was very old --certainly, very old and ill --a physician had to follow him continuously. But no statue has painted him as old, ill, because that is not the point. We are not interested in the physical body of the Buddha, we are interested in his inner geometry. That inner quality of Buddha is always young, it is never old. And it is never ill, it is always in a state of well-being; by its very nature it cannot be ill. The body is young, the body is old, the body becomes crippled, the body dies. Buddha is not born, never dies: Buddha remains eternally young.

Those Buddha statues you saw in the Frankfurt museum are the states of inner silence. When a person is absolutely silent, he will be in that state. When everything is still and quiet and calm inside --not a thought moves, not a small breeze blows; when everything has stopped, time has stopped --then you will also feel to sit like a Buddha. Something of the same geometry will happen to you. It is objective art --less concerned with the reality of Buddha, more concerned with those people who will be coming and will be seeking Buddhahood. The emphasis is different: what will happen to those who watch these statues, and will kneel down before these statues, and will meditate on these statues.

The Grand Finale:

There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come

and no power in the world can stop it

Several things went different then planned, in this way I ended up watching a movie called: You can Heal your Life with many contemporary teachers like Louise Hay, Wayne Dyer, Esther Hicks, Gregg Bradon and others. All best selling authors with hundreds of millions of books sold in many countries. This group (along with others) must have a very strong influence on raising the consciousness and transforming this planet.

This well made movie is a good summary of the many aspects of living a happy life, with as main theme: Yes you can change!  In this movie touching examples are given of transformation and healing (including several cases of cancer).

From the contemporary teachers Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra and Esther Hicks are my favorites.

The most amazing, but not surprising conclusion is that the essential message of all is the same:

•  Consciousness creates matter including your life.

•  You will attract everything in your life corresponding to your vibrational level (law of attraction).

•  Therefore change your thoughts (vibrational level) and you will change your life.

Yes we can change/transform our way of living and this planet. This spiritual journeys website started with a vision I got of Osho in the Sinai desert in Egypt. After this vision I woke up at 6 o'clock in the morning, switched on the TV and right at that moment Obama had been elected as president of the United States. I watched him  giving his brilliant speech: "Yes, we can" and so many people all over the world were touched to tears in their eyes. I felt this is the pivotal moment in time: yes we can and will transform this planet. Seeing so many teachers influencing so many people and teaching them about the incredible power available to all of us (it is just for the asking), I felt immensely joyful and grateful on that day.

It was like the grand finale of this very special day, a completion of all the other images I had seen. You see if you are open for it, inspiration will come from all kinds of sources.

The power of the Internet

I recognize also the immense power of the Internet. As this BBC article "The internet is the most powerful potential source of enlightenment ever created" states.

These nr#1 bestselling teachers are published in about 30 countries. But this website reaches  almost all (200) countries in the world. I see also another great advantage of the Internet is the fact that you can combine the articles with images, which transmit in their turn powerful energy.

Part 2

Signs… Buddha in disguise?

After writing this I went into my garden and immediately a beautiful white butterfly came and sat unmoving and silently close to me for a long time. I felt like being visited by Buddha or Osho Himself. It was like He was saying: “Yes, with the Source anything is possible”!

It is my experience that existence gives signs like acknowledgements in a given situation, in this case through several appearances of a butterfly. It looks like the Source is really rejoicing in getting this article written, because after writing this last sentence a friend knocked at my door and invited me to see a special movie about butterflies, which will be afterwards shown on TV.

The movie is about the dangerous flight of the Atalanta butterfly from St. Petersburg to Casablanca of thousands of kilometers. For Josephine Hamming (the maker of the movie) this symbolizes the human search. This movie has already won several awards on international festivals. Being invited to the see especially this movie, feels like an additional blessing.

I realized on this auspicious day with these butterflies, that there is (almost) no time between the thought and the actual manifestation.

It will be very obvious to you that this has been an amazing Guru Purnima.

I want to end with the promise of the Buddha to His disciples,

while watching the woman with the clay lamp.

This one touches me deeply:

Blessings

Deva Deep

The Butterfly saga continued