“Happiness arrives from many directions. If you have a notion that it comes only from one direction, you will miss all of these other opportunities because you want happiness to come only from the direction you want. You say, ‘I would rather die than marry anyone but her. I would rather die than lose my job, my reputation. I cannot be happy if I don’t get that degree or that promotion or that house.’ You have put many conditions on your happiness. And then, even if you do have all your conditions met, you still won’t be happy. You will just keep creating new conditions for your happiness. You will still want the higher degree, the better job and the more beautiful house. Please remember that your notions of happiness may be very dangerous. The Buddha said happiness can only be possible in the here and now. ” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, No Death, No Fear
“No self also means emptiness, a technical term in Buddhism that means the absence of a separate self. We are of the nature of no self, but that does not mean that we are not here. It does not mean that nothing exists. A glass can be empty or full of tea, but in order to be either empty or full, the glass has to be there. So emptiness does not mean non-being, and it does not mean being either. It transcends all concepts. If you touch deeply the nature of impermanence, no self and inter-being, you touch the ultimate dimension, the nature of nirvana.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, No Death, No Fear
“Someday when we die we will lose all our possessions, our power, our family, everything. Our freedom, peace and joy in the present moment is the most important thing we have. But without an awakened understanding of impermanence, it is not possible to be happy.”
Thich Nhat Hanh, No Death, No Fear
“Live in the moment for the sheer joy of living it. Then each moment has the quality of an orgasm. Yes, it is orgasmic. This is how my people have to live, with no ‘should,’ with no ‘ought,’ with no ‘must,’ with no commandment. You are not here to become martyrs; you are here to enjoy life in its fullness. And the only way to live, love, enjoy, is to forget the future. It exists not.” ~ Osho, Fame, Fortune, and Ambition
“Heaven is not a goal; heaven is the presence right now. If you are present, the divine is available. If you live in the moment, you are enlightened; there is no other enlightenment. And then ordinary life is so extraordinary. Then to be just a nobody is so fulfilling. I call this whole approach sannyas: dropping the goals, the purposes, the future—becoming part of existence this very moment, not postponing it. Then in this very moment, a great explosion is possible in you: the ego disappears, you are no more, but the divine is. And that is bliss and that is truth.” ~ Osho, Fame, Fortune, and Ambition
“You ask, ‘Why am I always daydreaming about the future?’ You are daydreaming about the future because you have not tasted the present. Start tasting the present. Find a few moments where you are simply delighting. Looking at the trees, just be the look. Listening to the birds, just be a listening ear; let them reach to your deepest core. Let their song spread all over your being. Sitting by the side of the ocean, just listen to the wild roar of the waves, become one with it… because that wild roar of the waves has no past, no future. If you can tune yourself with it, you will also become a wild roar. Hug a tree and relax into it. Feel its green shape rushing into your being. Lie down on the sand, forget the world, commune with the sand, the coolness of it; feel the coolness saturating you. Go to the river, swim, and let the river swim within you. Splash around, and become the splashing. Do whatsoever you feel you enjoy, and enjoy it totally. In those few moments, the past and future will disappear and you will be here now.” ~ Osho, Fame, Fortune, and Ambition
“Become a little more aware, and try to bring your consciousness more and more to the facticity of existence. See this flower; don’t think about that flower. Listen to this word I am uttering, not to that word that I am going to utter. Look right now. If you postpone even for a single, split moment, you miss. And then it becomes a habit, an ingrained habit. Tomorrow also you will miss, and the day after tomorrow also, because you will remain the same.” ~ Osho, Fame, Fortune, and Ambition
“Each desire is born out of the past, and each desire is projected in the future. The past and the future constitute your whole mind. Analyze the mind, dissect it, and you will find only two things: the past and the future. You will not find even an iota of the present, not even a single atom. And the present is the only reality, the only existence, the only dance there is.” ~ Osho, Fame, Fortune, and Ambition
“This is my idea of being successful—be a nobody! Just be ordinary, nobody, and life will be a tremendous joy to you. Just be simple. Don’t create complexities around yourself. Don’t create demands. Whatever comes on its own, receive it as a gift, and enjoy and delight in it. And millions are the joys that are being showered on you, but because of your demanding mind, you cannot see them. Your mind is in such a hurry to be successful, to be somebody special, that you miss all the glory that is just available.” ~ Osho, Fame, Fortune, and Ambition
“In the ultimate analysis of life, name and fame are just irrelevant. All that matters in the final reckoning is how you lived each moment of your life. Was it a joy, was it a celebration? In small things, were you happy? Taking a bath, sipping tea, cleaning the floor, roaming around the garden, planting trees, talking to a friend, or sitting silently with your beloved, or looking at the moon, or just listening to the birds—were you happy in all these moments? Was each moment a transformed moment of luminous happiness, was it radiant with joy? That’s what matters.” ~ Osho, Fame, Fortune, and Ambition
