Buddha’s First Noble Ituth is "There is suffering.” The modern equivalent is "Shit happens.”
Buddha was concerned with the basics: sickness, old age, and death; while we often get caught up
in "tragedies" like financial loss and relationship crises.
Life happens, and not all of it as we want or expect. When things don’t go according to our plans,
from a stock market crash or bad investment to an early death, do we react or respond? Can these
events be devices for a deeper realization and consciousness? Osho created devices to challenge us
and provoke us to break through our egos. If we’re paying attention, life seems to provide plenty
of devices all on its own.
Divine Devices
BYDHIREN
Dip into any Osho book (or discourse)
and you may well be dealing with an
instant device; for example, shortly before
getting the invitation to contribute to this
special issue of Viha Connection, 1 came
across this:
Basically there is only one way of discovering
the Buddha, the truth of your being. But there
are thousands of people with different states of
consciousness; hence for them, different devices,
different small streets joining to the main way
have to be created. [..._] But finally, whatever
fits will lead you to the ultimate way: turning in. Every
device is dedicated to the simple task of turning in. (The
Miracle, Chapter 9)
I think that pretty much sums it up: Devices are n o t
just shocks, they are also invitations; devices are n o t
just about suffering, they are there to wake us up,
to t u r n us on. and i n , perhaps to nudge us gently.
A glance, a.touch, an answered (or un-answered)
question from the Master, a challenge, a m o m e n t of
insight, a fight: Many of us have had a taste of these
kinds of devices around Osho. They seem to me to
arise out of the m o m e n t ; contextual, disposable, but
also infinitely recyclable.
I am more interested in those devices I experienced
with and around Osho that are still valid, the ones
that have n o t reached their sell-by date. What kinds
of devices are for the n o w and for the future? A r e
they to be found independent of a living Master, or
do those once-potent triggers inevitably become mere
nostalgia?
With or without a living Master, any so-called device
can become a ritualized belief or a redundant prac‑
tice. Orange robes and malas, koans and therapy pro‑
cesses, communities and relationships ‐ even sannyas
names, Osho reminded us, are n o t