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THESE FIVE LETTERS, SELECTED FROM MORE THAN 100 WRITTEN BY OSHO TO MA YOGA SOHAN FROM 1964 TO 1965, HAVE BEEN PRINTED IN THE HINDI PUBLICATION, PATH KE PRADEEP. AN ADDITIONAL TWENTY LETTERS HAVE ALSO BEEN TRANSLATED FOR THE BOOK, A CUP OF TEA.
(OTI 16 JULY 1990)
Beloved Sohan,
Choosing between truth and oneself, the one who chooses truth finds truth and his own being. And the one who chooses himself loses both.
Man has to lose himself before he becomes the truth. No one moves into truth without I paying this price. One's very existing is the barrier. One's very self veils the truth. The only obstruction is this vision. . . this seeing the world from the confined vision of "ego." Except this "ego vision," nothing separates man from the truth. Becoming the "I" is man's downfall. He falls down only in the gravitation of the "I", and only in losing the "I" does he rise above, into this blessed existence. To be the "I" is to be lower. To become the "no-I" is to rise above.
But what appears like losing I is in reality not losing -- it is gaining. The identity which you will lose is not your identity -- it is only a dream, and the identity you find when you lose it is the truth.
When it completely loses itself within the earth, the seed sprouts and becomes a tree.
Beloved Sohan,
One finds life only from knowing that which is inside one's being. One who doesn't know this is surrounded every moment by death and the fear of death.
A sadhu was asked by his friends, "If wicked people attack you, what will you do?" He said, "I will go sit inside my own strong fort." This conversation reached the ears of the enemies. Then one day the enemies surrounded him while he was alone and said, "O sadhu! Please tell us, where is your strong fort?" The sadhu began laughing and then, placing a hand on his heart, said, "This is my fort. No attack can ever be made on it. The body can be destroyed, but that which is inside cannot be. This is my very fort. My only security is to know my way there. "
The person who doesn't know this strong fort his entire life is insecure. His life is surrounded by enemies every moment. Such
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