The Heart of Yoga. Osho

this life, when a videha – one who has understood that he is not the body, who has attained asampragyata samadhi – comes in the world, it is just to finish accounts. His whole life consists of finishing accounts; millions of lives, many relationships, many involvements, commitments – everything has to be closed.

      It happened…

      Buddha arrived at a village; the whole village had gathered together, and they were eager to listen to him. It was a rare opportunity because even the capital cities were continually inviting him, and he never visited. He had come to this small, out-of-the-way village without any invitation. The villagers would never have gathered enough courage to ask him to come to their village. It was small with just a few huts, and he had arrived without an invitation! The whole village was afire with excitement, and he was sitting under a tree and not speaking.

      They asked him, “Who are you waiting for? Everybody is here; the whole village is here. You can start.”

      Buddha replied, “But I have to wait because I have come for someone who is not here. A promise has to be fulfilled, an account closed. I am waiting for that one.”

      A girl arrived, and Buddha started. After he had finished speaking, they asked him, “Were you waiting for this girl?” The girl belonged to the untouchables, to the lowest caste. Nobody thought that Buddha was waiting for her.

      He replied, “Yes, I was waiting for her. When I was traveling here, she met me on the road and said, ‘Wait, because I am going to the other town for some work, but I will come soon.’ Somewhere in a past life I had given her a promise that when I became enlightened I would come and tell her what had happened to me. That account has to be closed. That promise is hanging on to me and if I cannot fulfill it, I will have to come again.”

      A videha or a prakriti-laya… Both words are beautiful. Videha means bodiless. When you attain asampragyata samadhi the body is present, but you become bodiless. You are no longer the body. The body becomes the abode – you are not identified with it.

      So these two terms are beautiful. Videha means one who knows that he is not the body – he knows, remember, not believes. And prakriti-laya, because one who knows that he is not the body, is no longer the prakriti, the nature.

      The body belongs to the material. Once you’re not identified with the matter within you, you are not identified with the matter without, outside. A man who attains the state that he is no longer a body, attains that he is no longer the manifested, the prakriti – his nature is dissolved. There is no longer “the world” for him; he is not identified, he has become a witness to it. Such a man is also born at least once because he has to close many accounts; many promises have to be fulfilled, many karmas to be dropped.

      It happened…

      Buddha’s cousin, Devadatta, was against him; he tried to kill him in many different ways. Once, when Buddha was sitting under a tree, meditating, Devadatta pushed a big rock down from the top of a hill. Everyone ran away as the rock rolled down. Buddha remained there sitting under the tree – it was dangerous, the rock rolled down just touching him, brushing him.

      Ananda asked him, “Why didn’t you get out of the way when we all did? There was enough time.”

      Buddha replied, “There is enough time for you. My time is over. Devadatta has to do it. In the past, in some other life there was some karma. I must have given him some pain, some anguish, some anxiety. It has to be closed. If I escape, if I do anything, a new line starts again.”

      A videha, a man who has attained asampragyata, does not react. He simply watches, witnesses. This is the fire of witnessing which burns all the seeds in the unconscious, and a moment comes when the soil is absolutely pure; there is no seed waiting to sprout. Then there is no need to come back. First the nature dissolves, and then he dissolves himself into the universe.

      Videhas and prakriti-layas attain asampragyata samadhi because they ceased to identify themselves with their bodies in their previous life. They take rebirth because seeds of desire remained. I am here to fulfill something; you are here to close my account. You are not here accidentally. There are millions of people in the world. Why are you here and not somebody else? Something has to be closed.

      Others who attain asampragyata samadhi attain through faith, effort, recollection, concentration, and discrimination.

      So these are the two possibilities. If you have attained asampragyata samadhi in your past life, in this life you are born a buddha – just a few seeds have to be fulfilled, have to be dropped, burned. That’s why I say that you are born almost a buddha. There is no need for you to do anything, you simply have to watch whatever happens.

      Hence Krishnamurti’s continuous insistence that there is no need to do anything. It is right for him, it is not right for his listeners. For his listeners, there is much that needs to be done, and they will be misguided by this statement. He is speaking about himself. He was born an asampragyata buddha, he was born a videha, he was born a prakriti-laya.

      When he was just five years old he was taking a bath near Adyar, and one of the greatest Theosophists, Leadbeater, was watching him. He was a totally different type of child. If somebody threw mud at him, he would not react. There were many children playing there. If somebody pushed him into the river, he would simply go with it. Yes, he was not angry, he was not fighting. He had a totally different quality – the quality of an asampragyata buddha.

      Leadbeater called Annie Besant and told her to watch this child. He was no ordinary child, and the whole Theosophical movement whirled around him. They hoped very much that he would become an avatar – that he would become the perfect master for this age. But the problem was very deep.

      They had chosen the right person, but they hoped wrongly – because a man who is born an asampragyata buddha cannot even be active as an avatar. All activity has ceased. He can simply watch – he can be a witness. You cannot make him very active. He can be only a passivity. They had chosen the right person, but still wrong…

      They hoped very much… And the whole movement whirled around Krishnamurti. When he dropped out and said, “I cannot do anything because nothing is needed,” the whole movement flopped because they had too many hopes for him, and the whole thing turned out completely differently. But this could have been prophesied.

      Annie Besant, Leadbeater and others, were very beautiful people, but not really aware of Eastern methods. They had learned a lot from books, scriptures, but they did not exactly know the secret which Patanjali is showing: that an asampragyata, a videha, is born, but he is not active. He is a passivity. So much can happen through him, but that can happen only if somebody comes and surrenders to him. He is a passivity, he cannot force you to do something. He is available, but he cannot be aggressive.

      His invitation is for everybody and for all. It is an open invitation, but he cannot send you a particular invitation because he cannot be active. He is an open door; if you like, you can pass through. The last life is an absolute passivity, just witnessing. This is one way asampragyata buddhas are born from their past life.

      But you can become an asampragyata buddha in this life too. For them Patanjali says, “Shraddha virya smriti samadhi pragya.” Others who attain asampragyata samadhi attain through faith, effort, recollection, concentration, and discrimination. It is almost impossible to translate it, so I will explain rather than translate – just to give you the feel, because the words will misguide you.

      Shraddha is not exactly faith, it is more like trust. Trust is very, very different from faith. Faith is something you are born into, trust is something you grow in. Hinduism is a faith; to be a Christian is a faith, to be a Mohammedan is a faith. But to be a disciple here with me is a trust. Remember – I cannot claim faith. Jesus also could not claim faith because faith is something you are born into. Jews were faithful; they had faith. In fact, that is why they destroyed Jesus because they thought that he was bringing them out of their faith, and destroying it. He was asking for trust. Trust is a personal intimacy, it is not