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Happy New Year!
If the whole
history of the world were condensed into one year, with us standing at the
end of that vast year, it would look something like this.
The earth is
formed on the first day of January. It is only in December that the
continents start drifting into their present position. The dinosaurs become
extinct about five days before the end of the year, and not until about
midday on the 31st of December does man evolve from the monkeys.
From where we are standing – at midnight on New Year's Eve – the Ice Age
took place just over a minute ago, and Buddha, Lao Tzu and Socrates appear
only seventeen seconds ago. The whole of modern times since the birth of
Karl Marx happens in the last second before midnight. When I think of you
as the crowning glory of this long year, it seems to me, whether or not
there is a New Year's Day, the experiment succeeded.
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There will be a
New Year's Day. The forces of darkness may be great but they can't stand
even a small flame of a candle. Their greatness is only an appearance,
because basically darkness has no existence of its own. It is only the
absence of light. Light has its own existence, and to have one's own
existence is the true power. The dawn is bound to come. The night may be
long. The agony may be great. The darkness may be becoming more and more
dark but nothing can prevent the new man arising on the horizon. In a way,
he has already come, he has just to be recognized.
One thing has
always to be remembered, that whatsoever is destructive is impotent, only
creativity has potentiality, is potent. Hate, anger, jealousy, despair --
they may overwhelm you for a moment, and you may think that all is lost, but
all these things are impotent. They cannot destroy the eternal being in you.
In fact, the situation today is more destructive than it was ever before.
But as I see it, it may prove a blessing in disguise. Nuclear weapons have
made war itself out of date. It is meaningless. There cannot be a third
world war, and the whole credit goes to nuclear weapons -- because now there
is no point having a war. Nobody is going to be victorious, nobody is going
to be defeated, all are going to be destroyed. The third world war will be a
global suicide, and life is not ready to commit suicide. Life wants more
life. Love wants more love. All that is beautiful and real in existence has
an inner urge to expand. So I can say it with absolute certainty that the
third world war is never going to happen. But it has created a great
opportunity, a pressure on the consciousness of man, that if you remain as
sleepy as you are it is dangerous. Something has to be done to bring more
consciousness, to bring more love, to bring more light. The nuclear weapons
are serving in two ways. First, they have stopped the possibility of the
third world war, and secondly they have awakened man towards growing into a
better consciousness, into a more harmonious existence.
As far as I can
see, everything is just going fine.
--Excerpted from:
The Transmission of the Lamp by Osho
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