If a seeker finds a ray of light, how should he take care of this experience?*

<...>So for twenty-four hours a day try to remember those moments in your life that have been magical and sacred. Recall those few moments and try to make them the foundation of your life. And try to forget even the long periods of pain, sorrow, hatred and violence; they don't have any value. Let them fade away. Just like the dry leaves fall from the trees, let go of all that is of no value and consciously go on gathering all that is meaningful and alive. This process should go on continuously. There should be a flow of pure, beautiful thoughts in your mind, full of love and happiness.

Then, step by step, you will find that the things you remember seem to happen more often and that what you are always longing for will start appearing all around you. And then the world will appear in a totally different light. The same people will appear different: the same eyes, the same flower and the same stone will appear to have a different meaning…something we have never even thought of because we are engrossed in a totally different world.

So as I have said, remember what you have experienced in meditation – the brightness, a ray, a little peace. Look after the small experiences that you have had just like a mother looks after her child. If you don't look after them they will die. The more valuable a thing is, the more need there is to take care of it. Animals also have children but they don't need much care; the less developed the animal, the less need there is to care for them. They take care of themselves. But on the ladder of evolution you will find that if a human child is not looked after properly it will not survive.

The higher the state of consciousness, the more protection is needed. The more precious the experience, the more care it requires. So even if you have only small experiences, look after them carefully.

You have asked how to take care of them? If I were to give you a few diamonds, how would you take care of them? If you were to find a valuable treasure, how would you take care of it? How would you keep it safe? Where would you keep it? You would want to hide it away; you would want to keep it close to your heart.

A beggar was dying in the hospital. When the priest visited him the doctors told him that he was going to die. So the priest went to him for his last rites. He told the beggar, "Fold your hands together."

But the beggar said, "Forgive me, but I cannot open one hand."

He was about to die and he could not open one of his hands. And a few moments later, he died. His hands were opened and they found a few dirty coins which he had collected. He had been holding these in his fist…a few dirty coins! He knew that he was going to die but he kept his hand closed.

You know how to take care of ordinary coins – everyone knows that – but you don't know how to look after that which is the most valuable. And you are like this beggar, with your fists closed. And when the time comes for your fists to be opened there will be nothing in them except for a few dirty coins.

Protect these experiences…they are the real coins. They may have inspired you, they may have given you fresh juice, they may have transformed something in you; something new may have been triggered in you, a longing for the ultimate may have arisen in you. So take care of them. I have explained both methods. If you go on experimenting with them you will understand.

* - Excerpt from OSHO. The Path of Meditation

Updated on 23-03-2020