There is no need to fight with others — it is a sheer wastage of energy. There are many things inside we have to fight against: the ego, greed, violence, ambitiousness, possessiveness, and so on, so forth. These are the real enemies — fight with them. And the art of fighting with them is meditation.
Watch them, be aware of them, because there are a few things which simply disappear by watching. If you can be aware of your anger the anger will disappear. Try it and you will be surprised. Just watch it arising, see the cloud surrounding you, trying to pull you in, making every effort to seduce you. Just remain aloof, a watcher on the hills, far away, just a witness and you will be surprised; within minutes the cloud is gone. And when the cloud of anger goes without affecting you, you fall into such a beautiful silence which you may not have known before at all. It is the silence that follows the storm. It is really penetrating, it goes to the deepest core of your being. It is a great nourishment for the soul.
So watch the inner enemies, meditate on the inner enemies, and slowly slowly they start dying of their own accord. A moment comes when you are there and there is nothing to watch. A contentless consciousness — that is the ultimate peak of meditation. You have won, you are victorious.
Desires are many, needs are few. Needs can be fulfilled; desires, never.
That’s very good. It seems that many times we go on carrying many things which are useless, and we never think why we are carrying them. They can become almost a crushing weight. Needs are very few and a man who understands what is needful will always be happy and blissful. Desires are many, needs are few. Needs can be fulfilled; desires, never. A desire is a need gone crazy. It is impossible to fulfill it. The more you try to fulfill it, the more it goes on asking, asking, asking.
There is a sufi story that when Alexander died and he reached heaven, he was carrying all his weight – his whole kingdom, gold, diamonds – of course not in reality, but in an idea. Ideas have as much weight; in fact an idea is the real weight. He was burdened too much by being Alexander. The gatekeeper started laughing and he said ’Why are you carrying so much of a burden?’
Alexander said ’What burden?’ because really he was carrying nothing. Everything was in the head, but the head was very heavy.
The gatekeeper gave him a scale and put an eye on one side of the scale. He told Alexander to put all his weight, all his greatness, treasures, kingdom, on the other side of the scale. Alexander put all his kingdom, all his wealth, his victories, and everything there. That one eye still remained heavier than all his kingdom, so finding no other way, he himself jumped onto the scales, but still the one eye remained heavier.
He said to the gatekeeper, ’I cannot understand how such a small eye can be so weighty. What is it? Are you playing some trick, some magic with me?’
The gatekeeper said, ’This is a human eye. It represents human desire… the outgoing desire.’
’It cannot be fulfilled, howsoever great the kingdom and howsoever great your efforts. Even a single human eye full of desires cannot be fulfilled.’
Then Alexander said ’Then what is the way to fulfill it?’
The gatekeeper threw a little dust into the eye. The eye immediately blinked and lost all its weight. It was immediately weightless.
The story is beautiful. A little dust of understanding has to be thrown into the eye of desire. The desire disappears and only needs remain, and they are not weighty. Needs are very few… needs are beautiful. Desires are ugly and they make monsters of men. They create mad people. This has been a good insight for you. Remember it always, and always choose that which is more peaceful.
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