| 10uvLNIZ OHSO|pure -anecnr Gs towards life Pau reo sett ted arent Centon aes VAD SCR ae co Resim ens It accepts all that is PR ened Nea Creek pa cos) ISBN 978-0-312-11733-7 SN PAK edALso BY OSHO, Tarot in the Spirit of Zen ~The Game of Life ‘The Book of Secrets — 112 Keys to Unlock the Mystery Within Medication ~The First and Last Freedom Love Freedom Aloneness ~The Koan of Relationships Sex Matters Autobiography of a Spiritually Incorrect Mystic Osho Transformation Tarot {fy Love ~A Spiritual Journey Yaga ~ The Science of the Soul Tao ~The Pathless Path Zen ~The Path of Paradox The Art of Tea ~ Medications To Awaken Your Spirit India Insights for a New Way of Living series: Courage ~The Joy of Living Dangerously Greativity ~ Unleashing the FarcesWithin Macurity ~The Responsibility of Being Oneself Awareness ~The Key to Living in Balance Intuition ~ Knowing Beyond Logie Intimacy —Trusting Oneself and the OtherZen knows only a vase life which contains all kinds of contradictions in a deep harmony. The night is im harmony with the day, ‘and life is in harmony with death, ‘and the earth isin harmony with the sky. The presence is in harmony with the absence. This immense harmony, this synchronicity, is the essential Manifesto of Zen. This is the only way of life which respects and loves, «and denies nothing, condemns nothing. Osno-Tit Zen MasirestoOSHO ZEN TAROT St. Martin’s PressCopyright notice: Copyright © 1994 Osho International Foundation Switzerland, www.osho.com /copyrights All rights reserved. OSHO™ and Osho Zen Tarot are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Osho International Foundation, used with permission. Printed in Germany. No Part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, NewYork, N.Y. 10010 Original Illustrations by Deva Padma Edited by Sarito Carol Neiman Commentaries based on descriptions by Deva Padma Design by Amiyo Ruhnke & Deva Sandipa ‘Typesetting and computer graphics by Sambodhi Prem Production by Kamal ISBN 978-0-312-11733-7 ISBN 0-312-11733-7 First published in Great Britain by Boxtree Limited Second EditionINTRODUCTION ‘Tue Oso Zen Tarot How To PLAY THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN Major ARCANA MINOR ARCANA, ‘CARD SPREADS OR LAYOUTS: GLossagy OF SyMBOLS, Ostt0, THE SOURCE OF INSPIRATION... ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR List OF REFERENCES FURrHer INFORMATION, 160 166 168 3 1% 176 THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN0 mt uw vu vu x x xt THE FOOL, EXISTENCE INNER VOICE. CREATIVITY THE REBEL... NO-THINGNESS.. THE LOVERS... AWARENESS. COURAGE, ALONENESS CHANGE BREAKTHROUGH OSHO ZEN TAROT 2 “4 16 Is 20 2 4 XII NEWVISION .. XII TRANSFORMATION . XIV__ INTEGRATION XV CONDITIONING XVI THUNDERBOLT XVIE_ SILENCE XVII PASTLIVES XIX INNOCENCE XX BEYOND ILLUSION XXI_ COMPLETION, THE MASTER MAJOR ARCANA 26 228 30 2 4 36 38 40 46MINOR ARCANA FIRE: MASTERY OF ACTION Cioups: Mastery oF MIND King of Fire # THE Creator. 48 King of Clouds * ConTnot Queen of Fire # SHARING. . 50, Queen of Clouds ¢ MorALITY ., Knight of Fire # INTENSITY 3 Knight of Clouds # Fina Page of Fire @ PLAYFULNESS 54 Page of Clouds # MIND. ‘Waren: MASTERY OF EMOTIONS | Rainsows: MASTERY OFTHE PHYSICAL King of Water # HEALING... 56 King of Rainbows # AnuxbaNce Queen of Water # Recernvrry.. 58 Queen of Rainbows # FLOWERING Knight of Water # Trust o Knight of Rainbows # Stowine Down Page of Water # UNDERSTANDING. ° Page of Rainbows # ADVENTURE 66 68 ” n ” 76 ® THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZENMINOR ARCANA Sur oF Fire | Sur onwaree 2of Fire # POSSIILTIS ascssmnnimnn 8 | 2ofWater + FRIENDLINESS... of Fire « EXPERIENCING 82 | Sof Water © Cetranartow 4 of Fire « Paxricrarion * 4 of Water © TURNING IY. S of Fire # Toraury &6 5 of Water # CUNGINGTO-THE PAST 6 of Fire Success ss 6 of Water « Tae Daeaw Tol Fire # STRESS. %0 7 of Water + Projecrions 8 of Fire © Thaveuns ed 8 of Water # Letnve Go. 9 of Fire # Exhaustion 94 | Sof Water # Laziness. 10 of Fire + SurpREssion 9 10 of Water # Hannon ACE of Fire « THE Source so 98 ACE of Water © Gorse wrt FLOW... OSHO ZEN TAROT 100 102 104 106 tos 0 12 114 116 nsMINOR ARCANA Sutr oF CLoups Surr oF RAINBOWS 2 of Clouds # ScHizoPHRENIA . 120 2of Rainbows # Moment To Momenr. 3 of Clouds ¢ Ice-oLarion 12 3 of Rainbows # Guipance 4 of Clouds # PostpoNeMENT. 14 4 of Rainbows # THE Miser 5 of Clouds ¢ Comparison 126 5 of Rainbows * THe Oursiper 6 of Clouds THe BURDEN 128 6 of Rainbows * ComPKoMse of Clouds + Pournics 30 7of Rainbows * PATHNCE. Sof Clouds « Gurr 212 8 of Rainbows # OxbiNaniness. of Clouds + SoRRow 14 9 of Rainbows # RIENESS... 10 of Clouds # Rewikt#. 2136 10 of Rainbows # We aKe THE WORLD ACE of Clouds. ¢ Consciousness, 138 ACE of Rainbows # MaTuRITY.. 152 154 156 2158 THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZENGrateful acknowledgement is given to the following people for helping to create this book: ‘Anand Zeno Dhyan Sammadhi Deva Prem Deva Ayama And to Emma Kunz, for inspiration for the card ‘Healing’ Acknowledgement for glossary references is given to J.C. Cooper, The Hlustrated Encyclopacdia of Traditional Symbols. Thames & Hudson. X + OSHO ZEN TAROTD™™ the course of thirty years of talks to disci ples and friends, Osho would answer their questions, or comment on the teachings of the world's great sages and scriptures. His talks continue to bring fresh insight to everything, from obscure Vedic scrip- tures to the familiar sayings of Jesus. He speaks with equal authority on the Hassids and the Sufis, the Bauls, Yoga and the Buddhists. Ultimately Osho con- centrates on transmitting the unique wiscom of Zen, because, he says, Zen is the one spiritual tradition whose approach to the inner life of human beings has weathered the test of time and is still relevant to con- temporary humanity. Unlike other religions, which have fallen prey to hero worship and dogmatism, Zen insists on the unique capacity of every human being to reach enlightenment ~ or freedom from the illusions of ego created by the mind. And it insists that this capacity ‘can be realized only through meditation. Not by fol- lowing certain rituals, adhering to a set of rules, or imitating the example of others, however worthy, but only by an alert and non-judgmental attentiveness to one’s own thoughts, actions and feelings. When we practice this alertness, this meditative approach to life, it soon brings the awareness that we each con- tain an unchanging, undisturbed, and eternal center of watchfulness — a center that has the capacity to see life as a great adventure, a play, a mystery school, and, finally, a blissful journey with no purpose other than to delight in every step along the way In Osho’s words, it is the capacity not to worship bbuddhas but to become a buddha; not to follow others but to develop the awareness within that brings a quality of light and love to all that we do. THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN XIOsho has always been more than just an orator or philosopher, however. In the commune of friends that has surrounded him he has created an atmosphere where the truths he speaks of can be directly experi- enced. To travel the path in the company of Osho is not to retreat to the mountains to lead a life of asceti- cism and repose, far away from the marketplace. On the contrary, itis to engage oneself totally in the task of waking up, through a rich variety of meditations, physical healing and psychological therapies, lots of laughter and playfulness, and healthy doses of eres ity and hard work, Cleaning the floor is as much a meditation as sitting silently in the presence of the ‘master, and confronting the power struggles of one’s fellow workers in the kitchen is as significant as understanding the Diamond Sutra spoken by Gautam Buddha, Even the ups and downs of love aflairs have XII # OSHO ZEN TAROT. their place in the journey to discover who we are. It is in the context of this approach to life, this commitment to making the whole of life a medita- tion, that this tarot deck was created, And it is dedi- cated to the buddha within each and every one of us. + The buedha is nobody's monopoly, it is nobody's copyright. Ic is everybody's innermost being You don’t have to be a Buddhist to be a buddha. To be a buddha transcends all concepts of religions; itis everybody's birthright. Pesuade it to come along with you, 1 your daily activities, so everything in your life becomes a meditation, a grace, a beauty, a benediction. Oso: No Miso; THe Flowers oF ErERNITY SariteT has been in existence for thousands of years, ince ancient Egypt or perhaps even before. The first known use of the tarot in the West was in the Middle Ages. During those turbulent times, the imagery of the tarot was used as a code in transmit- ting the teachings of the medieval mystery schools Over time, tarot has been used in many ways as a tool for predicting the future, as a lighthearted ‘par- lor game’, a way to gather unseen, ‘occult’ informa- tion about various situations, etcetera Some say that the number of cards is based on the number of steps taken by the infant Siddhartha — later to become Gautama the Buddha ~ as soon as he was born, He walked seven steps forward and seven steps backward in each of the four cardinal diree- tions, says the legend, and this became the model for the ‘minor’ cards in the tarot | __ In addition to these 56 cards of the Minor Arcana, the tarot contains an additional 22 cards, the Major Arcana, which tell the complete story of the human spiritual journey. From the first innocent step of The | Fool, to the culmination of the journey represented by the card of Completion, we find in the Major Arcana the archetypal images that connect us all as human beings. They tell of a journey of self-discovery that is absolutely unique to each individual, while the core truths to be discovered are the same regardless ous upbringing of race, gender, class or r In the traditional tarot deck this journey of self discovery was perceived as a kind of spiral, with each Completion leading to a néw level on the path, a new beginning with the re-entry of The Fool. In this deck, however, the Master card has been added. This card allows us to leave the spiral behind, to take a THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN # XIIIjump off the wheel of death and rebirth. The Master card symbolizes the ultimate transcendence of jour- neying itself, a transcendence that becomes possible only through the dissolving of the separate, ind ual ego in enlightenment. Osho Zen Tarot is definitely not a traditional tarot in the sense that you play with prediction. Rather it is a transcendental game of Zen which mirrors the moment, unwaveringly presenting what is here, now, without judgment or comparison. This game is a wake-up call to tune in to sensitivity, intuition, com- passion, receptivity, courage and individuality, This focus on awareness is one of the many innova tions to the old systems and thinking of the tarot that will soon become obvious to experienced users as they begin to work with the Osho Zen Tarot XIV ¢ OSHO ZEN TAROT Tut Mayor ARCANA Yhese 22 cards are numbered with roman num- erals from 0 to XI in this deck and represent the central, archetypal themes of the human spiritual journey, The Master card, symbolizing transcen. dence, has no number. When a Major Arcana card appears in a reading, it has special significance above and beyond the cards of the Minor Arcana, It tells us that our current circum, stances are giving us an opportunity to examine one of the central themes of our own individual spiritual journey. It will be particularly helpful to examine other cards in reference to this central theme ~ for ‘example, “What does the fact that I've been working too hard (Exhaustion) tell me about my need for self expression (Creativity)? How am [ thwarting my progress in the journey towards creativity by puttingall my energy into keeping the ‘machine’ going? If there are no Major Arcana cards in the reading, chances are the current situation is a transient sub- plot of the larger play of your life, This doesn’t mean that itis unimportant, or that you should feel foolish to be so strongly affected by it, but the very absence ‘of Major Arcana cards can reassure you that ‘this too will pass’, and later on you might very well wonder what all the fuss was about Finally, if there are Major Arcana cards in a reading it can indicate that a major change of scenes and char- acters in the play is taking place. There are times, in fact, when the profusion of Major Arcana cards is so overwhelming that you might want to choose just fone of them — the one that strikes you with th est message ~ as the centerpiece of a new reading to help you understand what you are facing now THE Minor ARCA hese 56 cards are divided into four suits repre- senting the four elements, each marked with a particular color-coded diamond to distinguish them, and of the predominant color of the suit. The cards of the Water suit have a blue diamond, those of Fire, red, Clouds have a gray diamond, and Rainbows, a rainbow-colored diamond. As in a regular deck of playing cards, the suits of the tarot each contain “court cards’ which have here been stripped of the importance of their aristocratic feudal titles and given names to simply represent the different oportunities for mastery over the four elements that they occupy ‘The suit of Fire corresponds to the Wands of the traditional tarot, and represents the realm of action and response, the energy that moves us into situa- tions and out of them again when we follow our gut THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN # XVfeelings’ rather than our minds or our emotions. ‘The Water suit replaces the traditional Cups, rep- resenting the emotional side of life, and tends to be a more ‘feminine’ and recep\ which is more ‘masculine’ and outgoing. Clouds have been chosen to replace Swords, tradi- tionally the suit of air, representing the mind. This is because the nature of the unenlightened mind is pre: cisely cloud-like in the way it blocks light and dark- ‘energy than Fire, ens the landscape around us, preventing us from seeing things as they really are. But there is another aspect to clouds that must not be overlooked ~ they come and go, and are therefore not to be taken too seriously! Finally, the suit of Rainbows in this deck takes the place of the traditional suit of Disks, or Pentacles, representing the earth element, This is traditionally XVI # OSHO ZEN TAROT the element representing the practical, material side of life. But in keeping with the attitude of Zen, that even the most humble, earthy activities contain an opportunity to celebrate the sacred, the Rainbow has been chosen for this suit. In using the Rainbow — which bridges the earth and sky, matter and spirit — we remind ourselves that in reality there is no sep. aration between the lower and the higher, that indeed it is a continuum of one total energy. that heaven is not some remote place high in the sky, but a reality waiting to be discovered right here on earth. So here is a journey of discovery, and the way to the ultimate transcendence of it all. Go lightly and playfully, from the peaks to the valleys and back to the peaks again, savoring every step of the way Learn from your mistakes and you can’t go wrong,viously you can ask the tarot what you like, although it is in fact a vehicle for exposing what you already know. Any card drawn in response to an issue is a direct reflection of what you are sometimes unable or unwilling to recognize at this time, And yet it is only through recognition (without judging as right or wrong) from a detached perspec- tive that you can begin to fully experience your height and depth being. When consulting the ‘mirror’ of the tarot, shuffle the cards well, imagining them as a receptacle into which you are pouring your energies. When you feel all the colors of our rainbow ready, fan them face down, and using your left hand (the receptive), select cards in response to your pre: sent issue, Remember to stay in the moment as you turn the cards over, allowing your inner responses | to clarify your outer issues. As you will experience, the images of the Osho Zen Tarot are alive. Their impact is undeniable, for they speak to us in a language that our deeper selves recognize, They awaken understanding. They provoke clarity. Included in the back of the book are a few spreads or layouts to play with (see page 160), but ultimately you will develop your own way of using the cards. Re creative ~ the possibilities are limitless Be as silent and focused as possible when you are using this deck. The more you are able to perceive the process as a gift for your individual growth, the ‘more meaningful the messages will be for you, THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN # 1COMMENTARY Mc to moment, and with every sep, the Fool leaves the past behind, He carries nothing more than his purity, innocence and trust, symbolized he white rose in bis hand, The pattern on his waistcoat contains the colors of all four elements of the tarot, indicating that he is in harmony wich all that surrounds him. His inewition is functioning at its peak, At this moment the Foo! has the support of the universe 0 make him in the ver of life. + The card ind jump into the unknown. Adventures aw icates that if you trust your intuition right now, your f of the “rightness” of things, ‘Jou cannot go wrong. Your actions may appear ‘foolish’ to others, or even to yoursel, if you try to analyze them with the rational mind. But the ‘ero place occupied by the Fool is the numberless number where trust and innocence are the guides, not skepticism and past experience 2 + OSHO ZEN TAROTa THE Foot + FOOL iS ONE who goes on trusting; a fool is fone who goes on trusting against all his experience. You deceive him, and he trusts you; and you deceive him again, and he trusts you; and you deceive him again, and he trusts you. Then you will say that he is a fool, he does not learn. His trust is tremendous; his trust is so pure that nobody can corrupt it. Be a fool in the Taoist sense, in the Zen sense. Don't try to create a wall of knowledge around you, What- socver experience comes to you, let it happen, and then go on dropping it, Go on cleaning your mind continuously; go on dying to the past so you remain in the present, here-now, as if just born, just a babe. In the beginning it is going to be very difficult. The world will start taking advantage of you...let them. ‘They are poor fellows. Even if you are cheated and deceived and robbed, let it happen, because that which is really yours cannot be robbed from you, that which is really yours nobody can steal from you. And each time you don’t allow situations to corrupt, you, that opportunity will become an integration inside, Your soul will become more crystallized. THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN + 34+ OSHO ZEN TAROT COMMENTARY T his naked figure sits on 1 at the beauty of the night not a physical place She knows that ‘home’ is n the ouiside world, but an inner qual of relaxation and acceptance. The stars, the rocks, the tees, the flowers, fish and birds — all are our brothers and sisters in this dance of life. We human beings tend to forget this, as we pursue ur own private agendas and beliove we must fight to get what we need, But ultimatel illusion, manufactueed by 0 1e narrow preoccupations of the mind, + Now is the time to look at whet wa ore aloe x you are allowing “yourself to receive the extraordinary gift of feeling ‘at home wherever you are. Ifyou are, be sure to tke time to savor i s other hand you've feeling like the w break, Go outside tonight and look in with you. Ifon fs out to get you, it’ eime ro take @EXISTENCE + + + universe will feel a small place is vacant which cannot be ‘OU ARE NoT acciden: tal, Existence needs you. Without you something will be missing in existence and nobody can replace it filled by anybody except you, This gives you a tremendous joy, a fulfillment that you are related That’s what gives you dignity, that the whole exis to existence, and existence cares for you. Once you tence will miss you, The stars and sun and moon, are clean and clear, you can see tremendous love the trees and birds and earth — everything in the falling on you from all dimensions.’ THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN + 5.6 + OSHO ZEN TAROT he lance Voice speaks not in words but in the wordless language of the heart. Ics like an oracle who only speaks the truth. If it had a face, it would be like the face at the center ‘of this card ~ alert, watchful, and able to accept both che dark and the light, symbolized by the two hands holding the cry The crystal itself represents the clarity that comes from transcending ell dualittes, The Inner Voice can also be playful cs it dives deep into the emotions and emerges again to soar towards the sk, like ewo dolphins dancing in the waters of lie Ik is connected with the cosmos, through the crescent-moon crown, and the sarth, as represented by the green leaves on the figure's kimono, + There are times in our lives when too many toices seem to be pulling us this way and that. Our very confusion in such situations isa reminder to seek silence and centering within, Only then are we able co hear our truth,U INNER VOICE + F YOU HAVE FOUND your truth within yourself there is nothing more in this whole existence I When you open your eyes, it is truth opening his to find, Truth is functioning through you, eyes, When you close your eyes, it is truth who is losin; its eves. This is a tremendous meditation. If you can simply understand the device, you don’t have to do any thing; whatever you are doing is being done by truth, You are walking, it is truth; you are sleeping, it is truth resting; you are speaking, is truth speak- ing; you are silent, it is truth that is silent, + + This is one of the most simple meditation tech- niques. Slowly, slowly everything settles by this simple formula, and then there is no need for the technique. When you are cured, you throw away the medita- tion, you throw away the medicine. Then you live as truth — alive, radiant, contented, blissful, a song unto yourself. Your whole life becomes a prayer without any words, or better to say a prayerfulness, a grace, a beauty which does not belong to our mun- dane world, a ray of light coming from the beyond into the darkness of our world.’ THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN # 78 + OSHO ZEN TAROT rom the alchemy of fre and water below to the divine light ‘possessed by” the creative force. Really, the experience of creativity isan entry into the mysterious. Technique, expertise and knowledge are just tools; the key is to abandon oneself to the enengy that fuels the birth of oll things. This energy has no form or structure, yet all the forms and seructares come out of i. + ic makes no difference what particular form your creativity takes ~it can be painting or singing, planting a garden or making a meal. The important thing isto be open to what wants Co be expresed through you. Remember that we don’t possess our creations; they do not belong to us. True creativity arises from a union with the divine, with the mystical and the tunknowable. Then itis both a joy forthe creator and a blessing to othersHl CREATIVITY + REATIVITY 15 THE QUALITY that you bring to the activi ( that you are doing. It is an atti- things... tude, an inner approach ~ how you look at - Not everybody can be a painter — and there is no need also, If everybody is a painter the world will be very ugly; it will be difficult to live. And not everybody can be a dancer, and there is no reed. But everybody can be creative. ru do it Whatsoever you do, if you do it joyfully lovingly, if your act of doing is not purely economi- cal, then it is creative. If you have something grow- ing out of it within you, if it gives you growth, it is + + spiritual, itis creative, itis divine. You become more divine as you become more cre~ ative, All the religions of the world have said God is the creator. I don’t know whether he is the creator or not, but one thing I know: the more creative you become, the more godly you become. When your creativity comes to a climax, when your whole life becomes creative, you live in-God. So he must be the creator because people who have been creative have been closest to him. Love what you do, Be meditative while you are doing it~ whatsoever it is!* THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN # 910 # OSHO ZEN TAROT Ider is an T' powerful and authoritative figure inthis card is cleanly the master of his own destiny. On bis sho emblem of the sun, and the torch he h symbolizes the light of his own hard-won truth, Whether he is wealthy or poor, the Rebel broken the chain, really an emperor ts repressive conditioning and opinions, He has formed himself by embracing all the the rainkow, emerging from the dark and formless roots of bis unconscious past and growing wings to fly into the sky. His very nay of being is rebellious ~ not because he is fighting against anybody or anything, but because he has discovered his own true nature and is determined to live in accordance with it, The cand sky. + agle 1s his spirit animal, « messenger between ear The Rebel challenges us to b sake courageous enough to r 9 responsibility for who we are and to Five our truth,THE + EOPLE ARE AFRAID, very much afraid of those power, a certain aura and a certain magnet ism, a charisma that can take out alive, young people from the traditional imprisonment The enlightened man cannot be enslaved ~ that is the difficulty — and he cannot be imprisoned. Every genius who has known something of the inner is bound to be a little difficult to be absorbed; he is going to be an IV REBEL + + upsetting force. The masses don’t want to be dis- turbed, even though they may be in misery; they are in misery, but they are accustomed to the misery: | And anybody who is not miserable looks like a stranger, The enlightened man is the greatest stranger in the world; he does not seem to belong to anybody. No. organization confines him, no community, no society, no nation,” THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN ¢ IIOSHO ZEN TAROT COMMENTARY hint of what choices and possibilities might lie ahead. But it universe All you can do now is to relax into this ne thingness. s silence between the words. ..watch 4 he oungoing and incoming breav NO-THINGNESS os 4 4 In the beginning is nature, in the end is nature, so UDDHA HAS CHOSEN one of the really very | potential. It is unmanifest yet, but it contains al. Be words — shunyata, The Engl ‘word, the English equivalent, ‘nothingness’, | why in the middle do you make so much fuss? Why, is not such a beautiful word. in the middle, becoming so worried, so anxious, so “That's why I would like to make it ‘no-thingness’ — | ambitious — why ereate such despair? because the nothing is not just nothing, it is all. It is Nothingness to nothingness is the whole journey.” vibrant with all possibilities. It is potential, absolute THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN # 1314 # OSHO ZEN TAROT COMMENTARY Ww" we call love is really a whole spectrum of relating reaching from the earth t0 the sky. At the most earthy level, love is sexual attraction. Many of us remain stuck there, because our conditioning has burdened our sexuality with all ectations and re kinds of essions. Actually the biggest ‘problem’ with sexual love is that it never lasts. Only if we accept this fact can we chen really celebrate it for what it is hye with gratitude when welcome its happening, and say go in’s no. Then as we mature, we can begin to experience the love that of the other. We begin to understand that our partner often ‘duality sts beyond sexuality and honors the unique ind functions as a mirror, reflecting unseen aspécts of our deeper self and supporting us to become whole. This love is based in freedom, nov expectation or need. Its wings take us higher and higher towards the universal lore that experiences all as one.A VI THE LOVERS + hese three things are to be taken note of: the lowest love is sex — it is physical ~ and the highest refinement of love is compas ex is below love, compassion is above love; sion, S love is exactly in the middle. Very few people know what love is. Ninety-nine percent of people, unfortunately, think sexuality is love ~ it is not, Sexuality is very animal; it certainly has the potential of growing into love, but it is not actual love, only a potential. If you become aware and alert, meditative, then sex can be transformed into love. And if your + + meditativeness becomes total, absolute, love can be transformed into compassion, Sex is the seed, love is the flower, compassion is the fragrance, Buddha has defined compassion as ‘love plus medita tion’. When your love is not just a desire for the other, when your love is not only a need, when your low is a sharing, when your love is not that of a beg- gar but an emperor, when your love is not asking for something in return but is ready only to give ~ to tive for the sheer joy of giving ~ then add meditation | to it and the pure fragrance is released. That is com- | passion; compassion is the highest phenomenon.” THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN ¢ 1516 # OSHO ZEN TAROT commentary he veil of illusion, or maya, that has been Keeping you from perceiving realty asi is, starting to burn away The fire is not the heated fire of passion, but the cool flame of awareness. As it burns the veil, the face of very delicate and childlike buddha becomes visible. + The awareness that is _growing in you now is not the result of any conscious ‘doing’ nor do you need to struggle to make something happen. Any sense you might have had that you've been groping in the dark 1s dissolving now, or will be dissolving soon. Let yourself settle, and remember that deep inside you are just a witnes, eternally silent, aware and unchanged. A channel is now opening fiom the circumference of activity to that center of witnessing, It will help you to become detached, and a new awareness will life the veil from your eyes.“ Vil AWARENESS + IND CAN NEVER BE INTELLIGENT — only rno-mind is intelligent. Only no-mind is original and radical. Only no-mind is revolutionary ~ revolution in action. This mind gives you a sort of stupor, Burdened by the memories of the past, burdened by the pro- jections of the future, you go on living — at the + + minimum, You don’t live at the maximum, Your flame remains very dim. Once you start dropping thoughts, the dust that you have collected in the past, the flame arises ~ clean, clear, alive, young, Your whole life becomes a flame, and a flame without any smoke. That is what awareness is." THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN + 1718 + OSHO ZEN TAROT COMMENTARY T his card shows a small wildflower that has met the challenge of the rocks and stones in its path to emerge into the light of day. Surrounded by an aura of bright golden light, it exposes the majesty of its tiny self’ Unashamed, itis equal to the brightes sun. + When wo are faced with a very diffcule situation we have a choice: we can either be resentful, and try to find somebody or something to blame for the hardships, or we can face the challenge and grow. The flower shows us the way, «sits passion for hfe leads tt out of the darkness and into the light. There is no point fighting against che challenges of hfe, or trying to avotd or deny them. They are there, and if the seed 4s to become the flower we must go through them. Be courageo enough to grow into the flower you are meant to be.V1) eA COURAGE + HE SEED CANNOT KNOW what is going to hap- | pen, the seed has never known the flower, And the seed cannot even believe that he has the potentiality to become a beautiful flower. Long is the journey, and it is always safer not to go oon that journey because unknown is the path, noth: ing is guaranteed. Nothing can be guaranteed. Thow sand and one are the hazards of the journey, many are the pitfalls ~ and the seed is secure, hidden inside makes an effort; it ahard core. But the seed tries, drops the hard shell which is its security, it starts + + with the soil, with the stones, with the rocks, And the seed was very hard and the sprout will be very, very soft and dangers will be many.~ There was no danger for the seed, the seed could have survived for millennia, but for the sprout many’ are the dangers. But the sprout starts towards the unknown, towards the sun, towards the source of light, not knowing where, not knowing why. Great is the cross to be carried, but a dream possesses the seed and the seed moves. ‘The same is the path for man. It is arduous. Much moving. Immediately the fight starts: the struggle | courage will be needed.” THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN # 19,20 ¢ OSHO ZEN TAROT COMMENTARY W' there is no ‘significant other’ in our lives we either be lonely, or enjoy the freedom that solitude ph alated and bitter, or celebrate the among others for ou brings. When we find no s felt cruths, we can either fe fact shat our vision is strong enough even to survive the powerful human need for the approval of family, friends or colleagues. If you are facing such a situation now, be aware of how choosing to view your ‘aloneness’ and take responsibilty for the choice you have made. The humble figure in this card glows with a light that emanates from within. One of Gautam Buddha's most significant contributions to the spiritual life of au ourself” Ultimately, ea skind was to insist to his disciples, “Be a light unto of us must develop within ourselves gh the darkness without an} the capacity to make our way thIX ALONENESS + HEN YOU ARE ALONE you are not alone, you are simply lonely ~ and there is a W ness and aloneness. When you are lonely you are tremendous difference between loneli- thinking of the other, you are missing the other, Loneliness is a negative state. You are feeling that it would have been better if the other was there ~ your friend, your wife, your mother, your beloved, your + + husband, It would have been good if the other was there, but the other is not. Loneliness is absence of the other, Aloneness is the lisa presence of oneself. Aloneness is very pos presence, overflowing presence. You are so full of presence that you can fill the whole universe your presence and there is no need for anybody.” THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN # 2122 # OSHO ZEN TAROT T hhe symbol in this card isan enormous wheel representing time, fate, karma, Galaxies spin around this constanely moving circle, and the twelve signs of the zodiac appear on its cincumyerence, Just inside the circumference are the eight trigrams of the I Ching, and even closer to the center are the Jour divections, each illuminated by the energy of lightning. The spinning triangle is at this moment pointed upward, toward the divine, and the Chinese symbol of yin and yang, male and female, creative and receptive, Ites at the center. + It has often been said thatthe only unchanging thing in the world is change itself. Life is continuously changing, evolving, dying and being reborn, All opposites play a part in this vast circular pattern, If _you cling to the edge of the wheel you can get dizay! More tomard the center of the cyclone and relax, knowing that this 100 will passa CHANGE + IPE REPEATS ITSELF MINDLESSLY — unless. you L become mindful, it will go on repeating like a wheel. That's why wheel of life and death — the wheel of time. It moves like a wheel: birth is followed by death, death is Buddhists call it the followed by birth; love is followed by hate, hate is followed by love; success is followed by failure, failure i followed by success, Just see! If you can watch just for a few days, you will see a pattern emerging, a wheel pattern. One day, a fine you are feeling so good and so happy, and another day you are so dull, so dead that you start thinking of committing suicide, And just the other day you were so full of life, so blissful that you were fecling thankful to God that you were in a mood of deep gratefulness, and today there is great complaint and you don’t see the point why one should go on living,... And it goes on and on, but you don't see the pattern, (Once you see the pattern, you can get out of it." THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN ¢ 2324 # OSHO ZEN TAROT he pn ance of red inthis card indicates at a glance that its subject is energy, power and strengeb, The brilline glow emanates from the solar plexus, or center of power an he figure, and the posture sone of exuberance and determination. All of us occasionally reach a point when ail eiingh AE sich emer it sc we tt do something, anything, even if leter turns out to be & mistake, to throw off the burdens and restrictions that are limiting us. If sve don’, they threaten to suffcate and cripple our very if energy itself. + Ifyou are now feeling that ‘enough i enough allow yourself to take the risk of shattering the old patterns and imitations that have kept your energy from flowing. In doing so you will be amazed atthe vitality and empomerment chs Breakthrough can bring to your hfeXI BREAKTHROUGH + © TRANSFORM. BREAKDOWNS into break throughs is the whole function of a master. T That is his function, He is not there to transform The psychotherapist simply patches you up. you, You need a metapsychology, the psychology of the buddhas. It is the greatest adventure in life to go through a breakdown consciously. It is the greatest risk because there is no guarantee that the breakdown will become a breakthrough. It does become, but these things cannot be guaranteed. Your chaos is very ancient — for many, many lives you have been in + + chaos. Itis thick and dense. It is almost a universe in itself, So when you enter into it with your small capacity, of course there is danger. But without fac ing this danger nobody has ever become integrated, nobody has ever become an individual, indivisible. Zen, or meditation, is the method which will help you to go through the chaos, through the dark night of the soul, balanced, disciplined, alert. ‘The dawn is not far away, but before you can reach, the dawn, the dark night has to be passed through And as the dawn comes closer, the night will become darker,” THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN # 2526 + OSHO ZEN TAROT hae figure on this card is being horn anew, emerging from I his earthbound roots and growing wings to fly into the unbounded. The geometric shapes around the body of the figure show the many dimensions of life simultane: sty available to him, The square represents the physical, the manifest, the known. The circle represents the unmanifest, che spirit, pure space. And the triangle symbolizes the ehrefold nature of the aniverse: manife, unmanifest, and the human being who contains both. + Now you are presented with an opportunity 10 se life in all ts dimensions, from the depths to the heights Thay exist together, and when we come to know from experience that the dark and the difficult are needed as much as the light ‘and easy, chen we begin to have a very different perspective on the world. By allowing all ofl ’ colors to penetrate us, we become more integrated.XII NEw + HEN YOU OPEN UP to the ultimate, immediately it pours into you. You are no longer an ordinary human being. — you have transcended. You ight has become the insight of the whole existence, Now you are no longer separate — you have found your roots. Other: wise, ordinarily, everybody is moving without roots, not knowing from where their heart goes on receiy- ing energy, not knowing who goes on breathing in them, not knowing the life juice that is running inside them. It is not the body, it is not the mind ~ i is something VISION + + transcendental to all duality, that is called bhagawat — the bhagavat inthe ten directions Your inner being, when it opens, first experiences two directions: the height, the depth. And then slowly, slowly, as this becomes your established situ- ation, you start looking around, spreading into all other eight directions And once you have attained to the point where your height and your depth meet; then you can look around to the very circumference of the universe. ‘Then your consciousness starts unfolding in all ten directions, but the road has been one.”” THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN # 2728 + OSHO ZEN TAROT COMMENTAR he centeal figure m this card sits atop the vas I the void, and holds the symbols of transforma sword chat cuts through illusion, the snake chat rejuvenates the iuself by shedding its skin, the broken chain of imitations, and the yin/ yang symbol of transcending duality. One of its hands rests on its lap, open and receptive. The other reaches down to touch the mouth of a sleeping face, symbolizing the silence that comes when we are at rest, 4 This isa time for a deep let-go. Allow any pa sorrow, or difficulty just to be there, accepting its ‘facticiay”. It is very much like the experience of Gautam Buddha when, after of seeking, he final gave up knowing there was nothing more that he could de. That very night, he became enlightened. Transformation comes, like death im its own time. And, like death, it takes dimension into anotherXH TRANSFORMATION + MASTER IN ZEN is not simply a teacher, In all the religions there are only teachers. They A know, and they ask you to believe, because there is teach you about subjects which you don’t no way to bring those experiences into objective reality, Neither has the teacher known them ~ he has believed them; he transfers his belief to somebody else, Zen is not a believer's world. It is not for the faithful ones; it is for those daring souls who can drop all belief, unbelief, doubt, reason, mind, and simply enter into their pure existence without boundaries. + + But it brings a tremendous transformation. Hence, Jet me say that while others are involved in philoso: phies, Zen is involved in metamorphosis, in a trans- formation. It is authentic alchemy: it changes you from base metal into gold, But its language has to be understood, not with your reasoning and intellectual ‘mind but wi ing, not bothering whether it'is true or not. And a moment comes suddenly that you see it, which has your loving heart. Or even just listen- been cluding you your whole life, Suddenly, what Gautam Buddha called ‘eighty-four thousand doors’ open. '* THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN + 2930 + OSHO ZEN TAROT COMMENTARY l of age of integration is the unio mystica, the fu This is a ime of communication between the previously experienced dualties of hfe. Rasher than night they work tagether to ‘opposing day, dark suppressing light, create a unified whole, curning endlessly one into the othe, each containing in its deepest core the seed of the opposite + The eagle and the swan are both beings of flight and iajesty. The eagle is the embodiment of power and aloneness. The swan is the embodiment of space and purity, gently floating cand diving upon and within the element of the emotions, entirely content and complete within her perfection and beaut + Weare the union of eagle and swan male and female, fire cand water, If and death. The card of integration isthe symbol of selfcreation, new Ife, and mystical union; otherwise known as alchemy,INTEGRATION + HE CONFLICT IS IN MAN. Unless it is resolved there, it cannot be resolved anywhere else. two parts of the mind. A very small bridge exists. If that bridge is broken through some accident, through some physiological ‘The politics is within you; it is between the defect or something else, the person becomes split, the person hecomes two persons ~ and the phenome: non of schizophrenia or split personality happens. If the bridge is broken ~ and the bridge is very fragile ~ then you become two, you behave like two persons. In the morning you are very loving, very beautiful; in + + the evening you are very angry, absolutely different, You don’t remember your morning...how can you remember? Another mind was functioning ~ and the person becomes two persons. If this bridge is strengthened so much that the two minds disappear as two and become one, then integration, then crys- tallization, arises. What George Gurdjieff used to call the crystallization af being.is nothing but these two | minds becoming one, the meeting of the male and | the female within, the meeting of yin and yang, the meeting of the left and right, the meeting of logic and illogic, the meeting of Plato and Aristotle." THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN # 3132 # OSHO ZEN T his card recalls an old Zen story, dbout a lion who was brought up by sheep and who thought he was a sheep until ap old hion captured him and took him to a pond, where he showed him his own reflection. Many of us are like this lion ~ the image we have of ourselres comes not ftom our own direct experience but fiom the opinions of others. A ‘personality’ imposed from the outside replaces the individuality that could hhave grown from within, We become just another sheep in the herd, unable to move freely, and tinconscious of eur own true identity. + It's time to take a fook at your own reflection in the pond, and make a more to break out of whatever you have been conditioned by others to believe about yourself Dance, run, jog do gibberish — whatever is needed to wake up the sleeping lion within,——EEE————— CONDITIONING + USS YOU DROP your personality you will not be able to find your individuality. Indi- viduality is given by existences personality is imposed by the society. Personality is social conve Society cannot tolerate individuality, because indi- viduality has the quality of the lion; the lion moves alone, “The sheep are always in the crowd, hoping that being in the crowd will feel cozy. Being in the crowd one ill not follow like a sheep. Individuality + + feels more protected, secure. If somebody attacks, there is every possibility in a crowd to save yoursel. But alone? — only the lions move alone. And every one of you is born a lion, but the society {goes on conditioning you, programming your mind as.a sheep. It gives you a personality, a cozy person- ality, nice, very convenient, very obedient. Society wants slaves, not people who are absolutely dedicated to freedom. Society wants slaves because all the vested interests want obedience." THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN # 333M # OSHO ZEN TAROT he card shows a toner being burned, destroyed, blown not apart. A man and a woman are leaping because they want to, but because they have no choice. In the background is a transparent, meditating figure representing the witnessing consciousness. + You might be feeling pretty shaky right now, as if the earth is rocking beneath your feet. Your to ty t0 hold on to whatever you can, But this inner earthquake yi being challenged, and the nat is both necessary and tremendously impertant — if you allow it, “you will emerge from the wreckage stronger and more available 1 the fire, che earch is replenished: afier for ne the storm the air 1s cleat, Tey so watch the destruction with experiences. Af detachment, almost as if it were happening wo somebody els Say yes to the process by meeting it halfiraXVI THUNDERBOLT + good shout of the master, unexpect- WwW ple was asking some question, and the master edly, in the situation where the disci- jumps and shouts, or hits him, or throws him out of the door, or jumps over him.... These methods were never known, It was purely the very creative genius of Ma Tzu, and he made many people enlightened. Sometimes it looks so hilarious: he threw a man + + hat meditation does slowly, slowly, a | from the window, from a two-storey house, and the man had come to ask on what to meditate. And Ma ‘Tau not only threw him, he jumped after him, fell con him, sat on his chest, and he said, “Got it” And the poor fellow said, “Yes” — because if you say “No,” he may beat you or do something else. It is enough — his body is fractured, and Ma Tzu, sitting on his chest, says, "Got it” And in fact he got it, because it was so sudden, out of the blue ~ he could never have conceived it.” THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN + 3536 # OSHO ZEN TAROT [ ‘COMMENTARY _ T he silent mirrorlike receptiveness of @ star-filled night with a fall moon is reflected in the misty lake below. The fle in the sky is deep in meditation, a goddess of the night who brings depth, peace and understanding. * Now isa very precious time, It will be easy for you to rest inside, to pln depths of your own inner silence to the point where it meets silence of the universe. + There's nothing wo do, nowhere «0 go, and the quality of your inner silence permeates everything you le, accustomed as do, lt might make some people wncomfortah they ate to all the noise and activity of the world. Never mind; seek out those who can resonate with your silence, or enjoy your aloneness. Now isthe time ¢o come home to yourself The understanding and insights chat come to you in these moments will be manifested later on, in & more outgoing phaseXVIL SILENCE + 8 + session of you, You are possessed, you are | taste of the silence is the same. T HE ENERGY OF THE WHOLE has taken pos- | Chuang Tau or Bodhidharma or Nansen.... The rno more, the whole is, ‘Time changes, the world goes on changing, but ‘This moment, as the silence penetrates in the experience of silence, the joy of it, you, you can understand the signifi- “ remains the same. That is the only thing cance of it, because it is the same you can rely upon, the only thing that silence that Gautam Buddha experi- never dies, It is the only thing that enced, It is the same silence that you can call your very being." THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN + 3738 # OSHO ZEN TAROT the female 1 cosmic mother. Revealed faces from other times. While it might about, famous past lives, it is just a discraction, The real point isto see and understand the karmic patterns of our lives, an he two rainbow cycle that t2aps us in unconscious behavior, + lizards on either side represent knowing and not-knowing. They are the guardians of the unconscious, making sure that we are for @ vision that might other prep. shattering. A glimpse into the eternity of our existence is a gift, and understanding ¢ 1m of karma in our lives is not rasped at will, This is 2 wake-up cal something that can be the events in your life ar ow you a pattern as ancient asthe journey of your own soula Past Lives + + 6 HE CHILD CAN HECOME CONSCIOUS only Fin | thousand years’ work has not been in vain. Every his past life he has meditated enough, has | body can penetrate to the past life or many past created enough meditative lives, But for that you have to go deeper into energy to fight with the darkness your meditation, for ovo reasons: unless that death brings, One simply is lost in you go deeper, you cannot find the an oblivion and then suddenly finds a door to another life; secondly, new womb and forgets completely you have to be deeper in about the old body. There is a discontinu. ity. This darkness, this unconsciousness meditation because, if you find the door of another life, a flood of creates the discontinuity events will come into the mind ‘The East has been working hard! to It is hard enough even to carry one penetrate these barriers, And ten Sif...” THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN + 3940 + OSHO ZEN TAROT [ COMMENTARY, | ye old man in this card radiates @ childlike delight in the Te 4s at home with himself 1m, as if he There is a sense of gr surrounding and with what life has brought. He ims to be having a playful communication with the praying on his finger, as if the two of them are the greatest friends. The pink flowers cascading around him represen of letting go, relaxation and sweetness, They are a response to presence, a reflection of his own qualities, The innocence ife ts ébildlike, but n 1 deep childish. The innocence of children is beautiful, but ignorant. It will be replaced by mistrust and doubt as the child grows and learns that the world can be a us and thr Bu the innocence ofa life lived fully has a quality of wisdom wonder of life and acceptance of the ever-changingXIX INNOCENCE + + + EN SAYS THAT IF YOU DROP KNOWLEDGE —and | a totally different quality to your being — inno- within knowledge everything is included, | cence, your name, your identity, everything, be- | This will be a crucifixion of the persona, the per- cause this has been given to you by others —if you | sonality, and there will be a resurrection of your drop all that has been given by others, you will have_| innocence; you will become a child again, reborn.” THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN ¢ 4142 # OSHO ZEN TAROT T he butterfly in this card represents the outer, that which is constantly moving ond that which is not real but an illusion. Behind the butterfly is the face of consciousness, looking inward to that which is eternal. The space between the tivo eyes has opened, revealing the lotus of spiritual unfoldment and the rising sun of awareness. Through the rising of the inner sun, meditation is born. # The card reminds us not to look outside for what is real, but to look within. When we focus on externals, we too often get caught up in judgments ~ this is good, this is bad, I want this, Idon’e wane that. These judgments keep us tropped in our illusions, our sleepiness, our old habits and patterns. Drop your opinionated mind, and more inside. There, you can relax into your own deepest truth, where the difference between dreams and reality is already known,N\ xx BEYOND ILLUSION + + mies because they have been cutting the very roots | HIS IS THE ONLY DISTINCTION between the dream and the real: reality allows you to T doubt... doubt, and the dream does not allow you to To me, the capacity to doubt is one of the greatest blessings to humanity. The religions have been ene- of doubt, and there is a reason why they have been doing that: because they want people to believe in certain illusions that they have been preaching... Why have the people like Gautam Buddha been so insistent that the whole existence — except your + witnessing self, except your awareness — is just ephemeral, made of the same stuff as dreams are ‘made of? They are not saying that these trees are not there. They are not saying that these pillars are not there, Don't misunderstand because of the word ‘illusion’... It has been translated as illusion, but illusion is not the right word. Illusion does not exist. just in between — it almost Reality exists. May As far as day- o-day activities are concerned, it can be taken as reality. Only in the ultimate sense, from the peak of your illumination, it becomes unreal, illusory.” THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN ¢ 4344 # OSHO ZEN TAROT ere the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle is being put into its I | place, the postion ofthe thied ee, the place of mner perception, Eren in the ever-changing flow of life there are :momenis in which we come to point of completion. In these ‘moments we are able to perceive the whole picture, the composite of all the small pieces thax have occupied our attention for so long. In the finishing, we can either be in despair because we don’t want the situation to come to an end, or we can be gravel and accepting of the fact that life is fall of endings and new beginnings. # Whatever hos been absorbing your time ‘and energy is now coming to an end. In completing it, you will be clearing the space for something new to begin. Use this interval to celebrate both ~ the end ofthe old and the coming ofthe newXXI ) COMPLETION + + iE WAY OF ZEN, not to say things to ympletion. This has to(be under- stood fis «sexy portant methodalons. sfeans to give an opportunity to the listener to complete it. AlVanswers are inkcom- plete, The master has only given-yoti a direction, By the time you reach the limit, you will know what is going to remain. + This way,-if-samebody is trying to understand Zen intellectually be will fail. It is ol but something moy€ t indicating the very reality... The buddha nature is not an answer to the the answer, It is something far away — your ery Consciousness is bud- your consclommess can witness these fdha nate ay things which éonsttute but the mirror Wi . ‘The world will end frroving nothing.” THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN ¢ 4546 * OSHO ZEN TAROT fect his he Master in Zen is not a master over ot self. His every gesture and bis every w enlightened state, He nthe way it is. His disciples gather hing should be other t round bit ow him, but to soak up his presence and his example, In his eyes they find chete own teuch they fall more easily into the silence has 0 much t m, but because field that supports each que individual in finding his or her own light, + If you can you are blessed. If cannot, keep on searching. Learn from the teachers, and the ‘and move on, Charaiveti, charaiveti, said Gautam Buddha KeepTHE MASTER + LYOND MIND, there is an awareness that is outside, and is not an idea ~ and there is no experiment up to now that has found any center in the brain which corresponds to awareness. The whole work of meditation is to make you aware of all that is “mind” and disidentify yourself from it. That very separation is the greatest revolution that can happen to man Now you can do and act on only that which makes you more joyous, fulfills you, gives you contentment, + + makes your life a work of art, a beauty. But this is possible only if the master in you is awake. Right now the master is fast asleep. And the mind, the servant, is playing the role of master. And the servant is not even ‘your servant; the servant is created by the outside world, it follows the outside world and its laws, Once your awareness becomes a flame, it burns up the whole slavery that the mind has created, There is no blissfulness more precious than freedom, than being a master of your own destiny.” THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN ¢ 4748 # OSHO ZEN TAROT he Zen master in this card has harnessed the energy of fire and is able to use it for creation rather than destruction He invites us to recognize and participate with him in the understanding that belongs to those who hove mastered the fires, of passion, without repressing them or allowing them to get destructive and out of balance. He s so integrated tha there is ro longer any difference Between who he is inside and who he is in the world outside. He offer this gift of understanding and integration to all those who come to-him, the gift of creative light that comes from the center of his being. + The King of Fire tells us that anything that we undertake now, with the understanding that comes from maturity, will bring enrichment to our own lives and to the lives of others. Using whatever skills ‘you have, whatever you have learned from your own life experience, itis time to express yourselfTHE CREATOR + HERE ARE TWO TYPES of creators in the world: one type of creator works with objects — a poet, a painter, they work with objects, they create things; the other type of ereator, work with the mystic, creates himself. He does objects, he works with the subject; he works on himself, his own being, And he is the real creator, the real poet because he makes himself into a mas- terpiece. You are carrying a masterpiece hidden within you, but you are standing in the way. Just move aside, + then the masterpiece will be revealed. Everyone is a masterpiece, because God never gives birth to anything less than that. Everyone carries that master- piece hidden for many lives, not knowing who they are, and just trying on the surface to become some- one. Drop the idea of becoming someone, because you already are a masterpiece. You cannot be improved. You have only to come to it, to know it, to realize it. God has himself created you, you cannot be improved." THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN + 4950 # OSHO ZEN TAROT T* Queen of Fire isso rich, so much a queen, that she can afford to give. It doesn’t even occur to her to take i tories or to put something aside for later. She dispenses her treasures without limits, welcoming all and sundry to partake of the abundance, fertility and light that surrounds her. When ‘you draw this card, it suggests that you too are in a situation where you have an opportunity to share your love, your joy and your laughter. And in sharing, you find that you fel even more full. There is no need to go anywhere or to make any special effort. You find that you can enjoy sensuality without new project with an equal sense of creativity fulfilled Everything around you seems to be ‘coming together’ now Enjoy it, round yourself im it, and ler the abundance in you and around you overflowSS SHARING + 8 YOU MOVE ABOVE to the fourth center — that is the heart — your whole I ated the abundance of love. By reaching to the third 1 sharing of love. The third center has cre- center in meditation, you have become so overflow- ing with love, with compassion, and you want to share, It happens at the fourth center — the heart, ‘That's why even in the ordinary world people think love comes out of the heart. For them it is just hearsay, they have heard it; they don’t know it + + because they have never reached to their heart But the meditator finally reaches to the heart, As he has reached to the center of his being ~ the third center ~ suddenly an explosion of love and compas- sion and joy and blissfulness and benediction has arisen in him with such a force that it hits his heart and opens the heart. The heart is just in the middle of all your seven centers — three centers below, three centers above. You have come exactly to the middle.” THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN # 5152 # OSHO ZEN TAROT COMMENTARY J T he figuee in this card has taken on the shape of an arrow: moving with the single-pointed focus of one who knows hat he has id where he is going. He is moving sofa precis energy. But bis intensity sh mistaken for the manic energy that makes people drive their cars 1 from point A to point B. That ki cat cop speed to g Intensity belongs to the horizontal world of space and time. The intensity represented by the Knight of Fire belo agnition that mi vertical world of the present moment and here ts her ie only space. * When the only moment you act with the intensity of the Knight of Fire itis likely to create ripples in the waters around you. Some will fel uplifted by your pre feel threatened or and refresh of ethers matter liele; noching can cd, But the opi hold you back right nowINTENSITY os + 6 fn says: Think of all the i guide, no guiding scriptures. It is a dark great words and great — night, but with the intense fire of inquiry you teachings as your deadly are bound to come to the sunrise. Everybody nem) Avoid them, because you who has burned with intense inquiry has have to find your own source. found the sunrise. Others only believe. Those who believe are not religious, they are simply avoiding the great adventure of reli- You have not to be a follower, an imitator. You have to be an original individual; you have to find your innermost core on your own, with no gion by believing.”* THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN + 5354 # OSHO ZEN TAROT ~ COMMENTARY L ts rarely as serious as we believe it to be, and when we recognize this fact, it responds by giving us more and more lebrating the opportunites to play. The woman in this card is joy of being alive, like a butterfly that has emerged from ts ight. She reminds us of the chrysalis into the promise ‘ime when we were children, discovering seashells on the beach or building castles in the sand without any concern that the waves might come and vash them away in the next moment. She knows that life is a game, and she’s playing the part of a clown right now with no sense of embarrassment or pretense, + When the Page of Fire enters your life, itis @ sign that you are ready for the fresh and the new, Something wonderful is just on the horizon, and you have just the right quality of playful innocence and clarity to weleome it with open arms.> PLAYFULNESS + HE MOMENT YOU START seeing life as non- serious, a playfulness, all the burden on. your heart disappears. All the fear of death, of life, of love — everything disappears. One starts living with a very light weight or almost no weight, So weightless one becomes, one can fly in the open sky. Zen’s greatest contribution is to give you an alter- native to the serious man. + + ‘The serious man has made the world, the serious ‘man has made all the religions. He has created all the philosophies, all the cultures, all the moralities; everything that exists around you is a creation of the serious man, Zen has dropped out of the serious world. It has created a world of its own which is very playful, full of laughter, where even great masters behave like children.” THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN # 3556 # OSHO ZEN TAROT ¢ is atime when the deeply buried wounds ofthe past are I coming tothe surface, ready ond availabe to be healed. The figure in this card is naked, vulnerable, open to the loving touch of existence, The aura around his body i full of light, and the quality of relaxation, caring and love that surrounds him is dissolving his struggle and suffering. Lotuses of light appear on his physical body, and around the subile energy bodies that healers say surround each of us. In each of these subile layers appears a healing crystal or pattern. + When we are under the healing influence of the King of Water we are no Ionger hiding from ourselves or others. In this atitude of ‘openness and acceptance we can be healed, and help others also 10 be healthy and whole.a HEALING + ©, YOU CARRY YOUR WOUND, With the ego your whole being is a wound. And you carry it around, Nobody is inter- ested in hurting you, nobody is positively waiting to hurt you; everybody is engaged in safeguarding his own wound. Who has got the energy? But still it happens, because you are so ready to be wounded, so ready, just waiting on the brink for anything. You cannot touch a man of Tao, Why? ~ because there is no one to be touched. There is no wound. He is healthy, healed, whole. This word ‘whole’ is beauti- ful. The word ‘heal’ comes from the whole, and the + + word ‘holy’ also comes from the whole, He is whole, healed, holy. Be aware of your wound. Don't help it to grow, let it be healed; and it will be healed only when you move to the roots, The less the head, the more the wound will heal; with no head there is no wound. Live a headless life. Move as a total being, and accept things. Just for twenty-four hours, try it — total acceptance, whatsoever happens, Someone insults you, accept it, don’t react, and see what happens. Suddenly you will feel an energy flowing in you that you have not felt before.” THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN ¢ 5758 # OSHO ZEN TAROT - commentany water and of the emotions. Her arms are extended upwards to receive, and she is completely immersed in the water. She has no head, no busy and aggressive mind to hinder her pure receptivity: And as she is filled she is continuously emptying herself, overflowing, and receiving more. The lotus pattern or matrix that emerges from her represents the perfect harmony of the universe that becomes apparent when we are in tune with it. + The Queen of Water brings a time of nboundedness and gratitude for whatever life brings, without any expectations or demands. Neither duty or thought of merit or reward are important. Sensitivity, intuition and compassion are the qualities that shine forth now, dissolving all the obstacles thar keep us separate from each other and from the wholeRECEPTIVITY + + + L istening is one of the basic secrets of enter- | When you listen you become just a passage, a pas ing into the temple of God. Listening means | sivty, a receptivity, a womb: you become feminine. passivity, Listening means forgetting yourself And to arrive one has to become feminine, You can- completely ~ only then ean you listen, When you lis- | not reach God as aggressive invaders, conquerors. ten attentively to somebody, you for- You can reach God only...or it will be get yourself, If you cannot forget better to say; God can reach you yourself, you never listen. If you are only when you are receptive, a femi- too self-conscious about yourself, you nine receptivity. When you become simply pretend that you are listen “yin, a receptivity, the door is open. ing — you don't listen, You may nod And you wait. your head; you may sometimes say yes Listening is the art for becoming and no — but you are not listening passive.” THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN + 5960 + OSHO ZEN TAROT N cow is the moment to bea bungee jumper without the cord! And it is this quality of absolute rust, with no reservations or secret safety nets, that the Knight of Water demands from us. There is tremendous sense of exhilaration if wwe can take the jump and move into the unknown, even if the idea scares us to death. And when we take trust tothe level of the quantum leap, we don’t make any elaborate plans or preparations. We don't say, “Okay, I trust that I know what to ddo now, and Ill settle my things and pack my suitcase and take it with me.” No, we just jump, with hardly a thought for what happens next. + The leap is the thing, and the thrill of it as, we freefall through the empty sky. The card gives a hint here though, about what waits for us at che other end — a sof, welcoming, yummy pink, rose petals, juicy...c'mon!ONT WASTE SS disappeared, you are bridged with your life for . infinity. And you are not deceived; that which is going to there is nothing that can be taken be taken away, ‘Trust life. IF you away from you, That which can be trust, only then can you drop your taken away from you is not worth knowledge, only then can you put your keeping, and that which cannot be mind aside, And with trust, something taken away from you, why should one be immense opens up, Then this life is no longer afraid of its being taken away? — it cannot be taken ordinary life, it becomes full of God, overflowing | away, there is no possibility. You cannot lose your real treasure." When the heart is innocent and the walls have THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN ¢ 6162 # OSHO ZEN TAROT he bird pictured on this card is looking out from what I seems to be a cage. There is no door, and actually the 1s are disappearing, The bars were an illusion, and this small bird is being summoned by the grace and freedom and encouragement of the others. It is spreading its wings, ready to take flight for the very first ime. + The dawn of a new understanding — that th age has always been open, and the sky has always been there for us to explore ~ can make us feel a litle shaky at first. t's fine, and natural to be shaky, but don’t let it overshaclow the opportunity to experience the light heartedness and adventure on o| , right there alongside the shake ness. Move with the sweetness and gentleness of this time Feel the fluttering within, Spread your wings and be freea ), UNDERSTANDING + + + ‘OU ARE OUT OF Open your wings and fly Y jail, out of the F across the sun like an eagle. ‘eage; you can open iy In the inner sky, in the ' inner world, freedom is ‘your wings and the whole sky is yours, All the stars the highest value — every- and the moon and the sun thing else is secondary, belong to you. You can disappear into the blueness | even blissfulness, ecstasy. ‘There are thousands of of the beyond..., Just drop clinging to this cage, | flowers, uncountable, but they all become possible move out of the cage and the whole sky is yours. | in the climate of freedom." THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN # 63(COMMENTARY T here is @ time and a place ced in the angles of pyramid shapes that surround hin ar control, but if we put it in control, but if we put i¢ in Light glitters ond glints off his shiny supfaces, but does not penetrate, I's as if he is almost mummified inside this structure he’s built up around himself. His fists are clenched, and his stare is blank, almost blind. The lower pare of his bod) beneath the table is a knife point, a cutting edge that divides and seprates, His world is ordered and perfect, but itis not alive — he cannot allow any sp f the Ki aneity or vulnerability to enter it, The ima, ng of Clouds reminds us to take a deep breath, loosen our neckties and take it easy. If mistakes happen, it’s okay. If things get little out f hand, i's probably hat the doctor ordered. There is much, much more to life i than being ‘on top of tings 64 # OSHO ZEN TAROT————E———————————— CONTROL + + +4 — CONTROLLED PERSONS. are always nervous because deep down turmoil is still hidden. If you are uncontrolled, lowing, alive, then you are not nervous, There is no question of being nervous — whatsoever happens, happens. You have no expectations for the future, you are not per: forming. Then why should you be nervous? To control that mind one has to remain so cold and frozen that no life energy is allowed to move into your limbs, into your body. If energy is allowed to move, those repressions will surface. ‘That's why people have learned how to be cold, how to touch others and yet not touch them, how to see peo ple and yet not see them. People live with clichés ~ “Hallo, How are your” Nobody means anything, These are just to avoid the real encounter of two persons, People don’t look into each other's eyes, they don’t hold hands, they don’t try to feel each other's energy, they don’t allow each other to pour — very afraid, somehow just ‘managing, cold and dead, in a straitjacket.” THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN # 6566 + OSHO ZEN TAROT MMENTARY has restricted al M he juice and energy of life rhe really has become ‘a dried u confines of her mind. It can't flow ther old prune’. Her whole ‘manner is very proper and stiff and severe, and she is always like th ready 10 see every situation as black and white, wears around her neck. The Queen of Clouds lurks in the minds of all of us who have been brought up with rigid ideas of good and bad, sinful and virtuous, acceptable any a able, moral and immoral. It’ important to remember chat al these judgments of the mind are just products of our conditioning, And whether our judgments are applied m 1 t0 others, they Keep us from experiencing the beauty dtiness that lies within. Only when we break through the and reach the truth of our own hearts cage of our conditioning can we begin to see life as it really is,en ee MORALITY + ODHIDHARMA ... far transcends moralists, puritans, so-called good people, do-good- crs, He has touched the very rock bottom of the problem. Unless awareness arises in you, all your morali bogus, all your culture is simply a thin layer which can be destroyed by any- body. But once your morality has come out of your awareness, not ‘out of a certain discipline, then it isa totally different matter. Then you will respond in every situation + ‘out of your awareness. And whatever you do will be good, Awareness cannot do anything that is bad. That is the ultimate beauty of awareness, that an thing that comes out of its simply beautiful, is sim- ply right, and without any effort and without any practice. So rather than cutting the leaves and the branches, cut the root. And to cut the root there is no other ‘method than a single method: the method of being alert, of being aware, of being conscious." THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN + 6768 + OSHO ZEN TAROT T he figure in cis card is completely covered in armor. Only his glare of rage 1 visible, and the whites of the knuckles com his clenched fists. Ifyou look cloely at the armor, you can see it’s covered with buttons, ready to detonate if anybody so much as brushes up against them. In the background we see the shadows movie that plays in this man’s mind — two figures fighting for a castle. + An explosive temper or a smoldering rage often masks a deep feeling of pain. We think that if we Jrighten people away, we can avoid being hurt even more. In fact, jus the opposite ts the case, By covering our wounds with armor we are preventing them from being healed. By lashing out «at others we keep ourselves from getting the love and nourishment we need. If this description seems to fit you, it’ time 10 stop fighting. There is so much love available to you if “you just le ie in, Start by forgiving yourself: you're worth itFIGHTING + NE MOMENT IT WAS THERE, another mo- ment it is gone, One moment we are here, and another moment we have gone, And for this simple moment, how much fuss we make ~ how much violence, ambition, struggle, com: flict, anger, hatred. + Just for this small moment! -Just waiting for the train in a waiting room on a station, and creating so much fuss: fighting, hurting each other, trying to possess, trying to boss, trying to dominate — all that politics. And then the train comes and you are gone forever. THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN + 6970 # OSHO ZEN TAROT COMMENTARY his is what happens when we forget that the mind is I sant to he @ servant, and start to allow it fo rua our {with mechanisms, the mouth is ranting and raving, ond the whole surroun ng atmosphere is being polluted by this factory of arguments and opinions. “Bust wa fou soy. “The mind is what makes us human, 1 the source of all progress all great truths.” If you shut that, try an experiment: go in turn on a tape ‘om your mind’. Ify it 10 all come out without any censorship or editing, you'll be amazed at the amount of f Clouds is ish thar comes spereing forth. + The Pag hat somebody, somewhere, is stuck in ‘a head trip ea look and make sure it isn'tV MIND + * + HIS {S THE SITUATION of your head: I see | passing in your mind, and you will understand what I | cycle-handles and pedals and strange things| mean and you will be surprised what goes on inside that you have gathered from everywhere. | your mind, It remains in the background, it is con Such a small head...and no space to live in! stantly there, it surrounds you like a cloud ‘And that rubbish goes on moving in With this cloud you cannot know real your head; your head goes on spinning ity; you cannot attain to spiritual per- and weaving — it keeps you occupied. ception. This cloud has to be dropped Just think what kind of thoughts go And it is just with your decision to on inside your mind. drop it that it will disappear. You are ‘One day just sit, close your doors, and clinging to it ~ the cloud is not inter- write down for half an hour whatsoever is ested in you, remember it.”” THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN ¢ 7172 + OSHO ZEN TAROT T his Dionysian characteris the very picture of a whole man, a ‘Zorba the Buddha’ who can drink wine, dance on the Beach ond sing in the rain, and at the same time enjoy the depths of understanding and wisdom that belong to the sage. In one hand he holds a fotus, showing that he respects and contains within hinwelf the grace of the feminine. His exposed chest (an open heart) and relaxed belly show that he is at home with his masculinity as well, uceely self-contained. The four elements of earth, fire, water and sky all conjunct at the King of Rainbows who sits atop the book of the wisdom of life + If you are a woman, the King of Rainbows brings the support of your own male energies into your ie, a union with the soulmate within. For a man, this card represents a time of breaking through the conventional male stereotypes and allowing the fullness ofthe whole human being to shine fortha MASTERY OF FHEPHYSTEAL ABUNDANCE + N THE East people have condemned the body, | condemned matter, called matter ‘illusory’, to exist; it is made of the same stuff’ as dreams are made of, They denied the world, and that is the rea- son for the East remaining poor, sick, in starvation. Half of humanity has been accepting the inner world ‘maya ~ it does not really exist, it only appears but denying the outer world, The other half of humanity has been accepting the material world and denying the inner world, Both are half, and no man who is half can be contented. + + You have to be whole: rich in the body, rich in sci- ence; rich in meditation, rich in consciousness. Only a whole person is a holy person, according to me, I want Zorba and Buddha to meet together. Zorba alone is hollow, His dance has not an eternal signif cance, it is momentary pleasure. Soon he will be tired of it, Unless you have inexhaustible sources, available to you from the cosmos itself...unless you become existential, you cannot become whole. This is my contribution to humanity: the whole person." THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN # 7374 + OSHO ZEN TAROT hhe Queen of Rainbows is like a fantastic plant chat has reached the apex of it flowering and its colors. She is very seaual, very alive, and full of possibilities, She snaps her fingers to the music of love, and her zodiac necklace is placed in a way that Venus les over her heart. The sleeves of her garment contain an abundance of seeds, and as the wind blows the seeds will be scattered to take root where they may. She isnot concerned whether they land on the soil or on the rocks ~ she is just spreading them everywhere in sheer celebration of ife and lore. Flowers fall on her from above, in harmony with her onn flowering, and the waters of emotion swiel playfully beneath the flower on which she sts. + You might feel like a garden of flowers right now, showered with blesings from everywhere. Welcome the bees, invite the birds ro drink your nectar. Spread “sour joy around for all to share,FLOWERING + + + EN WANTS YOU LIVING, should not be contained within living in abundance, you like a seed. It should open living in totality, like a flower and spread its living intensely — not at fragrance to all and sundry the minimum as Christian- ~ fiot only to the friends ity wants you, but at the but to the strangers too, maximum, over-flowing, ‘This is real compassion, Your life should reach to others, Your _ blissfulness, this is real love: sharing your enlightenment, sharing 1” your benediction, your ecstasy your dance of the beyond THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN # 7576 + OSHO ZEN TAROT T he Knight of Rainbows is reminder that, just like this tortoise, we carry our home with us wherever we go. Ther is no need to hurry, no need to seek shelter elsewhere, Even as we ‘move into the depths of the emotional waters, we can remain self-contained and free from attachments. + It isa time when ‘you are ready to let go of any expectations you have had about “yourself or other people, and to take responsibility for any illusions you might have been carrying. There is no need to do anything but rest in the fullness of who you are right now. If desires and hopes and dreams are fading auway, so much the better. Their disappearance i making space for @ new quality of stillness and accepeance of what is, and you are able to wel able to before. this development in a way you have never be Savor this quality of slowing down, of coming to rest and recognizing that you are already at home.SSS SLowInG Down + EDITATION 18 A KIND OF MEDICINE ~ its use is only for the time being. Once you have learned the quality, then you need not do any particular meditation, then the ‘meditation has to spread all over your life. Walking is Zen, sitting is Zen. Then what will be the quality? Watchfully, alert, joy- ously, unmotivated, centered, loving, flowing, one walks. And the walking is sauntering, Loving, alert, watchful, one sits, unmotivated — not sitting for any- thing in particular, just enjoying how beautiful just sitting doing nothing is, how relaxing, how restful... + After a long walk, you sit under a tree and the breeze comes and cools you. Each moment one has to be at ease with oneself — not trying to improve, not culti- vating anything, not practicing anything Walking is Zen, sitting is Zen, Talking or silent, moving, unmoving, The esence is at ease ‘The esence is at case: that is the keyword. The essence is at case: that is the key statement, Do whatsoever you are doing, but at the deepest core remain at ease, cool, calm, centered,” THE TRANSCENDENTAL GAME OF ZEN ¢ 77