Naturally, he must have thought that I would leave out Gorakh and keep Mahavira. Mahavira is a Kohinoor; he is no rough diamond straight from the mines. There is the whole tradition of the twenty-three tirthankaras, of thousands of years of polishing and sharpening, so that he shines brightly. Do you see? Mahavira is the twenty-fourth tirthankara. People have forgotten the names of the remaining twenty-three. Those who are not Jainas do not even know those twenty-three names, and those who are Jainas cannot count out the twenty-three in their correct order, they will forget or omit someone. Mahavira is the last, the pinnacle of the temple. The spires of the temples are remembered: we still discuss them. Who discusses the foundation stones?
Today we begin the discussion of one such foundation stone. The whole palace of India’s literature of the Sant tradition rests on this stone; everything is based on this one individual. He has said it all, and slowly slowly all he has said will go on becoming more beautiful, a many-colored splendor over time. People will meditate and base their spiritual practice on it for centuries to come. Who knows how many enlightened beings shall be born through him.
Die, O yogi, die!
What a wonderful statement. He says die, disappear, be completely obliterated.
Die, O yogi, die! Die, sweet is this dying.
…Because in this universe there is nothing sweeter than death. Die that death and:
Die this death that Gorakh embraced and awakened.
Die in that way in which Gorakh attained to enlightenment. Die in the same way and attain to seeing.
One death we are already familiar with, that death in which the body dies – but our ego and mind go on living. This same ego finds a new womb. This same ego, troubled by new desires, again starts off on the journey. Even before leaving behind one body, it is already eager for another. This death is not the real death.
I have heard:
One man told Gorakh he was thinking of committing suicide, so Gorakh said, “Go and do it, but I tell you, afterwards you will be very surprised.”
The man said, “What do you mean? I came to you so that you would tell me, ‘Don’t do it.’ I have been to other holy men. They all cautioned me, ‘Brother, don’t do it, suicide is a great sin.’”
But Gorakh said, “Are you mad? No one can commit suicide. No one can even die – dying is not possible. I warn you, do it and you will be very surprised. After committing suicide you will discover: ‘What! The body is left behind, but I am exactly as I was.’
“If you want to commit real suicide, then stay with me. If you want to play nonsense games then it’s up to you – jump from some mountain, put your neck in a noose…. But if you want the real death then stay by my side. I will give you the art which makes the great death possible, then there will be no returning again.”