THE DISASTROUS DECADE AND THE NEW DAWN
The first decade of the new century – 2000 to 2009 – has been horrendous in terms of natural and the economic tsunamis, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, political debacles and the environmental disasters.
Here is a list of major events or developments that make stark reading but have had a tremendous impact on all of us. No doubt most of these are negative but equally some positive progress has been achieved in science and technology, culture and entertainment. For a look at some major events of the past ten years and for our way forward in the new decade, let us review the disastrous decade and what insights the enlightened master Osho has for us in the new decade. As we tiptoe into the new decade, Osho’s positive outlook remains our bedrock.
Politics 2000 – 2009
2000 – In USA George W Bush elected President. 2004 – Re-elected as ‘war president’.
2003 – Wen Jibao elected China’ Premier and Hu Jintao as President.
2004 – Indian elections surprise victory for Congress, Manmohan Singh becomes Prime Minister.
2007 – UK Gordon Brown replaces Tony Blair as Prime Minister.
2009 – Barrack Obama elected as first African American President.
2009 – Indian elections resounding victory for Congress, Manmohan Singh becomes Prime Minister.
2000 – 2009: Iran, Iraq, Israel, Afghanistan and North Korea remain political tinderboxes.
Politics is basically ambition. Politics is basically wrong because ambition is wrong. You are not to become somebody, says religion, you are already. You are not to become powerful — you are already. You are extensions of God. You need not be worried about being powerful and being somebody on a throne; those are all stupid games, childish, very juvenile, immature. And you cannot find more immature people than politicians. In fact, in a better world, politicians will be kept in madhouses, and mad people will be allowed to move into the world. Those mad people have not done anything wrong. They may be a little off the track but they have not been harmful. Politicians are dangerously mad people, tremendously dangerous- Osho.
Wars 2000 – 2009
2001 – US attacks Afghanistan to fight terrorism.
2003 – US attacks Iraq to topple President Saddam Hussein.
2008 – War between Russia and Georgia in South Ossetia.
2008 – 2009 – War between Israel and Palestine in Gaza.
2000+ War in Somalia spawns pirates attacking ships in Indian Ocean.
Man has been fighting and fighting and fighting continuously. Historians say that within the last three thousand years there have been wars almost continuously somewhere or other on the earth. In three thousand years, we have fought at least fourteen thousand wars. Why so much fighting? It is because of possession. If you possess you have started a war with the whole – Osho.
Terrorism 2000 – 2009
2001, 9/11 – Planes crash into and destroy Twin Towers, New York, and a part of Pentagon, Washington, killing almost 3,000.
2001 – Indian Parliament attacked.
2002 – Bali bombings kill 200+.
2004 – Madrid bombings kill 100+.
2005 – London bombings kill 56.
2008 – Mumbai bombings kill 300+
Terror attacks continue in many parts of India, Pakistan and many other countries.
Terrorism is going to become bigger and bigger, because the third world war is almost impossible. And the stupid politicians have no other alternative. Terrorism simply means that what was being done on a social scale now has to be done individually. It will grow. It can only be prevented if we change the very base of human understanding — which is a Himalayan task; more so because these same people whom you want to change will fight you; they won’t allow you to change them easily – Osho.
Environment 2000 – 2009
2000 – Over 300 million gallons of thick, black coal slurry sludge is released in Mississippi River destroying 100 miles of streams and killing millions of fish.
2001 -National Science Foundation report on Global Warming supports previous warnings.
2002 – World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
2003 — Bush Administration compiles the most anti-environmental record of any US president.
2004 – Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
2005 – With a majority of the world’s nations ratifying, the Kyoto Protocol officially goes into force – without the U.S.
2006 – India’s Centre for Science and Environment claims that U.S. soft-drink giants Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. contained, on average, 24 times the maximum level of four pesticides allowed under government standards.
2007 – Al Gore and R Pachauri win the Nobel Peace Prize for “their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change.”
2009 – UN Climate Change Conference held in Copenhagen ends without a major breakthrough.
Perhaps twenty, thirty years more, and this earth will be dead, because man has behaved so wrongly with himself, with others, with nature, with the environment. For the whole of his history he has been preparing for an ultimate war — only one preparation, one goal. And now he has come very close to the goal; he has everything that is needed to destroy this whole earth – Osho.
Natural Disasters 2000 – 2009
2001 – Earthquake in Kutch, Gujarat, India kills 30,000+ and injures 167,000+.
2003 – Europe hit by a 40 degree C heatwave killing hundreds.
2004 – Indian Ocean Tsunami, most destructive earthquake and natural disaster, kills 300,000+.
2005 – Kashmir earthquake killing 80,000+.
2005 – Hurricane Katrina destroys New Orleans, USA killing 1800+.
2009 – HINI epidemic worldwide kills thousands.
Unless human consciousness changes totally, man cannot survive. As he is right now, he is already outdated. There will be floods which have never been known since the time of Noah, along with earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and everything else that is possible through nature. There will be wars which are bound to end in nuclear explosions, hence no ordinary Noah’s Arks are going to save humanity. (Here) we are creating a Noah’s Ark of consciousness, remaining centered exactly in the middle of the cyclone. I say to you that except this there is no other way – Osho.
Economics 2000 – 2009
2000 – 2007 – Easy credit, surplus money, increased incomes, stock markets boom.
2008 – Bernie Madoff cheats investors of $ 65 billion in ‘the largest investment fraud in Wall Street history’.
2008 – Financial meltdown in USA, UK and Europe triggers depression. Banks major companies fail, thousands lose jobs and homes. Cause – the greed of the bankers.
Love is sharing; greed is hoarding. Greed only wants and never gives, and love knows only giving and never asks for anything in return; it is unconditional sharing. There may be some alchemical reason that LOBHA has become ‘love’ in the English language. LOBHA becomes love as far as inner alchemy is concerned – Osho.
Science and Technology 2000 – 2009
Science: 2000 – Human Gnome project completed.
2001 – Space tourism starts with week long stay by American Dennis Tito.
2004 – Mars Exploration Mission reaches Mars.
2009 – CERN’s Large Hadron Collider started.
Technology: Mobile phones, digital cameras, digital audio players, E Mail, broadband, Internet for information, commerce and social networking.
In the West, they have destroyed poverty, they have destroyed much disease, they have made man’s life longer. They have made man’s body more beautiful, they have made man’s existence more comfortable, but the man himself — for whom all these comforts, all these conquests of science and technology have been done — is missing. They have completely forgotten for whom it was done. The inside is hollow. Everything is there, all around, and in the middle there is a retarded consciousness, almost non-existential. So both have succeeded in what they were doing, and both have failed — because they have chosen only half of man’s life. My attitude is that of accepting man in his totality, in his wholeness – Osho.
New Dawn 2010 – 2020
The world is tired, it is utterly tired of wars. The whole of history hitherto has been violent, insane. No more of it! We have to turn a new leaf, we have to start humanity as if from ABC – Osho.
Man is entering into a new phase; a new consciousness is to dawn. For at least ten thousand years, as far as consciousness is concerned, nothing new has happened. There have been Buddhas and there have been Albert Einsteins, but we are still waiting for a Buddha who is also an Albert Einstein or an Albert Einstein who is also a Buddha. The day is coming closer and closer. Albert Einstein in his last days was very much interested in meditation, in religion. His last days were full of wonder. He said in his old age, “I used to think when I was young that sooner or later all the mysteries of existence would be solved, and I worked hard. But now I can say that the more we know, the more existence turns out to be mysterious. The more we know, the less we know and the more we become aware of the vastness…” – Osho.
About the Author
A disciple of the enlightened master, Osho, Kul Bhushan is an Editor, Author, Special Correspondent, Publisher and a Media Consultant. He has worked for a UN agency and travelled to over 50 countries. He specialises in writing on NRI (Non Resident Indians) affairs and has authored 26 books. www.kulbhushan.net and www.newstechglobal.com
OSHO: Meditations for Contemporary People
|
|
Osho Dynamic Meditation £8.30 … |
|
|
Osho Kundalini Meditation £7.98 … |
|
|
Osho Chakra Breathing: Music for Meditation £7.95 … |
|
|
Osho Dynamic Meditation [DVD] £16.75 … |
|
|
Osho Dynamic Meditation [DVD] [NTSC] £16.83 … |
|
|
Courage: the Joy of Living Dangerously (Insights for a New Way of Living) £2.75 Osho discusses where fears originate, how to understand them and how to find the courage to face them. The change in our lives that can cause fear is actually a cause for celebration. Rather than clinging to the familiar, we can learn to see new situations as opportunities for adventure…. |
|
|
Intimacy (Insight) £2.31 Intimacy is a quality that can often be missing in today’s more rootless society. In this guide Osho takes the reader step by step through what makes people afraid of intimacy, how to encounter those fears and go beyond them, and what they can do to nourish themselves and their relationships…. |
|
|
Creativity: Unleashing Forces within (Insights for a New Way of Living) £3.01 In this text, according to Osho, creativity is ‘perhaps the only existential religion’ because it arises from the same attunement with the whole that is the fulfilment of the spiritual search…. |