This is a translation of the first poem in my first book of poems (And The Ugly Angel Fell). I didn't understand it for years. I only knew it was important. Sometimes you receive a poem like someone else is writing through you. This was one of them. It came down instantly. I remember the exact moment I wrote it, the urgency, the joy, the longing.

Prologue
I woke up one morning and discovered I was visible. At first I was horrified by my sharp outlines and couldn’t move. After a while my joints felt more flexible and I let my hands lightly touch my face, neck and wander down all over my body. It surprised me that all body parts were so well assembled.

My skin is fair and thick. It is both infuriating and amazing to move inside it. Earlier I moved freely from body to body. Now I have to stay inside my own. Bit by bit I adjust to my new state of being visible. It feels strange and a little dry, tiring sometimes. It still hurts when I get too close to my new shell.

My mind is completely void, as if an empty creation is taking up my inner space. I don’t want anything but I don’t feel resistance to anything either. I’m thinking it’s a process, getting used to being visible; a little bit like when your eyes adjust to light. (1995)

“Life as it is should be enough of a reason to laugh. It is so absurd, it is so ridiculous. It is so beautiful... it is so wonderful. It is all sorts of things together. It is a great cosmic joke.” - Osho

I’ve collected and created some jokes (including a horribly failed one!) about yogis and non-duality. Warm up your smiling muscles, prepare to laugh!

Ok, here we go:

A holy man was sitting in the middle of the street, meditating. A taxi driver slams on the breaks and yells out to the man:
Have you lost your mind!?
The holy man replies:
Yes.

What did the yogi tell the vacuum cleaner salesperson? 

"I don’t want this one. It comes with too many attachments." 

Why couldn’t the yogi vacuum in the corners?
Because he didn’t have any attachments.

Are Buddhists monks allowed to send emails?
Yes, but they cannot send emails with attachments.

Oh, no! My karma ran over your dogma.... 

A Zen master received a gift for her birthday.
She opened the big gift box. It was empty.
“Nothing!” she exclamied, “just what I always wanted.”

A moment later a young nun knocked on her door:
(Knock, knock.)
Who’s there?
No one.

I think I will make this one into a sign and put on my wall:
       Procrastinate now! Don’t wait until tomorrow.

A yogi orders a pizza at the local pizza place:
"Make me one with everything."



Watch how terribly wrong it can go when you try to tell that joke to the Dalai Lama!

To continue the joke:

When the yogi got the pizza, he paid with a $20 bill. 
The proprietor pocketed the bill. 
Yogi: "I need some change."


The proprietor: "All change comes from within.”

I’ll sum up with another Osho quote:

“Nobody lives, nobody dies. Nothingness lives, nothingness dies. You are not. Have a good laugh at this situation. You are not and you exist. You are not and you are. This is the cosmic joke.”



So here’s to all the masters out there:

How many non-dualist masters does it take to screw in a light bulb?

Four.
One to screw it in.

One to not screw it in.

One to both screw it in and not screw it in.

One to neither screw it in nor not screw it in.

Hey, that’s a lot of screwing around. 

Have a happy day!

Surrender is a beautiful process.
It’s emotional and spiritual.
It’s not intellectual.
You can’t understand it with your mind. 
It's a master and a servant. 
You can feel it.
You can't explain it.

Three different paths all lead to surrender. 

When you surrender to life you accept all that happens and all that is.
When you surrender to the Self you merge with your own sense of being, the life force which permeates the whole universe.
When you surrender to God you put all your cares in his hands and happily accept everything he lays before you.

It all comes to the same.The depth of it is incomprehensible.

Whichever path you choose surrender means to give up control. It’s not easy to do. Most people hate it. Why? Because we are so sure of what we want and need – and what we think others should want and need.

We like to think that we are in full command of our lives. When things don’t happen they way we wanted there is disappointment or depression.

To surrender means to accept, even appreciate, whatever comes your way. Even if I don’t understand why things happen the way they do. Even if I don’t like it.

I relax into what is.
I give up my most cherished fights.
I quarrel with nothing.
I stop commanding.
I stop forcing.
I start receiving and accepting.
I want nothing.
I want everything.

In surrender you are happy in every situation. It means being naturally relieved of disappointment and depression. Not because bad things don’t happen but because you don’t judge good and bad the way you used to. 

Few people achieve complete surrender immediately but partial surrender is always possible. A first step to surrender is letting go. Another early step is to stop resisting what is, to stop fighting the world.

A more advanced step is to admit that you are indeed helpless. And to sit with that helplessness and to fully, fully embrace it. Don’t be afraid of the temporary emptiness that comes when you first lay down your weapons. It will soon be filled with your authentic self, with bliss.

Surrender doesn’t mean that you force yourself to endure what you don’t want. Surrender means that you don’t resist what is while knowing what you want without attachment to it – and no aversion toward what you don't want.

That's a tough one. 

Sometimes life forces you to surrender by being a total bitch. That's the master aspect of surrender. Sometimes you melt into surrender by a softened heart. That's the servant aspect of surrender.

Surrender means being completely honest with yourself. It also means grace because you are given the possibility to surrender through your desire to do it.

It’s your gift. See if it has arrived. 

To fully and completely accept and love yourself is part of surrender. You can’t surrender and still have complaints about yourself, or anyone else.

Surrender is unconditional love. Unconditional love is surrender.

In giving up all you gain all. But you haven’t surrendered until you loose all expectation of gaining anything from it. That’s the tricky part.

We always want something in return. 

Sure, you'll get it. But you can’t demand or even expect it.

I’m so grateful that I was given this gift.
I’m so grateful that I had the desire to accept it.
It’s not done by me.
I can only entertain the desire.
Everything is as it should.
Thy will be done… 

Nothing needs to be changed.Just add awareness.