Maturity - Osho

 The tag lines that go with the book explain them very well most times and so does this one - it says maturity is the responsibility of being oneself. 

In the first page he says 

- 'listen to your being. It is continuously giving you hints; it is a still, small voice. Maturity is accepting the responsibility of being oneself, whatsoever the cost. Risking all to be oneself, that's what maturity is all about.'  

or

'maturity means the same as innocence, only with one difference, it is innocence reclaimed, it is innocence recaptured.'

Two ideas stayed with me from this book. One, that time is a horizontal line - with a past, present and future. Intersecting this line is a vertical line which is eternity and when they meet, which is rare, he says that meditation has reached ripening, maturity, and you have touched your innermost core. Bliss, I guess.

Another idea I liked was the one where he says - just do what you enjoy and when you stop enjoying it, stop. Like for example he says he would go walking and when he stopped enjoying the walk, he would stop. He says that if you tune into this more, you will start to listen to yourself more. I liked the idea and have been trying to follow that. (Though when I was reading this book there was a time when I was not enjoying it but ploughed on and found this gem about doing things you enjoy!)

Finally he says, awareness is the method; maturation is the result. The three steps to maturity - become aware of your body every moment (walking, chopping wood, whatever), then your mind (one percent thought, ninety nine percent awareness, more awareness, less thoughts), and then your heart (love grows, hate disappears, good grows, bad disappears).

Glad i finished reading it. Thanks Ajji!