There is misery and there is a way out..

Friends, I was always quite fascinated by Buddha’s life and message. He talked about four noble (eternal) truths but remained silent on being questioned about “God”.. This silence has been interpreted differently.
Most people think that he talked about misery and the way out of the misery since misery (dis-satisfactoriness of the world and its things) was a constant problem for every human being, almost on a daily basis. But he refused to talk about things which had no relevance in day to day life of the people, things which were (and still are) controversial and of “intellectual” nature.

Recently, I read a commentary by Osho, where he adds a FIFTH truth to Buddha’s four! It took me sometime to absorb the novelty of the idea and then, I suddenly realised that this fifth truth applied to pws community as well! But let me begin with the four original truths:

1. There is misery!
the original concept of “misery” was much more inclusive- there may not be active pain or misery all the time- but there is a dis-satisfactoriness in everything around us: Go to a beautiful picnic spot- everything is perfect but there is litter, or there are others talking loudly on their cell phone, honking, vendors etc. etc. Nothing seems to be perfect.)
2. There is a cause of this misery or suffering.
3. There is a state beyond this misery or suffering.
4. There is a path leading to it.

Now this is a very practical approach to spirituality. No wonder, Buddha stopped here and talked no further about God with form, without form etc etc. Now Osho, truly makes a monumental contribution by saying – there is a fifth truth, which should have been the first truth in fact. And that is: Unconsciousness of the misery (suffering). It is possible for most of us to not to be aware of the suffering. To deny it and continue living is a hazy unconsciousness..This is the reason, why other four truth come into play. If you are not unhappy, why would you get up and do anything. But the fact is- there is an issue which surfaces once in a while and when least expected..

This is what happened to me: I denied that I stammer. I never let anyone video-graph me. And life went on and on. I thought no one knows that I stammer and I should keep it this way only. I lived in denial- a very unhappy & heavy life. This happens to almost 99.99 % of pws. And this is how the misery continues. No real change happens.

This is why mirror practice, video reviews, voluntary stuttering, writing about it on the blog- all this helps so tremendously. PWS who have used any of these techniques have reported a big and immediate change. Remember Eckharte Tolle? Seeing is Freeing. Means: In order to be free of something, you have to SEE it first- not run away from it or deny it or trivialize it.

Many pws go to a therapist and say: I dont stammer stammer. I just hesitate a little on a few words only.The therapist too in many cases, says: Yes, you are right; you just need to practice this technique for a few weeks and you will be cured. Many of us know first hand, what is the outcome of this approach.

There are just two things: you need some courage and you need a COMMUNITY to practice this self-help approach.
PS: Let me thank Deepak Datta for the beautiful book on Osho!
If you wish to learn more about Acceptance and how it helps- google Eckharte Tolle and Acceptance.