Nature

“Wherever you find that society is in conflict with nature, choose nature—whatever the cost. You will never be a loser.

The thinking up to now has been that the individual exists for the society, that the individual has to follow what the society dictates. The individual has to fit with the society. That has become the definition of the normal human being—one who fits with the society. Even if the society is insane, you have to fit with it; then you are normal.

Now the problem for the individual is that nature demands one thing, and society demands something contrary. If the society were demanding the same as nature demands, there would be no conflict. We would have remained in the Garden of Eden. The problem arises because society has its own interests, which are not necessarily in tune with the interests of the individual. Society has its own investments, and the individual has to be sacrificed. This is a very topsy-turvy world. It should be just the other way round. The individual does not exist for the society, the society exists for the individual. Because society is just an institution, it has no soul. The individual has the soul, is the conscious center.”

Everyday Osho — 365 Daily meditations for the here and now by Osho

I find American society to be pretty crazy-making. We are given so many conflicting messages, and made to feel like we must strive to be more, do more, have more. The message is never to simply enjoy what you have, to love what is already in your life, it is to achieve something else and become something else. I think we are happiest when we are simply following our own nature, doing what we enjoy and pursuing the things that interest us, rather than the things that make money for someone else.

We want to control nature rather than be guided by it. Tao turns this around and asks us to observe nature and emulate it, to follow the course of water and natural terrain and our own inner nature, to remember our souls.

Once you think of society as something that exists for you, it becomes a comfortable thing rather than a demanding one. I find it far easier to get along with other people now that I think of them as fellow souls rather than thinking of them in their societal roles. When you treat others as souls, valuing their unique spirit, rather than as the sales clerk, the voice on the phone, the coworker, you tend to develop real relationships rather than merely functional transactions. It’s far more human.