“Sufism is not a doctrine but a discipline, a method of inner transformation, an alchemical device to change the lower into the higher, to change the baser metal into gold. It does not believe in talking about God. Rather, it believes in creating God. It does not believe in great philosophical argumentation. That is all rubbish. Its whole emphasis is on how to destroy man’s mechanicalness, how to de-automatize man, how to release awareness in him.

     Self-remembering is its only and its whole philosophy. If you can understand one word, self-remembering, you have understood all that Sufism consists of.

     “Man lives, but without any remembrance of who he is. Then you can go on doing a thousand and one things, but failure is going to be your fate. You are doomed to fail because unconsciousness fails. Only consciousness succeeds because it is only through consciousness that you become part of the divine cosmos. Unconscious, you remain apart. Unconscious, you are confined by your ego, you are like an island. Conscious, the ego melts and you become one with the whole, the harmony of the whole.

     “The part is going to fail. The part cannot succeed. Only the whole succeeds. That is the meaning of the ancient statement: Satyameva jayate – it is only truth that wins. Why is it only truth that wins? Because to be true is to be with godliness, to be true is to be with the ultimate law of existence, is to be in tune with Tao – and the whole cannot fail.

     “The individual is bound to fail, and unless you remember, you will remain an individual. The moment you remember, the miracle happens, the paradox happens. In self-remembering, the self disappears. Only remembering is left. In non-self-remembering, there is no remembering, but the self continues. The self and remembering cannot exist together; their coexistence is not possible.

     “Sufism can be reduced to a single method: self-remembering. A man who remembers himself functions in a different way. Never imitate anybody because by imitation, you are not going to reach. If by chance you are fortunate and blessed and you come across a buddha, learn how to remember. Don’t imitate him; if you imitate a buddha, you will be just a dummy buddha, a false entity of no worth, and you will become more and more stupid. Imitators always become stupid.

     “Intelligence never grows by imitation. Intelligence grows by experimentation. Intelligence grows by taking challenges, intelligence grows by accepting questions and endeavoring to find their answers.” Osho