The original source of tense is becoming. One is always trying to be something, no one is at ease with himself as he is. The being is not accepted, the being is denied, and something else is taken as an ideal to become. So the basic tension is always between that which you are and that which you long to become. You desire to become something. Tension means that you are not pleased with what you are, and you long to be what you are not. Tension is created between these two. What you desire to become is irrelevant. If you want to become wealth, famous, powerful, or even if you want to be free, libertated, to be divine, immortal, even if you long for salvation, moksha, then too the tension will be there... Tension means a gap between what you are and what you want to be. If the gap is great, the tension will be great. If the gap is small, the tension will be small. And if there is no gap at all, it means you are satisfied with what you are. In other words, you don't long to be other than what you are, then your mind exists in the moment. There is nothing to be tense about, you are at ease with yourself. To me, if there is no gap you are religious...Only if we accept ourself totally is there no tension. This total acceptance is the miracle, the only miracle. To find a person who has accepted himself totally is the only surprising thing.
Osho: From meditation to meditation
