According to Osho, yes—fragrance can be directly felt as a subtle experience through the nose; in inner silence, very wondrous scents may spontaneously arise without external sources. These delicate aromas are part of the spectrum of human sensitivity and can accompany meditative states, signaling a refined awareness opening to subtler dimensions of perception.
Yes—sometimes beautiful smells can show up from inside you, like your nose quietly noticing something gentle and special.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
These samadhis that result from meditation on an object are samadhis with seed, and do not give freedom from the cycle of rebirth. On attaining the utmost purity of the nirvichara stage of samadhi, there is a dawning of the spiritual light.
IN NIRVICHARA SAMADHI, THE CONSCIOUSNESS IS FILLED WITH TRUTH. For example if you contemplate on emptiness; the object is almost not, if you meditate on nothingness. There are Buddhist schools which emphasize only one meditation, and that is on nothingness. One has to think, one has to meditate, one has to imbibe the idea that nothing exists. Continuously meditating on nothingness, a moment comes when the object becomes so subtle that it cannot withhold your attention; it is so subtle that there is nothing to contemplate, and one goes on and on and on. Suddenly, one day the consciousness bounces upon oneself. Not finding any standing ground there in the object, not finding any foothold, not finding anything to cling to, the consciousness bounces upon itself. It returns, comes back to its own center. Then it becomes the highest, the purest, nirvichara. The highest, nirvichara, is when the consciousness bounces…
Do you know why you are checked at the gate? It is a very esoteric thing -- because your smell gives indications of your spiritual growth, of what centre you are at. If your smell is foul that means you are just at the lowest centre. As you start rising the bad smell starts changing into a beautiful fragrance. And it is just a coincidence that just now the first person, Myriam ... her name meant living fragrance. And suddenly you come here... (much laughter). But every mountain is followed by a valley! If you can go beyond the meaning there is no need to worry. So remember that one has to go beyond all that stinks. Mind stings, ego stinks, jealousy stinks, possessiveness stinks, hatred, anger, greed -- these are all stinking things and if you cling to them you remain stinking. And people cling!
Osho, another fear arises: if we remove the mind’s interference, might our whole life end in a single sight, a single word, a single fragrance!
Let it happen. There is no harm in it. Because what you call life will end anyway. There is no way to save it. Whoever tries to save it only gets into trouble. It cannot be saved; it is already passing. And if the mind’s interference drops and your life dissolves into the One, that is the very search. If you are utterly immersed in fragrance, then fragrance is your God. Then through fragrance itself you will have known the divine. Then within the sense of smell all your other senses will be absorbed. You will become a doorway of fragrance. Then you will smell with every pore of your being. Then, on every side, the divine will become fragrance for you. For this reason, in different religions different senses became important. Islam gives great value to fragrance. Surely Muhammad knew the divine as fragrance. The mind’s interference fell away…
Osho, just a small question. If truth is non-dual, then what is the point of calling apara and para different? And are apara and para interchangeable?
In the Vigyan Bhairava, Shiva tells Parvati: “Ask no more. The more will hinder. Let me tell you in little. In this Om—A-U-M—forget A, forget M; what remains in the middle—U—dive into that. Then I will be attained.” This is technique. If you can dive into U… If you utter U with force, you will feel the navel contract within. The more forcefully you intone U, the more pressure on the navel. And the navel is the root source of life-energy. One who can tap it rightly—Om is the hammer, the device to strike there. If one strikes rightly, the life-energy begins to rise; kundalini awakens; the journey upward begins. I have heard: In a small town a huge factory installed a new machine. For a month it ran well; then suddenly it stopped. No fault was found. The factory engineers tried and failed. A specialist was called from the…
Sarvatra bhavana gandhah the feeling of that everywhere is gandha -- the only fragrance.
THE INDIAN metaphysics divides Existence into two realms. One is "this" -- that which can be pointed out; and another is "That" -- that which is beyond this, which cannot be pointed out. The Sanskrit word for Truth is SATYA. This Sanskrit word is very meaningful and very beautiful. It is a combination of two words: sat and tat. Sat means "this" and tat means "That", satya means "this plus That is Truth". So first we should understand what "this" is and what "That" is. That which can be perceived, that which can be understood, that which can be comprehended, that which can be pointed out, fingered out, that which can be shown, that which can be seen -- all belong to "this". That which cannot be seen but yet is, that which cannot be comprehended but yet is, that which cannot be contemplated but yet is, belongs to "That".…