Does God ever remember me?

Osho, I remember God so much, but a question arises in my mind: does God ever remember me, or not?

Teach a parrot “Ram-Ram” or teach it abuses—nothing goes deep; a parrot is a parrot. And most of your prayers are parrot-like—learnt by rote, taught by others. I am not asking for such prayers. At the very least, let your prayer be yours, your own. Don’t repeat borrowed words before the Divine. Don’t just chant the Gayatri. Sing your own song. Gayatri was someone’s own song once—then it was beautiful. When it arose from a living heart, it was filled with divinity. For the first singer, Gayatri’s glory is beyond telling. But Gayatri is not yours. You sit and mutter it—parrot-fashion. Your own Gayatri is waiting within you. Sing your own song. Even if it is halting, lisping, out of meter, without polished poetry—don’t worry. The Divine does not care for meter, or grammar, or language. The Divine cares for one thing only—your love, your loving call, exactly as it…

Osho, how does the remembrance of the Divine begin? How am I to remember God? I have no clue to God at all.

Have you ever known any joy through the ego? The ego aches like a wound; the smallest things hurt. The greater the ego, the greater the pain in life. Remove the source of this pain. Then some true Master will knock at your door. Or, unawares, you will recognize a Master in one in whom you had never seen one before. Sometimes he was living right next door and you did not hear; you met daily on the road, exchanged greetings—and still you never saw. You need the eye to see; the ego does not allow such an eye to be born. Ego is a great curtain. One way is this. If this too feels hard—if letting the ego drop is not easy, if recognizing the Master is not easy—then there is another way: search in nature. In waterfalls, trees, winds, the moon and the stars. Do not search for…

Osho, I have heard that a seeker has to pass through four stages of sadhana: tariqat, shari’at, marifat, and haqiqat. The last is haqiqat, where the seeker meets his beloved and comes face to face with Truth. Osho, please explain the first three states.

These words are from the Sufis—very significant, and very straightforward. The first is tariqat. Tariqat means: the way, the method, the discipline, the means, the yoga. Tariqat means: something has to be done; only then will you attain—without doing, you will not receive. One has to walk a path; find the way; make a footpath. One has to bring some discipline into life, give it an order. Tariqat means learning the way to become worthy of it. When you go to have an audience with an emperor, you learn the etiquette of his court. You don’t just walk in. If you do, you will not be accepted. You learn how to sit there, how to stand there, how to bow there. If you are going to meet an emperor, you must taste something of the flavor of the emperor’s way of life. If you are going to meet the Divine,…

Osho, in devotion the remembrance of the Name is greatly praised. In this context there is a popular couplet: “Keep chanting the name of Ram as long as there is breath in the body. Someday the Compassionate One will catch the hint in his ear.” Why doesn’t the Compassionate One listen quickly?

A mother is talking to her son. A new baby is due; nine months are complete. The mother is preparing the boy for the new guest in the house—this is necessary. The little boy… she tells him: You should be very happy. Your new brother is coming. From God’s house, your new brother is coming! But the child looks a little sad and a bit upset. The mother asks: What is it? Why are you upset and sad? Aren’t you happy that your new brother is coming? He says, No—because every day I pray to God that this time I should not get a brother. Send a little horse. It seems my prayer was not heard. Now no brother and such—I don’t want that. I want a horse. And he says to his mother, If it’s not too much trouble for you, then a horse… even now if something can…

Osho, I have no concern with anyone, no dealings; my only business is with what is truly mine: Your mention, Your care, Your remembrance, Your name.

Therefore, in my view, do not treat the remembrance of God and the remembrance of other things as enemies; otherwise you will be in trouble. Do this instead: take everything to be God. If your wife comes to mind, remember that it is God you are remembering—after all, she too is a form of God. If your son comes to mind, remember, it is God you are remembering. Do not set up any conflict between son and God, between wife and God, between husband and God. Otherwise you will be in difficulty. Whatever comes to mind, take your remembrance of God to be in that very thing. Slowly, you will find all opposition has dissolved. In whatever face appears, you will see His light. Peer into any eye and in that eye you will find His reflection. There are a thousand lakes, and one moon; the reflection of that moon…