According to Osho, the Master does not merely ‘sometimes’ play hide-and-seek; the very relationship between Master and disciple is this playful lila, mirroring the Divine’s game with existence. The Master’s nearness remains veiled to ignite loving search, ripen trust, and acquaint the seeker with the whole. Seeing it as play dissolves anxiety; longing becomes blissful, and small-scale practice prepares one for the cosmic game.
Like playing peekaboo, the Master hides nearby so you joyfully learn to look, love, and grow—and that fun practice readies you to meet the Divine everywhere.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, does the Master ever play hide-and-seek with the disciples? Please tell us.
Hide-and-seek is the entire relationship between Master and disciple. Not that he plays it “sometimes”—that is the relationship. And not only between Master and disciple; it is the very relationship between the Divine and creation. The Master and the disciple play, on a small scale, the vast game the Divine is playing with existence on a grand scale. Here the Divine is hidden everywhere, calling from all directions: “Come, touch me, search for me!” The day you hear that call and begin to seek, you will discover such joy in the seeking that you may even say, “Don’t be in a hurry to reveal yourself.” When you were small you played children’s games—hide-and-seek. In a single room the children hide: one presses under the bed, another slips behind a chair—and everyone knows more or less where everyone is, because all are half-peeking. Still the game goes on. Even the one…
You have asked: “Please tell me, how long does the Master remain a slayer, and when does he become a savior?”
So I am not telling you to flee from worldly bonds. They have no intrinsic value—what will you flee from? What renunciation is there of dreams? Just know it is a play, an acting. And if it is acting, then play it lightly and joyously. If it is only a game, there is no need for seriousness. Enjoy it—like one plays cards: there are kings and queens and all the rest. They are “kings and queens” as the Queen of England is a queen—without real consequence. But while playing, kings and queens become important. Or in chess—the elephants and horses, vizier and king—very important! And yet, there is nothing there. For the poor, the pieces are wooden; for the rich, ivory or gold and silver—but still nothing. Yet the players get terribly involved. Sometimes swords are drawn over chess! Necks are cut—over nothing. Imagine! The kings and viziers, elephants and…
Osho, if a seeker finds the true Master, does the search come to an end?
Only then does the search begin. Before that, what you called a search was mere, futile coming and going. Before that it was groping in the dark. There was no path, no direction, no vision. With the meeting of the true Master, the search begins. The pointless running around ends. That was never a real search. The real search begins. And once the real search begins, it is already half fulfilled. Very little remains after the Master. Whoever has found the Master has, in essence, bowed down, effaced himself a little, stepped aside from the ego. Only then could he find the Master; otherwise he could not. And on this very path the Master will take you further: “Don’t just lessen yourself—disappear utterly.” A little effacement brings you to the Master; total effacement brings you to the Divine. Now the way is clear. Step aside a little—you meet the Master.…
Osho, a master can always know the spiritual state of a seeker longing for liberation, but how can the seeker know whether the master has attained truth or not? And if the disciple ever feels he has lost the gamble in his choice, can he go to another master? Please clarify your view.
The scripture says: eat once a day—so they eat once. Two garments—so two garments. Don’t travel after sunset—so they don’t. Don’t drink water at night—so they refrain. Rise before dawn—so they rise. They rehearse what the scripture prescribes; through this, they match your idea and seem suitable. If your conception springs from the same scripture, the match is exact. Hence the odd spectacle: the guru of one sect does not seem like a guru at all to another sect. But to his sect he appears the supreme guru. Their conceptions match. Understand the trick. You study the same shastra… Consider an actress who came to see me: “What do you say about the Bhrigu Samhita?” I asked why. She said, “In Delhi they read my Bhrigu. I noted what they said of my past lives, and future too. Some things about this life were true. Others aren’t yet, but the…
Osho, you say the same thing in countless ways. But when I listen to you, it feels as if I am hearing it for the first time. And I feel so much joy that I don’t feel like going back home. What should I do—what can I do—so that I can just keep listening to you!
You will feel as if you have been made to rise out of season, before time—as if you were not yet to go and yet had to go. And if you go in that way, your home will become even more desolate than before. I do not want to make your home desolate; I want to make your home a temple. I want that when you go home, your home’s new form is revealed. I do not want to tear you away from home, from the world, from family life. That is the newness of my sannyas: I do not want to sever you from the world; I want to join you to the world in such a way that your connection with the world becomes a connection with the Divine. Let the world no longer be a barrier between you and the Divine; let it become a means. If…