Has one only received a hit if it hurts?

Question: BELOVED OSHO, I USED TO BE SO SCARED OF BEING HIT OR EXPOSED. SINCE I HAVE BEEN HERE WITH YOU AND MELTING INTO YOU, I'M LONGING FOR IT WITH AN UNKNOWN IMPATIENCE. I LONG TO GET THE OBSTACLES OUT OF THE WAY, TO BE OVER AND DONE WITH `THIS ONE' SO THAT I CAN MOVE ON THE JOURNEY TO THE NEXT ROCK ON MY PATH. FEAR SEEMS TO BE JUST A QUITE UNIMPORTANT, OLD HABIT. I AM EXPERIENCING YOU AS A BOUNDLESS INVITATION. NO BARRIERS ARE THERE WHICH I COULD USE TO RATIONALIZE A LACK OF COURAGE. I FEEL THANKFUL ABOUT THE LACK OF ORGANIZATION AROUND YOU; THERE IS NO MORE FEAR THAT GETTING A HIT FROM YOU MAY BE USED BY PEOPLE WHO ARE IN POWER TO FEED THEIR OWN JUDGMENTS, TO PUT ME DOWN OR TO MAKE ME FEEL GUILTY.

Maneesha has asked a question: BELOVED OSHO, HAS ONE ONLY RECEIVED A HIT IF IT HURTS?

Maneesha, a master hits not to hurt but to heal. And a disciple receives the hit with tremendous gratitude, not with anger. Unless a hit is received with gratitude it cannot do its work of healing. You are all full of wounds, and they all need to be exposed to the sun, to the open sky. Unless you allow yourself to be exposed completely, you cannot get rid of those wounds. The normal way in the world is to hide the wounds so nobody knows about them -- go on hiding them deeper and deeper in the unconscious, so even you forget them. But to work on the consciousness, cleaning it from all the wounds is absolutely necessary. Those wounds have to be brought into the open. You are asking, "Has one only received a hit if it hurts?" No, Maneesha. If it hurts you have missed. If it does…

Osho, your arrow hit the bull’s-eye. The moment I heard your response, Kabir’s verse sprang to mind: “The master is the potter, the disciple the clay pot; moment by moment he picks out the flaws. His hand inside shapes and supports, outside he gives the blow.” I am filled with gratitude toward you. Infinite, infinite thanks!

A very big Hindu mahatma wrote a book, “Why Hinduism?” He gives “scientific” bases for Hindu practices. What he says is astonishing—such a book could be printed even in the twentieth century! And it’s not a small book: seven hundred and fifty pages! And the author is a weighty “mahatma.” How the foolish become mahatmas! He writes that Hindus keep a topknot (shikha) the way churches and temples fix lightning rods—so if lightning strikes, it is conducted straight into the ground. That is why Hindus keep a shikha! And by tying a knot to make it stand upright, lightning won’t strike; even if it does, it will go straight to the ground through the shikha! What astonishing people! What foolishness, what dim-wittedness! But Hindus will be pleased: “What a marvelous explanation!” He says Hindus wear wooden sandals (khadau) because holding them grips the big toe, and in that toe is…

When you said I was only pretending to be a disciple, you demolished me completely. I was crushed. The bottom of everything dropped out. But now, twenty-four hours later, I must confess that I'm feeling great and awake. It's like a new morning. Whatever you decide to do with me, I'm grateful.

Santosh, I hit you hard only to make you awake. It is out of compassion and love. There is no other reason, no other motive at all. I have nothing to gain from you, I have no desire to be fulfilled. I can die this very moment because I have nothing to do tomorrow. Each moment is complete, each moment is more than enough. So if sometimes I hit you, remember always, it must be because I feel you worthy of being hit. I don't hit anybody and everybody. I hit only the chosen people, I hit only when I see the potential, when I see that the hit is going to wake you up. In the beginning, of course, it is a painful experience, it is a thunderbolt from the sky -- and so unexpected. Now, Santosh was not expecting it -- and suddenly the sword descends on his…

Osho, many stories are told about saints and siddhas that when they were pleased with someone, they would shower them with abuses. From Paramahansa Ramakrishna’s mouth many abuses would come—at every turn, abuses. The same is notably true in the life of the renowned music master Alauddin Khan. Would you kindly shed some light on this?

Anand Maitreya, whether a true Master sings a song or hurls an abuse, his aim is always one: by what means can your ego be erased. If it dissolves through song, he will sing; if through abuse, he will abuse. Neither the abuse has any value nor the song; both are means, devices. The whole endeavor of the true Master is this alone: how the rock of your ego may be shattered to pieces. For this reason Ramakrishna would sometimes pat your back, sometimes shower you with abuses. And this is not only with Ramakrishna; it is so with many realized ones. Sai Baba of Shirdi would abuse, throw stones, run after people with a stick. People thought he had gone deranged. He was not. As his death drew near, he abused more, threw more stones, ran more to beat. People thought the madness had reached its peak. Not so.…