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Osho on How can God be seen?

How can God be seen?

God is not an external being to be seen; it is the very essence of existence, and only when the ego dissolves do we recognize our oneness with the infinite ocean of consciousness.

— Osho
According to Osho, God cannot be seen as an external person or object; there is only godliness—an infinite ocean of consciousness manifesting as all life. The true vision of God arises when the ego dies: the illusion of 'I' and 'other' dissolves, and one recognizes oneness with the whole—Tat Tvam Asi. Like a raindrop becoming the ocean, we realize we are That.

You don’t look at God like a thing; when the tight feeling of ‘me’ relaxes, you feel one with everything—that feeling is seeing God.

In His Own Words

From the Discourses

Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.

The Perfect Way · Discourse 9
1964-06-07 · English

How can god be seen then?

Here, the word "seen" is misleading. It leads one to suppose there is someone to be seen, and the word "God" itself creates the illusion of a person, a personality. There is no person life God. There is godliness; there is a force. There is no person, but a force. God is an infinite ocean of energy, an infinite ocean of consciousness. He manifests himself in all forms. As the creator, god is not separate; he himself is the creation. He himself is creative reality. He is life. Being surrounded by the ego creates the illusion of being different, of being separate from life. This is your distance, your separation from God. And in actual fact, no distance or separation is possible -- the very illusion of "I" is the distance. This separation is because of ignorance. In fact, ignorance is the separation. As such there is not real separation…
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Ah This · Discourse 6
1980-01-08 · Buddha Hall · English

Osho, can't one believe in god without seeing him?

Surendra Mohan, WHO IS TELLING YOU TO BELIEVE IN GOD? I am against all belief. You must be a very new comer here. Belief is irreligious, as much as disbelief is. Belief means you don't know yet you have accepted something. It is cowardly -- you have not inquired. You are pretending, you are a hypocrite. All believers are hypocrites -- Catholic and communist, Jainas and Jews -- all. Believers are hypocrites. They don't know and yet they pretend AS IF they know. What is belief? It is playing the game of "as if." And the same is true about disbelief. The communist knows NOT that there is no God, just as the Hindu knows not that there is a God. The Hindu believes there is a God, the communist believes there is no God. Disbelief is also a kind of belief -- a negative kind of belief. And that's…
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I Am That · Discourse 2
1980-10-12 · Buddha Hall · English

Osho, what is god?

GOD is not a person. That is one of the greatest misunderstandings, and it has prevailed so long that it has become almost a fact. Even if a lie is repeated continuously for centuries it is bound to appear as if it is a truth. God is a presence, not a person. Hence all worshipping is sheer stupidity. Prayerfulness is needed, not prayer. There is nobody to pray to; there is no possibility of any dialogue between you and God. Dialogue is possible only between two persons, and God is not a person but a presence -- like beauty, like joy. God simply means godliness. It is because of this fact that Buddha denied the existence of God. He wanted to emphasize that God is a quality, an experience -- like love. You cannot talk to love, you can live it. You need not create temples of love, you need…
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Death Is Divine · Discourse 6
1978-10-06 · Buddha Hall · English

Why is life so lovely? Every object, person, creation, manifested and unmanifested too! Color, sound, movement, taste -- strife too. Osho, in this remembrance the heart becomes full, tears flow, breath expands, talk stops, crying happens. I cannot say anything Osho. The eyes close and I sit down.

Become acquainted with god in all his infinite gestures. He has given such a vast temple whose canopy is the sky! He has given such a vast temple where every night there is Divali, a festival of lights. He has lit so many lamps! Scientists have not yet been able to count them. You can count the stars with the naked eyes but it will not be more than three thousand. Counting and counting the scientists have gotten tired of counting. Four billion stars have already been counted. But this is only the beginning. There are more stars, many more. The more scientists count it seems there are more ahead, more ahead... There doesn't seem to be any end. Every night there is Divali and such blind people, no one sees Divali! Every morning his spring Holi festival happens, so much red powder is flying, so many flowers are blooming,…
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Jharat Dashahun Dis Moti · Discourse 4
1980-01-24 · Pune · Hindi · English translation

Osho, what is the definition of God?

Words are very small. If you say God is light, then what of darkness? The scriptures have said that God is light. Suppose we accept this as a definition—then what about darkness? Where will darkness go? Darkness is too; in fact it is far more than light. Light sometimes is and sometimes is not; darkness is always, eternal. Where will you place darkness? If you say God is light, darkness is left out. If you say God is darkness, then light is left out. If you say God is both darkness and light, a contradiction arises: they cannot be together. Try to have both darkness and light in the same room. If you bring in light, darkness disappears; if you preserve darkness, you cannot have light. Then how can both be together? That becomes an impossibility. So you cannot say “both” either. Then the fourth device is to say: it…
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