How did Buddha, Jesus, and others attain the truth without a master?

Question: BELOVED MASTER, YOU HAVE SAID THAT WITHOUT A MASTER IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO ATTAIN THE TRUTH. BUT HOW DID YOU, BUDDHA, JESUS AND MANY OTHERS ATTAIN TO THE TRUTH WITHOUT ANY HELP FROM A MASTER? I have said that you can attain to truth without a master, but the journey is going to be very long. With a master the journey can be very short; without a master you are groping in the dark. One never knows when you will find the right door. Existence is vast, and life is short. It may take many lives. So I told you that a master simply helps you to eliminate the wrong doors, the wrong paths, and leaves only the right one. The necessity of the master is for eliminating the wrong paths. But there are people who love the whole journey through many lives.

Beloved Osho, I have heard you say that seeking the truth is as ecstatic as finding it. Does that not eliminate the search?

"And anyway we cannot deceive you. All that we know, we have given to you. We don't know whether it leads to truth or not, because how can we know? -- we are also in the middle of the way. Whether it leads to somewhere or not can be known only when we have reached to the end. And I know almost all the masters around. It is better you start moving alone -- on your own." Perhaps Buddha is the first person who reached to the goal without a master. But one cannot say that those masters did not help him. They did not help him to the end -- they may have helped him only in small ways -- but they certainly helped him to eliminate many things. They certainly made it clear to him that it is better to go alone, to take the risk. Perhaps that…

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, immediately after his enlightenment Buddha said: Having known by myself, whom shall I call a master and whom shall I teach, whom shall I make a disciple? And yet for forty years he initiated and taught millions. But before the Mahaparinirvana, his final instruction was: Atma Deepo Bhava! Bhagwan, please shed some light on this.

You know how to play the veena. Your fingers are skillful. The veena is there. Yet music is not arising. You are not placing your fingers on the strings. You are not pouring your skill onto the veena. Pour your skill onto the veena; the veena will shower music on you. Everything is present. You know how to cook. There is flour, salt, ghee, lentils, water, the fire is lit—and you sit hungry! And you also know how to cook! Nothing is lacking. Everything is there. Only a little coordination is needed. A little arrangement is needed. There will be no need to remain hungry. Therefore Buddha says: Whom shall I teach? What shall I teach? Truth cannot be taught at all. Whatever is taught will not be truth. Even to say “taught” is too much; truth cannot even be said. Whatever is taught is not your nature. All teaching…

In the beginning it will be difficult, you will go on forgetting again and again. But don't be discouraged. Even if in twenty four hours you can manage for twenty four seconds, that is more than enough. Because the secret is the same. If you can manage it for one second, you know the key. You know the knack. Then it is only a question of time. Slowly, slowly, you will be having bigger gaps when you are aware. The action continues; not only it continues, it becomes better than ever before; because now you are doing with such consciousness. Its quality changes, because you are conscious, you are totally there. Your intensity changes, your insight, your understanding; and the action that you are doing starts having a grace of its own. Meditation should be slowly spread all over your life.