According to Osho, the Divine is calling continuously, but our desire-filled prayers and noisy minds drown its subtle veena-like notes. When the mind becomes quiet, empty, thought-free through meditation, His call becomes instantly audible—recognized in all sounds and situations, from cuckoo to crow, flower to thorn, life to death. Meditation prepares true prayer: a stainless, wordless openness where our ever-present connection is remembered.
Calm your mind through meditation, and you’ll hear God’s gentle call everywhere—even in ordinary sounds.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Question: First question: Osho, how does the call of the Divine become audible? This question is auspicious. Many ask how to call upon God; only now and then someone asks how to hear God’s call. So the question is important, rare, a little incomparable—and closer to truth. The real question is not how to call God. What tongue do we have with which to call the Divine? And what is the power of our speech? It will go a little way and be lost in the void. How far can our words travel? And whatever we say will carry, somewhere, the imprint of our desires. Our prayers are our desires; and how will desires reach Him? If desire is hidden in prayer, it is as if someone tied a stone to a bird’s throat—flight is no longer possible. All our prayers are filled with desire.
Osho, you have titled this series of talks “Sahaj Yoga.” Do “sahaj” and “yoga” not seem mutually opposed?
Anand Maitreya! They don’t just seem opposed, they are opposed. But no ultimate truth of life can manifest without contradiction. Life is made of opposites—darkness and light, day and night, woman and man, negative electricity and positive electricity, birth and death. The very structure of life is woven of opposites. Hence the opposites are not only opposed; they are complementary to each other. If you have labored hard all day, you will be able to sleep deeply. Labor and rest are opposites, yet only the one who has worked can rest deeply—and the one who has not worked cannot. So the opposites are not only opposed, they complete each other. And only the one who has rested deeply at night can rise in the morning and engage in work again. One who has not rested through the night will not be able to work in the morning. Look closely at…
Osho, for those who have not yet had the experience of the Divine, what should their prayer be? What should their hymn be?
From that experience Lao Tzu drew a marvelous principle—worth understanding. The drunkard was not hurt, because injury does not come from falling, Lao Tzu said. If it came from falling, he too would have been hurt. Injury comes from the effort to save yourself. When you begin to fall you try mightily not to fall; you stiffen, you tense; your body forgets the state of relaxation, it becomes rigid. To save yourself, you become like iron. And when something iron-like hits the ground, it breaks. A drunkard falls like a sack filled with chaff. That is why small children fall every day and their bones do not shatter. You try falling and see. Lao Tzu said: The drunkard was not hurt; thus one thing is established—injury comes not from falling but from the attempt to resist. Those who have eyes to see draw essences from every experience. You can walk…
Osho, my beloved, I swear by my love for you. O fulfillment of my dream, soul of my ghazal—my life keeps remembering you. Night and day your image torments me; my heartbeats keep calling out to you. O my love, grant me the support of those narcissus-like eyes.
Dev Veena, ask just like this. Knock on his door just like this. This is worship, this is prayer. And his support is already there—only recognition is delayed. It is his hands that have held you. It is his eyes that have seen through your eyes. He is the one who beats in your heart. For now there is no recognition. That, too, will come. God is not to be attained, only recognized. We have already attained the Divine; so do not go searching far away. Seek him within. Knock on your own heart. Break open the doors within. Call—do call— My beloved, I swear by my love for you, O fulfillment of my dream, soul of my ghazal— my life keeps remembering you. Night and day your image torments me; my heartbeats keep calling out to you. Call. Call so much that the caller is absorbed in the call.…
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…