According to Osho, yes: bhakti ripens when the Divine’s presence is felt, and its essence is spontaneous celebration—dance, song, gratitude—rather than austerities or striving. Devotion is trust and adoration after the Beloved is recognized; it flowers by itself like spring in trees. The devotee doesn’t force practices; joy overflows as a festival of bliss, an offering at the Beloved’s feet.
When you feel God is real, your heart naturally wants to sing and dance in thanks; you don’t need to force tough rituals.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, “Dance, sing, celebrate”—is that your bhakti-sutra? Please tell us.
Bhakti means only this much: that God is! Then what remains? No austerity remains, no ascetic exertion remains! God is! Only celebration remains—not fasting, celebration. Austerities are for one who is searching for God, who has no trust, in whom reverence has not yet sprouted. He takes vows, fasts, does japa and tapas, sacrifices and offerings, rites and rituals. A bhakt means one to whom the presence of the Divine is becoming evident. This natural trust itself is devotion. Then what is left for the devotee? What should the devotee do? Tend a sacred fire? What should the devotee do? Stand on his head? What should the devotee do? Lash the body? What should the devotee do? God is! The very moment this recognition descends, dance flowers of itself. The devotee does not have to force himself to dance. He finds himself dancing, singing, celebrating. If spring arrives, what are…
Osho, what is the real meaning of bhakti-bhava—the spirit of devotion?
Good sir! Ever fallen in love and such? Bhakti is simply the culmination of love. If you’ve never loved, I won’t be able to make you understand. If you have, the point can begin to land. These things are of experience; some taste in that direction is needed. A man once came to Nagarjuna and said, “Take me too on the journey to That.” He was a poor man. Nagarjuna asked, “Have you ever loved anyone?” He said, “Love? Well, why hide it from you—there’s a buffalo I own; it’s her that I love. I’m a poor man, I have nothing else, but I’m very attached to her. If she ever goes missing in the forest, it feels like my life is in danger. If she falls ill, I can’t find peace.” He must have been a simple, straightforward man—otherwise how could he have spoken so truly? People usually talk…
Osho, is there an inner harmony between “God,” “devotion,” and “bhog” (divine enjoyment)?
How could you even be without being joined to the Divine? Not for a moment, not for a single instant. If He breathes in you, breath goes on. If He shines as the sun, your body is warmed. If He moves as the winds, you receive life. If He comes as rain, your thirst is quenched. If He appears as food, you gain strength. Only when He comes in a thousand forms do you live at all. Severed from Him for even a moment, life ends. The very name of being joined to Him is “life.” Therefore the devotee says: there has been no breaking—talk of joining is mistaken. We are joined; now simply enjoy. The devotee says: you are joined and yet you do not enjoy—how insane! What are you waiting for? The celebration is already prepared. Everything is all-ready—how can you sit there sad? For whom are you…
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…
Osho, “Ab main nachyo bahut, Gopal”—thus sings the devotee. Does the knower, like the devotee, also sing?
In the knower’s life the same event happens—of zero, or of fullness—but in another way. The knower frees himself from the Thou. That is why Mahavira says, “What God? There is no God. Appa so paramappa—the self itself is the Supreme Self. In my pure perfection, I am God.” Therefore the knower says: “Aham Brahmasmi.” “Ana’l-Haqq.” Other than me, who? So the knower diminishes the Thou, diminishes and diminishes, until a moment comes when the Thou becomes zero and only the I remains. But then the I cannot remain either. To keep the I, a little Thou is needed. The day the I alone remains and the Thou becomes zero, in that very moment the I also disappears. They go together. And when the I disappears, a unique celebration is born. But the knower will not dance; the celebration happens so deeply within, and the knower is inward-turned. These are…