Is enlightenment the only way a disciple can truly express gratitude to their master?

Beloved Osho, is enlightenment the only way a disciple can truly express her gratitude to her master?

Maneesha, even enlightenment is not enough to express the gratitude the disciple has for the master. There is simply no way. The gratitude of the disciple remains unexpressed. It is one of those mysteries which can be experienced but cannot be explained. It will look strange to you when I say that the closer the disciple comes to enlightenment, the more difficult it becomes for him to express the gratitude -- because now he is coming to a point which he had never known before. He has been grateful all the way along, but enlightenment, the experience of one's own unfolding, is just too much. You can simply shed tears, or dance -- but everything is ineffectual; it shows your intention only, but not the gratitude. The depth and the greatness of gratitude is such that no word can express it, no experience can express it. But in a way,…

Beloved Osho, some time ago, in answer to my question as to whether enlightenment is the only way a disciple can express gratitude to her master, I heard you say that nothing could express the gratitude. I realized then that gratitude is something that we usually feel almost burdened with, and so we seek to find an outlet for it so that we are relieved of a debt. As the disciple can't express her gratitude -- and what would the master do with it anyway? -- it seems to me that it could become a kind of quality in someone that could transform them. Would you please comment?

In existence, there is nothing which is a noun. You say this is a tree, but have you ever thought? -- while you are saying this is a tree, the tree is bringing new leaves, old leaves are falling; new flowers are blossoming, old flowers are disappearing. It is not a dead thing; hence, it cannot be a noun. It is a living entity, it is changing constantly. The word `tree' gives a false idea, as if there is something unchanging. It will be better to call it a `treeing' -- because the tree is continuously moving. The river is `rivering' -- it is a movement, it is not stale, it is not dead. In other words, the existence does not consist of dead matter, it consists of living energy. There is nothing permanent except change. If you can, with awareness, change your burdens into wings, your treasures into fragrances,…

Question: Fourth question: Osho, the day I attain, how will I thank you? Don’t get into useless worry from now. When an unprecedented event like attainment happens, you will also find a way to say thank you. That’s a small matter! When such a great thing happens, do you think you won’t be able to find a way to express gratitude? You will find God and not find a way to say thank you? It will happen on its own. Don’t worry about it. And there is nothing to practice in advance—that you will rehearse gratitude. If you practice it, it will be false. And if a false practice persists, then at that moment you may end up thanking from that same falseness. At least let that gratitude be spontaneous—don’t prepare for it. Don’t rehearse it.

Beloved Osho, soaking up everything that you give to us in discourses, being totally overwhelmed by your grace and your beauty -- when feeling your compassion tears come to my eyes, and it is as if you would touch all the wounds of my heart so that they can heal. Listening to the music of your voice, slowly allowing myself to relax more and more, and then the gaps... Everything disappears, becomes so light and silent and bright. I have no idea what enlightenment is, but it is worth giving my whole life for it. How will I ever be able to express my gratitude to you, my most beloved and beautifu

Prem Turiya, I have given you the name Turiya. It is a very strange word -- it simply means The Fourth. In the East, the mystics have disappeared again and again in the fourth. They have discovered that our consciousness consists of four stages: the waking, the dreaming, the dreamless sleep and the fourth. Very strange -- they have not given any name to the final stage, but a number; because any name is bound to carry a certain meaning which is confining. But a number does not confine. It does not matter how you are going to express your gratitude. Your experience of silence and meditation, your experience of love and joy, your experience of dancing in blissfulness is more than any gratitude can be. Gratitude cannot be expressed through words. It can be expressed only through your whole being -- your eyes, your hands, your breathing, your heart;…

Beloved Osho, how can I thank you?

There is no need: just be what you can be. Allow yourself to blossom. Enjoy in glory -- and that will be thankfulness enough. Anybody who blossoms close to me has already shown his gratitude. Saying it would be profane. Saying it would destroy the beauty of the unsaid, the silent. If you have really come to a point when you want to say thank you to me, then don't say it; I will understand it. By saying it, you will be bringing down something from a very high level. You will be surprised to know that in India, one of the oldest civilizations in the world, perhaps the oldest, you rarely hear anybody thanking somebody else. No child will thank his parents; no parents will thank their child. In the West that is part of your formal training: on each occasion say, "Thank you." I was thinking about the…