You have to do the inner walking yourself; a wise teacher can encourage and steady you, but can’t walk for you.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, even in the presence of a Buddha, is it still essential that the seeker find his own solution?
That is why Buddhas have created families. The Buddha created the sangha. He formulated three refuges. The first was: “Buddham sharanam gacchami”—I go to the refuge of the Buddha. But as long as the Buddha is alive this is easy. When the Buddha is no longer in the body, an ordinary person finds it difficult—how to take refuge in one who is not visibly present? He is invisible; even his feet are not visible—how to take refuge? So the Buddha made a second formula: “Dhammam sharanam gacchami”—if there is no Buddha, take refuge in the Dhamma. But Dhamma is a very subtle, ethereal thing. Dhamma means the law by which the universe moves. Yet it is not seen. So the Buddha made a third formula: “Sangham sharanam gacchami”—take refuge in the Sangha; the community of monks, the family. The Buddha is the subtlest. Buddhahood means: one who, awakened, has realized…
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…
Osho, Buddha has said: Be a light unto yourself. Then is there no need for any support at all in the search for truth?
If only you had listened to gurus like Buddha, there would have been no reason for slavery in this land. If only you had learned individuality, privacy of being; if only you had learned: I have to be myself; I am not a copy of anyone; and I have to be my own lamp—then you would have stood firm in the outer world as well. This disgrace would not have happened—that a nation of forty crores becomes the slave of a handful! Anyone comes and the country becomes enslaved! Surely a deep imprint of slavery was stamped on the soul of this land. Who stamped it? Who poured this poison into your blood? Who made your soul toxic? Who taught you methods for remaining in darkness? Your so‑called gurus. They were not gurus. Gurus are people like Buddha, who say: Appo deepo bhava—be a light unto yourself. Only in aloneness…
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, what is your essential message? The same as has always been the message of all the buddhas: Appa Deepo Bhava! Be your own lamp! Be your own helmsman! Do not lean on another’s shoulder. Only if you eat yourself will your hunger be satisfied. Only if you drink yourself will your thirst be quenched. Only when you know truth yourself—and only then—will the veena of contentment sound within you. The truth I have known is of no use to you.
I cannot give you truth. I can only kindle within you the longing to realize it. I cannot give you truth, but I can create in you such a fire for truth that you become a moth, ready to burn and be consumed in its flame. Who says my boat has no boatman? Today I myself am the boatman of this boat! I do not accept the ocean’s beguiling, cajoling, rainbow-hued waves’ invitation. Today I have accepted the ocean’s challenge—these countless, fierce, untamed waves! Today the oar rests in my steady hands. Let the waves fling the boat up to the sky, or drag it with them down to the abyss— they will not be able to swallow it! Their defeat is certain— the serpent-like, monstrous waves will be leashed by the cord of the heart’s faith! Bearing it upon their own heads, the waves themselves will carry this boat…