Is it possible to understand the meaning of an enlightened one's words without having attained meditation?

Osho, is it possible to grasp the poignant meaning of an enlightened one’s words without having attained meditation? Is there a deep relationship between essential knowing and the state of meditation? Kindly shed light on this.

Seeing a singer sing, you remember your own throat: a voice, after all, I have too. Seeing a dancer dance, you remember your feet: I have feet too—if I wish, I can also dance. Seeing a painter paint, you remember: if I wish, I too can paint. In just the same way, seeing a Buddha, you remember: if I wish, I too can attain Buddhahood. This very wishing—this is not the whole understanding—this is the beginning of thirst. A kind of light spreads. However it may be, every time passes by, The gist remains, but the heap scatters. In sorrow burns the heat of the Vaishakh sun, In such a season even the ocean recedes. All day long we journey through darkness, Come evening, a kind of light spreads. Every continuity breaks, friends, Sometimes such a moment passes. Some hope flashes forth as a ray, For a little while every…

Osho, Patanjali and all the enlightened ones have spoken of samadhi. But Krishnamurti speaks of understanding. From samadhi it seems understanding can flower; but how can samadhi flower from understanding? Can the state of buddhahood be attained by understanding alone? Osho, please explain this properly.

Krishnamurti says there is no need to meditate separately. He is right. Those who said “do it separately” also know there is no real need to separate it. But they do not expect that you can be aware for twenty-four hours yet. Krishnamurti trusted you a little too much; Patanjali doesn’t trust you that much. Therefore Patanjali managed to take some of you to samadhi; Krishnamurti perhaps almost no one. He trusted you too much. You were crawling on your knees; Krishnamurti assumed you could run. Krishnamurti said what he had to say from his own standpoint; he did not take care of you. Patanjali speaks with your welfare in view—lifting you one step at a time. Patanjali has placed stairs; Krishnamurti speaks of a leap. You cannot gather the courage even to climb steps—what leap will you take! And it often happens that those who cannot muster the courage…

What is meditation?

Ordinarily, when we are conscious of anything, the thing becomes the other. If we are identified with something, then it is not the other, but then we are not conscious -- as in anger, in sex. We become one only when we are unconscious. Sex has so much appeal because in sex you become one for a moment. But in that moment, you are unconscious. You seek the unconsciousness because you seek the oneness. But the more you seek it, the more conscious you become. Then you will not feel the bliss of sex, because the bliss was coming from the unconsciousness. You could become unconscious in a moment of passion. Your consciousness dropped. For a single moment you were in the abyss -- but unconscious. But the more you seek it, the more it is lost. Finally a moment comes when you are in sex and the moment of…

Think of a torch. A torch is not meditation; it is concentration. You switch it on and the beam focuses on one spot. Light a lamp—that lamp is meditation. It does not concentrate on one thing; it illumines whatever is around. With a torch, one thing is seen and the rest remains in darkness. With a lamp, all is gently lit. And meditation is such a lamp that it has no base for darkness to gather beneath—no wick, no oil! Only pure flame, pure awakening—so there is no “dark under the lamp.” Understand “meditation” as the flavor of witnessing. For example, you are listening to me. You can listen in two ways. Newcomers listen with concentration—eager not to miss a word, excluding everything else, tensing around my speech. Those who have been here awhile are listening in meditation. The difference is great.

Beloved Osho, I cannot understand what an enlightenment is. Oh, my beautiful master, will you please say something about the taste of enlightenment?

Chetna, there are things in life which cannot be understood. They can be experienced, but they cannot be explained. To explain them is to explain them away. About such things, you have to go through a transformation. You are asking for information. Information can be given about objects; the whole of science is information. And the whole of religion is transformation -- the moment religion becomes information, it is dead. You are asking me to give some taste of enlightenment to you. Can't you see a simple fact? -- that tastes cannot be transferred; either you have them or you don't have them. Even ordinary tastes... the taste of a sweet fruit is unexplainable. You will have to taste it yourself. I can show you the way, where the fruit is available, where the ripe fruit is waiting for you, where the flowers have become tired, because they have been…