Is the ego still present when experiencing joy and contentment?

Is the ego still working when I feel joy and contentment?

Champak, when the joy is there, there is no ego. But when the joy is gone, the ego comes back; and when the ego comes back, it turns the joy into an experience. Otherwise, when the joy is there, there is no experiencer and no experience -- there is no division. It is not that you feel joy, you are joy. When the joy is there, you are not there, joy is, just joy. But sooner or later... You are still not capable of containing that joy forever; the window closes, the doors shut, the fragrance disappears, the music becomes distant and distant, and disappears. The ego is back, and the ego says 'Boy, what a beautiful experience! It was great, fantastic!' And now that which was not an experience has been reduced to an experience. You ask me: IS THE EGO STILL WORKING WHEN I FEEL JOY AND CONTENTMENT?…

Osho, the presence of a person seems indispensable for the experience of bliss. But if all around is only the expansion of me, then who will experience bliss? Just as sannyas seems essential for life to become blissful, isn’t the person equally essential for the experience of bliss?

It is precisely because of the person that bliss is not happening. The person is necessary for the expectation of bliss; for the experience of bliss, he is a barrier. For the longing and the craving for bliss, the person is needed; for the realization of bliss, the person is not needed at all. When bliss happens, you are scarcely there. In fact, only when you are not, bliss is. You yourself have tasted this, at least in unpremeditated moments: whenever you were not, a glimpse flashed. Your beloved comes home; you sit hand in hand. For a moment the presence of the beloved absorbs you so totally that you disappear—no thought of yourself remains. A drop slips in, the nectar begins to flow. Have you ever watched the sun rise? You sit on the riverbank. The sun begins to climb. This morning breeze, the coolness of the water, the…

Osho, I want to be happy. Whatever I do, I do it in the hope of being happy. Now I have come to practice religion also in that same hope. You say: dissolve the ego. It seems to me that if I dissolve the ego, I myself will be dissolved; then I won’t be there—so how will I be happy? Wouldn’t a miserable existence be preferable to losing my very existence?

They entered the city; people began removing turbans and caps, bowing. But the farmer said nothing. He remained silent. The emperor asked, “What is the matter? Do you understand?” The farmer said, “I am in a fix. You don’t remove your turban—and I don’t remove mine. So who is the emperor—you or I? This is a serious tangle.” Ego is such a delusion. Ego mistakenly believes itself to be the soul. Ego is not the soul—but both ride the same horse, very close. As a man rides a horse, his shadow too rides the horse. Similarly, with the soul rides the ego’s shadow. If the soul does not remove its hat, how will the shadow remove hers? The shadow too has a hat; she too struts, enjoying the full fun. You have taken the shadow to be yourself. When the shadow disappears, you will not. And the shadow must vanish…

Osho, in the general feeling about the ego, it seems as if one is an egoist or egoless. One moment it feels there is ego; the next moment it feels egoless.

Yes, yes, that’s how it goes. That’s how it goes. In fact, all our thinking is in degrees. It’s like this: at 98 degrees we say, “This person is perfectly fine,” and at 99 degrees we say, “There’s a fever.” 98 is also a “fever,” but it is the normal fever. At 99 it becomes abnormal. Then when it returns to 98, we say, “All right, normal again.” There is still fever—meaning the same fever that everyone has. As long as it is where everyone else’s is, we call it normal; just a little this side or that, and trouble starts. It is the same with the ego. It is our fever. As long as it is at the same degree as in everyone, we say, “He is perfectly humble, a good man.” If, compared to us, his degree goes to 99, we say, “He seems very egoistic.” If it…

Osho, may the color of that flower fade so that only the fragrance remains; let the head go if it must, but let honor remain. Let Your glory be proven by my negation. May I efface myself so completely that only You remain.

No need to rush. Don’t even start trying to erase the “I.” The “I” is such a clever craftsman that if you set out to erase it, it will hide behind the eraser. One day the ego will rise and proclaim, Look, I have destroyed my ego! Now I am egoless! Who is as humble as I? Such a declaration is the ego’s own. Awaken within. Watch and recognize the routes of ego. There is no need to fight. Fight only if you wish to lose—if you want to be defeated. Then how does ego go? Ego dissolves through awareness alone—just as darkness disappears when a light is lit. You don’t have to shove darkness out! You don’t have to slash it with a sword! You don’t wrestle with darkness. If someone starts wrestling with darkness, thumping his chest, do you think he will ever win? He will die fighting,…