Is the transformation I seek very far away?

Beloved Osho, the ecstasy of being in your beautiful presence... The thrill of your love, your laughter, your dance, your silence... The agony of realizing the transformation has not yet happened to me. Beloved master, is it very far away?

And the same question he raised with Mahavira: "I have come here.... Give me your meditation, and I am ready to give you anything you want -- you can take my whole kingdom. My wife has shattered my ego, telling me that you have something which I don't have." Mahavira laughed, and he said, "There was no need to come so far to see me. Just in your city a very poor man, who is my disciple, has what you are asking for. And he is so poor... perhaps he may sell it." It was a joke. Prasenjita said, "I know that man -- there is no problem." He turned his chariot towards that poor man's house. His chariot had never been in that part of the city, so a whole crowd gathered. The poor man came out of his house and he said, "What can I do for you?"…

Beloved Osho, most of the time I live on the surface, my ego is dominant and I think the whole time. Then once in a while, when I see you in the morning discourse, or when I feel close to you, I feel great love and my heart opens, and I get a taste of what is possible. Beloved master, please help me to change myself.

As you stop your thoughts and start moving into a space of no-mind, of non-thinking, you will not find the ego there. You will be there, but there will not be any sense of "I-ness," only a pure "is-ness." And it is a great achievement. It is a tremendously valuable achievement to lose your I, and just to feel a simple existence, a pure "is-ness." It is the beginning of experiencing God. As your "is-ness" becomes more and more crystallized, you become aware that you are not and God is; you are not, and the universal consciousness is. And because you are not, there is no question of your death -- you have never, been in the first place, so how can you die? And this "is-ness" that you are feeling now, in the silence of no-thought, has always been here. You have been part of it from eternity, and…

Question: Osho, to me the present state of world affairs appears illusory. Eminent scholars from different walks of life offer various themes for the transformation of life. For instance, religious leaders affirm that God or religion alone is omnipotent and can transform life and provide heaven. Sociologists, politicians, educationists and moralists believe that only better forms can create a better society. Naturalists say that understanding nature will bring transformation. Whereas psychologists and psychopathologists believe that psychoanalysis, tranquilizers, sedatives or brainwashing agents can transform life, etc., etc. But to me, sir, all this appears to be merely a partial transformation. Would you suggest what total and spontaneous transformation is? Man has constantly been thinking how life can be transformed from the roots. There are reasons for such thinking: as life is, there seems to be nothing in it but sorrow, pain, restlessness, struggle and strife.

Osho, I too want to be transformed. I have wasted much of my life in dreams. But now save me. What is your command for me?

First know that your whole life was entangled in dreams. Second, know that within you there is a witness who watched all the life‑dreams yet never became a dream. The witness never becomes a dream. The first brings into your life a wondrous dispassion. The second brings something even more wondrous—meditation, the sense of witnessing. And it is good, Leela, that this has occurred to you early. Most people realize it at the time of dying—on the deathbed. Perhaps even then they do not. They die in unconsciousness. Understanding is carved on their tombstones; it never dawned on them! The nectar was infinite; I sipped only a handful. Spring lived in my heart; I offered only a single flower. On the day of my vanishing, this is my thought: In a vast epoch, what a small life I lived! Such a vast sky! Such an immense spring! The nectar was…

Yes, it has changed and I am very happy. It is really beautiful to see anybody changing so fast and so easily. Whenever any sannyasin goes through such a change I feel as happy as a gardener when he sees a new flower bloom. But this is just the beginning: much more, much deeper, much higher, is going to happen. So don't settle with it. Be happy, thankful, grateful; but this is only the beginning, remember it, just the tip of the iceberg. Man has unlimited potential to grow. Man is absolutely unaware of who he is, of what he can do, of what he can be. My basic approach is to slowly slowly make you aware that you are not an island but a vast continent. There are still many dark parts of your own world where you have never penetrated, never travelled.