To what extent is the relationship between client and therapist similar to that of disciple and master?

Often it seems that a successful therapeutic relationship results in spiritual growth for both client and therapist. Please explain: to what extent is the relationship between client and therapist similar to that of disciple and master?

They are the modern version of the priest. In the ancient days the priest used to serve the same function. He used to keep people under rule, under control. He was serving the king. There was a conspiracy between the priest and the politician. The politician would touch the feet of the priest and the priest was enforcing a certain kind of society on people -- in the name of God. Then by and by God died. Naturally the priest became unemployed. The kings disappeared. Now there are only five kings -- four of playing cards and one of England. Others have disappeared. The king disappeared, the priest disappeared, the God disappeared, the society became democratic. But the society needs the priest. Without the priest the politician cannot function. The priest has come back with a new name -- the psychotherapist is the new priest and psychotherapy is the new…

What is the difference between waiting for godot and waiting for god?

It is as if the sun has risen in the morning and you are sitting in your room with closed doors and windows, in darkness. Open the doors, you become available to the sun. The sun was already available -- just the meeting happens. You cannot wait for God. All waiting is for Godot. Godot means the one who never comes, who CANNOT come, whose arrival is impossible. And the only impossible thing is that which has already happened -- how can it happen again? You are alive, and you are waiting for life, Now, this is ridiculous. The real man of religion does not think in terms of God. He thinks in terms of life or, even better, of living -- because life can again become an abstract idea. Living, moment-to-moment living. In that very living, one knows what God is, because one knows who one is. Your idea…

In intensive psychotherapy the patient may either be talking or listening, that is, trying to hear from within. Only the latter is of value. A good therapist, especially if love exists, will hit on many ways of heightening this process of listening for the unexpected. Is this a form of meditation? In fact, might it be said that ideally, both therapist and patient are meditating together?

Everybody is born to remain healthy and happy. Everybody is seeking health and happiness, but somewhere something is missing and everybody becomes miserable. Misery should be an exception; it has become the rule. Happiness should be the rule; it has become an exception. I would like a world where buddhas are born, but nobody remembers them because they are the rule. Now Buddha is remembered, Christ is remembered, Lao Tzu is remembered, because they are exceptions. Otherwise, who would bother about them? If there were a buddha in every house, and if there were buddhas all over the marketplace and you could meet Lao Tzu anywhere, who would bother? Then that would be the simple rule. It should be so. Lao Tzu says,'When the world was really moral there was no possibility of becoming a saint.' When the world was really religious there was no need for religions. People were…

Question: BELOVED OSHO, YOU HAVE BEEN MY FAVORITE UNCLE AND MY FATHER, MY MIDWIFE, A LAUGHING CHILD; MY BEST FRIEND, AN ANCIENT SAGE, MY FAVORITE STORYTELLER, AND MY MASTER... MY FIRST THOUGHT ON WAKING, MY LAST AT NIGHT.... YOU HAVE BEEN WARM BROWN EYES, A GENTLE HAND, FEET FOR MY HEAD; A TINGLING IN MY BODY... SOMETIMES A SILENCE, SOMETIMES A SONG.... YOU HAVE BEEN A HIT, A GLANCE, A PRESENCE, AN ABSENCE; DAY AND NIGHT, SUMMER AND WINTER -- A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS; A PROMISE OF FULFILLMENT, THE ONLY HOPE, THE ULTIMATE DESTROYER OF ALL DREAMS; THE ONLY REFUGE -- AND THE ONE I SOUGHT TO ELUDE; A MAGICIAN, AND JUST ONE ORDINARY MAN. YOU WERE AN ENIGMA, YOU WERE ME. YOU WERE THE MOON, THE STARS AND ALL THAT MOVED AROUND THEM. YOU WERE THE GREEN AND BROWN, THE BLUE AND GOLD, OF MY EARTH.

Beloved Osho, before I made my application to take sannyas, I had a big problem, thinking that taking sannyas was recognizing that one is ill. I was so confused about it, and I didn't trust telling any sannyasin. I read that you said in poona that we are all ill until we are enlightened. Can you talk more about the relationship between master and disciple, between doctor and patient?

And as they went out to take him to his car and came back in, Nasruddin opened one eye and asked, "Has that nut gone or not? Now everybody gather, and the sermon begins: You idiots, you should have given me twenty rupees and I would have been silent the whole night. Just give me twenty rupees each night and I will be silent. Don't waste money this way. Rather than talking business to me, you are bringing these idiots. I befooled him within seconds -- and he believed even the snoring. Who has ever heard that in hypnosis people snore? He does not know even the ABC of hypnosis." Everybody is in confusion, young or old. Sick, sick unto death, but nobody is willing to accept it. On the contrary, he is throwing out the doctors, proving that "I am not sick." Accepting your sickness is the beginning of…