According to Osho, 'bulls' are the mind’s tall tales—apparent marvels produced by conditioning, suggestion, and subtle cues, like Europe’s famed counting horse that seemed to tell time and do numbers by tapping its hoof. Such spectacles aren’t authentic intelligence or spiritual power; they reveal human credulity and projection. See through the show; look for the conditioning behind it.
Bulls are just clever tricks that look amazing but are really learned reactions, like a horse tapping to hidden signals.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Question: 3. PERCEIVING THE BULL I HEAR THE SONG OF THE NIGHTINGALE. THE SUN IS WARM, THE WIND IS MILD, WILLOWS ARE GREEN ALONG THE SHORE. HERE NO BULL CAN HIDE! WHAT ARTIST CAN DRAW THAT MASSIVE HEAD, THOSE MAJESTIC HORNS? COMMENT: WHEN ONE HEARS THE VOICE, ONE CAN SENSE ITS SOURCE. AS SOON AS THE SIX SENSES MERGE, THE GATE IS ENTERED. WHEREVER ONE ENTERS ONE SEES THE HEAD OF THE BULL! THIS UNITY IS LIKE SALT IN WATER, LIKE COLOR IN DYESTUFF. THE SLIGHTEST THING IS NOT APART FROM SELF. 4. CATCHING THE BULL I SEIZE HIM WITH A TERRIFIC STRUGGLE. HIS GREAT WILL AND POWER ARE INEXHAUSTIBLE. HE CHARGES TO THE HIGH PLATEAU FAR ABOVE THE CLOUD-MISTS, OR IN AN IMPENETRABLE RAVINE HE STANDS. COMMENT: HE DWELT IN THE FOREST A LONG TIME, BUT I CAUGHT HIM TODAY! INFATUATION FOR SCENERY INTERFERES WITH HIS DIRECTION.
Question: 1. THE SEARCH FOR THE BULL IN THE PASTURE OF THIS WORLD, I ENDLESSLY PUSH ASIDE THE TALL GRASSES IN SEARCH OF THE BULL. FOLLOWING UNNAMED RIVERS, LOST UPON THE INTERPENETRATING PATHS OF DISTANT MOUNTAINS, MY STRENGTH FAILING AND MY VITALITY EXHAUSTED, I CANNOT FIND THE BULL. I ONLY HEAR THE LOCUSTS CHIRRING THROUGH THE FOREST AT NIGHT. COMMENT: THE BULL HAS NEVER BEEN LOST. WHAT NEED IS THERE TO SEARCH? ONLY BECAUSE OF SEPARATION FROM MY TRUE NATURE, I FAIL TO FIND HIM. IN THE CONFUSION OF THE SENSES I LOSE EVEN HIS TRACKS. FAR FROM HOME, I SEE MANY CROSSROADS, BUT WHICH WAY IS THE RIGHT ONE, I KNOW NOT. GREED AND FEAR, GOOD AND BAD, ENTANGLE ME. 2. DISCOVERING THE FOOTPRINTS ALONG THE RIVER BANK UNDER THE TREES, I DISCOVER FOOTPRINTS! EVEN UNDER THE FRAGRANT GRASS I SEE HIS PRINTS.
This mantra comes from Tibet, the hiddenmost part of the Himalayas. And on these heights I hear it: it is a sound like the sound of bees buzzing. And the humming is so beautiful. One cannot be grateful enough to the mystics who tried to make this humming sound into a mantra. Om Mani Padme Hum... aahhh, the Jewel in the Lotus. I can hear the giggle of the fool, because I am still saying chawal. I will always say it. I stick to my ground right or wrong. I care for sincerity, authenticity. I am authentically myself. I feel if it is spelled j-e-w-e-l it should be pronounced chawal not jew- el. That is the wrong pronunciation -- according to me of course. Sooner or later you will have to make something like Osho-English. If there can be Indian- English, American-English, then why not Osho-English, with all its absurdities?