What are the shortcuts to knowing God?

Osho, I am very impatient, I want to know god, but I don't want to waste my time in search of him. Can you show me a short cut?

A YOUNG MAN once came to a venerable Master and asked, "How long will it take to reach enlightenment?" The Master said, "Ten years." The young man blurted, "So long?" The Master said, "No, I was mistaken. It will take twenty years." The young man asked, "Why do you keep adding to it?" And the Master answered, "Come to think of it, in your case it will probably be thirty!" Dharmesh, there are no shortcuts. And if you are impatient you will never find. Patience is the only way, and if you are absolutely patient you can find right now. This is the ultimate paradox of religious inquiry, of the search for truth, for God, for NIRVANA: if you are impatient you will have to wait for eternity. That venerable Master must have been a very polite man; he said only thirty years. But to tell you the truth, if…

You said there is no need to take shortcuts. Are not your meditations shortcuts? -- because you said earlier that your meditations are for taking an immediate jump.

The immediate jump is the longest way. Because to be ready for the immediate jump, it will take many years, even many lives to be ready for it. So when I say 'immediate jump', do you take it immediately? Have you taken the jump? Just by my saying so you have not taken it. I say 'immediate', but the immediate for you may take many lives. A jump is never a shortcut, because a jump is not a way. There are long ways and there are short ways. A jump is not a way at all; it is a sudden phenomenon. To be ready for the jump means to be ready to die. To be ready to jump means to be ready to jump into the unknown, into the insecure, into the uncharted. That readiness will take many, many years. Don't think that an immediate jump is a shortcut --…

A friend has asked, Osho, why is the path to attaining God so hard, long, and full of suffering? Why isn’t there an easy, simple, and joyful way to attain Him?

It does not matter how far you have wandered from God. If you are willing to turn around, God will be seen this very moment. The distance between you and Him is not real; it is only the distance of your turned back—merely a question of direction. He stands right with you. He is hidden within you. Understand first that the difficulty is not of the road. Therefore do not seek an easier road; seek to be easy, to be simple. Many people look for an easy road. They ask, “Any shortcut?” They fall into great delusions, because there is no shortcut to reach God. For turning around your back, what shortcut could there be? If all that is needed is to turn, and God will be in front, what could be more concise than that? It cannot be made any shorter. But we go on looking for a shortcut.…

Osho, how much longer should I wait? How long will it take? I am eager to meet the Lord, and I can no longer bear this separation.

Krishnananda! For God you need preparedness for infinite waiting. It’s not that you actually have to wait infinitely; if you are ready for infinite waiting, revolution can happen in a single instant. But if you are in a hurry, it will not happen even in eternity. Hurry is an obstacle. The more impatient you are, the longer it will take. Impatience keeps the mind unquiet; patience quiets it. Impatience agitates the mind, raises ripples, storms and tempests. And even if the Divine wants to enter such a mind, how can He? The mind has to be like a silent lake—with not even the slightest ripple. Even the idea of attaining God is nothing but desire. It’s desire in a new form, a new style—old desire in new clothes. Once you lusted for wealth, so you were impatient—let it come quickly, let the lottery hit! You didn’t even have the peace…

Osho, what is the first experience of samadhi like?

You will know only when it happens. It cannot be said; at most a few hints can be given. It is as if, in the dark, a lamp is suddenly lit. Or as if a dying patient, right at the edge of death, suddenly finds a medicine that works; life’s wave, life’s thrill spreads again—so it is. As if a corpse becomes alive—such is the first experience of samadhi. It is the taste of nectar. The experience of the ultimate music. But it will be only when it happens; and only then will you understand. You will not understand by my saying it. It is as with love. How can anyone explain it? To someone who has never loved, never known love, no matter how many explanations you offer—he will hear it all and still ask, “I haven’t understood; please explain a little more.” It is like explaining light to…