What does it mean that the supreme reality places the garland on the seeker?

A friend has asked: Osho, the soul cannot be seen. Why is so much importance given to what cannot be seen? And why are you also speaking about this same unseen soul?

A tree is visible; its roots are not. The roots are hidden in the earth. But that does not reduce the value of the unseen roots. In fact, the visible tree depends entirely on those invisible roots. And whoever wastes time caring only for the tree and ignores the roots, his tree is bound to dry up. That tree will bear neither leaves nor flowers nor fruit. The life of the tree is hidden in its unseen roots. Whatever is truly important in life is hidden. What appears is only the outer shell. What remains unmanifest is the inner life-breath. The body is visible because it is the outer shell. What is within the body is not visible. But the value of what is unseen does not diminish for that reason. Rather, precisely because it is not visible, its search becomes all the more necessary. Let it not happen that…

Question: First question: Osho, God-realization through grace—how does it happen? Effort is the shadow of man’s ego. Grace is the fragrance that arises in a state of egolessness. By effort you get the small. Man’s fist is very small. You can hold pebbles in your fist; try to hold the Himalayas and you’ll be in trouble. By effort you get the petty—because man’s power is limited. By grace you receive the vast. Effort is a clenched fist; grace is an open hand. “I will get it”—the untruth is already there in this. Because the “I” itself is the untruth. The day you know “I am not,” that day it is found. In truth it was always found—only the stiffness of “I” did not let it be seen. What comes by grace is not that it comes today—it is already here, always here.

Osho, for the attainment of the supreme state, how helpful are ochre robes, a mala, and the Guru? And after attaining the supreme state, what need remains for them?

So, in the final phase the complication is not that the disciple wants to leave and the Guru wants to hold. The final complication is this: the Guru says, “Leave now,” and the disciple will not. A disciple means one who has loved so totally—how will he leave! There is great pain. He is even ready to let liberation lie where it is; only let him lie at the Guru’s feet—that is enough. At the Guru’s feet he has found so much that the thought does not even arise that liberation could give more; and even if it could, no true disciple can be so ungrateful as to agree to leave in an instant. In the beginning, it was hard for the Guru to hold the disciple’s hand because the disciple kept pulling away. Now it is this same gentleman who is pulling away. I, too, would like to hold…

Osho, you say that truth is attained by the Master’s grace. Then why do you also encourage the ego’s effort?

Truth is attained by the Master’s grace, but the Master’s grace will not come without effort. Where will you find the Master’s grace? The Divine is received as grace; but the Master has to be sought, and you must gather the fitness to be near the Master. Effort must be made—and yet remember, what is ultimate is received without effort. This may sound contradictory, but these are the two wings, the two oars—effort and grace. Only with both is the journey completed. There are two kinds of delusions in the world. Some people think, “By effort alone it will be attained.” Such people never meet the Divine, because their ego never falls; effort only strengthens it. The doors close even tighter instead of opening. And some believe, “It does not come by effort; only grace gives it.” They just sit; they never rise, they never walk. They waste it in…

Osho, you have said that the divine is found not by effort but as grace; Sahajo, in a mood of awed gratitude, sings of the grace of her master Charandas, and Kabir of the grace of his master Ramananda. Upon you, whose grace descended? Did you attain the supreme enlightenment without a master’s grace? Please say something about this.

I have explained two approaches to you: the jnani and the bhakta. The jnani attains through his own worthiness; the bhakta through his prayer. The jnani “acquires” the divine by austerity; it is his achievement. He is a claimant. “If I have found, I have found it by my own labor.” Hence the religion and culture that Mahavira founded is called the Shramana culture. Shramana means: not by grace, but by effort. That is why Mahavira is known as the Shramana Bhagwan—one who attained the ultimate through effort. The jnani says, “Through austerity, renunciation, and merit I attained God—not for free, not by anyone’s grace. I earned it.” That is the jnani’s claim. The bhakta says, “Through prayer, worship, dancing, cajoling—by pleasing you. I had no worthiness of my own. I danced and delighted you. I sang your songs, praised your glory, won you over. In some deep moment of…