According to Osho, insights can erupt in the most ordinary moments—there’s nothing wrong with satori arriving during mundane acts. Awakening needs no special posture, place, or ritual; when the mind is unoccupied and relaxed—even on a toilet—the gap opens. Many great people awakened so; drop embarrassment and honor the sacred in the everyday, as with Martin Buber’s first satori.
Big “aha” moments can show up anytime—even on the toilet—so don’t worry; they happen when you’re relaxed and not trying.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
There is a haiku, something like this: A monk crossing a street and a very ordinary flower, just peeking from a wall; a very ordinary flower, a day-to-day flower, which is everywhere. And he looks into it and for the first time he looks into it, because it is so ordinary, it is so obvious. It is always somewhere, so he has never looked into it. He looks into it and satori happens. An ordinary flower is never looked at, it is so common that you forget it. He has never seen it because it is always around. For the first time in his life he has seen it. And the thing became phenomenal. The first meeting with the flower, the very common flower, becomes very uncommon now. He feels sorry for it -- it has always been there waiting for him.
Question: you mean even intellectual tension can be a way to achieve satori?
It may be, it may not be. If you become intellectually tense during this discussion and the tension is not brought to the extreme, it will be a hindrance. But if you become totally tense and then suddenly something is understood, that understanding will be a release and satori can happen. Or, if this discussion is not at all tense, if we are just chitchatting -- totally relaxed, totally nonserious -- even this discussion can be an aesthetic experience. It is not only that flowers are aesthetic; even words can be. It is not only that trees are aesthetic; human beings can also be. It is not only when you are watching clouds floating by that satori becomes possible; even if you participate in a dialogue it becomes possible. But either a relaxed participation is needed or a very tense participation. You can either be relaxed to begin with or…
Does enlightenment need a special place, a special time, to happen?
Every place is special, because every place is overflowing with God. No place is ordinary. Enlightenment can happen even in your toilet! Enlightenment is not afraid of your toilet! It can happen anywhere. You need not go to sacred places; there are none. All existence is sacred! You need not go to Varanasi or Jerusalem or Kaaba -- all nonsense. All places are full of God. Every point is special. And what special time are you asking about? Is there a season, a certain climate for enlightenment? Enlightenment is not really a happening. If it were a happening, then maybe, in a certain soil, in a certain climate, in a certain place, on certain days it would be more possible. But enlightenment is not a happening. Enlightenment is simply a recognition -- a recognition that you have always been enlightened, that never, for a single moment, have you lost it;…
Question: OSHO, WHAT IS SATORI AND HOW TO ATTAIN IT? But everybody is being taught to be an idealist: "Become a Jesus" or "Become a Buddha" or "Become a Krishna." Nobody tells you just to be yourself! Why should you be a Jesus? One Jesus is enough and one Jesus is beautiful - he enriches the existence. Many Jesuses just carrying crosses, and wherever you go you meet them... It won't look beautiful, it won't add to the beauty of existence; it will make the whole world ugly. Wherever you go you meet a Mahavira standing naked.... It is because of this that God never creates the same person again. He never repeats; he is original. He always creates a new person. You have never been before, and there is no one who is like you, and there will never be anybody else like you again.
At the death of a parishioner, master dogo, accompanied by his disciple zengen, visited the bereaved family.
WITHOUT TAKING TIME TO EXPRESS A WORD OF SYMPATHY, ZENGEN WENT UP TO THE COFFIN, RAPPED ON IT, AND ASKED DOGO:'IS HE REALLY DEAD?' 'I WON'T SAY,' SAID DOGO.'WELL?' INSISTED ZENGEN.'I'M NOT SAYING, AND THAT'S FINAL,' SAID DOGO. ON THEIR WAY BACK TO THE TEMPLE THE FURIOUS ZENGEN TURNED ON DOGO AND THREATENED: 'BY GOD, IF YOU DON'T ANSWER MY QUESTION, WHY I'LL BEAT YOU.' 'ALL RIGHT,' SAID DOGO, 'BEAT AWAY.' A MAN OF HIS WORD, ZENGEN SLAPPED HIS MASTER A GOOD ONE. SOME TIME LATER DOGO DIED, AND ZENGEN, STILL ANXIOUS TO HAVE HIS QUESTION ANSWERED, WENT TO THE MASTER SEKISO, AND, AFTER RELATING WHAT HAD HAPPENED, ASKED THE SAME QUESTION OF HIM. SEKISO, AS IF CONSPIRING WITH THE DEAD DOGO, WOULD NOT ANSWER.'BY GOD!' CRIED ZENGEN. 'YOU TOO?' 'I'M NOT SAYING,' SAID SEKISO, 'AND THAT'S FINAL.' AT THAT VERY INSTANT ZENGEN EXPERIENCED AN AWAKENING. Whenever a lover dies,…