What happens when a master dies?

Beloved Osho, thoughts of death have been a frequent visitor during my disciplehood. How can a disciple die in a master's presence, especially when the master is physically distant? Osho, is mahakashyap the only answer?

They opened the door to see whether Ananda was still sitting outside -- because they had told him, "You sit outside. If we need some confirmation from you, we will ask you, but you cannot enter the conference." They saw a transformed being. The old Ananda, the old egoist was gone. An innocent being with tears of joy... and they all could see the light surrounding him. They invited him -- "You come in. Now there is no need for us to be worried. But it is strange... you could not become enlightened for forty-two years, and just after twenty-four hours you have attained that state" -- and this was continuously emphasized by Gautam Buddha. Ananda said, "It was my fault. His death became the death of my ego too." All the scriptures that are in existence are related by Ananda. There were other enlightened disciples who did not die…

Osho, when hearing the story over dinner of dadu and two of his disciples, rajjab and sundero. I was baffled by how deeply affected they both were by the death of their master. One, rajjab, never opened his eyes again, and the other, sundero, died in the same bed as his master, dadu. How can an enlightened person be so affected by the death of his master or beloved one?

It was not out of attachment, Ambubhai, that Rajjab closed his eyes; it was out of great understanding. And he was not unhappy. He danced, he sang songs, as long as he lived -- but with closed eyes, so that he could still see the Master inside. Twenty years' continuous communion with the Master...the Master had almost become a part of his soul! By closing his eyes he was still keeping company with the Master. Don't misunderstand him. Rajjab is one of the most beautiful disciples ever. And what happened to Sundero, another disciple? When Dadu died he laid himself down on the same bed and remained on the same bed; he never left the bed again. The Master had slept on it his whole life: it was full of his vibe, it was full of his presence, it was soaked with him. He would not leave the bed. "Why?"…

Osho, kindly explain the meaning of inner closeness to the true Master.

Now the first man was making a mistake, but at least the mistake was his own. These others were making a borrowed mistake; even their mistake was not theirs. If you bow at someone’s feet because you saw someone else do it, it will be false. If you bow out of greed, it will be false. If you bow thinking you may gain something—standing in an election and hoping to win— People come to me. They touch my feet and say, “We are standing in the election; now your blessing is in your hands.” I tell them, “If you truly want my blessing, you will lose the election. Because I can only bless that God forbid you should win. It’s better to get out of this madhouse before you enter it. Once inside, getting out becomes very difficult. Once you reach Delhi, people die at Rajghat and never return. After…

Beloved Osho, I have been your sannyasin for a few months, after a long search for a master. Now I am afraid you might die, and I cannot fulfill the meaning of my life without your presence.

Prem Felix, you are still too concerned with your own ego. You are not worried about my death; you are worried about your enlightenment -- what will happen to your enlightenment. You are not aware that this is not love; this is not trust. You are trying to use me. And love never tries to use. You have not yet found the master; you have simply believed.... Because you find here so many people in such deep love and in such deep ecstasy, you have believed in them -- perhaps here is a master. But it is a perhaps. If you have really found your master, you will forget all about your enlightenment. In finding the master, you have already found the path. In finding the master, you have already found someone who is going to be with you, even after death. That is the meaning of being with a…

Beloved Osho, I feel warm love in your presence and now I realize that when I am not close to you it does not happen in the same way. Is it still true that time and space do not make any difference in the great affair between master and disciple?

People's understanding was absolutely wrong that Ananda, who had burst into tears, must have loved the master more. Asked, he said, "I am crying because he was alive, and for forty-two years I have been his most intimate disciple -- intimate in the sense that I was always with him. In these forty-two years not even for a single day was I separate; even in the night I used to sleep in his room, just to be present in case he needed something. I am not crying because I was the most intimate, I am crying because even with such a long physical intimacy I have remained separate from him. Something has remained like a barrier." Gautam Buddha was not dead yet. He had closed his eyes, and he was relaxing into the eternal. He came back, opened his eyes, and said to Ananda, "Don't be worried. It was my…