If you can see even a little light, relax—stay patient, loving, open, and meditative, and the full beauty will come on its own.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Beloved Osho, the other morning in discourse I was overwhelmed by your clarity and your beauty and grace, and felt so grateful and vulnerable. Thank you, Osho. I also realize that I am still not seeing your total radiance and splendor. This brings sadness and frustration. Osho, is it true that without being enlightened we cannot see you as you really are -- sachchidanand? Can we only catch a glimpse?
The king was puzzled: this man seemed at least one hundred and twenty years old. "Is he mad, or what? He cannot expect to see the flowers of these trees, to say nothing about the fruits. And he is working so hard in his old age, the whole day in the hot sun" -- it was a desert land. He stopped and went close to the old man and said, "I watch you every day, and I see how hard you work, but a question ... Every day I go on repressing it, not wanting to interfere. But you will have to forgive me -- I want to ask one thing: Do you think you will be able to see the flowers of these plants?" The old man laughed. He said, "No, I will not be able to see the flowers of these plants. But do you see just behind…
asked by Swami Achyut Bodhisattva. Osho, sitting by you for just a couple of moments, I poured out the state of my heart. Whether or not you count me as yours, I have made you mine.
Many who rushed ahead lost their way; many who moved like lightning vanished. But those who halted at your threshold—the destination itself came and found them. It is our gaze that is at fault, not any veil upon the splendor. Some pined for a single ray; some bathed in moonlight. Had that ecstasy, that self-forgetfulness, not been with me, I would have gone astray somewhere; my very stumblings, at every step, saved me from misguidance. “Many who rushed ahead lost their way; many who moved like lightning vanished. But those who halted at your threshold—the destination itself came and found them.” True. If you stop, the Divine will come and find you. “...the destination itself came and found them.” Consent; become quiet; become meditative. The Divine comes seeking you—his arm reaches out for you. From far skies his hand comes to rest upon your head. But you must sit! You…
Osho, years ago when I first saw you, my eyes were dazzled; and from that very day a light has remained kindled at the center of my vision every moment. What is this mysterious light? Is it not some defect in my eyesight?
There is only one purpose for your being with me: that you become acquainted with yourself. There is only one purpose for my being: that I throw you back upon yourself. Do not get entangled in me; you have to return to yourself. There is no substance in your eye going on looking at me. Only if, seeing me, your eye returns to you—there is a reversion, a withdrawal of the gaze (pratikraman, pratyahara)—does it have any meaning. Consider this experience auspicious; nourish it. Do not become uneasy because of it, nor get worried about treating the eye. I am singing; you learn to hum. Learn to shimmer in the storms. Let a humming arise within you on hearing my song; by being near me, come to be near yourself. What has come to me lies within you too. There is not the slightest difference between me and you. I…
Osho, what we see in you others do not see. Why is it so? Must one accumulate something over many lives for this?
Each person has a different journey, a different bent, a different vision. To some, music is beloved; to others, it is only noise. Some have the capacity to experience beauty; others have nothing in their hearts but stone. One overflows with love’s spring; another is dry. No two people are the same—nor can they be. Yet, unconsciously, we keep trying to have everyone feel the same, perceive the same. That is impossible. And the higher the experience, the more impossible it becomes. On the lower plane there may be some agreement—on the marketplace level, perhaps a consensus. But in the heights of the sky, our privacy and each person’s unique capacity manifest fully. So what you see in me need not be seen by another. Surely, you have earned something over many lives, polished your eyes, guarded your recognition; hence today you see. Even in thick darkness you can recognize…
Osho, yesterday you explained that with joyful awareness (sukh-purvak surati) resolution happens on its own. Yet I find myself having to go through great effort, practice, and labor—why? How long, and why, must a seeker pass through so much effort, toil, and austerity?
If there is laziness in the mind, even little things feel like great effort. It’s a matter of your interpretation. In truth, you are not exerting at all. I tell you, those who are near me and engaged in “practice” are the people on earth who are laboring the least. You have no idea what real effort is. When a person is deeply lazy, even trivial things seem like toil. What are you actually doing? What is it you keep calling “great effort”? Which great effort are you making? You dance a little—and you call that great effort? Is dancing an effort? Dancing is joy! But your perspective is wrong. If you take joy to be effort, you have missed. Dancing is celebration, a juicy happening. Where is the effort in it? If even dancing is effort for you, then what would non-effort be? If I tell you, “Just sit…