What happens when I fall in love?

OSHO: Love is the most intoxicating phenomenon. It is the wine that wells up within. It is not something chemical that comes from the outside, it is not even part of the body, not part of the mind either. It is the dance of the heart in tune with the whole. Love is your heart in deep harmony with the heart of the universe. Then there is great intoxication. And yet the intoxication does not make you unconscious; on the contrary it makes you more conscious than ever. That's the paradox of love: on one hand one is intoxicated, on the other hand one has never been so aware before. It is an intoxication that makes you wake up. HER SIX-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER: PREM GARIMA, GLORY OF LOVE. NENE BECOMES MA PREM KUNDAN OSHO: It is by passing through the fire of love that one becomes one's real self.

Osho, I have fallen in love with chuang tzu, with joshu, with mumon, with bodhidharma. How can I not follow them? I feel already they have transformed me. How can I not be thankful?

Let me tell you one anecdote first. When Rabbi Nor, Rabbi Moudekai's son, assumed the succession after his father's death, his disciples noted that there were a number of ways in which he conducted himself differently to his father, and asked him about this. 'I do just as my father did,' he replied.'He did not imitate and I do not imitate.' Meditate over this anecdote. He said,'I do just as my father did. He did not imitate and I do not imitate.' If you really understand Joshu, Bodhidharma or me, you will not imitate -- because I have not imitated, because Bodhidharma never imitated anybody. Joshu used to say to his disciples,'If you utter Buddha's name, go and rinse your mouth immediately.' Joshu also used to say,'If you meet the Buddha on the way, kill him immediately.' And he used to worship Buddha every day. Ordinarily Zen looks puzzling, but…

Osho, ever since I listened to your words, I’ve fallen into great difficulty. My tears do not stop. The remembrance remains with me every moment. What is happening to me? People say I should leave you—and even that seems impossible.

It is the beginning of love—why are you crying? Just wait and see what lies ahead! It is only the beginning. Only the first steps have been taken. Do not be afraid. Do not worry. Until love has dragged you through disgrace, a man is of no real use. Until love ruins you, defames you, a man is not of any worth at all. You ask, “What has happened to me?” Love has happened to you. Your feeling is turning into devotion. And this comes only by great good fortune. By destiny alone one receives the pain of love; here, only those who die in love have truly fared well. Those who die in love attain the immortal. And this wound, this anguish, comes by great fortune; it does not come to everyone. If tears come, turn them into prayer. Why complain of separation? Why weep over pain? Now that…

You are not alone here; from your own town there is Chaman Bharti. He too has asked: What should I do? Since I fell in love with you, my eyes stay bloodshot, my face has the look of a drunkard. My wife suspects me. The family thinks I’ve started drinking. Rumors are spreading in the village. Whom should I explain to, and how?

Love has two steps. One step is when a person begins to sway. That step is necessary. Then there is another step, when a person regains balance. Meera is one form—this first form. Buddha is the second—that is further on. When the intoxication becomes so subtle, so deep, so inward that no one outside even suspects it. At first, naturally, the intoxication shows. A novice learning to drink staggers a lot. Ask the true drinkers—however much they drink, no one can tell they have. The capacity to digest grows slowly. Now digest it. Sway—but remember, in the final state even swaying must bid farewell. Stagger—but remember, in the supreme state even staggering must end. When the one who staggers is so dissolved in the intoxication that no “sway-er” remains, who is left to sway? So love—love’s madness—has two phases. In the first, there is wild frenzy: today the spring-gust blew;…

Every time I fall in love, things start to crash all around me. I guess that I lose my centre but in this state I don't know if I have a centre or not. Things get confused and crazy.

So when the woman asked Mulla, 'To whom can I show my face and to whom am I not allowed to show it?' Mulla said, 'You can show it to everybody except me!' If you are falling in love with a beautiful woman or a beautiful man, you are getting into trouble. There is going to be jealousy, there is going to be murder, there is going to be something. You are in trouble. And from the very beginning you will start possessing so that there is no possibility of anything going wrong or beyond your control. You will start destroying the woman or the man. You will stop giving freedom. You will encroach on the woman from all sides and close all the doors. Now the woman was beautiful because she was free. Freedom is such an ingredient in beauty that when you see a bird on the wing…