What happens when I feel speechless in the presence of someone important?

When I am with you I am speechless. If eel my mouth and throat become inappropriate and almost lose their function. Yet language is my best implement also my best weapon and without it I feel crippled. Am I as foolish as I feel to be squandering these chances of talking to you?

Your gestalt has to change. That is the difference between a student and a disciple: a change of gestalt, a change of attention, of focusing, a shift. The student listens to the word; the disciple listens to the gap between two words. The student reads the lines; the disciple, between the lines. If to a student I give an empty book, he will not be able to understand it. But if to a disciple I give an empty book, THE NOTHING BOOK, he will preserve it as a treasure. In the Sufi tradition there is a book called THE BOOK OF THE BOOKS. Nothing is written in it; empty pages, almost three hundred empty pages. You go on reading, but you can never finish it. It has been passed from one generation of masters to another. It has been lovingly preserved, worshipped, because it says nothing, but it shows much.…

[A sannyasin says: I've been avoiding you for a year now.] That's a good indication!... That means that something is going to happen so the mind is afraid. The mind is never afraid without any real cause, so the people who avoid me are the people who are going to be transformed by me. They try to escape, they try to create many barriers, hindrances, because they are afraid: they know that if they come close the point of no-return is bound to come. That very fear prevents them. And those who try to avoid me are my people. So a good indication; nothing to be worried about, mm? I am your shepherd (chuckling). You can avoid, you can escape; I will find you!

Osho, you say, “Share whatever you have.” But what is happening is that music, dance, and ecstasy are all dissolving into existence, and a deep silence is gathering. Now I feel like just sitting in a corner, watching the play of existence, and when the time comes, dissolving into it. What is left with me! Many thanks—what great grace that, Master, you came into my life. Should I kiss your feet or spread my eyes at your feet—what should I do? I cannot understand.

Have you ever experienced silence? Silence is a dense presence. A train roars past; have you noticed how thick the silence becomes after it is gone? A storm comes with a great clamor; when the storm passes, what a dense calm remains! When a person like Buddha becomes still—when a storm of centuries, the gale of births upon births that kept blowing suddenly ceases—will the gods not get the news? Merely by his becoming silent, the news spreads. Share whatever is there. If silence is forming, it is auspicious. Do not close; keep silence in relationship. Sometimes invite your friends: “Come, we’ll sit together in silence.” Whoever is ready for silent sitting will come. Take a hand in your hand; together have a good cry, or a good laugh. Do not speak. Then you will discover a new doorway of relatedness. You will have touched another’s consciousness in a different…

Osho, every time after speaking I feel I have been dishonest; only when I remain silent do I feel honest—completely honest with myself. Why is this?

At Harvard University, psychologists ran an experiment. They split a class into two groups. To one half, in a separate room, they said: “The problem on the board is very difficult. There is hardly any hope that any of you can solve it. Even students in higher classes struggle with it. Only great mathematicians can solve it. We’re giving it just to see—by chance, perhaps—there is no assurance at all—maybe one of you might head a little in the right direction. Solving it completely is impossible, still try.” They tried. Out of fifteen students, only three solved it. To the other fifteen, in another room, they said—about the same problem—“It’s very simple. So simple that if any of you fail to solve it, it would be surprising. Students in lower classes have solved it.” Amazingly, twelve solved it; only three failed. What happened? Your confidence is borrowed—others hand it to…

Osho, it is surprising that only when you speak do we get a slight glimpse of your peak through words. Why is that?

No one understands silence. If someone loves you and does not say so, you will not be able to grasp that he loves you. If in no way does he express it—through gesture, through the eyes, through words—these are all “words”—if he remains silent, you will never recognize that someone loves you. It has to be said; it has to be expressed. And then a very amusing thing happens. Even if there is no love, if someone is skilled in expressing, you will feel that there is love. Many times, the one who is skilled in expression becomes the lover. It is not necessary that there be love—because you do not understand love; you only understand words. Husbands and wives begin to feel depressed—how long can one keep saying the same words? Then they no longer carry any flavor. But as soon as words are lost, the relationship is lost.…