Share your heart without trying to change people, and your warmth uplifts everyone while you learn from them too.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, I have undoubtedly set out on the path, and the path itself is becoming the destination. But when I sit in discourse, my mind keeps collecting what you say so I can tell it to others. Why is there such eagerness in me to expound it before others—especially before my loved ones?
It is natural. Those whom we love—we want to give them what we have received, that in which we have known joy, in which we have caught a hint of truth. The taste we have savored, we want our loved ones to taste. We want to make them partners in it. Completely natural. Share! Whatever seems right to you, say it. Who knows—someone else may also find it right. Just keep one thing in mind. The eagerness to share is fine; insistence is not. Don’t sit on anyone’s chest saying, “I have accepted it, you must accept it too—because you are my wife; if you don’t agree with me, that’s not okay; or you are my husband.” Do not be insistent—non-insistence! Give full freedom to accept or not. But if a feeling rises in your heart, don’t suppress it either. If you feel joy, if you taste the essence, share…
[A sannyasin, returning to the west, had previously written to Osho about starting a centre there -- she wants to share Osho without coming on as a missionary. Osho had told her no need to.] No, I felt that you are too worried about it, that's why I said that; otherwise there is no problem. Make a centre! That will be easier, far easier. And when I say don't be a missionary, I mean don't impose yourself upon others. Share, but don't impose. Sharing is totally different, it is very respectful towards the other person. Sharing is not violent, imposing is. You are not respectful towards the other person, you are simply using the other person as a means; you are only interested in converting him. That is wrong. Never use a person as a means to anything, because each person is an end unto himself.
Osho, there is a confusion; if you understand it rightly, please be gracious enough to clarify it. Bhagwan Buddha and you both say: share the bliss that comes from meditation, share meditation. And on the other hand it is also said that the attainment of meditation should be kept secret, kept hidden.
Certainly both things are said, because both are right. There is no contradiction; if opposition appears, it is only an appearance. When meditation happens, share it. But until it has happened, protect it and keep it hidden. When it is, then you will share! Do not be in a hurry to distribute it. Often, even when it hasn’t happened, the desire to distribute arises. There is great relish in giving sermons. In explaining things to someone you get the taste of being knowledgeable. In telling someone—whether you know or not—for a few moments there is the illusion that you know. That is why so much advice is given in the world, and no one takes it. How many sermons are delivered—who takes them? Preachers roam after you; they catch hold of you and explain. It is hard to get past the preachers; they have blocked every road and path. Wherever…
Beloved Osho, I wonder whether as your disciple I can be utterly selfish, to find my way to enlightenment whatever I am doing, or do I have to fulfill a certain function for you to spread your vision?
It has to be understood very clearly that nobody has a duty to spread my vision, my message to the people. I hate the very word `missionary'. These are the ugliest creatures on the earth. I don't want to create missionaries. You have to be utterly selfish, concentrated on only one aim: becoming enlightened. Of course, as you become enlightened, your light will start reaching to others. My message will start vibrating through you, through your love, without any effort on your part. It has never been said: "Be utterly selfish." All the religions of the world have been teaching, "Be altruistic," and they all have failed, because their very foundation was wrong. You don't know what truth is, and you start spreading the message about truth. You are lying. I have asked Christian missionaries, "What is your experience?" They don't have any experience. What they have is degrees from…
Beloved Osho, passing through the gate of this mandir for the first time in eight years, I felt a kind of fragrance which has stayed with me ever since. Is it possible to take this fragrance with me when I leave? Oh, beloved master, it is so beautiful, and I am so grateful to spend this time with you, even if I cannot take this fragrance with me.
Prem Maharaj, the fragrance that you have felt in this temple of seekers is not something that you can leave behind. This fragrance contains love, meditativeness, silence, trust, life-affirmative values, a song of gratitude, a dance with the trees and with the stars... This fragrance is an experience of a totally new atmosphere that does not exist in the outside world. If you meditate, you will become the same temple. Then, wherever you go the fragrance will go with you like a shadow; even others will feel it. It is not the first time that such a question has come to me. The moment they enter the gate many people have felt suddenly, as if they are entering into another world -- the air is different, the vibe is different -- as if they have come home. And there is bound to be a certain fragrance, because so many people…