What happens when one misses the obvious after eight years of sannyas?

Beloved Osho, today is my eighth sannyas birthday. Isn't eight years a very long time to miss the obvious?

The obvious has been missed for hundreds of lives, so no time is long enough to miss it. On the other hand, even a single minute is enough to recognize it. In fact, it is a nontemporal phenomenon; time has no concern with it. If you think in terms of years, if you have missed it in the moment when it was possible to get it, you will go on missing. Time cannot help; on the contrary, the longer you have missed it the more is the possibility to miss it again when the moment comes to recognize it. The question is from Devaraj. He should not be worried, because he has not missed it. And it is not the time of eight years that has helped him not to miss. It is his love -- not the length of time but the depth of love that he did not…

Beloved Osho, the more I am here with you, the more I am confused, excited and amazed that you exist. I have been a sannyasin for seven years and realize now that I took you for granted. Beloved Osho, how is it possible that it took me seven years to start slowly, slowly seeing you?

In different societies people are imitating the crowd; but on the whole, the whole world is asleep, because everybody else around them is asleep. Hence it seems amazing, when you come across a Gautam Buddha, or a Mahakashyap, or a Bodhidharma, or a Chuang Tzu. The amazing part is how they avoided the gravitation of the society, how they made it possible for themselves to get out of the grip of the crowd. But even if one man can get out of the crowd, he shows you the path. He indicates to you that you are also capable -- just a little courage, just a little intelligence.... Solly has been tossing and turning all night long, unable to sleep. "Solly, what is the matter?" asked Becky. "It is that five hundred dollars I owe Benny. I have to repay him tomorrow, and I have not got it." Becky opens the…

Why do zen monks have to have been living near their masters for ten, twenty, or even for forty years for the sudden enlightenment to happen?

Because of their stupidities. You can be enlightened in a single minute; you can wait for forty years. It depends how gross you are. You can wait for lives; it depends how much you cling to your ignorance. The Zen Master is not responsible that the disciple had to wait for forty years. The disciple is responsible. He must have been a very dull-headed man, a dullard; nothing penetrates in his mind. Or he may have been intellectually very clever, so whatsoever is said he creates an intellectual understanding around it -- and misses the point that can be caught only from heart to heart. In a deep rapport, where heart and heart meet, the flower of understanding blooms. So those who had to wait for forty years either must have been very foolish or very knowledgeable. Both are types of foolishness. They must have been either pundits or just…

One sannyasin has asked me: CANNOT WE DISAGREE WITH YOU? CANNOT WE CRITICIZE YOU?

The religions have to be made aware of the fact that they have been doing this service for centuries. What is the result? -- because a tree is known by the fruit; if the fruit is rotten, the tree is not worth much. Service seems to be a beautiful word to hide an exploiting social structure. It appears so good -- serving the poor -- it seems a great virtue. But why are the poor there in the first place? Who has made them poor? On the one hand you go on serving the poor and converting them into Catholics. The service is not in the service of the poor, the service is to increase the power of the Catholic church. You go on finding orphans and converting them. How have Catholics increased to six hundred million? -- by serving the poor. The service is motivated. If you are really…

Osho, today it has been six years since I took sannyas. By giving sannyas you have bestowed an entirely new life. How can I express my gratitude to you for the joy I am receiving? Only one thorn pricks me—despite such ease and nearness, I still cannot drink you in completely. What the obstruction is is not clear either. Now the heart longs, not merely to be near, but to drown wholly in your celebration. Now duality hurts. Now let it be erased.

You are already drowning. You go on drowning. The happening is so natural that it is not being noticed. Trees grow day by day; it is not noticed. Right now as we sit here talking, the trees are growing. When you came and now—a difference has occurred: some buds may have opened; some sprouts may have burst; some leaves may have come out; some old leaves may have fallen. Every moment they are growing. But it will not be recognized. Yes, if you come here after two or four years, you will be amazed to see how big the trees have become. A child grows daily, but the mother does not notice. When guests come to the house after a year or two, they say, “The boy has grown so much.” The mother saw him every day. Such is the condition of every seeker. You look at yourself every day;…