What happens when sannyasins rely on an omnipotent figure for guidance?

Osho, since I have been here I could not stop thinking that all these sannyasins are with you because they cannot stand on their own feet. They need an omnipotent father who makes all the decisions for them. Then today I felt a very strong sadness and joy when I listened to you. What is going to happen? I am afraid to become dependent on you.

You need not be afraid -- even if you want to become dependent on me, I am not going to accept it. Because I know one thing: that you cannot make anybody dependent on you unless you also become dependent on him or on her. Dependence is not one-way traffic. The person you become dependent upon becomes dependent on you. Slavery is always mutual. And I don't want to be a slave, I don't want to be dependent on anybody. Hence I cannot in any way support you if you want to become dependent on me. It is not possible with me, it is impossible -- because this truth is so fundamental that there are no exceptions to it. You can watch your own life. If you become dependent on your wife, see, the wife has become dependent on you. If you become dependent on a friend, the friend has…

Osho, you said that a true Master gives the disciple complete freedom. Doesn’t that mean he doesn’t care for the disciple at all?

I give you complete freedom because I have complete trust in you. It is not only the disciple who has trust in the true Master—only that man is a true Master who also has trust in his disciple. He trusts you; he respects you; he acknowledges the dignity of your soul. You are glorious. Today you sleep; tomorrow you will awaken. Even if a Buddha is asleep, he is still a Buddha. You too are awakened ones—it is only a matter of time. And the more freedom you have, the more you will have to live by your own awareness. And the more you must live by your own awareness, the more awareness will awaken. And awareness is what must be awakened. But you have misunderstood. It often happens: the greater the statement, the harder it is to understand. You have taken it to mean something else. Freedom does not…

Question: A question from Maneesha: OUR BELOVED MASTER, YOUR MASTERLINESS LAST NIGHT WAS AWE-INSPIRING. IT SEEMS IRONICAL, BUT DOES THE DISCIPLE ONLY REALLY COMPREHEND THE MASTER'S COMPASSION WHEN HE IS ENLIGHTENED AND THUS NO LONGER SO DEPENDENT ON IT? Maneesha, here nobody is dependent on me. You want to be dependent, but I won't allow it. It is because of your desire to be dependent that you have created organized religions. You have become enslaved by all kinds of churches, cults and creeds, because of your desire to be dependent. It is a father-fixation, in the terms of psychoanalysis, because the child is so dependent on the mother and the father. If it is a boy, he becomes fixed on the mother, and that is a great trouble. If it is a girl, she becomes fixed on the father.

Osho, in a previous talk you said that the effect of shaktipat gradually diminishes, so one needs to reconnect with the medium again and again. Doesn’t that become a dependence on a person in the form of a guru?

But what is in the Gita is known to such a man only as much as the cat knew of books in that library—nothing else. And it could happen that by living in the library long enough the cat might one day come to know what is in a book; but these book‑knowing gurus will never know. Because the more the book is memorized, the less need remains to know; an illusion arises that one has already known. Whenever a person claims, I have known, understand that ignorance has found a voice. The claimant is ignorance. But when someone even hesitates to claim that he knows, understand that some glimpse, some ray has begun to dawn. Yet such a person cannot become a guru. He cannot even conceive of becoming a guru, because with the guru comes authority; with the guru the claim is necessary. Guru means: I know, I…

Beloved Osho, I trust you unconditionally, and now I'm no longer a sannyasin simply to rid myself of my fears. I am now here without any need, hope, desire or expectation. I am no longer feeling dependent on you. I am with you without any reason, just for fun, and I trust you without belief. Is this the state of being a true disciple?

Yes and no. Yes, because what you have described is authentically the state of a disciple. No, because you cannot cheat me. The description is right, but it is not about you. And my logic is very simple. If you were really independent, trusting me unconditionally, not out of fear or greed, without any desire or expectation, then this question would not have arisen in the first place. The implication of the question is that you still want my approval and that is dependence. You are asking me, "Is this the true state of a disciple?" Why are you asking me? If you are experiencing it, the experience itself will be the answer. But you are not experiencing it. You may be imagining and you need my approval, you want me to say, "Yes -- great, groovy." But that will make you dependent on me. I would love you all…