What happens when someone speaks highly of enlightened beings?

Although you have made me alive towards christ, buddha, mahavir, krishna, lao tzu and all those known as enlightened ones, and it is really difficult for me to conceive of you as separate, yet when someone starts talking high of anyone, it automatically comes out of my mouth, that there has never been a greater master than shree rajneesh and maybe there will be none in the future also. Is this due to my love towards you, due to my ego, or is it reality? Or am I biased? Please enlighten.

But that is just the beginning. That is necessary to come close to the master. But come still closer and there comes a moment when the two flames of the disciple and master become one. There is a jump, a leap, and the two flames become one. Then you become aware. Then you will laugh at your own statements. Now you know that enlightened people are not different at all. Only names differ. Buddha is a name, Jesus is a name, Krishna is a name, but the enlightenment that has happened to them is the same. The closer you come to Buddha, the closer you will come to Christ also. It is as if you are moving from the periphery of a circle towards the center. On the periphery one point is Buddha, another point is Jesus, another point is Ramakrishna. The closer you come to the center, the more…

Osho, why do all religions exaggerate in praising their respective spiritual masters?

O embodiment of color, O embodiment of light, O embodied tenderness and warmth— What need was there to come from the moonlit assembly? Where you were, in that very paradise your beauty would have blossomed— What need was there to people this hell? These dimples and moles, this body carved from dreams— And a heart for which even the softness of dimples would be sacrificed. Here it is only thorns, only sparks everywhere— Step carefully, O springtime of spring, tread with care. When thirst is upon you, even poison is drunk like nectar— Who knows on which goblet that innocent gaze might come to rest? I have seen even the tavern drown in those eyes— Whether the thirst of those eyes will be quenched or not, who knows! All are lovers of beauty, people of vision, people of heart— Someone at home, someone in an assembly will adorn you. You…

Osho, whenever someone experiences the Vast, it inevitably expresses itself in some form. Is it not so with the enlightened ones?

The experience is such that, try to hide it and it will not hide; it will manifest. As far as the experiencer is concerned, it will certainly be expressed. But as far as you are concerned, it depends on you: it may be revealed, or it may remain unrevealed. Buddha has said what he came to know—whether you heard it or not… On Buddha’s side, it has been expressed; on your side, it may or may not be revealed. The rain falls: lakes, ponds, pits and hollows fill; the mountains stay empty. If your pitcher is kept upside down, no matter how much the clouds thunder and pour, you will remain empty; for you, the rain will not have happened. Not that there was no rain—there was; only, not for you. And until it is for you, what difference does it make whether it happened or not? Even if the…

Osho, I am your disciple, you are my Master—this I want to declare to the whole world, but I cannot say it. What should I do?

Let it remain a silent experience. There is no need to say it. Otherwise the ego will arise. Why do you want to say it? What is the purpose? If you are a disciple, the world will come to know on its own. When flowers bloom, their fragrance reaches the nostrils. The sun rises—without any drumbeat, without any proclamation, without any advertisement—and the birds awaken. Even in sleep one somehow knows the sun has risen. Your song will burst forth; that alone will give the news. Your fragrance will be carried on the air; that alone will be the message. There is no need to add a bulletin. Beware of the ego’s expeditions. The ego is very skillful, very tricky, very cunning. It keeps looking for ways to make itself bigger. If there is wealth, rank, reputation—fine, it climbs aboard and rides. Not only that: knowledge, meditation, renunciation, sannyas—there too…

Osho, kindly explain the meaning of inner closeness to the true Master.

Now the first man was making a mistake, but at least the mistake was his own. These others were making a borrowed mistake; even their mistake was not theirs. If you bow at someone’s feet because you saw someone else do it, it will be false. If you bow out of greed, it will be false. If you bow thinking you may gain something—standing in an election and hoping to win— People come to me. They touch my feet and say, “We are standing in the election; now your blessing is in your hands.” I tell them, “If you truly want my blessing, you will lose the election. Because I can only bless that God forbid you should win. It’s better to get out of this madhouse before you enter it. Once inside, getting out becomes very difficult. Once you reach Delhi, people die at Rajghat and never return. After…