What is God's intention in making us act?

Osho, actors in a play perform with a purpose. What is God’s intention in making us act?

First thing: an actor cannot be a saint precisely because his acting has a purpose. I am not saying actors are saints; I said saints are actors. All saints are actors; not all actors are saints. The actor acts as work. It isn’t play for him; it’s a profession. He wants to get something out of it. And whatever you want to get something from becomes work. Whatever you don’t want to get anything from—where the very being in it is enough—that becomes play. Remember, work means the goal is outside you; play means the goal is inside you, intrinsic, hidden within it. We play for the joy of playing; we work to get something else. Play is complete in itself. Work is only a link in a chain; it leads further on. Work is a means toward an end elsewhere. Play is both means and end. Therefore, play is…

Osho, The Ultimate Reality has been called supreme consciousness and supreme wisdom. But when we see within it this circle of creation, then destruction, then creation again, and then destruction again, it feels very strange. Can you explain whether there is any cause, any meaning, any significance, any purpose behind this cycle?

But even as he says it, he does not see that he is contradicting himself. On the one hand he says, “Remove this terrible form and be pleased.” Pleasantness is also a mode of activity. And on the other hand he says he wants nothing to do with activity, he wants to know the essence. Pleasantness is not essence. Pleasantness too is a doing. Just as fierceness is a doing, pleasantness is a doing. Just as death is a doing, so too is life. Yet we keep choosing. He says, “Be cheerful, be joyful.” He probably believes joy is essence. It is not. Essence is emptiness—shunya. And to see shunya is very difficult. We only perceive activity. Where do we see emptiness? Only when emptiness takes on the form of activity does it come within our grasp. Otherwise, how can it be grasped? If I simply sit here in silence,…

Osho, you have said: take life as Leela, a divine play. How? And if life is merely Maya, what is the need for this life?

Binding the infatuated with attachment, it ferries him across the mirage to the ocean. To this thousand-formed one I bowed my head and called her Rama-pervaded. Those who know will even bow to Maya—this too is His play. I tell you: don’t discard Maya; it is His shadow as well. The Beloved is dear, and His shadow is dear too. That is why I tell my sannyasin: no renunciation, no flight from the world. If you understand this shadow rightly, through this very shadow you will understand the One of whom it is the shadow. Yet I still say to you: lightly, lightly! Do not become grave and ponderous. For centuries, grave religion has committed great murder upon man. Temples turned gloomy; mosques, temples, churches became like cremation grounds. Do not become a renunciate. God is hidden in enjoyment—seek Him there. When you eat, seek Him somewhere in the taste.…

Osho, alan watts once described the universe by saying, "it is as if god is playing a game." if there is no god, who is playing and what is the game?

The Master said, "That is the first requirement, that time is not binding. I cannot say how much time it will take -- one year, two years, ten years, fifty years -- nothing can be said about it. It all depends on you, on how quick you learn. I will try my best because I am old, I am also in a hurry. I was not going to accept another disciple, but if the king sends you -- he is my old friend, we both were under the same Master learning meditation -- I cannot refuse you. Your training starts from now." The prince asked, "What do I have to do?" The old Master said, "You have not to do anything except just ordinary things: cleaning, cooking, drawing the water from the well, cutting wood. But remember one thing, I can hit you any time from behind, so remain alert.…

That is why Hindus have said a very sweet thing: this is the supreme play, the joy of the Vast. The energy is so abundant that there is no boundary; therefore it flows—purposelessly. Ask the river, “Why do you flow?” When the rains come and the river swells—so swells that it breaks all dams and overflows all banks—ask it why. When it bursts its banks there is no bound left. Ask a child, “Why are you jumping, dancing?” Energy wants to be free. Ask the trees, “Why do you sprout? Why so green? What is this joy of flowers?” There is no cause. The name of the causeless is play—lila. This is not God’s job, as Christians, Jews, and Muslims think. If it were a job, by now God would be exhausted. One gets exhausted by work.