What is the authentic type of power that is not dependent on others?

Beloved master, all my life I have been intrigued by power and the recognition I can take from it. Now, that seems very confined and petty. Yet, I sense also that there is a more authentic type of power, not dependent on other people or their reactions -- more within myself. Can you please talk about my attraction towards this?

It needs a deep insight to understand that whether you torture others or you torture yourself, there is no difference at all -- except that the other can defend himself. At least there is that possibility. If you start torturing yourself, there is nobody to defend you. You can do anything with your own body. This is simply masochism. It is not, in my understanding, finding the source of your inner being. Hence I would not like to call it power, because that word is contaminated. I would like to call it peace, love, compassion... you can choose the word. But power has been in the hands of violent people; whether they were violent with others or with themselves does not matter. I think the people who were violent with others were more natural and the people who were violent with themselves were absolutely psychotic. But the people who have…

Osho, you speak of trust, love, and joy, but why don’t you explain power? These days an unbearable power is arising in me. What is it, and in this situation what stance should I take?

A friend of mine, an eminent Hindi litterateur, long-time president of the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan and the oldest member of the Indian Parliament—an MP for fifty years—was close to Jugal Kishore Birla. He was interested in my work and said, “If Birla becomes interested, great help is possible.” He arranged a meeting. Birla spoke with me, became interested, and said, “I will give you as much as you need, whenever you need it. Only one thing I must know for sure: what use will it be put to?” I said, “Then let’s end the matter here. This won’t do; such a deal is not possible. If you must ask what I will do with what you give, keep it. That isn’t giving. If you can give unconditionally so that, in front of you, I could squander it on the street and you would not be able to ask, ‘What are…

Question: BELOVED OSHO, PRESENT AWARENESS AND COMPARATIVE AWARENESS YEN T'OU SAID, "IN THE FUTURE, IF YOU WANT TO PROPAGATE THE GREAT TEACHING, IT MUST FLOW OUT POINT BY POINT FROM WITHIN YOUR OWN BREAST TO COVER HEAVEN AND EARTH: ONLY THEN WILL IT BE THE ACTION OF A MAN OF POWER." THAT WHICH FLOWS OUT FROM ONE'S OWN BREAST, AS HE CALLS IT, IS ONE'S OWN BEGINNINGLESS PRESENT AWARENESS, FUNDAMENTALLY COMPLETE OF ITSELF. AS SOON AS YOU AROUSE A SECOND THOUGHT, YOU FALL INTO THINKING. AWARENESS IS SOMETHING FROM BEFORE YOUR PARENTS WERE BORN. THIS AFFAIR IS NOT A MATTER OF INTELLIGENCE OR ACUITY. ACTUALLY, IT'S JUST AN ABRUPT BURSTING OUT THAT'S THE CRITERION. AS SOON AS YOU'VE ATTAINED THIS SCENE, THEN WHATEVER WORDS YOU HAVE, THEY'RE ESTABLISHED. WHEN WHERE THEY'RE ESTABLISHED IS REAL, THIS IS THE SO-CALLED "FLOWING OUT FROM WITHIN ONE'S OWN BREAST TO COVER HEAVEN AND EARTH.

Can this happen through will power?

Will is power; energy. There is no such thing as 'will power'. Will is power, will is energy. But by 'will' I mean the whole: Those who use the term 'will power' use it in a psychic sense. They use it to mean the power of concentration. I am not using the term in that sense. To me, 'will' means the whole. So only God is will. We are never will; we are just desires. Will is power, without desire. It is power with no movement or, with an inner movement. It is power without direction: directionless, dimensionless. When we say, "God is power," it does not mean that God is powerful. It means: God-power. God is the energY of the whole, the power of the whole. So when I say 'will power', it does not mean that will has power. Will is power -- it is energy. You can…

A monk asked the buddha: what is most powerful and what is most illuminating? The buddha said: meekness is most powerful for it harbours no evil thoughts, and moreover it is restful and full of strength. As it is free from evils it is sure to be honoured by all. The most illuminating is a mind which is thoroughly cleansed of dirt, and which, remaining pure, retains no blemishes. From the time when there was yet no heaven and earth till the present day there is nothing in the ten quarters which is not seen or heard by such a mind. For it has gained all knowledge and for that reason it is called

When Buddha was alive, Ananda was listening so-so -- as you listen to me. You listen and yet you don't listen. You say, 'Okay. If I miss today, tomorrow I will be listening again, so what is the hurry? If this morning is missed, nothing is missed; other mornings will be following.' So he had listened half-asleep, half-awake. Maybe he was tired, maybe the night was not good and he had not slept. Maybe the journey was too long and too exhausting. And Buddha was saying the same thing again and again and again, so how long to listen? One starts feeling that one already knows. One starts feeling, 'Yes, I have heard this before, so what is the point? Why not take a little sleep? A little nap will be good.' But when Buddha was dying, Ananda must have been alert, utterly alert. He was really trembling -- the…