You’re worthy when you can let go of your “me” by loving completely or becoming very quiet inside—then the Divine naturally appears.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Another sannyasin friend said, ‘Osho is supremely compassionate,’ ‘Then why this distinction in the sharing of compassion—that only a chosen few receive the prasad of his ambrosial words?’ And hearing that very remark, I was reminded of my own unworthiness and backwardness. And I have begun to fear that perhaps for this very reason Osho may, in his own way, throw me out. Kindly be gracious enough to dispel our doubts and fears.
- “I am special; hence I was chosen.” Then you have gone astray. You miss at the very threshold. - “By grace alone I, unworthy, have been chosen.” Then you are on the right path. The Sufi mystic Junayd used to say in his daily prayer, “I am amazed—there is no worthiness in me, and yet I live. I have earned nothing, and this supremely blessed life has been given to me. I am amazed, for there is no reason why such peace should shower upon me. Where people burn in such restlessness, why does this peace rain on me?” There was a strange line in his prayer: “O God, I cannot believe You are just. You must be partial toward me—showering so much on one so unworthy.” And that was his worthiness. To see oneself as unworthy is worthiness on the path of the spirit. The day you take…
Osho, I want to take sannyas. Am I worthy, and has the auspicious moment arrived?
And because I don’t tell you to leave your home, there is an added difficulty. Mahavira did not give his people as much trouble as I am giving you. Buddha did not give as much trouble. I am putting you in a very paradoxical arrangement: making you a sannyasin and not separating you from the home. You will sit at your shop in ochre robes—it will be a great awkwardness. In ochre you can sit in the forest—there is no trouble then. At a shop you do not sit in ochre—there is no trouble then. I am creating a contradiction in your life. I am saying: live in water and be like a lotus. The rose has no such difficulty; it doesn’t live in water. The lotus has the difficulty—to be in water and untouched by water. To be in the marketplace and untouched by the market. To be in…
Osho, I have heard that initiation into sannyas is not given to the unworthy. Why is that? Are the unworthy not deserving of the satguru’s compassion?
The unworthy is just the opposite. If the divine comes, he thinks, “All right, he came—as was my due. He had to come; if he hadn’t, I would have shown him.” “He has to come; it is my right; it is my entitlement.” If he does not come, the unworthy becomes upset: “This is great injustice. There is injustice in the world—some get it, some don’t; there is partiality, favoritism, nepotism.” The unworthy has his own language. The worthy too has a language. When the divine comes, the worthy says—“Prasad.” “I had no qualifications at all, and yet you came!” This is the language of the worthy—understand it; it is a very paradoxical language. The worthy says, “I was unworthy, and you came! I had no merit to even ask; there was no basis from which to demand—only your compassion, your love, your mercy. You are Rahim, you are Rahman,…
Osho, when I first came to you, it felt as if I had reached you because of some special worthiness. But now, day by day, I am becoming aware of my unworthiness—and of your boundless compassion. Osho, please accept my gratitude and bless me.
The sense of being worthy is unworthiness. The sense of being unworthy is worthiness. Whoever thinks, “I am worthy,” will have a thickened ego. Whoever understands, “I am unworthy,” will have an ego that melts and flows. That’s why sometimes sinners arrive, and the virtuous do not. Even virtue becomes worse than sin if it starts adorning the ego—and it often does. Just last night I told a story. An old woman died. Angels came. She was very frightened, trembling after death. Her soul was shrinking. She was sure they would take her to hell. She had never done anything that could possibly qualify her for heaven—she was certain of her sins, aware of her unworthiness. The angels said, “Since you hold yourself so unworthy, we must take you to heaven. Just tell us if you ever did even one small good deed.” She said, “I don’t remember ever doing…
Osho, I have no worthiness at all, and yet a thirst for the Infinite has arisen! I have set out, stumbling—will there not be union? The question has been asked by the elderly sannyasin, Sita.
First thing: No one has ever met the Divine through strength. Strength is arrogance. Strength itself is the obstacle. Strength means ego. Strength means making a claim. Has anyone ever attained by claiming? Has a claimant ever found love? The claimant is defeated; he misses the goal at the very first step. If you know you have no strength, then union is certain. Union happens in helplessness—where it seems nothing you do will work; where your defeat is total; where you wonder, “How can anything happen by my doing?”; where your ego has crumbled to dust in every way; where you no longer even have the strength to breathe on your own—let alone to travel; where you cannot even rise; where, even if you wish to lift your foot, it will not lift. When such helplessness surrounds you, prayer is born. Prayer is the sigh of a helpless heart. Only…