According to Osho, a true master neither demands obedience nor issues commandments; he invites understanding. Obedience is an outer order that dulls questioning and turns you mechanical. Guidance, in contrast, arises within: in the master’s presence you grasp his experience, and your own intelligence, love, and insight choose the right action. You follow understanding, not authority.
Obeying is just doing what you’re told; real guidance means you understand and let your own heart and intelligence decide.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Beloved Osho, what is the difference between the emptiness of the child before the formation of the ego and the awakened childlikeness of a buddha?
Whether you are for it or against it doesn't matter -- your concern shows where your ego is hanging. And I will include the capitalist in it also: his whole concern is how to gather money, hoard money -- because money has power over matter. You can purchase any material thing through money. You cannot purchase anything spiritual, you cannot purchase anything that has any intrinsic value; you can purchase only things. If you want to purchase love, you cannot purchase; but you can purchase sex. Sex is the material part of love. Through money, matter can be purchased, possessed. Now you will be surprised: I include the communist and the capitalist both in the same category, and they are enemies, just as I include Charvaka and Mahatma Gandhi in the same category, and they are enemies. They are enemies, but their concern is the same. The capitalist is trying…
The master bankei's talks were attended not only by zen students but by persons of all ranks and sects. He never quoted sutras nor indulged in scholastic dissertations. Instead, his words were spoken directly from his heart to the hearts of his listeners.
HIS LARGE AUDIENCES ANGERED A PRIEST OF THE NICHIREN SECT BECAUSE THE ADHERENTS HAD LEFT TO HEAR ABOUT ZEN. THE SELF-CENTERED NICHIREN PRIEST CAME TO THE TEMPLE, DETERMINED TO DEBATE WITH BANKEI. "HEY, ZEN TEACHER!" HE CALLED OUT. "WAIT A MINUTE. WHOEVER RESPECTS YOU WILL OBEY WHAT YOU SAY, BUT A MAN LIKE MYSELF DOES NOT RESPECT YOU. CAN YOU MAKE ME OBEY YOU?" "COME UP BESIDE ME AND I WILL SHOW YOU, " SAID BANKEI. PROUDLY THE PRIEST PUSHED HIS WAY THROUGH THE CROWD TO THE TEACHER. BANKEI SMILED. "COME OVER TO MY LEFT SIDE." THE PRIEST OBEYED. "NO," SAID BANKEI, "WE MAY TALK BETTER IF YOU ARE ON THE RIGHT SIDE. STEP OVER HERE." THE PRIEST STEPPED PROUDLY OVER TO THE RIGHT. "YOU SEE," OBSERVED BANKEI, "YOU ARE OBEYING ME AND I THINK YOU ARE A VERY GENTLE PERSON. NOW SIT DOWN AND LISTEN." The Master laughed and…
Beloved master, please tell me what the difference is between surrendering to a master and following a master?
Edward Kiefer, there is a great difference. They are poles apart. Surrendering to a master is something of the heart, it is a love affair, it is not an intellectual conviction. It is not that you are convinced intellectually that what the master is saying is right. It is not philosophical. What the master is saying may be absurd -- in fact, it is bound to be absurd, because he speaks from a totally different kind of vision, from the peak where opposites meet, where the ultimate synthesis has happened, where life and death are one, where man and woman are one, where negative and positive are one. Hence whatsoever he says is bound to be paradoxical. Surrendering to a master means you have felt his grace. It is not a question of his knowledgeability. He may not be knowledgeable at all. Jesus was not knowledgeable. Mohammed was not even…
Please explain the difference between witnessing and tathata.
One who stops with attaining firmness of resolve would of course become very powerful, but he won't be able to attain wisdom. And therefore, the ability to make a resolve can be misused, because wisdom is not required to attain it. One will surely gain a lot of power, but that is precisely why he can abuse it. The entire black magic is a product of willpower. One who practices it gains a lot of power, but he lacks wisdom totally. He can end up using that power without any discrimination. A man of will becomes filled with power. It is difficult to predict right away what use he will make of it. He can obviously put it to bad use. Power in itself is neutral. Nevertheless, it is necessary -- whether one intends to use it for good or for evil. And as I see it, rather than remaining…
If the master says, “Sit,” he sits; “Stand,” he stands. This is not blind obedience in the ordinary sense. Obedience here means: you comply especially where your mind disagrees. I have heard: when Bayazid came to his master, the master asked, “Are you certain you have come to me?” Then he said, “Take off your clothes, be naked, take your sandal in your hand, strike your own head, circle the whole town once.” Others present were shocked. One protested, “What nonsense is this? Has he come to learn the spiritual or to go mad?” But Bayazid began undressing. The man pleaded with Bayazid and then scolded the master for ruining Bayazid’s social standing. Bayazid walked naked, slapping his head with a shoe, the whole town laughing. He returned with his prestige in dust. The master embraced him and said, “Bayazid, I will never again give you a command.