According to Osho, the ecstasy near a master is a supremely satisfying, love-drenched presence that remains when everything else falls away—but it is the last, subtlest attachment and thus the final barrier. The master urges you to drop even him; in absolute non-attachment the ego dissolves, your true being appears, and gratitude, not clinging, flowers as freedom.
Being with a master feels wonderfully full, but to be truly free you must love without holding on—even to the master—so your real self can shine.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, you are in the sun, you are in the moon; all around it is only you, only you. Without knowing and without asking, I found such a source of bliss that I drowned in it. But you say that even this has to be transcended. Why would anyone deliberately lose such bliss? Nirupama has asked:
It’s true: when one finds bliss, who would agree to lose it! Understand, though. There is a pleasure the world promises—but it never arrives. Hope is spun that happiness will come; what comes is sorrow. At the door it says “Happiness”; once inside, you meet suffering. The world’s pleasure is false. The bliss of the Divine is true. Between the two stands the Master. The Master is the doorway—the point from which you enter the Divine from the side of the world. The Master is like a traveler, weary under the sun, who rests in the shade of a tree—like sitting down in the cool shade. But this is a halt, not the destination. Joy will come—great joy. You had not known joy in the world; therefore, in the Master’s presence, in love for the Master, through the Master’s grace, you will taste much joy. And since you have known…
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…
Beloved Osho, you have told us that ultimately our attachment to the master must also be dropped. But how? How do we voluntarily cut off the joy we feel at the sight of you, and the sheer bliss of sitting at your feet?
"There is no discipline. Sometimes the prayer starts in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon -- sometimes it does not happen at all. Sometimes the mother gets the food, sometimes no food. And you cannot argue with the man, the man seems to be mad because he says, `I am angry today, I am punishing her. For three days I have been dancing, and she has not even shown her face in my dreams. I cannot tolerate it; now let her suffer. In three days without food, she will come to her senses. Then she will know that Ramakrishna is not an ordinary priest.'" Rasmani called Ramakrishna and told him, "You should follow the scriptures." Ramakrishna said, "I have never read any scriptures, and I don't intend to read them at all. I am perfectly happy. My relationship with the mother-goddess is going as beautifully as can be. In every…
Beloved master, to meet the buddha on the way and kill him also implies the death of the disciple. Can you say something about the master-disciple experience and being in the presence of the master?
Everybody who is present is not present in the sense that I am telling you to be present. You can be present as yourself for years and nothing will happen, and you can be present the way I am telling you just for a single moment -- and you will be reborn. The presence of the master is a fire in which you have to be burned, but whatever is gold will remain and whatever is not gold will be burned. To be twenty-four carat gold is a sheer joy. Utter purity like a flower will start surrounding you. A new energy that you had not known, although it is your own but has been asleep, dormant, becomes radiant. You start to glow in a new style of life and love, in a new way you dance and sing and celebrate. If the master's presence does not become a dance…
To be with a master simply means to live with someone who is awake, who is no more asleep, whose dreams are finished, whose nightmares are over. And just being in tune with the master slowly slowly wakes you up. The very energy of the master starts penetrating your being. Slowly slowly it seeps into your heart, slowly slowly it gives you a new heart, a new beat. And you cannot remain long with a master without becoming awake, because he is continuously shouting, calling you forth to wake up, calling you forth to come out of your grave. And if you can open your eyes even once, suddenly for the first time you experience the music, the song, the dance; and it goes on increasing, it goes on moving towards a crescendo, towards a height which is absolutely unimaginable to the ordinary mind.