According to Osho, Sangham Sharanam Gachchhami means surrendering to the living commune of the awakened one—the sangha—not as an organization but as a universal fellowship of disciples wherever they breathe. Harder than surrendering to a master, it asks you to bow to ordinary seekers, deepening love, dissolving ego, and preventing the subtle pride of being a 'great disciple' by surrendering, in humility, to millions.
It means trusting and learning from the whole loving community of fellow seekers everywhere, not just the master, so your ego softens.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Beloved Osho, when we are scattered throughout the world, most of us far from you and living in small groups. Then what is the meaning of the second gachchhami: sangham sharanam gachchhami?
Now it has more meaning than it had before. Let me tell you about all the gachchhamis. The first is: Buddham sharanam gachchhami: "I go to the feet of the awakened one." It is an approach of humbleness, openness, non-resistance. Without such an approach no master can function. The disciple has to give way for the master to enter the innermost core of his being. And that's what he is saying: Buddham sharanam gachchhami -- "I go to the feet of the awakened one." He is saying, "I am no more." He is saying, "Now you can do anything you want to do with me. I am absent and I want your presence in me." The second gachchhami is Sangham sharanam gachchhami -- "I go to the feet of the commune of the awakened one." The question has arisen about the second because now the commune in America is no…
Why did Buddha say “Sangham Sharanam Gacchami”? Please explain its import.
So going to the refuge of Buddha is very simple. Begin with the simple—but do not remain stuck in the simple. Therefore: Sangham Sharanam Gacchami. Sangha means: go to the refuge of Deeksha, of Lakshmi, of Maitreya. Sometimes go to your own refuge; sometimes touch your own feet. For the Divine dwells within you as well. It will look crazy: first it looks crazy to touch another’s feet; then certainly it will look crazy to touch your own. But I tell you: sometimes touch even your own feet. The Divine abides in you too—as much as in me, as much as in Buddha, as much as in Mahavira. Once it happened: someone took a photograph of Ramakrishna. When it was brought, Ramakrishna bowed and touched the feet of that photograph—his own picture! The disciples became a little uneasy. They said: people already think him mad; now they will think him…
Beloved Osho, "buddham sharanam gachchhami:" in india there was no room for the "buddham." "sangham sharanam gachchhami:" in america, the "sangham" was destroyed. "dhammam sharanam gachchhami" ... Beloved master, will you fill in the blank?
The sutra is so important. Buddham sharanam gachchhami was always there, undeclared. It was happening, there was no need to say it. To be with a master, there is no other way except buddham sharanam gachchhami: I go to the feet of the awakened one. Only in such humbleness do you become part of the master's experience and his life. Sangham sharanam gachchhami was not destroyed in the commune in America. The commune is destroyed, but the sutra cannot be destroyed. If you love the master, you cannot avoid loving all those who love your master. How can you avoid it? You have chosen a master, somebody else has also chosen a master; suddenly you become aware that you are both on the same path, you are connected through the same master, the same energy. The commune can be destroyed, the physical component, but not its spiritual content. And those…
Beloved Osho, would you speak about the significance of the gachchhamis? How can we keep them fresh and alive and prevent them from becoming like the meaningless, stereotyped rituals practiced in other religions?
The first is, buddham sharanam gachchhami: I go to the feet of the awakened one. It does not say, "I go to the feet of Jesus, Mohammed, Mahavira, Gautam Buddha" -- no. Buddham is not Gautam Buddha. Gautam Buddha's original name was Gautam Siddharth. When he became awakened, then Siddharth was dropped and the world has know him since then as Gautam Buddha. "Buddha" is nobody's property. It simply means the sleep is over, you are no longer dreaming, no longer hallucinating; you are simply awake. Reminding yourself, "I go to the feet of the awakened one," is not worshipping, because the awakened one is not any person in particular. There are no feet of the awakened one. It simply says, and reminds you, that you are surrendered to the fact of awakening, that this is your decision, this is your commitment. The second line of the gachchhamis is, sangham…
This phenomenon of the master and the disciple is one of the greatest contributions of the East to humanity. In the West there have been only teachers and students. Even a man like Socrates is thought only as a great teacher, and Plato and others are his students. In the East we have a great distinction between a teacher and a master. A teacher is only to give you information. A master has to give you transformation -- it is a totally different process. Information is not difficult: you can go on memorising it. That's what schools, colleges, universities are doing: they go on feeding your biocomputer, they go on putting more and more information in you. The master has to transform you; hence deep surrender is needed, because the master will start working on you and it hurts -- it is surgical.