According to Osho, true generosity is not the giving of words or information but the sharing of one's being—silence, presence, and the wordless fragrance behind speech. Words serve only as invitations; the real gift flowers when the seeker commits, risks the ego, and allows a communion of depths. Such giving is inexhaustible yet unsayable.
Real generosity is giving your living presence, not just talking, and it works when others open up to receive it.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Beloved Osho, what is the source of your infinite spring of giving?
Beware! While the time is there, give, give as much as you can, give whatsoever you can. Sing a song, share a joke, dance! Give whatsoever you can give. It costs you nothing, but it will bring you more and more joys. Existence goes on repaying you tremendously. Whatsoever you give to existence, it returns a thousandfold; it comes back to you. You give one flower, and a thousand flowers shower on you. Don't be clingers. If you really want to be rich, if you want to have an enriched inner world, then learn the art of giving. THOSE WHO DARE GIVE NOTHING ARE LEFT WITH LESS THAN NOTHING; DEAR HEART, YOU GIVE ME EVERYTHING, WHICH LEAVES YOU MORE THAN EVERYTHING -- THOUGH THOSE WHO DARE GIVE NOTHING MIGHT JUDGE IT LEFT YOU NOTHING. GIVING YOU EVERYTHING, I TOO, WHO ONCE HAD NOTHING, AM LEFT WITH MORE THAN EVERYTHING AS…
Beloved Osho, passing through the gate of this mandir for the first time in eight years, I felt a kind of fragrance which has stayed with me ever since. Is it possible to take this fragrance with me when I leave? Oh, beloved master, it is so beautiful, and I am so grateful to spend this time with you, even if I cannot take this fragrance with me.
Prem Maharaj, the fragrance that you have felt in this temple of seekers is not something that you can leave behind. This fragrance contains love, meditativeness, silence, trust, life-affirmative values, a song of gratitude, a dance with the trees and with the stars... This fragrance is an experience of a totally new atmosphere that does not exist in the outside world. If you meditate, you will become the same temple. Then, wherever you go the fragrance will go with you like a shadow; even others will feel it. It is not the first time that such a question has come to me. The moment they enter the gate many people have felt suddenly, as if they are entering into another world -- the air is different, the vibe is different -- as if they have come home. And there is bound to be a certain fragrance, because so many people…
Question: BELOVED OSHO, THEN SAID A RICH MAN, SPEAK TO US OF GIVING. AND HE ANSWERED: YOU GIVE BUT LITTLE WHEN YOU GIVE OF YOUR POSSESSIONS. IT IS WHEN YOU GIVE OF YOURSELF THAT YOU TRULY GIVE. FOR WHAT ARE YOUR POSSESSIONS BUT THINGS YOU KEEP AND GUARD FOR FEAR YOU MAY NEED THEM TOMORROW? AND, TOMORROW, WHAT SHALL TOMORROW BRING TO THE OVER-PRUDENT DOG BURYING BONES IN THE TRACKLESS SAND AS HE FOLLOWS THE PILGRIMS TO THE HOLY CITY? AND WHAT IS FEAR OF NEED BUT NEED ITSELF? IS NOT DREAD OF THIRST WHEN YOUR WELL IS FULL, THE THIRST THAT IS UNQUENCHABLE? THERE ARE THOSE WHO GIVE LITTLE OF THE MUCH WHICH THEY HAVE -- AND THEY GIVE IT FOR RECOGNITION AND THEIR HIDDEN DESIRE MAKES THEIR GIFTS UNWHOLESOME. AND THERE ARE THOSE WHO HAVE LITTLE AND GIVE IT ALL.
Osho, you have draped me in the veil of love. I am filled—abundantly—with grace.
Then today I need the flowing flame of practice— May your auspicious radiance be seen forever kindled; When dusk’s curtains thicken with the setting sun’s dark-thirst, Let the vessel of my ray-like form be freed, unbound; And let me see, at the farthest rim, your row of restless lamps— Let the ecstatic night sing out: I have attained your love; My waves resound—this immersion, a unique joy; Today, with eager arms, I adorn your path— Could I remain mute, beloved? I could not remain mute! If even a glimpse of the Beloved’s love is received, even if you wish to remain silent, you will not be able to. You will have to speak—knowing well that even by speaking it cannot be said. That song can never truly be sung, yet you will have to hum it. That dance can never truly be danced, yet you will have to tie the…
Question: BELOVED OSHO, YOU OFTEN SAY, "I WOULD GIVE, BUT ONLY TO THE DESERVING." THE TREES IN YOUR ORCHARD SAY NOT SO, NOR THE FLOCKS IN YOUR PASTURE. THEY GIVE THAT THEY MAY LIVE, FOR TO WITHHOLD IS TO PERISH. SURELY HE WHO IS WORTHY TO RECEIVE HIS DAYS AND HIS NIGHTS IS WORTHY OF ALL ELSE FROM YOU. AND HE WHO HAS DESERVED TO DRINK FROM THE OCEAN OF LIFE DESERVES TO FILL HIS CUP FROM YOUR LITTLE STREAM. AND WHAT DESERT GREATER SHALL THERE BE, THAN THAT WHICH LIES IN THE COURAGE AND THE CONFIDENCE, NAY THE CHARITY, OF RECEIVING? AND WHO ARE YOU THAT MEN SHOULD REND THEIR BOSOM AND UNVEIL THEIR PRIDE, THAT YOU MAY SEE THEIR WORTH NAKED AND THEIR PRIDE UNABASHED? SEE FIRST THAT YOU YOURSELF DESERVE TO BE A GIVER, AND AN INSTRUMENT OF GIVING.