What is the paradox of experiencing tears of happiness during meditation?

This morning in the dancing meditation I found myself crying heart-rent tears of happiness. What is this strange paradox?

Life is a paradox; paradox in its nature. It is not strange. But you are so much addicted to logic that whenever life reveals itself to you, it looks strange. Logic has been continuously taught to you -- that contradictory things cannot exist together. Logic has been teaching you that either it is day or it is night; either it is life or it is death, either it is happiness or it is unhappiness. The whole mechanism of logic is of 'either-or'. And life is both together. Life is all together. Whenever you reach to the deepest sadness, suddenly you will see it is turning into happiness. Or, you reach to the deepest happiness and you will see that it is turning into sadness. At the centre they meet; only on the periphery are they separate. It is just as if you make a circle, and from the centre you…

Osho! While listening to you I start to weep. Now, even in the celebration of active meditation, tears burst forth. What is this? In the midst of meditation a feeling arises that this body is a hindrance now; how can it be shed—the feeling keeps growing more intense. Why? Please explain out of compassion.

Akshay Vivek! Human beings have been given such wrong conditioning that they have neither ever cried to their heart’s content nor laughed to their heart’s content. They have never really lived to their heart’s content. In no aspect, in no dimension, have they ever done anything totally; everything remains half-done! So many things hang inside, suspended like Trishanku. I say meditation is a celebration, but what is happening to you happens to others as well. While celebrating, suddenly tears arise from some unknown corner! They must have been suppressed somewhere—perhaps for lifetimes. Especially in men. Because from childhood we tell boys: Don’t cry! Girls cry. You are a man; crying is not for you. This is false. It is utterly false. Nature has made the tear glands in the eyes of men and women just the same. Men’s tear glands are not smaller than women’s. So one thing is certain—nature…

Osho, the moment I arrived here, intellect turned into heart and words into silence. While listening to you, my heart sometimes begins to flow as tears. I am doubtful whether this state will remain when I return home. Kindly explain how this state can be stabilized.

First thing: a human being has nothing more sacred than tears. There is no prayer greater than tears. People have known only one form of tears—tears of sorrow. But there is another form—tears of joy. Very few have known it; very few ever come to know it. When you see someone crying, you think he must be unhappy, in pain, wounded, burning. Not necessarily. Tears flow whenever any feeling becomes so intense that you cannot contain it—any feeling. If sorrow grows too much, it overflows as tears. If happiness grows too much, it too overflows as tears. Great pain flows out and lightens the heart through tears; great bliss also flows out as tears. So first, do not tie tears inextricably to sorrow. Deep down our minds have been conditioned to think tears come because of suffering. So we hide them, we hold them back. We try hard that tears…

Beloved Osho, the other day during discourse you helped us listen to the silence. During darshan, there were many moments of exquisite silence, almost tangible. On both days I felt as though my heart was bursting and I cried. Yet I also laughed, clapped, and celebrated as never before. Beloved master, please speak about the space between the laughter and the tears, the space where the pendulum stops.

There is no space between.... The tears, when they come with the laughter, rejoicing, celebrating, those tears have a totally different quality. They are not tears of sadness, sorrow, misery. They are tears of joy -- you are so over-full. You have felt something: your hands start clapping. You have felt something: you would love to dance. You have seen something: your eyes are showering tears of joy. There is no space between the laughter and the tears. To ordinary people you will look mad, crying and laughing together, because ordinarily it is thought that laughter and tears are poles apart: tears are for misery and laughter is for joy. But people have known only one quality of tears. Tears can join themselves with sadness. If it is too much, then it overflows through your tears. Tears help you to wash away the sadness. Tears always do something good to…

Osho, when I listen to you, every word sinks to the depths of my heart and stirs me. But when I read you, it remains a mental game. Please tell me why this happens.

It’s plain. The arithmetic is simple. When you read, only you are there; I am not. What you read is nothing but you. It becomes a game of the mind. When you listen to me, then sometimes—knowingly or unknowingly—I also slip into you. You seldom give such a chance, but now and then a lapse happens on your side. Unaware, you leave the door a little open—and I come in. So when you are hearing me, it’s a different matter. That is why truth has always been spoken, not written. It cannot be written. Even speaking it is very difficult, yet it can still be said—at least a little can be said, a little news can be given. Because in speaking, many elements are involved that are lost in writing. When you read a book, the book is dead. A book cannot create an atmosphere around you. A book has…