What is the relationship between God and human desire for pleasure?

A friend has asked—a question he has written himself. He has written: What concern have we with God if even a God of imagination can give us pleasure? We want pleasure. What concern have we with God? We want pleasure!

And within twenty-one days you will find that God’s visions have begun! Which means: you have reached the brink of madness. You have gone mad. Your mind has deranged. If you want to derange it faster, fasting is very good. Fast for twenty-one days, because the weaker you become, the stronger the dreams become! Fast. It becomes easy. Fasting reduces sleep; the time that would have gone to sleep, where the repetition could not continue, will now be available—so let the repetition continue even in sleep. Even in sleep, keep the chant—God, God—whichever deity you choose, keep the chant running. With less sleep—keep the chant running. Hungry—keep chanting to forget the hunger during the fast. On the day one fasts, people sit in the temple, because at home the memory of hunger strikes. In the temple, hunger is forgotten. There, beating cymbals and handbells, hunger is not felt; it gets…

A friend has asked, Osho, after surrendering oneself at God’s feet, will feelings of pleasure and pain no longer arise in us? And if they do, what is the way to stop them?

Bliss is not pleasure. Dictionaries and language make it seem that bliss is “super-pleasure.” Don’t think that even by mistake. Bliss is related to pleasure exactly as it is to pain—or not related at all. Bliss means the state of consciousness where both pleasure and pain have become meaningless. After surrender there is bliss. If there isn’t, understand that there is no surrender. Do not conclude that there is no bliss after surrender; if there is no bliss after surrender, understand that surrender has not happened. After surrender, bliss is. Surrender is the body and bliss its soul. But the surrender must be total. Total surrender means: now I have no choice. I no longer say, “Let this happen,” and I no longer say, “Let that not happen.” Now I am not. Now I have no decision. I have put the reins into his hands. If he leads to the…

Beloved Osho, you said that desire always creates misery. Then do the desires for good deeds, for religion, for god also create misery?

Desire itself leads you to misery; it does not make any difference what you desire. The object of desire can be anything -- you may want money or you may want religion -- desire is desire. Desire means that you are not satisfied, you are not contented where you are and as you are. You think that if you get more money you will be satisfied, if you get more religion you will be satisfied. Desire means that you are dissatisfied and discontented. Desire is anguish born out of dissatisfaction. It does not matter what type of dissatisfaction it is, there is no satisfaction. What you desire makes no difference. Some people are building a good house on this earth and some people are building a good house in heaven. One day, as I was going along a road, a woman came and gave me a pamphlet in which was…

God is not anybody's real longing. People seek and search for god because they have been told that unless you find god you will not find bliss. Otherwise there is no natural desire in man to search for god, the natural desire is to search for bliss, hence bliss is really our goal. And if you can find bliss, god is found, because bliss is the most divine experience in life. It is the only proof that life is not meaningless. And to know that life is meaningful is to know god. The moment you are delighted, just for the sheer act of being, joyous moment to moment, celebrating, your existence becomes godly, God is not some person that someday you are to have an interview with, god is only a quality of your own growth. It is your own flowering.

Osho, you said desire inevitably leads to suffering. Then will the desire for virtue, the desire for religion, the desire for God also lead only to suffering?

Desire as such leads to suffering; it makes no difference what the desire is. The object of desire does not change the nature of desire. Whether you want wealth or you want religion, the wanting is the same; the form of desire is the same. Desire means you are not content where you are, as you are—if you get wealth you will be satisfied; if you get religion you will be satisfied. Desire means: you are dissatisfied, unfulfilled. Desire is a sigh that arises from discontent. What the discontent is about makes no difference. There is discontent; there is no contentment. What you desire—what does that change? Some people are building a fine house on earth; some are building a fine house in heaven! One day I was walking along the road; a woman came up to me and handed me a pamphlet. On it was a very beautiful building—garden,…