What is the significance of an enlightened being among ordinary people?

Osho, what is the most significant thing about enlightenment?

People want definite answers to believe in: this way or that. Either be a Catholic or be a communist, but be clear. People want clarity because they are so confused, and this man brings all these seven categories; now their confusion is worse, they are even more confounded. First you were at least aware that you were confused. Now you will not be aware to which category you belong: yes, no, yes -- no both, neither yes nor no, or indescribable. Mahavira could not create a world religion for the simple reason that perhaps he had the deepest penetration into reality. If you ask about his enlightenment, he will answer in seven sentences. You will not be able to come to any conclusion -- and I feel this is something tremendously valuable. Why this urge to come to a conclusion? If existence is a continuum, an ongoing process -- never…

Question: OUR BELOVED MASTER, ENGO SAID: THE ENLIGHTENED MAN ENJOYS PERFECT FREEDOM IN ACTIVE LIFE. HE IS LIKE A DRAGON SUPPORTED BY DEEP WATERS, OR LIKE A TIGER THAT COMMANDS ITS MOUNTAIN RETREAT. THE MAN WHO IS NOT ENLIGHTENED DRIFTS ABOUT IN THE AFFAIRS OF THE WORLD. HE IS LIKE A RAM THAT GETS ITS HORNS CAUGHT IN A FENCE, OR LIKE A MAN WHO WAITS FOR A HARE TO RUN AGAINST A TREE STUMP AND STUN ITSELF. THE ENLIGHTENED MAN'S WORDS ARE SOMETIMES LIKE A LION CROUCHED TO SPRING, SOMETIMES LIKE THE DIAMOND KING'S TREASURE SWORD. SOMETIMES THEIR EFFECT IS TO SHUT THE MOUTHS OF THE WORLD-FAMED ONES, SOMETIMES IT IS AS IF THEY SIMPLY FOLLOW THE WAVES COMING ONE AFTER ANOTHER. WHEN THE ENLIGHTENED MAN MEETS OTHERS WHO ARE ENLIGHTENED, THEN FRIEND MEETS FRIEND. HE VALUES THEM, AND THEY ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER.

And then he renounced the world. Rather than becoming a wrestler, he became a meditator. And when he became enlightened, he dropped the cloths. He had only one cloth that he used to cover his body. And after his enlightenment, as he was coming down the hill, a beggar asked him something, because it is too cold and he has nothing. And Mahavira looked at himself, he has only one shawl, so he made two pieces out of one shawl and gave half to the beggar, and half he kept himself. It was not enough to cover the body now. And as he was just descending from the hill into the valley, a rose bush caught hold in its thorns, the one piece of the shawl. He looked back and he laughed, and he said, "This is too much.

Beloved Osho, I heard you saying that enlightenment is the transcendence of mind -- conscious, unconscious, sub-conscious -- and that one dissolves into the ocean of life, into the universe, into nothingness. I also hear you talking about the individuality of human beings. How can the individuality of an enlightened person manifest itself if he is dissolved in the whole?

The ordinary, unconscious human being has no individuality; he has only a personality. Personality is that which is given by others to you -- by the parents, by the teachers, by the priest, by the society -- whatever they have said about you. And you have been desiring to be respectable, to be respected, so you have been doing things which are appreciated, and the society goes on rewarding you, respecting you more and more. This is their method of creating a personality. But personality is very thin, skin-deep. It is not your nature. The child is born without a personality, but he is born with a potential individuality. The potential individuality simply means his uniqueness from anybody else -- he is different. So first, remember that individuality is not personality. When you drop personality, you discover your individuality -- and only the individual can become enlightened. The false cannot…

Osho, kindly explain—what is the way to recognize enlightened ones?

If you go near an enlightened one, you will recognize. How could it be otherwise! It may be that a blind man cannot see the sun, but when the morning sun spreads its rays, he feels its touch. He experiences its warmth, its heat. He comes to know that night has gone. Birds have begun to sing, the morning hymn has begun. He knows that a moment ago all was silent, asleep, dead; now life has revived, a hum is there. The sun may not be seen, but its warmth is felt. Even the blind senses the sun. He knows when night has passed and day has come. Granted you do not yet have the inner eye—but if you go near an enlightened one, that gust from the Malaya will touch you. You will bathe in it. You will be freshened. That piece of moonlight will shower upon you. You…