What is the significance of experiencing miracles in spiritual teachings?

Question: OSHO, DO MIRACLES REALLY NOT EXIST? Devadatta brought a mad elephant who was known to have killed many people and so was kept always in chains. He brought him and left him without chains close to where Buddha was sitting. And the elephant came rushing, because after many days he had got the chance to kill somebody. He was murderous. But just coming close to Buddha, a sudden break: no, this is not the man to kill. He lowered himself, went on his knees and touched Buddha's feet. Now if elephants, mad elephants, rocks and trees are so careful about Buddha -- and I would like them to be so careful, there is no harm in it. I would like them to be so careful about everybody, why only about Buddha? But when he eats the poisonous food his own body does not bother; the poison takes no care.

Beloved Osho, you have spoken to us of the raising of lazarus, and the miracle of jesus walking on the water. But what of the miracle that is yourself? You have turned tigers into lambs, gorillas into buddhas, worriers and thinkers into mindlessness, and created an oasis out of a desert. Please Osho, speak to us of the miracle of miracles that is yourself!

And people said, "We can give as many mustard seeds as you want. We can bring the whole village's mustard seeds, if your son's life can come back. But our mustard seeds will not be of any help, because so many people have died in our family, and you cannot find a family where nobody has died." The number of dead people in every family is more than the number of the living. Your fathers died, your forefathers died, and so on, and so forth -- since Adam and Eve people have been doing nothing but dying. The queue is so long behind each person -- of dead people. But she went from house to house and slowly, slowly, by the evening she became aware. Her tears dried up; she came back to Gautam Buddha, touched his feet, and said, "Forget about the boy, in this world everybody has to…

Bankei was preaching quietly to his followers one day when his talking was interrupted by a priest from another sect. This sect believed in the power of miracles, and thought that salvation came from repeating holy words. Bankei stopped talking, and asked the priest what he wanted to say. The priest boasted that the founder of his religion could stand on one bank of the river with a brush in his hand and write a holy name on a piece of paper held by an assistant on the opposite bank of the river. The priest asked, "what miracles can you do?" bankei replied,"only one. When I am hungry I eat, an

Through a mantra the mind is narrowed; it is more narrowed, more powerful, and then anything can be done. There is only one thing you will miss -- you will miss yourself. All miracles will be possible, the ultimate miracle you will miss. You will miss yourself because through narrowing down you can achieve an object. The more the mind is narrowed, the more it becomes fixed to an object; it becomes objective. You are hidden behind and the object is outside. So if you are a man of mantras you can say to this tree, "Die," and the tree will die; you can say to a man, "Be healthy," and the disease will disappear, or, "Be unhealthy," and the disease will enter -- many things you can do. You can become somebody, and people will recognize you as a man of power but never a man of God. A…

Osho, last year Sai Baba came, and our Governor and Chief Minister also went there. And I’ve heard that the Prime Minister’s wife was given an amulet. I want to ask you: is there any connection between spirituality and miracles?

There is a connection between spirituality and miracles—the connection is one of opposition. A spiritual person will not consent to miracles; that is the connection. And one who consents to miracles should be called a conjurer, not a spiritual person. But conjuring impresses many people. It is very difficult to be touched by spirituality. Conjuring makes an impact very quickly. And we should not live under the illusion that our governors, our judges, our ministers and chief ministers are free from the influence of conjurers. In fact, the truth is they are even more under such influence. Anyone with great ambition will fall under a conjurer’s sway very quickly, because the conjurer’s claim is that through him anyone’s ambition can be fulfilled. If someone is sick, the illness can be cured; if someone lacks a position, he can be raised to it; if someone already has a position, there is…

Osho, do you believe in miracles?

I AM A MIRACLE, you are a miracle, everything is a miracle. Only miracles exist, nothing else exists. Look again, afresh, and you will see the whole life consists only of miracles. Have you seen anything in life which is not a miracle? A seed sprouting -- what more of a miracle do you want? A bird on the wing and the stars in the night and the smile on a child's face, and the possibility of love and the possibility of ecstasy and the possibility of knowing God -- miracles and miracles. Miracles abound. But you must be thinking of some other foolish kind of things that you call miracles. I have heard: Once Jesus was going to give a sermon from a boat on Lake Galilee. The boat was stopped a little farther into the lake. Jesus entered the lake, walking on the water, and asked some of…