According to Osho, spiritual growth needs a living climate — playfulness, humor, love, and reverence for life — rather than dead seriousness. Friendship matters because it embodies this aliveness: it lets Zorba's joy and Buddha's depth coexist, keeps the divine human, and protects our hearts from life-negative respectability. In true friendship we celebrate life, and that celebration ripens into reverence and awakening.
A playful, loving friendship keeps your heart alive and open, which helps you grow spiritually more than being serious and stiff.