What is the significance of the word 'God' in spiritual discourse?

Osho, what is god?

GOD is not a person. That is one of the greatest misunderstandings, and it has prevailed so long that it has become almost a fact. Even if a lie is repeated continuously for centuries it is bound to appear as if it is a truth. God is a presence, not a person. Hence all worshipping is sheer stupidity. Prayerfulness is needed, not prayer. There is nobody to pray to; there is no possibility of any dialogue between you and God. Dialogue is possible only between two persons, and God is not a person but a presence -- like beauty, like joy. God simply means godliness. It is because of this fact that Buddha denied the existence of God. He wanted to emphasize that God is a quality, an experience -- like love. You cannot talk to love, you can live it. You need not create temples of love, you need…

Osho, something inside me cringes with distrust when I hear you say 'god', and I notice that I am reluctant to embrace the word. Love, yes; divine presence, yes; the ultimate, yes; but this word 'god' brings a hesitation to my lips and a shudder to my being. Will you comment on this condition?

Now in Russia nobody believes in God, but they believe in communism. They will do the same in the name of communism as Christians have done in the name of God. What is the difference? In Russia nobody believes in the Bible, but they will sacrifice as many people at the altar of DAS KAPITAL as have been sacrificed in the name of the Bible. So what is the difference? Kaaba or Kremlin, there seems to be no difference at all. Now in China nobody believes in Buddha and nobody can commit any more crimes in the name of Buddha, but now the same crimes are being committed in the name of communism, Chairman Mao, because the people are the same. Unless the mind of humanity changes this is going to happen. Hence I don't drop using the word 'god', knowing perfectly well that you are not alone -- there…

Osho, regarding what you said about the witness: food is a demand of the body; sexual union, which is sex, is an experience. When there is unconsciousness, that experience arises. When witnessing is present, that unconsciousness cannot happen and the experience cannot arise—then how can intercourse happen?

Generally you are right. Generally, absolutely right—absolutely right. But any act can happen in two ways: either you get immersed in the act, or you remain standing outside it. When you get immersed in the act, you become unconscious. When you stand outside the act, you remain a witness. In the first condition, intercourse will be your need; in the second, there may be some other kind of need. And many kinds of need—as I just said, there is the matter of transferring knowledge. Now, you may be surprised that some people who reach a state where sex has become completely unnecessary may still wish to transfer the bodily potential they carry. They may not want to break that branch either; that branch, too, has value. For instance, a person like Buddha or Mahavira. There is the journey of the soul; but a body is also needed, one that can…

I don't understand -- what does the word god mean? I really don't understand. God, what is that? You say life is everything. Life is what is, what counts, here and now -- no planning, no wishing, no wanting, no hoping, no searching. Live now, spontaneously. Just be. Yes. I understand that, but what is god? Is god the same word for life. For what is? But why do we use the word 'god' and not just life? They say god is the one who created the world. Is that what god is?

In India we call god 'nataraj' -- the god of dancers. You must have seen Shiva dancing. That is the eastern concept about god -- a non-dual concept. When the dancer stops, the dancing stops. You cannot separate the dancing from the dancer. And dancing comes to a culmination, to a crescendo, when the dancer is completely lost in it -- when there is neither a dancer nor a dancing; both are one... one movement of sheer energy and delight. That's why nothing can be compared with dancing -- poetry, painting, sculpture; nothing comes close to it. Dancing remains the supreme art. And that is the first art that was born and that will remain the last art also, because dancing has some quality in it of life itself. God is a dancer. He is not a creator in the sense of a painter; he is a creator in the…

Osho, where is God? If we are to seek, where should we seek?

Is it a boat or the moon’s shadow upon the ocean’s waters? When will that boat of light touch the shore of night? Is that untouched lunar shade a frolicsome ripple, A fleeting kiss of light on parched, impatient lips? Dream, or ideal, or resolve—call it what you will— A jewel of a ray, a blossom on the body of dusk! Beyond the reach of clay—are all things false there? Are eyes, fixed on limits, chained to the horizon’s bar? How can literate eyes read what the heart hums within— What fragrance once inscribed as verse upon the gentle breeze! Let the unreachable become reachable—this is the abyss’s longing; Made vocal, written upon the deep heart of the ocean! What is that song of the Unseen the moon keeps writing— Boundless love on the boundless grief of the bounded! The quarters beat the drum, the sky is sound, Time sings,…