Why do I remain unsatisfied even after seeking your grace?

They say the philosopher’s stone turns iron into pure gold without considering its virtues or flaws. Then why is it that even after coming to you I remain unsatisfied? Must one acquire worthiness to receive your grace?

He must have been a strange man! He went. People stared in astonishment—such a thing had never happened: someone going to the graveyard by himself. People always go riding on others’ shoulders. That is the ancient habit. They live riding on others’ shoulders; they die riding on others’ shoulders too. He went, took a pickaxe in his hands, and dug his own grave. People said, “We will help.” He said, “Stop—don’t interfere in my work. I would not like God to be able to say that I took any kind of ride on anyone’s shoulders. I have lived life in my own way; I will die in my own way.” He dug his grave, lay down in it, said, “Goodbye, friends,” closed his eyes, and died. If it had been in his power, he would have thrown the earth over the grave himself. Only such a person is truly alive.…

Osho, the very sky you tirelessly describe again and again—why is there still no fulfillment even after repeatedly dissolving into and becoming one with that same sky? In the outer world there seems to be every kind of fulfillment, satisfaction for everything; but within, there is a constant dissatisfaction, a feeling every moment that something is missing, that there is something more that has not yet been known. A little further… ever further—the thirst keeps growing. The more of your grace I receive, the more the thirst increases.

At the moment of life’s transition, when you turn from the outer to the inner, this is what happens. The dissatisfaction that was outside gets attached within. Before, there was money—and you wanted more. There was position—and you wanted it higher. There was a house—and you wanted to build a palace. Your dissatisfaction was fastened outside. Now you have turned your mind away from the outer, so outside there is a sense of satisfaction. Consider this: earlier there was no dissatisfaction within; within there was contentment, outside dissatisfaction. Now you have changed the arrangement. You turned the mind inward. You said, “Know what is within. Recognize the Divine, seek the self, have the vision of truth, attain liberation.” You redirected the dissatisfaction toward the inner, and the satisfaction shifted to the outer. They are two sides of the same coin. It is as if you were holding a coin in…

Osho, you have said that the divine is found not by effort but as grace; Sahajo, in a mood of awed gratitude, sings of the grace of her master Charandas, and Kabir of the grace of his master Ramananda. Upon you, whose grace descended? Did you attain the supreme enlightenment without a master’s grace? Please say something about this.

I have explained two approaches to you: the jnani and the bhakta. The jnani attains through his own worthiness; the bhakta through his prayer. The jnani “acquires” the divine by austerity; it is his achievement. He is a claimant. “If I have found, I have found it by my own labor.” Hence the religion and culture that Mahavira founded is called the Shramana culture. Shramana means: not by grace, but by effort. That is why Mahavira is known as the Shramana Bhagwan—one who attained the ultimate through effort. The jnani says, “Through austerity, renunciation, and merit I attained God—not for free, not by anyone’s grace. I earned it.” That is the jnani’s claim. The bhakta says, “Through prayer, worship, dancing, cajoling—by pleasing you. I had no worthiness of my own. I danced and delighted you. I sang your songs, praised your glory, won you over. In some deep moment of…

Osho, you make us drink so much every day, and yet instead of being satisfied the thirst keeps growing day by day. Why?

Dreams lie about us like the desolate shadows of night, Longings lie as though forever now estranged, Such darkness has spread that clouds of fear have gathered— We do not receive even two drops of someone’s tenderness when we ask. Neither does the song become complete, nor is the heart’s friend found; The one who would clasp life to life—that mind-conqueror—is not found; The Swati drops are restless, yet no oyster is found; We do not receive even two loving words when we ask. On every side draws near the half-extinguished thirst of an extinguished mind; Sobbing, echoing, the crushed thirst of life; Forever in each breath spreads the sound of separation— We do not receive even two drops of affection when we ask. By asking, nothing has ever been gained. Unasked, pearls are given; by asking, not even bran. If you ask, you will gain nothing; it is through…

Osho, sometimes I feel I have received so very much from you, and sometimes I feel I am missing so much of you. Why is it so?

Then you will dance in joy, sing songs of wonder; yet you will not become a dead rock sitting—you will keep moving. More and more new flowers have yet to blossom in you! You have no inkling of your own possibilities. You have no idea of your own being—how much you can be! If one wave stirs, it can become a storm— Even a small ripple, if it stirs... If one wave stirs, it can become a storm— because the ocean is also hidden in the small ripple. If a single flower wishes, it can become a garden. A tiny flower could fill the whole earth with flowers. A single seed can make the whole earth green if it keeps spreading... In one seed are millions of seeds; in those millions, yet millions more! If the earth were given just one seed, the whole earth could turn green. If one…