According to Osho, the 'next step' appears unclear because it is a fiction of a restless mind fleeing the present. With a true master, the path is the goal; there is only this step: this moment. Seeking tomorrow signals discontent today. Drop future-thinking, dive wholly into now; in such totality, clarity, joy, and prayerful gratitude arise naturally, without plans or second steps.
There is no next step—be here now, like smelling a flower; when you enjoy this moment, the rest takes care of itself.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, it feels as if life is passing moment by moment. I have even found a true master; still, why is the next step unclear?
There is no next step. Why are you thinking about a next step? To think of a next step means this step is not blissful; you want another. This moment is not enough; you want the next. Today is not sufficient; you want tomorrow. Somewhere there is pain in the present; you long for the future. The “next step” is the contemplation of a troubled mind. For the happy person, this very step is the last step. For the happy person, the path itself is the goal. If you are delighted with me, drop talking about the next step. There is no next step. The next step arises from a diseased, restless mind. When you are not happy today, you begin to think of tomorrow. To forget today’s misery you think of tomorrow, you spin hopes of tomorrow, you weave dreams of tomorrow, you become absorbed in tomorrow so that…
Osho, all questions have fallen away. There is no hunger for answers, no thirst, no desire. Then what should one do next? If one gets a glimpse of bliss, of supreme bliss, what happens next?
The mind is born out of the thought of “what next.” From thoughts of the future the mind arises. Living in the present, the mind comes to an end. The moment the idea of “next” arises, the mind begins to reconstruct itself again. Then consciousness tightens; the mind’s journey starts again. Don’t ask what happens next! Why worry about the next! Whatever is happening this moment, taste it. Whatever is given this moment, drink it. Do not miss what stands with you this very moment. The river is flowing right before you—bow down, dive in—what “next”! The instant the idea of the future appears, your eyes close to what is present. Then brooding, worry, thought, imagination, dream—off you go again. Again you go far from truth. Again you slip from the present. Again you break from Being. The way to break from Being is the thought of the future. If…
Osho, to abide in oneself beyond the knower, knowledge, and the known—can one live in that state for an entire lifetime? Just as a lake is sometimes calm, sometimes playful, and sometimes stormy, does the self-realized one remain unaffected by worldly circumstances in the same way? Osho, dispel my ignorance!
Spring means harmony between season and mood. Meditation means harmony between you and the whole. You become harmonious. Whatever is, is perfectly okay—accepted. Nowhere any refusal, nowhere any opposition. Whatever is happening is auspicious. That is trust; that is meditation. Such meditation naturally takes you into an altogether new experience. Storms will rise; they will not stop because you meditate. Diseases will not stop coming to the body because you meditate. They will come. A thorn will sometimes pierce the foot. Raman had cancer; so did Ramakrishna—great storms came! Ramakrishna got cancer of the throat; he could neither eat nor drink. Vivekananda said to him, “What is not in your power! Why don’t you pray to the Lord at least to allow food and water to pass? We suffer watching you writhe.” Ramakrishna said, “Ah, it never even occurred to me to pray. How could it occur—to one whose prayer…
Osho, entangled in the hope of becoming something, nothing happened. Only the awareness remained that I am. Neither wealth came, nor a house was built, nor music arrived, nor did I become a scholar. Even living itself did not suit me. After coming here, unknowingly I gave life a new direction. The past has been spent in wandering, the present in sannyas, and you decide the future—what will it be?
Deepak Bharti! In life there is only one entanglement, the one and only—and it is there in everyone’s life without exception—the hope of becoming something. You are what you are; you cannot be otherwise. The very effort to be otherwise is anxiety, gloom, anguish. In that effort a vicious circle is born. Then with your own hands you raise new whirlpools; you sink and you rise, you sink and you rise. Your life becomes a long series of dreams—and of every dream’s shattering. If a rose wants to become a lotus, madness is certain. If champa wants to become jasmine, illness is certain. What is, as it is—its acceptance is sannyas. Sannyas means: tathata, thusness; to embrace oneself totally—not in defeat, not as a consolation, not as a sop, because that would be false; but with understanding, with awareness, by seeing this truth: a rose is a rose, and as…
Osho, if a seeker finds the true Master, does the search come to an end?
Only then does the search begin. Before that, what you called a search was mere, futile coming and going. Before that it was groping in the dark. There was no path, no direction, no vision. With the meeting of the true Master, the search begins. The pointless running around ends. That was never a real search. The real search begins. And once the real search begins, it is already half fulfilled. Very little remains after the Master. Whoever has found the Master has, in essence, bowed down, effaced himself a little, stepped aside from the ego. Only then could he find the Master; otherwise he could not. And on this very path the Master will take you further: “Don’t just lessen yourself—disappear utterly.” A little effacement brings you to the Master; total effacement brings you to the Divine. Now the way is clear. Step aside a little—you meet the Master.…