Bhog

Is it about moving forward? Yes, it is about moving forward. My emphasis is not on abandoning the previous step. The emphasis is on taking the next step; this is what I am calling bhog. Earlier the emphasis was on leaving the step you are standing on. That emphasis was on renunciation.

Very few people can be persuaded to leave the previous step. “Should we abandon even the step we’re standing on?” Yes—those who are in extreme misery on that step might agree to leave it. They say, “Nothing could be worse than this. Let’s drop it—whatever happens, happens.” A sick mind understands the language of renunciation; a healthy mind cannot. An old mind understands the language of renunciation; a young mind cannot. That is why I say that in the past five thousand years, whatever shape religion took ended up attracting the sick, the neurotic, the unbalanced, the old, the ill—people of that sort. This was the result of emphasizing the word “renunciation.” The healthy, the vibrant, the ones eager to live, did not go that way. They said, “When our thirst for life fades, we’ll see; right now we want to live.” I am saying: attract this living current. And…

Osho, is there an inner harmony between “God,” “devotion,” and “bhog” (divine enjoyment)?

How could you even be without being joined to the Divine? Not for a moment, not for a single instant. If He breathes in you, breath goes on. If He shines as the sun, your body is warmed. If He moves as the winds, you receive life. If He comes as rain, your thirst is quenched. If He appears as food, you gain strength. Only when He comes in a thousand forms do you live at all. Severed from Him for even a moment, life ends. The very name of being joined to Him is “life.” Therefore the devotee says: there has been no breaking—talk of joining is mistaken. We are joined; now simply enjoy. The devotee says: you are joined and yet you do not enjoy—how insane! What are you waiting for? The celebration is already prepared. Everything is all-ready—how can you sit there sad? For whom are you…

Osho, yesterday you said that the journey of indulgence ultimately arrives at yoga. Please explain: does the journey of yoga, because of life’s circular motion, lead back again to indulgence? Is there no transcendence beyond bhoga and yoga? Please explain to us with reference to Ashtavakra.

The journey of indulgence leads to yoga if you don’t stop anywhere. It’s not guaranteed that you will arrive. If you get stuck at a copper mine, you’ll remain stuck with copper. I don’t say it surely leads you there—I say it can. Keep searching, don’t get stuck, don’t stop—go on, keep moving—and then the journey of indulgence can lead you to yoga. But if you get stuck in yoga—then the questioner has asked rightly—if you get stuck in yoga, you will fall back into indulgence. That’s why the yogi reaches heaven. Heaven means enjoyment. Having earned merit, you reach heaven and begin to spend it. This is why Jaina-Buddhist stories are so important. They say that when your merit is exhausted in heaven, you are thrown back again into the world. No one is liberated from heaven; liberation happens only from the human state. These points are very significant.…

Osho, in the classical tradition the sannyasin turns away from māyā and sensual enjoyment and orients himself toward God-realization; yoga and bhoga are known to be mutually opposed. But in your sannyas there is no emphasis on dispassion from enjoyment. Therefore, kindly clarify your conception of sannyas!

So first thing: religion is not tradition. Religion is ever ancient and ever new. It is a paradox. It has always been—and yet each time it must be discovered anew. When the sun of religion rises, it is private, personal, not collective. It does not become society’s property or legacy. If you do not trust Buddha, Buddha has no way to make you trust. Have you thought about this? If you say, “We doubt you: you claim God-experience, but how are we to believe it?” Buddha will shrug his shoulders: “What can be done? What happened is private, personal. There is no way to spread it out on the table before you. It happened within; there is no device to bring it out. It happened so deep that it cannot be exhibited for all to see.” That is why there have been so many perfectly awakened ones, yet atheism has…