Guru

Beloved Osho, need one be absolutely sure about a guru to become his disciple?

Alan Watts has written about Gurdjieff and has called him a rascal saint -- because sometimes he would behave like a rascal, but it was all acting and was done knowingly to avoid all those who would take unnecessary time and energy. It was done to send back those who could only work when they were certain. Only those would be allowed who could work even when they were not certain about the master, but who were certain about themselves. And to surrender to a Gurdjieff will transform you more than surrendering to Ramana Maharshi, because Ramana Maharshi is so saintly, so simple, that surrender doesn't mean anything. You cannot do otherwise. He is so open -- just like a small child -- so pure, that surrender will happen. But that surrender is happening because of Ramana Maharshi, not because of you. It is nothing as far as you are…

Disciples need a guru, does a guru need disciples?

A flower opens in a deep forest. Nobody will ever pass. The fragrance will still continue to spread around. It does not wait for a traveller, does not wait for somebody to come and appreciate -- that's not the point at all. If somebody comes and appreciates -- good; if nobody comes and nobody appreciates, it is as good as the other. There is no distinction. no difference. The Master and the disciple both exist in the disciple. When the disciple's mind becomes awakened, he will laugh and he will come to know who is a disciple and who is a Master. The whole game becomes ridiculous. But since the disciple is not yet alert, the game continues. Krishnamurti is right when he says no Master is needed. Yes, one day you will also know that no Master is needed, but you will know only when somebody has awakened you…

How can I find a guru, a master? How am I to be certain that someone is the right master for me? What are the criteria to judge? How am I to know whether this is the man to lead me? How can I be certain? And if one is not certain, then how can one surrender?

Remember, no harm is going to happen to you if you surrender. Surrendering, in itself, is a miracle. Even if you have surrendered to a false master, you may learn many things from him. In this existence, nothing is a wastage. Even living with a false master is a learning. You are growing, you are becoming aware of certain things that you would never become aware of with an authentic master. You are maturing, you are becoming adult. And now, after learning from a false master, no false master will ever appeal to you again. At least you will now be able to judge who is false. You may not be able to judge who is true, but the other half has already been learned: you can now judge who is false. And this is something worth learning! Now you can eliminate the false teachers, and the true teacher will…

What makes someone a guru, a spiritual master?

When you are not there, when you have completely disappeared, the other becomes an open book to you. The more other-oriented you are, the less you can know what is happening to the other. The more you become self-oriented, the more possibility there is of knowing what is happening within someone else. A moment comes when you are completely dissolved. Then you know the other totally. Then the other is not the other; he is not something separate from you. You don't react him; there is no need. There is a response, not a reaction. Only in this way can one become a guru and help others, otherwise not. To me, a spiritual master needs this capacity of being totally uninvolved, of being totally unrelated -- just being an absence: with nothing to impose, nothing to project, no need to react. Then he can help you. He cannot come to…