Osho's perspective on Nirvana
When Osho Spoke About Nirvana
Passages from the discourses where this theme comes alive.
Osho, why are the enlightened ones not able to bestow nirvana upon everyone?
Nirvana is not a matter of give-and-take! It is not an object that can be picked up and handed over. It cannot happen by someone giving it to you; nirvana is your own blossoming. When the lotus of your being opens, it happens. If you want it, and you want it from your innermost core, with urgency, with intensity, then it happens. You will weep much, you will scream and cry—then it happens. This is not a gift that someone can simply give. And if someone did gift it, you would not even understand its value. Value is understood only when we attain through our own effort. It is a long journey, a climb up a mountain. No, the Buddha cannot give it to you. Not because the Buddha is miserly—even if he wished to give, he could not. It is not in the nature of nirvana to be given.…
Osho, even after the attainment of the Great Nirvana, in what way do the enlightened and the masters, merged in the Whole, help us? Please make it clearer.
It is not right to say “they help.” Help happens. The doer does not remain. It is not right to say the river quenches your thirst; the river simply flows. If you cup your hands and drink, the thirst is quenched. If the river itself quenched thirst, you would not need to drink; the river would make the effort. But the river moves on, inactive. The river goes on being itself; you can stand on the bank for lifetimes and still remain thirsty. Bend down, fill your cupped hands, drink, and the thirst will be gone. The enlightened do not help you either before merging into the Whole or after merging into the Whole. Because only when the sense of “doership” disappears does knowledge arise. As long as the sense of doership is there, one is not enlightened but ignorant. I am not helping you, nor serving you. I cannot…
What is nirvana?
This story is about NIRVANA... this ancient Buddhist story. An exceptionally beautiful young woman, Enyadatta, enjoyed nothing quite as much as gazing at herself in the mirror. She was a little crazy, as all human beings are. When she looked into her mirror one morning, the figure in the glass had no head. Enyadatta became hysterical and rushed around yelling 'My head is gone, where is my head? Who has my head? I shall die if I don't find it!' Even though everyone assured Enyadatta that her head was on her shoulders, she refused to believe them. Every time she looked in the mirror, her head wasn't there, so she continued her frenzied search, shouting and crying for help. Fearing for her sanity, Enyadatta's friends and relatives dragged her home and tied her to a pillar so she wouldn't hurt herself. Enyadatta's friends continued to reassure that her head was…
Osho, Buddha has said that those steadfast ones who practice meditation continuously attain the unsurpassable ease and security called nirvana. Are there kinds of nirvana?
It is said of the Zen master Rinzai that he had eighteen hundred satori experiences before samadhi. Eighteen hundred is only symbolic; they could be eighteen thousand. However many glimpses there may be, a glimpse is only a message: “I am coming closer, closer”—but I have not yet arrived. The goal begins to be seen, and then it is lost again, because the moods of the mind keep changing. On some days meditation settles easily—the mind is buoyant, quiet, blissful. On other days it does not settle—there is a miss, and a great distance arises. So there is often a coming near and a moving far. But once the glimpses begin—once the taste comes—you cannot be led astray. One thing is now certain: what you are seeking is. It is not imagination. Whatever the births it may take, it is. Faith arises. And as soon as faith arises, satori slowly…
Are there different kinds of nirvana?
definition"Nirvana is not a collection of types; it is the single, timeless drop of release, while samadhi is the ripeness that allows the fruit to fall."
"Nirvana is not an intellectual achievement; it is the extinguishing of the ego-lamp, a journey that begins with meditation and unfolds in its own time."
Can a judge ever enter Nirvana?
outcome"Nirvana is not a destination to be reached; it is the state of unconditional acceptance that arises when judgment is dropped in the present moment."
How is death related to nirvana?
definition"Nirvana is the profound realization that both death and life are illusions; only when you see through them does the cycle of rebirth cease."
"From the depths of Nirvana, a realized being can consciously choose to manifest again, not as a soul reborn, but as a vessel of accumulated consciousness, sharing the essence of enlightenment."
"Enlightened beings do not help as doers; their presence is like the sun—radiant and non-insistent—inviting transformation only when you are open to receive."
"After attaining nirvana, the mind dissolves into emptiness, yet the enlightened one remains, moving among people out of compassion until the final dissolution into supreme emptiness."
"After attaining nirvana, there is nothing to attain; only pure awareness remains, where life flows effortlessly and the seeker dissolves into the whole."
"Nirvana extinguishes the mind, revealing the Great Emptiness, while even in the body, the enlightened act from compassion, transcending the ordinary into the realm of the invisible."
"When nirvana blossoms within the body, the experiencer becomes a radiant presence, like a tree that cannot smell its own perfume, yet those who are receptive may catch a whiff of this divine fragrance."
What is nirvana?
definition"Nirvana is not a distant goal but your very nature, present in every cell of your being; awakening is simply a shift of attention from the mirrors of mind to the direct awareness of what you already are."
"Nirvana is the awakening of your own consciousness, the moment when forgetfulness ends and you remember the inner light that has always been within you. In that effortless grace, you become a light unto yourself, free from the frantic search of borrowed identities."
What is the essence of nirvana?
definition"Nirvana is not an attainment but the dissolution of the self, a silent melting into the vastness of existence where all longing ceases."
"Real trust is not about memorizing scriptures; it is the courage to surrender to your own experience, for only then can you truly taste the bliss of existence."
What is the realm of Nirvana?
definition"Nirvana is the state where not only the tree of desire is cut, but its very seed is burned, leaving no roots to sprout again. In this peak of no-mind, one abides permanently, free from the cycles of suffering."
What is the relationship between Mahaparinirvana and the concept of Maitreya in Buddhism?
definition"A Buddha cannot return after Mahaparinirvana, yet through the energy of his suspended bodies, he manifests as Maitreya, embodying wisdom without disrupting the cycle of liberation."
"Nirvana is not a concept to be understood but a reality to be directly experienced, transcending the limitations of language and personality."
What is the status of death in nirvana?
definition"In nirvana, death reveals itself as an illusion, and true life transcends the delusions we cling to; only then does the cycle of rebirth dissolve into liberation."
Who does not attain nirvana and find peace despite differing views of great seers and yogis?
definition"Only a refined intelligence can ripen into trust; mere belief is a thin veneer of faith covering a core of doubt, endlessly disturbed."
"Nirvana cannot be given; it is the blossoming of your own inner being, requiring a deep, personal longing and transformation that cannot be imposed by even the greatest of masters."
"Sannyas is not a guarantee of nirvana; it is a fearless leap into the unknown, where trust becomes your only security."
Profound Quotes on Nirvana
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