Progress

Can a thoughtful person make any progress?

Only a thoughtful person makes progress. How will a worried person progress? A thoughtful person progresses greatly. So in the outer world, whatever progress there is, it all happens through thought. And in the inner world...

How is progress, whether in civilization, culture or religion, possible if we accept life as it is and do not seek to change it in any way?

There is no need for any progress. Progress is the most false god created by man. There is no need. What does progress mean? Progress means deep down to sacrifice the present for the future. You sacrifice today to live tomorrow; then tomorrow, again it is not tomorrow, it is today; again you sacrifice it for the tomorrow. The father sacrifices for the children, the children sacrifice for their children, and nobody lives life ever. One generation sacrifices for another because there has to be progress; and then nobody lives it ever. There is no need for progress. The very word 'progress' moves you into the future. And there can never be an end to it. You cannot come to a state when you can say: Now the progress has been achieved, because progress is not a thing to be achieved, it is a process. So the state: Now everybody…

Beloved Osho, today, after a year, I am coming to see you, to be with you. And since I awoke this morning I have been aware that my heart is beating harder and quicker than usual, and that there is a hollow, stage fright feeling in my belly. Tears are close to my eyes, but there is no sadness. On one hand I can see it as fear, nervousness. On another it is excitement, anticipation, and on yet another it is energy, pure and simple -- life, pulsation. Beloved friend, it certainly doesn't feel to be a problem, but could you speak about the phenomenon of the disciple coming closer to the physical

There are very few moments in man's life more magical than the feeling of love and trust from a disciple towards the master. It is a relationship not of this world, because it is a ladder to the beyond. Coming closer to the master certainly gives a new pulsation to the life energy, to your receptivity, to your openness. It gives you a dance, your heart starts singing a song. It is a moment of rejoicing. It is the same moment as when a river comes to the ocean, dancing, to disappear into the ocean -- but the disappearance is only from the side of those who are standing on the bank. To the river itself, it is becoming bigger, vaster, oceanic. Coming closer to the master is a way of becoming a master -- and what can be more rejoicing, more joyful? There are many kinds of love, but…

Does being in the presence of a master really change a man?

YOU ARE CHANGED BY EVERYTHING! The sun rises in the morning, your sleep disappears. Not only yours -- trees are awake, birds start singing, the earth wakes up. When the sun sets in the evening, you start falling asleep -- not only you, but trees and birds and rivers and mountains. The whole earth plunges into sleep. When you listen to great music, is some chord in your heart touched and moved or not? Listening to great music, do you become music or not? Seeing a dancer, does not a great desire arise in you to dance? to participate? Does not your energy start becoming a dance? Listening to a poet, listening to great poetry, for a few moments, you attain to a poetic vision. Some doors open, some mysteries surround you. Exactly the same happens, on a more total level, in the presence of a Master -- because the…