Osho's perspective on Sadhana
When Osho Spoke About Sadhana
Passages from the discourses where this theme comes alive.
Another friend has asked in this connection: you say that revolution can only be nonviolent. But he says that revolution is always violent; a nonviolent revolution never happens.
In Russia, those who gained power were good men; before a revolution, everyone looks good. After power comes into hand, then it is revealed who is truly good and who is not. There is even the possibility that Stalin poisoned Lenin. And there is the possibility that one by one, all who had led the revolution were eliminated. Trotsky was killed in Mexico. Those who made the revolution were picked off by Stalin, one after another—because now the game of power had begun. In India, many fine, innocent-looking people made revolution with Gandhi—white as freshly washed garments they appeared. But once power came into their hands, we saw they had changed; they proved to be different men. Only their clothes were white; within, they were not. What happened the moment power was in their grasp? The real man inside showed himself. As long as there is no power, the real…
Osho, is sadhana only necessary so long as there is lust and desire?
Have you seen a tightrope walker? The whole time he sways left to right and right to left. When he leans left, a moment comes when a little more and he will fall; instantly he leans right, to correct the excess. Then on the right the same brink appears; again he leans left. In this way, by swaying, he manages to stay on the rope. But once he climbs down, will he keep swaying? He sits. Why would he lean then? He stands firmly; ground has been found. He is no longer on a rope. Moving in the world is like walking a tightrope. Every moment you must lean: now love, now hate; now sympathy, now anger—left and right. Lovers come to me and ask, “How can it happen that we never get angry with the one we love?” I say, it cannot be so—unless you climb down from the…
Osho, if there were only one single method of sadhana in your ashram, wouldn’t it be more convenient for seekers?
These are two styles: either you support yourself—and then there is no need of another. Fine; the matter is finished. Support was the whole issue, and you supported yourself. Have you noticed: a mother’s love is strongest for the child who is the weakest. This is exactly the opposite of economics. But economics and the scripture of love are opposite. According to economics, love should be for the strongest, the most intelligent, the most skilled. No—mother knows the strong, the intelligent, the skilled will manage for themselves. They have no need. It is the weak who are less intelligent, who are more likely to stray, who may fall—the mother takes care of them. It often happens that the sick child becomes dearest to the mother—more than the healthy ones. The experience of God comes to those who stagger in helplessness. That is why in the religions of Buddha and Mahavira…
Osho, is sadhana a natural development, or is it a leap beyond nature’s evolutionary process and its transcendence? If sadhana is not an overstepping leap beyond natural growth, then will the whole of humanity, within the cosmic process, arrive on its own at spiritual heights? And if evolution always moves forward, why did the great ancient spiritual cultures recede from the evolutionary current?
There are many strands here. First: the moment we separate man from existence and look at him as apart, these questions begin to arise. For example, heat water to one hundred degrees and, at that point, it “leaps” and becomes steam. Water becoming steam is a natural event. Its heating is also natural, not unnatural. Heating is natural; the leap into steam is natural. If nature did not contain the law that at one hundred degrees water can jump into steam, water would have no way to become steam. If nature did not contain the potential to heat to one hundred degrees, water would have no power to reach that heat. Even so, if water had consciousness, it could save itself from fire—or it could put itself on the fire. That too would be a natural happening: to save itself or to offer itself—both. My point is: in this universe…
"Truth arises from direct experience, not from comforting stories about what could have been. Embrace the unknown rather than filling it with speculation."
"Reason is a useful servant but a dangerous master; true sadhana begins when you let the heart guide you beyond the limits of intellect."
"Your own inner elevation through sadhana is the highest service to others; when you rise, your silent rays uplift those around you without effort or coercion."
"A complex is merely an illusion created by the mind; when you stop believing in borrowed ideas and return to simple awareness, it evaporates like a wasp that ignores the book."
"Sadhana is a device for preparation, a means to purify and center yourself, but when effortless awareness dawns, it must be joyfully dropped to embrace the spontaneity of being."
"Kundalini sadhana is a celebration of life, a positive flow of energy that nurtures growth and awareness, allowing your consciousness to blossom."
Is action without attachment a practice of sadhana or the effortless flowering of attainment?
definition"Action without attachment begins as a practice of remembrance, but when it blooms effortlessly, it reveals the essence of true attainment."
"First, let your body resonate with the sound of AUM; only then can you truly listen to its whisper within."
"Sannyas is the fearless surrender to a living master, where you drop your ego and say an unconditional yes, allowing for the ultimate transformation of your being."
"Sadhana is not a departure from nature; it is the natural flowering of our being, where every choice toward awakening is a harmonious dance with existence itself."
"Sadhana is not a departure from nature but a harmonious dance with it, where our awakening is both a gradual evolution and a sudden leap, reflecting our innate capacity to choose."
"Sadhana is a medicine for the disease of desire; use it until health arrives, but remember, it is not the goal—release it when dawn breaks."
"In sadhana, there is no place for repression; only conscious catharsis can unveil the divine that lies within. Allow your energies to surface and be emptied, for it is through this release that you discover your true self."
"Sadhana is as unreal as a ghost, yet even an illusion can serve as a device to dispel the greater illusion of bondage."
"Sadhana knows no age; it begins the moment awareness calls, for true understanding is born from direct experience, not borrowed beliefs."
What are Krishna's upasana and sadhana?
definition"Krishna teaches us that true liberation lies not in the perfection of the self, but in the dissolution of the 'I'—to melt into the divine until nothing remains."
"When sadhana baffles you, rejoice in the paradox that the divine is both ever-present and perpetually sought; it is in this confusion that the ego's grasp begins to dissolve."
"Sadhana, meditation, and God-realization are not needs; they are the poetry of life, awakening our conscience and connecting us to the Divine beyond mere utility."
"Abhyasa is the art of gathering and deepening fleeting insights, while vairagya is the spontaneous dispassion that arises when the mind is restrained and transformed."
"Truth is uncovered not through doing, but through the art of non-doing and the courage to let go."
"Mahavira's twelve years of sadhana reveal that true liberation comes not from asceticism, but from the unwavering awareness that shatters the inner stupor and transforms consciousness. Only through sustained vigilance can we cut the chains of bondage, for restraint alone merely replaces one chain with another."
"Surrender to the flow of energy within, for in humility and presence, thoughts will naturally settle and the mind will find its peace."
"When you stop analyzing and simply trust in life’s innate intelligence, the knot dissolves effortlessly. Sadhana is not about fixing but about returning to your natural state of awareness."
"Stop "doing" and start seeing; in the gap of pure awareness, your complexes dissolve and your true nature takes flight."
Whom are we to meditate upon in sadhana?
definition"True meditation is not about focusing on an object; it is the dissolution of all forms, leading to the pure awareness of our formless, contentless essence."
Profound Quotes on Sadhana
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