Spiritual Growth

If jesus was still in a rebellious and active stage at the time of the crucifixion, does that mean that he had not achieved the total spiritual growth and inner silence of buddha?

When Jesus remained silent after Pilate asked him, "What is truth?" he was behaving like a Zen master. If you look at the previous life of Jesus, if you look at his whole previous life, this silence was not like Jesus at all. What happened? Why did he not speak? Why was he at a loss? He was one of the greatest orators the world has ever produced; we may even say, without hesitation, the greatest. His words were so penetrating. He was a man of words, not a man of silence. Why did he suddenly remain silent? He was moving toward the cross. Pilate asked him, "What is truth?" Jesus had spent his whole life talking about truth; he was defining only that, that is why Pilate asked him. But he remained silent. What happened in Jesus' inner world has never been reported because it is difficult to report.…

Osho, because of the influence of others, can someone who has risen a little fall back down?

No, there is no way to go downward. In fact, this should be understood well. It is quite delightful—very delightful—that there is no method for going down. Wherever you have reached, you can be helped to go higher; you can also be obstructed and kept where you are; but you cannot be taken below that. The reason is that in going higher you have already changed, instantly. (The audio recording of the question is unclear.) No, no, no. The question simply does not arise. If someone has moved even an inch higher in their being, they cannot return; returning is impossible. It is like this: we can help a child move from first grade to second grade. You can hire a tutor who helps him with first grade and gets him into second. But finding a tutor who can make him forget what he learned in first—“Now we must make…

In yesterday's talk you said that the seeker should first worry about his own receptivity and should not go begging from door to door. But the very meaning of a sadhak is that there are obstacles on his path of spiritual growth. He does not know how to be receptive. Is it so difficult to meet the right guide?

So the Brahman is the ultimate obstacle -- the last barrier in the ultimate quest of the seeker. Now only the being remains, but nonbeing has yet to be realized. The being, the is-ness, is known, but the nonbeing has yet to be realized -- that which is not still remains to be known. Therefore, the seventh plane is the nirvana kaya, nirvanic body, and its chakra is the sahasrar. Nothing can be said in connection with this chakra. We can only continue talking at the most up to the sixth -- and that too with great difficulty. Most of it will turn out to be wrong. Until the fifth body the search progresses within a very scientific method; everything can be explained. On the sixth plane the horizon begins to fade; everything seems meaningless. Hints can still be given but ultimately the pointing finger breaks and the hints too…

Osho, in yesterday’s talk you said that a seeker should first be concerned with becoming a vessel, and should not go about begging from place to place. But the very meaning of a seeker is that he has obstacles in practice. He doesn’t know how to become a vessel, how to prepare. So if he does not go asking, what should he do? How difficult it is to meet the right guide!

But searching and begging are two different things. In fact, the one who does not want to search is the one who begs. Searching and begging are not the same; they are opposites. He who wants to avoid searching begs; a seeker never begs. And the processes of searching and begging are entirely different. In begging you have to keep your attention on the other—the one who will give. In searching you have to keep your attention on yourself—the one who is to receive. It is true that there are obstacles on the path of the seeker. But if we understand rightly, saying there are obstacles on the path of the seeker means the obstacles are within the seeker; the path too is within. And to understand one’s obstacles is not very difficult. So we will have to speak a little more extensively on what the obstacles are and how…