Symbolic Gesture

Osho, you have said that sannyas is the realization of truth. Then are ochre robes and the mala also essential for sannyas? And can a person not walk on your path without initiation? Kindly guide.

The day before yesterday a friend asked—he has taken sannyas, a simple-hearted man—he asked, “What is the scientific reason for this mala?” How can a mala possibly have a scientific reason? Its reason is religious, inward—not scientific. I told him, “If you want something ‘scientific,’ ask Laxmi.” A scientific reason? Does love ever have a scientific reason? A young man fell in love with Mulla Nasruddin’s daughter. He came and said, “I am in love with your daughter; please permit me to marry her.” Mulla said, “First prove it—what is the cause of your love?” The young man replied, “There is no cause, sir! Love has happened. Where there is a cause, can there be love? Where there is a cause, there is business, a bargain. Love is causeless.” Your love has happened with me; mine with you. Now some symbol becomes necessary. Think of this mala as the seven…

Osho, for the attainment of the supreme state, how helpful are ochre robes, a mala, and the Guru? And after attaining the supreme state, what need remains for them?

So, in the final phase the complication is not that the disciple wants to leave and the Guru wants to hold. The final complication is this: the Guru says, “Leave now,” and the disciple will not. A disciple means one who has loved so totally—how will he leave! There is great pain. He is even ready to let liberation lie where it is; only let him lie at the Guru’s feet—that is enough. At the Guru’s feet he has found so much that the thought does not even arise that liberation could give more; and even if it could, no true disciple can be so ungrateful as to agree to leave in an instant. In the beginning, it was hard for the Guru to hold the disciple’s hand because the disciple kept pulling away. Now it is this same gentleman who is pulling away. I, too, would like to hold…

Osho, you said, “Don’t get into any bondage; become quiet and happy.” Then isn’t sannyas also a bondage? And aren’t methods, techniques, and processes bondages too? Please explain!

A true knower is neither a renunciate nor an enjoyer. He knows only this much: I am just the witness. Then whether the money is in another’s pocket or your own—what difference does it make? He is the witness. If there is wealth, he is a witness; if not, he is a witness. If poor, witness; if rich, witness. Witnessing is not altered by poverty or wealth. Do you think a beggar’s witnessing will be a little less, and a king’s a little more? Does witnessing come in degrees? Whether one is poor or rich, healthy or ill, educated or uneducated, beautiful or ugly, famed or infamous—it makes no difference. Witnessing is a treasure equal in all; there is no more or less in it. We can be witnesses in every situation—of success and failure, of honor and insult. Be a witness—that is all Ashtavakra says. But if you find…

Beloved Osho, would you speak about the significance of the gachchhamis? How can we keep them fresh and alive and prevent them from becoming like the meaningless, stereotyped rituals practiced in other religions?

The first is, buddham sharanam gachchhami: I go to the feet of the awakened one. It does not say, "I go to the feet of Jesus, Mohammed, Mahavira, Gautam Buddha" -- no. Buddham is not Gautam Buddha. Gautam Buddha's original name was Gautam Siddharth. When he became awakened, then Siddharth was dropped and the world has know him since then as Gautam Buddha. "Buddha" is nobody's property. It simply means the sleep is over, you are no longer dreaming, no longer hallucinating; you are simply awake. Reminding yourself, "I go to the feet of the awakened one," is not worshipping, because the awakened one is not any person in particular. There are no feet of the awakened one. It simply says, and reminds you, that you are surrendered to the fact of awakening, that this is your decision, this is your commitment. The second line of the gachchhamis is, sangham…