Talks

Beloved Osho, in the past you advocated various paths of self-realization like awareness, yoga, tantra, devotion and the rest of them. But ever since you resumed speaking, after three years of silence, you have been putting all the emphasis on awareness alone. Could you please say a few words on this matter?

All the methods that lead man to realization are, essentially, awareness. Their non-essential components may be different. I have spoken on yoga, on tantra, on Hassidism, on Tao, on Zen, on all possible methods that humanity has tried. I wanted you to be aware of all the ways through which man has been searching to reach the truth that liberates -- but each method is essentially awareness. That's why now I am emphasizing only awareness. So whatever you are doing, whatever method you are practicing, it makes no difference. Those are different names given by different people in different ages, but they were all practicing awareness. In essence, it is only awareness that leads you to the ultimate goal. There are not many paths. There are many names for one path, and that one path is awareness.

Beloved Osho, hearing your discourse on 'rama the only refuge' I remembered your declaration in the anandshila meditation camp: "I have come to awaken, not to teach. Surrender and I will transform you. This is my promise." please explain this immensely reassuring statement to us in detail. Also, please tell us what is the difference between learning and awakening, what is the relation between surrender and transformation?

But while we are in it, it is difficult; and this is so because our investment in the sleep is great. Our great hopes, and the wildest fantasies of our dreams, are all contained in sleep, and if we break out of our slumber, all these hopes and dreams begin to collapse. You say to your wife, "I love you"; but when awareness fills you, you will have to say, "I have never loved you". You tell your children, "I am living for you"; but filled with awareness you will discover that it is not true. You are not living for your children, you are keeping them alive so that you can live on through them when you are dead. Your children are your desire; they are supposed to complete that which you were unable to do. You are trying to travel on their shoulders into the future. Through them…

Osho, after listening to the discourse on “Nahin Ram Bin Thav,” we were reminded of your proclamation voiced at the Anandshila camp: “I have not come to teach but to awaken. Surrender, and I will transform you—this is my promise.” Please explain this supreme assurance to us in detail. Also tell us: what is the difference between learning and awakening? And what is the relationship between surrender and transformation?

Through the boy, Rasputin had the royal family in his grip. If he left town for a day, they were in trouble. He also declared, “The day I die, within a short time the Tsar’s power will end.” He said it to ensure protection—and the Tsar protected him as best he could. Within a year and a half of Rasputin’s murder, the three‑hundred‑year‑old empire collapsed. In the outer history of the 1917 revolution, Lenin is central; in the inner, psychological history, Rasputin is key. Because of him, a revolution could happen—though such inner causes don’t show on the surface. If you cultivate concentration under a tree, power will arise. All forms of power feed the ego. Therefore concentrated renunciates are almost always very egoistic—their gait, their posture, their speech—all bear the shadow of ego. And for the ego‑filled, what relation can there be with the Divine? Impossible. Meditation is the…

So the first thing is, the first step is to revive your heart; hence my emphasis on dancing, singing creativity, painting. So something that needs your heart and put the mind aside as much as possible. To be here with me simply means to commune with me through the heart. It should not become an intellectual relationship, it should be a love relationship. The relationship between the master and the disciple cannot be intellectual. First it has to be a loving relationship, heart to heart -- and then finally it has to be an existential relationship, even deeper than the heart. These are the three centres. First, the most superficial, is the head; the second, is the heart, which is just in between the three centres; and the third is your being.