A person becomes a master when his ego is dissolved and pure godliness shines through. This godliness, which is without any trace of ego, is what we call enlightenment. Only the enlightened ones are the real gurus. Others who are full of ego are simply pretenders. Ego is a spiritual blindness. A disciple asked Osho: Who is a real master? What is a real disciple? Osho explains: The real master is only a presence. He has no intentions of being a master. His presence is his teaching. His love is his message. Every gesture of his hand is pointing to the moon. And this whole thing is not being done; it is a happening.
The master is not a doer. He has learnt the greatest secret of life: let go. The master has drowned his ego and the idea of separation from existence itself. He is no longer there as a separate entity, he is just a window. You can see through the window the infinite sky and the expanding universe: the sunrise, the sunset, a bird on the wing, the lotus opening its being, releasing its fragrance. In his talk “From Bondage to Freedom”, Osho warns about fake gurus. The master is just an immense emptiness. The function of the master is to give you a taste of dissolving into the whole, of becoming part of this tremendously beautiful orchestra of existence. He has no creeds to teach you, no dogmas to preach to you, no catechism, no theologies. He is not to give you more slavery, more mental bondage.
The authentic master is immense freedom. To be close to him is to be close to the infinite sky, which knows no limits. Osho concludes: A master is not a pretender. He does not declare that he is a master, he proves it — just by his presence. The presence of the master is the only miracle in the whole existence. And it is tremendously magnetic. Whoever is courageous enough and wants to explore this silence, this stillness, comes closer to the master.
Coming closer to the master is what is meant by disciplehood. It is not surrender, it is not a belief; it is not faith. It is an adventure, the ultimate adventure because as you come closer to the master, you strangely feel that you are disappearing. The moment you are really close to the master, you are not. Neither the master is, nor the disciple is. Then there is communion.
