Enlightenment has no higher or lower grades.
[A seeker, not yet a sannyasin, said to Osho that he often talked about the significance of having a master, yet he had heard that Osho himself had attained without a master. How, he asked, was this possible, and did one who became enlightened without a master enter a higher level of enlightenment than one who had had a master?]
No, enlightenment has no higher or lower grades. How you enter does not make any difference: from the front door or the back, like a master or a thief, makes no difference. Once you enter, all differences are lost.
There is a possibility of entering enlightenment without a master, but then you should be ready for more struggle, more risk; have more patience and courage.
One day it is going to happen, even-if you are not taking anybody's help. If you go on groping and groping and groping, though it may take many lives, one day you are going to find the door. That's how many have' found it. But once you have found it you can make it a little easier for others. It may have been difficult for you, but for others it can be made a little easier. You can give some indication, some keys, some hints. You can guide.
This has to be understood: that a master in fact does not lead you to truth. He simply helps you to avoid untruth. Truth cannot be indicated. It is not something existing out there. It is something that will come into existence through your effort. Your truth will have to be born in you. A master can help you to grope better so that many pitfalls can be avoided. He cannot indicate the truth but he can indicate what is not truth -- and there are a thousand and one untrue doors. He can show you that these are untrue doors: avoid this, avoid that. That's what they call in the Upanishads 'neti-neti' -- this is not, that is not. The master goes on negating, and only that which is, is left.
That's how a master can help. A few people struggle on their own but that is very rare. And you are not that type of person, because if you were, you would not have come to me. I never went to anybody even to ask this, because even this is taking help. Even if you go to that type of person to give him the truth, he will close his ears. He will say,'l don't want it. I will find it myself.'
This type may look in the beginning to be very egoistic, but he is not. That's the way he is; he wants to seek his own truth, he does not want to borrow it from anybody. Not that he is arrogant; he is humble. And he is not afraid of wasting time. He is not afraid of waiting for lives. He is not in a hurry; his patience is infinite. But he may look like an arrogant person. It is not that he is incapable of surrendering, no. He is surrendered, but this is his way, this fits him.
Then there are people to whom it cannot suit at all. They need someone to whom to surrender; they need someone to help them. Not that they are weak, remember; not that they are in some way inferior -- they are not. It is just that natures differ, types differ, and these are the two types.
So this much I will say: that you are not the type who can work without a master, otherwise you would not have come. So don't waste time. If you can find somebody with whom you feel attuned, then surrender, and allow him to help you. Think about it, mm? Good.
