[The Arica group came to darshan tonight. One of the leaders said he had felt there had been a lot more love, compared to groups he had been in in the States. He had also found that he was on a powertrip.]
Osho – Techniques work only when there is deep love. Left alone, techniques never work, because in fact it is love that works, not the technique. Techniques are just excuses, and once love is there then there is no difference between the leader and the led, the teacher and the taught. They both become one and work together; it is an experience that is shared. It is not that the leader is higher than the led – maybe he knows a little more, but he is also learning.
Love never comes to a state where you can say that now you know it. Love never becomes wise – and that is its wisdom. It is always learning and learning and learning to the very end. It continues to be a learner. And when the leader himself is learning then there is no power-trip. The power-trip, the ego-trip, arises when the leader starts thinking that he has arrived, that he is to guide – not help, but guide, lead others. then the whole thing becomes wrong.
Once techniques are in the hands of the ego they become destructive. The same techniques in the hands of love become creative. It depends. With love, even poison can be used and it will be medicine; with ego, even elixir will become poisonous. So it is a very delicate job to be a leader. The leader is taking a greater responsibility than the led. He is not only responsible for the group but for himself also. And his responsibility is greater because there is every possibility to make it a power-trip. So many gurus all over the world are living in a power-trip.
And they enjoy it, but one day or other they will come to realise that the whole life has been a wastage. whether it is through money that you attain the power, or through knowledge, or renunciation, or through meditation, it doesn’t matter. Power is poverty, and some day or other the illusion disappears; one is disillusioned – one finds oneself simply empty.
So remember this from the very beginning: if you really want to help, drop the ego completely. In the very dropping you become a tremendously valuable leader. the leader is no longer there, but now you can be of help. And whenever you help, there will be no resisitance against you; the other will find opening. Whenever you see that someone is resisting you, just don’t say to him that he is resisting, rather, find out where in you you are creating the resistance he feels.
Your subtle ego must be creating a shadow between you and him. Whenever you see that the person you are trying to help is not receptive, then look within yourself. Do something to yourself, change yourself, be more humble. If here, within, you become more humble, there, resistance is gone. It is very easy for a leader to become aggressive, and if you are, you can destroy but you cannot create. It is a great training for a leader – greater than it is for the led. he has been good and much more will happen.
And that too is right – three days is not enough time. The next group can be of seven days. In fact all changes start near the fourth day, because mind has a certain resistance. On the first day it is very, very resistant. By the second day it learns that it is simply foolish to be resistant: you are simply wasting your energy and time; no one else is harmed but you. So on the second day one relaxes a little.
On the third day, because one is beginning to relax, one starts understanding that more is possible, and why settle for less? On the fourth day one relaxes. This is ordinarily. A few rare people who are receptive, can be open on the first day; a few people, very egoistic, will not even be on the seventh day. But as a general rule the fourth day is the most potential day, and after that day things start on a different plane.
