Below is a very valuable commentary by Osho, in which he draws a distinction between two spiritual goals: the attainment of enlightenment and the cultivation of compassion.
Before reading this, I myself believed that the two were inseparable, but it turns out this is not the case. According to him, one can be enlightened and yet lack compassion. Such enlightenment, however, brings nothing to other people—it is an individual act of “flowering” of one’s innermost nature, which in no way enriches the world or humanity.
Only after Gautama Buddha does compassion become the primary goal for the spiritual seeker—even preceding enlightenment—and it is precisely in this that Osho sees Buddha’s greatest contribution:
“As far as the old mysticism is concerned, Gautama Buddha’s insistence on compassion is a very new phenomenon. Gautama Buddha creates a historical dividing line with the past; before him, meditation was enough—no one ever emphasized compassion alongside meditation. And the reason for this was that meditation leads to enlightenment, to your flowering, to the ultimate expression of your being.
What more do you need? As far as the individual is concerned, meditation is enough. The greatness of Gautama Buddha lies in introducing compassion even before you begin to meditate. You must become more loving, more kind, more compassionate.
There is a hidden science behind this. If, before a person becomes enlightened, they have a heart full of compassion, then after enlightenment there is a possibility that they will be able to help others attain the same bliss, the same heights, the same celebration that they themselves have attained. Gautama Buddha makes enlightenment contagious. But if a person feels that they have arrived home, why should they worry about others?
Buddha, for the first time, makes enlightenment non-egoistic; he makes it a social responsibility. This is a tremendous opportunity. But compassion must be learned before enlightenment happens. If it is not learned beforehand, then after enlightenment there will be nothing left to learn. When a person becomes ecstatic within themselves, even compassion can appear to interfere with their own joy—almost like a disturbance of their ecstasy…
This is why there are hundreds of enlightened people, but very few masters.
To be enlightened does not necessarily require becoming a master (teacher). To become a master means that you possess immense compassion and feel ashamed to enter those beautiful spaces that enlightenment makes available. You want to help people who are blind in the darkness, who are losing their way.
Then it becomes a joy, not a disturbance.
In fact, even ecstasy becomes richer when you see so many people flowering around you; you are not a lonely tree blooming in a forest where no other tree blooms. When the whole forest blooms with you, the joy increases a thousandfold; you have used your enlightenment to bring a revolution into the world. Gautama Buddha is not only enlightened—he is enlightened revolutionarily.
His concern for the world, for people, is immense. He taught his disciples that when you meditate and feel silence, serenity, and a deep joy welling up within your being, do not cling to it—give it to the whole world. And do not worry, because the more you give, the more you will be able to receive. This gesture of giving is of immense importance once you understand that giving takes nothing away from you; on the contrary, it enlarges your experience.
But the person who has never been compassionate does not know the secret of giving, does not know the secret of sharing.”
Note: The quotations are translated from Bulgarian and are not presented as verbatim citations.
