learn to be patient

"The path of the Tao is not one of sudden enlightenment. It is not like Zen. Zen is sudden enlightenment, Tao is gradual growth. The Tao does not believe in sudden and abrupt change. The Tao believes in respecting the rhythm of existence, allowing let things happen by themselves, without forcing your way, without forcing the course of the river. The Tao says: there is no need to be in a hurry because eternity is available to you. Plant the seeds at the right time and wait; Spring will come, it always comes And when spring comes, the flowers will appear But wait, don't be in a hurry.
Don't start pulling the tree up so it can grow faster. Don't have that kind of mind that asks for everything to be like instant coffee. Learn to wait, because nature moves very slowly. It is because of this slow motion that there is grace in nature. Nature is very feminine, she moves like a woman. She doesn't run or be in a hurry. She goes very slowly, a silent song. There is great patience in nature and Tao believes in nature's way. 'Tao' exactly means nature. So the Tao is never in a hurry; this has to be understood.

The fundamental teaching of the Tao is: learn to be patient. If you can wait infinitely, enlightenment can even happen instantly. But you shouldn't ask for it to happen instantly: if you ask, it may never happen. Your own request will become an obstacle. Your own desire will create a distance between you and nature. Stay in tune with nature, let nature take its own course; and whenever she comes, she is good; whenever she comes, she is fast. Even if it takes ages for her to arrive, she is still not late; she is never late. She always arrives at the right time.
The Tao believes that everything happens when it needs to; when the disciple is ready, the Master appears. When the disciple is finally ready, God appears. His worth, his emptiness, his receptivity, his passivity make this possible; not your hurry, not your rush, not your aggressive attitude. Remember: the truth cannot be earned. You have to surrender to the truth, you have to be conquered by the truth.
But all our education, in all countries, over the centuries has been one of aggression and ambition. We make people very fast. We made them very fearful. We tell you: 'time is money and it is very precious. If time is lost once, it will be lost forever, so hurry; hurry.'
This has driven people crazy. They run from one point to another; they never like anywhere. They run around the world from one intercontinental hotel to another intercontinental hotel. And they are all the same, there is no difference whether you are in Tokyo, Mumbai, New York or Paris. These intercontinental hotels are all the same, and people keep running from one to the other, thinking they are traveling across the world. They could have stayed at just one intercontinental hotel and there would have been no need to go anywhere else. All of them are the same. And they think they're going somewhere else. Speed ​​is making people neurotic

The Tao is nature's way, the way trees grow and rivers flow and birds and children... just the same way we grow for God.
Don't be in a hurry and don't despair. If you fail today, don't lose hope. If you fail today, this is natural. If you keep failing for a few days, this is natural.
People are so afraid of failure that, because of this fear, they never risk trying. There are many people who have never been in love because they are afraid. Who knows? They can be rejected, so they decided to remain unloving, so no one will ever reject them. People are so afraid of failure that they never try anything new. Who knows? If they fail, what will happen?
And naturally, to move in the inner world, you will have to fail many times, because you have never moved there before. All your skill and efficiency has been in outward movements, in extroversion. You don't know how to move internally. People hear the words 'move within, go within', but it doesn't make much sense to them. All they know is how to go outside, how to go to the other. They don't know any way back to themselves. Because of your old habits, you are very likely to fail many times. Don't lose hope. Maturity comes slowly. It is certain that it arrives, but it takes a while. And remember: for each person it will arrive at a different pace, so don't compare, don't start thinking, 'Someone is becoming so silent, and so happy, and I haven't reached that yet. What's happening to me?' Don't compare yourself to anyone else, because each one lived in a different way in their past lives. Even in this life, people have lived differently. For example, a poet may find it easier to go inside than a scientist; their training is different. All scientific training is to be objective, to care about the object, to observe the object, to forget about subjectivity. To be a scientist you have to completely absent yourself from your experiment. He cannot be involved in the experiment, there cannot be any emotional involvement. You have to be completely detached, like a computer. He must not be a human at all. Only then will he be a true scientist and be successful in science.
A poet has a totally different skill, he gets involved. When he observes a flower, he starts dancing around it. He participates, he is not a detached observer. A dancer can experience this even more easily because he and his dance are one and the dance is so internal that the dancer can move in his inner space more easily. So, in the old and mysterious mystery schools of the world, dancing was one of the secret methods. Dancing was the most religious phenomenon, but it lost its meaning so completely that it almost fell into the opposite polarity. She became a sexual phenomenon; dance has lost its spiritual dimension. But remember, all that is spiritual, if it fails, can become sexual; and everything that is sexual, if it rises, can become spiritual. Spirituality and sexuality are twins. A musician may find it easier than a mathematician to enter meditation. You have different abilities, different minds and different conditionings.
For example, a Christian may have a harder time meditating than a Buddhist, because with twenty-five centuries of constant meditation, Buddhism has created a certain quality in its followers. So when a Buddhist comes to me, he can go into meditation very easily. When a Christian comes, meditation is very strange to him, because Christianity has completely forgotten about meditation; he only knows prayer.
Prayer is an entirely different phenomenon. In prayer, the other is necessary; it can never be independent. Prayer is more like love: it is a dialogue. Meditation is not a dialogue; she is not like love; she is the exact opposite of love. In meditation you are totally alone, nowhere to go, no one to relate to, no dialogue, because the other does not exist. You are simply yourself, totally you. This is a completely different approach.
So it all depends on your abilities, your mind, your conditioning, your upbringing, the religion you were raised in, the books you have read, the people you have lived with, the vibration you have created within yourself. . Everything will depend on a thousand and one things, but it is certain that it will arrive. All it takes is patience, silent work, patient work and centering happens and maturity comes. In fact, the mature person and the centered person are just two aspects of the same phenomenon. This is why the child cannot be centered, they are constantly moving, they cannot stay in one point, fixed. Everything attracts them - a car that passes, a bird that sings, someone's laughter, the neighbor's radio, a butterfly flying - everything, the whole world attracts you. They just jump from one thing to another. They cannot be centered, they cannot live with one thing so totally that everything else disappears and becomes non-existential.
With maturity, centering arises. Maturity and centering are two names for the same thing. But the first thing to remember is that it comes gradually. Don't compare and don't be in a hurry."

OSHO - The Secret of Secrets vol. II - Chap. 1
Translation: Sw. Bodhi Champak