With that, the ferryman waded deeper into the river and vanished beneath the dark water — leaving no ripple, no trace.
The ferryman stepped into the river. The water touched his ankles, then his knees. He turned and said:
“Scholar-ji,” the ferryman said, “you chant Buddham Sharanam Gacchami — but tell me, who is going where?” buddham saranam gacchami osho
Raghava frowned. “I, the seeker, go to the Buddha, the awakened one.”
Buddham Saranam Gacchami is not a journey. It is the end of the traveler. “When you go to the Buddha, you are missing the point. You have to become the Buddha. Not going somewhere — but waking up where you are.” With that, the ferryman waded deeper into the
The ferryman laughed gently. “That is the first mistake. Osho says: When you go to the Buddha, you are two. But the truth is not two. There is no seeker and no destination. There is only the seeking itself — empty, silent, aware.”
Raghava listened, puzzled.
Long ago, in a small village on the banks of the Ganges, lived a man named Raghava. He was a scholar of scriptures, proud of his knowledge, yet deeply restless. Every morning, he would chant, "Buddham Sharanam Gacchami" — I go to the Buddha for refuge. But his voice was mechanical, a ritual without roots. He had read thousands of sutras, yet anger flared in him at the slightest insult. He knew the theory of compassion, yet envy gnawed at his heart whenever his neighbor prospered.
The ferryman continued: “You chant Buddham Sharanam Gacchami as if the Buddha is a person outside you. But Osho’s Buddha is not Gautama the prince. Osho’s Buddha is your own awareness when the ‘I’ disappears. To go for refuge to the Buddha means to drop the ego — the one who thinks ‘I am going, I am seeking, I am suffering.’” He turned and said: “Scholar-ji,” the ferryman said,
One evening, Raghava sat by the river, frustrated. “I have taken refuge in the Buddha a million times,” he cried to the sky, “yet I remain the same! Where is the transformation Osho speaks of? Where is the buddha in me?”
“So… what should I do?” he whispered.