Truth isn’t in labels or arguments; it’s what you directly know when your mind is quiet.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Are doctrines and pluralism utterly false?
Utterly false. All -isms are false. Because truth has nothing to do with -isms. I am not saying this -ism is right and that -ism is wrong; -isms as such are untrue, because they are merely games of the intellect, they have nothing to do with truth. That which is known is known absolutely beyond dispute. There is no argumentation in it. The day the whole mind falls silent and knows, that knowing is utterly indisputable. There, no argument and no counterargument exist.
Osho, in the Dwarka camp you said that meditation and samadhi are a voluntary, conscious entry into the state of death, through which the illusion of death dissolves. Then the question arises: to whom does the illusion of death occur? Does it occur to the body or to consciousness? Since the body is only an instrument, it cannot have delusive awareness; and there is no reason for consciousness to be deluded. Then what is the cause and basis of this event of delusion?
They sent word. She came very annoyed. “It’s his same old habit,” she said. “He’s grown old but hasn’t dropped it. Even at death he will create mischief.” She came with a stick, banged it on the ground and said, “Stop this devilry! If you must die, die properly!” The man laughed, came down, and said, “I was only playing a little—wanted to see what they would do. Now I will die properly, conventionally.” Then he lay down and died. His sister left, saying, “Fine, now finish the rites. There is a right way for everything; do things properly.” Our illusion about death is a social delusion. It can be broken. There are methods and arrangements to break it. And even if no one else breaks it for you, anyone who has done a little meditation will break it himself at the time of death. No outside help is needed.…
John lilly has said, "what the mind believes is true or becomes true." would you please comment on this?
What John Lilly says is utter nonsense. He says, "What the mind believes is true." It is never true, because belief has nothing to do with truth. You can believe that this is night but just by your believing, this is not going to become night. But you can believe, and you can close your eyes and for you it is night -- but only for you, remember, not in truth. You are living in a kind of hallucination. There is this danger in belief: it makes you feel that you know the truth. And because it makes you feel that you know the truth, this becomes the greatest barrier in the search. Believe or disbelieve and you are blocked -- because disbelief is also nothing but belief in a negative form. The Catholic believes in God, the communist believes in no God: both are believers. Go to Kaaba or…
Osho, what is the definition of God?
Words are very small. If you say God is light, then what of darkness? The scriptures have said that God is light. Suppose we accept this as a definition—then what about darkness? Where will darkness go? Darkness is too; in fact it is far more than light. Light sometimes is and sometimes is not; darkness is always, eternal. Where will you place darkness? If you say God is light, darkness is left out. If you say God is darkness, then light is left out. If you say God is both darkness and light, a contradiction arises: they cannot be together. Try to have both darkness and light in the same room. If you bring in light, darkness disappears; if you preserve darkness, you cannot have light. Then how can both be together? That becomes an impossibility. So you cannot say “both” either. Then the fourth device is to say: it…
Osho, Jains believe that apart from the Jin-shasan all other dispensations are false; therefore one should not go to any other path. Even when told about awakened and accomplished beings, they do not turn toward them. Is it impossible to bring them to the right path?
How will you live in Mahavira’s time? How will you walk with Mahavira? How will you dwell in his shade? That tree is no more. If under a blazing noon your head is dripping with sweat you seek the shade of a tree that is; you do not sit under the shade of a tree that once was. You would be mad to sit in the shade of a vanished tree—there is neither tree nor shade; you will burn in the sun. If you thirst, you go to a lake that exists now; you don’t go to a lake that once was, however beautiful the ancient texts say it was—that will not quench thirst. If you hunger, you seek fresh food now. What is true for hunger and thirst is also true for truth. Seek truth now. Go to a lake that is present now. The danger is: you may…