According to Osho, doctrines, scriptures, and accumulated knowledge do not support the search for the Divine; they obstruct it. What you 'know' stands between you and living reality, eclipsing direct communion. Truth is encountered freshly, here-now, without yesterday’s images. Drop secondhand concepts and meet each moment, person, and flower with naked awareness—only then does the Divine reveal itself.
Books and beliefs can get in the way; meet life right now, without past ideas, to feel the Divine.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
A question that many friends have asked—asked in very many forms—let me take that up first: It has been asked: Osho, I seem to be against words, doctrines, and scriptures. In the search for the Divine, are doctrines and scriptures not supportive? Do they become obstacles between us and the Lord?
The man said, “What are you saying—‘Don’t worry’? I will die. When will those parapets be built? And I have already fallen—what use will parapets be now? Please have mercy and pull me out first.” He replied, “Where is there time to worry about individuals one by one? I want the transformation of the whole society. We need a social revolution. What difference does one person’s making or unmaking make? Become a martyr. Don’t worry—your name will be written in books. And fairs gather at the tombs of martyrs! Do not fear; fairs gather at the tombs of martyrs—fairs will gather at yours too. People will remember for thousands of years that one man fell into a well and thereby got parapets built on all wells! Be carefree; I am going right now to launch the movement.” The man kept shouting; the monk went into the crowd, climbed a platform,…
Osho, how can one be free of scriptures and doctrines? They have such a grip that no way to be free seems visible.
Scriptures are not to be discarded. Where have I discarded them? Has anyone given as much respect to scriptures as I have? So how can I tell you to drop them? I am saying something else. I am saying that nothing of your purpose will be fulfilled by scriptures until your own samadhi happens. To give value to samadhi I say, “Drop scriptures,” otherwise you will cling to scripture and go on missing samadhi. I have heard: A young man went to America’s great millionaire, Morgan, and said, I have written this book. It is so astounding that millions of copies will sell and millions will benefit. Please publish it. Morgan asked—without even taking the book in his hand—What is the name of this book? The young man said: Its name is “A Hundred Ways to Make Money.” Morgan looked him up and down—shabby condition. He asked: How did you…
Why, Osho, isn't knowledge of the scriptures helpful in finding the truth?
Maneeshi, KNOWLEDGE IS NOT YOURS, THAT'S WHY. It is borrowed. And can you borrow truth? Truth is untransferable; nobody can give it to you. Not even an alive Master can transmit it to you. You can learn, but it cannot be taught. So what to say about dead scriptures, howsoever holy they may be? They must have come from some original source; some Master, someone awakened must have been at the very source of them -- but now they are only words. They are only words about truth, information about truth. To be with Krishna is a totally different matter from reading the Bhagavad Gita. To be with Mohammed, attuned, in deep harmony, overlapping with his being, allowing his being to stir and move your heart, is one thing. And just to read the Koran is a far, faraway cry; it is an echo in the mountains. It is not…
A friend has asked: Is all knowledge a hindrance in spiritual life? Are the scriptures futile? Do the doctrines and philosophies we know yield no experience that leads toward truth? Several other friends have asked similar questions.
On a sea-shore, just as we are sitting here today, one evening the sun was setting. A father was sitting with his little son by the sea. The sun began to sink. The father pointed his finger at the sun and said, “Go down, go down!” The sun was already going down. It went down and set. The child was amazed at his father’s power. His father is so mighty that when he says to the sun, “Go down,” the sun goes down! The boy looked up at his father, took hold of his shoulders, and said, “My father, if you are so powerful, then grant me one more favor. Do it, Daddy, again—do it again; show me once more!” The father must have felt great difficulty. But the clever always find a way out. He said, “This is the kind of work that can be done only once a…
Scriptures and dogmas are like dry leaves. There is no sap in them. Nor can there ever be. Only the tree of the self produces green leaves and blossoms that are full of life. ON MY SEARCH I FOUND NO GREATER SCRIPTURE THAN SILENCE. When I had dug through all the scriptures I realized how futile they all were and that silence was the only thing that had any point to it whatsoever. IF THE TRUTH IS NOT KNOWN to you the knowledge of the scriptures is useless. If the truth is known to you the knowledge of the scriptures is also useless. IT IS COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS TO DELVE INTO THE SCRIPTURES in the hope of realizing truth. The scriptures may well have grown out of truth, but they have never been known to generate the experience of truth in anyone.