According to Osho, innocence cannot be aware of itself; the very thought "I am innocent" is ego creeping in. True innocence is a silent, simple not-knowing, free of guilt and free of pride. Be alert, because ego hides in humility, love, and even "innocence." Let secondhand knowledge fade, don't brag about not-knowing, and rest in the childlike purity that Socrates called wisdom.
If you think or say you’re innocent, you’ve lost it—real innocence is just quietly not knowing, like a child who doesn’t make a big deal of it.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Question: BELOVED MASTER, CAN INNOCENCE BE AWARE OF ITSELF? Maneesha, innocence cannot be aware of itself. The moment it is aware of itself, it is no longer innocent; corruption has already entered in, the ego has started forming itself. Innocence does not know that it is innocent. Innocence simply knows, "I don't know." But it is not aware that this is called "innocence"; the moment it becomes aware, suddenly it is lost. Hence those who are aware of their innocence are the greatest egoists in the world. The ego has such subtle ways, that it goes on coming from the back door... you may throw it out from the front door, and it will come from the back door again. And each time it will come in such a way that you cannot hear its footsteps.
What is innocence? Does being innocent require one to live a simple life?
Jaina saints live naked; their requirements are almost nil. Living a naked life in a cave, in a primitive way, they seem to be very nonpossessive. But that is only the appearance. Deep down they are hankering for heaven, deep down they are greedy. Deep down they are thinking that nobody is more humble, more pious than they are. Deep down they think of you as sinners and themselves as saints. This is a very complex situation. This is a fight with themselves. They have divided themselves into two: the higher and the lower. Even in the body they have a division: the higher part and the lower part. Above the sexual organs the body is higher, below the sexual organs it is lower -- as if the body were divided anywhere! These stupid people should know that the body is one. The blood circulates continuously from the feet to…
Question: BELOVED MASTER, CAN INNOCENCE IN AN ADULT HAPPEN WITHOUT AWARENESS? It was two o'clock in the morning and Gedalia the goniff was trying to break into a house. He tried all the doors and windows but he could not pry any of them open. Cautiously he climbed up to the second-floor balcony. Peering through a locked window, he saw a baby in its crib. By this time he was quite desperate so he decided to enlist the aid of the infant. "Hoo-hoo, bay-bee," he called softly. "Itsy-bitsy boo-boo, is oo gonna open window for nice mansi-wansie, hmm?" "Open the window?" yelled the baby. "Why, ya dumb schnook, I can't even walk yet!" The baby cannot walk, but he has become knowledgeable, he can talk. You have all become knowledgeable. You know nothing and yet you are full of knowledge.
every child is born innocent and brings with him a great message of the whole every child is a messenger of good tidings every child is a christ but before he can deliver the message we destroy it before he can utter a single word we start stuffing his mind with our cunningness before his heart opens and releases its fragrance we divert his energies from the heart to the head -- and the head is never innocent t is always calculating, cunning; it is a cheat the heart is always innocent hence only the heart can be in connection with the divine not the head the head is good in the marketplace but not in the temple but people who are full of the head are dominating the temples also man has completely forgotten his heart his heartfulness, his innocence, his purity and the message that he had come…
Beloved Osho, sitting close to you these last few mornings and looking into your eyes, I felt so much like a small child, full of innocence and excitement. Many times I wanted to wave my hand in the air wildly and shout: hello, hello, hello, my most beloved. Beloved master, can you talk about this blissful innocence that I am feeling and how it relates to meditation?
It is good to start with innocence, but remember there are two kinds of innocence: one is of the child and another is of the meditator. The meditator also becomes a child, but that is on such a different level, at such a great height -- as if the child is in the valley and the enlightened man who has again become a child is on the sunlit peak. The distance is tremendous. But there is a certain similarity, a thread running from the child to the heart of the sage. The child cannot understand the sage, but the sage can understand the child. Always remember it as a fundamental rule: the lower cannot understand the higher, but the higher can always understand the lower. And in your life, if anything can be compared with that high peak, it is your childhood. Try to rediscover it. Don't cover it with…