According to Osho, self-conquest never comes through suppression or inner warfare; fighting divides you into attacker and defender, squandering energy and ensuring failure. There is no inner enemy—only ignorance, a shadow that vanishes in the light of awareness. Therefore, drop conflict and illuminate every inner corner through attentive knowing; comprehensive self-knowledge naturally dissolves contradictions and becomes true mastery.
Don’t fight yourself; switch on the inner light—when you see clearly, the scary shadows disappear.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Can't man ever conquer himself by suppression and by fighting with himself?
What do you mean by the words "suppression" and "fighting with himself"? Don't they mean that the individual will be dividing himself? He will be fighting with himself. This means he will attack and defend at the same time. He will be both friend and enemy. His energy will be used by both sides. This will never lead to victory, it will only weaken him and shatter his strength. Imagine what will happen if I make my two hands fight with each other. The same will happen if I fight with myself. Such a fight is sheer foolishness. My friend, you don't have to fight with yourself, you have to know yourself. The contradictions and the self-conflicts that have been born in us out of ignorance will disappear in the light of self-knowledge, just as the drops of dew on the greass evaporate as the sun rises in the morning.…
The Upanishads are memorized, the Gita is memorized; its recitation goes on daily. You can pass any exam in religion; to fail you would be difficult. You know everything. This sense of already knowing has become a barrier to seeking. The purity of ignorance has been destroyed. The purity of ignorance is of great value. The feeling of ignorance makes one humble, ready for the quest; it opens doors. All our doors are shut. All our closed doors are blocked by scriptures. One blocks with the Gita, one with the Quran, one with the Bible. Someone jams Mahavira’s image into the doorway to keep it from opening. Keep in mind Lao Tzu’s thought: until you have any experience of yourself, all knowledge is useless—and do not call it knowledge. ‘He who conquers others is strong; he who conquers himself is powerful.
Either find yourself—and enemies are vanquished. Or conquer the enemies—and the friend is met. Two faces of the same coin; do not think them separate. They happen together—one event seen from two sides. Light the lamp—the darkness is gone. Say either “the darkness is gone, the lamp is lit,” or “the lamp is lit, the darkness is gone.” Both happen together. It does not happen that the lamp is lit and then, for a while, darkness waits, pondering: shall I go or not? Shall I remain a little longer? I am an old resident, and this lamp has just arrived and already claims the place! Shall I sue in court? Shall I protest that someone is encroaching upon my house—even though I have dwelt here long? No, darkness says nothing. The lamp is lit; darkness ‘is not.’ In the same instant—no delay—not even for a flicker of a moment.
So it is not a question of fighting with the anger, it is a question of knowing the anger -- because, remember, there is no greater energy than knowing, and there is no greater stupidity than fighting with one's own energies. One who is fighting with his own energies is committing the same mistake as a man who is wrestling with his own hands. If one hand is wrestling with the other, no hand will ever be able to win, because they both belong to the same person. The energy is flowing in both hands and if there is a fight between these two hands the energy will be dissipated. There can be no question of winning. In this kind of fight you will be defeated. All your energy will be wasted. Whose energy is in the anger? It is your own energy.
Another friend has also asked: Osho, isn’t resolve just fighting with oneself?
No. In fact, it is only so long as there is no resolve that we fight with ourselves. The lack of resolve splits us in two. It can even split us into ten. What does a resolve-less person really mean? Not that he has no resolve, but that within him many self-contradictory resolves coexist. Resolve-less means: at the same time many self-contradictory resolves are inside him. He is not without resolve; he is multi-willed—filled with mutually opposing resolves. A person of resolve means that within him, at a given moment, there is only one resolve, and upon that resolve his whole consciousness is united, total, gathered. Even regarding a small matter, if the mind gathers completely—becomes total—then we cannot fight with ourselves, because no other remains within us to fight against. I can make these two hands of mine fight; they are both my hands. Half my body can side…