Can one be established in the Ultimate Truth even while the ego remains?

Lao tzu says: the ego of a saint established in tao is constantly disintegrating, like melting ice. Then shall we take it that a person can be established in truth in spite of the ego? Is it possible for a person to be called a saint or a sage in spite of his ego? Is the state of am-ness a mental state or a spiritual state? You also say that on the complete annihilation of the ego, the saint becomes god himself. Then is the saint separated from god as long as the am-ness remains?

Ego is the stone wall between man and God. Am-ness too, is a wall, but it is transparent, made of glass. The saint can see everything as if there was nothing in between, but no sooner does he go forward than the wall obstructs him. Then the pain is unbearable; the separation becomes too heavy to bear. Only saints know the pangs of separation. So the saint is also away from God; a transparent wall separates him. When this wall also melts away, there is no nearness and no distance; there is only oneness. That day, the saint is lost and only God remains. Whether this am-ness is a state of the mind or a spiritual state has been asked. It is the ultimate state of the mind; ego is the initial state. Ego is the gross state of the mind and am-ness is the more subtle state. Let us…

Osho, Lao Tzu says that in the Tao the I-ness (asmita) of the venerable sages keeps dissolving continuously like melting ice. So, can one be established in the Ultimate Truth even while asmita remains? And can a person still be called a saint and a knower while asmita remains? Is the state of asmita merely mental, or is it spiritual, beyond the mind? And then you said that upon the complete dissolution of asmita, the saint becomes the Divine. So does the saint, so long as asmita remains, stay separate from the Divine?

There are three points. First, two words must be understood clearly: one is ahamkara and the other is asmita. Ahamkara (ego) means: “I am one with the body.” When consciousness gets linked with the body, experiences itself as joined to it, identifies with it, makes it one, then ego is formed. When consciousness comes to know itself as separate from the body, recognizes itself as other, the identification breaks—and ego breaks. But knowing “I am separate from the body” is not enough; it is not sufficient to know “I am one with the Divine.” If someone stops with “I am separate from the body” and does not come to experience oneness with the Divine, that state is called asmita (I‑am‑ness). “I am one with the body” is called ahamkara. “I am separate from the body” is called asmita. And “I am one with the Divine” is beyond even asmita. Lao…

People want to know and yet they do not want to bow. They want to know truth while saving their ego. This has never happened, nor can it ever be. The ego itself is the obstacle. It is not by bowing at the feet that truth is obtained. Bowing at the feet is only a pretext, a device to drop the ego. If you can drop the ego without bowing at feet, the work will be done. The real question is the fall of ego. Therefore do not take the illusion that truth is attained by touching feet. What truth will be attained by touching feet! But by the fall of ego truth is attained. Touching feet is only one use, one experiment, one method, one medium, one occasion for dropping the ego. As soon as you drop the ego, what happens? Ego means: I am separate from Existence.

And whenever there is a man with a sincere enquiry the answer is not very far. In fact the answer is always hidden in the question itself; all that is needed is a sincere heart to enquire. When the question is authentic... Our questions also are not authentic, they come out of borrowed knowledge. For example if a Christian comes he will ask a question that no Hindu is ever going to ask. If a Hindu comes he will ask a question that no Mohammedan is ever going to ask. A Mohammedan asks a question which no Buddhist would ever ask. I have known all these people -- they come with different questions. I was puzzled, puzzled because if the question is real then it can't be that a Christian will not ask something and only a Hindu will ask it. If the question is real it is everybody's question.

Osho, may the color of that flower fade so that only the fragrance remains; let the head go if it must, but let honor remain. Let Your glory be proven by my negation. May I efface myself so completely that only You remain.

No need to rush. Don’t even start trying to erase the “I.” The “I” is such a clever craftsman that if you set out to erase it, it will hide behind the eraser. One day the ego will rise and proclaim, Look, I have destroyed my ego! Now I am egoless! Who is as humble as I? Such a declaration is the ego’s own. Awaken within. Watch and recognize the routes of ego. There is no need to fight. Fight only if you wish to lose—if you want to be defeated. Then how does ego go? Ego dissolves through awareness alone—just as darkness disappears when a light is lit. You don’t have to shove darkness out! You don’t have to slash it with a sword! You don’t wrestle with darkness. If someone starts wrestling with darkness, thumping his chest, do you think he will ever win? He will die fighting,…