Can one who is not enlightened live in total insecurity without being anxious, depressed, or miserable?

Can one who is not enlightened live in total insecurity and not be anxious, depressed and miserable?

Total insecurity and the capacity to live in it are synonymous with enlightenment. So one who is not enlightened cannot live in total insecurity, and one who cannot live in total insecurity cannot become enlightened. These are not two things, they are just two ways of saying the same thing. So don't wait until you have become enlightened to live in insecurity, no! Because then you will never become enlightened. Start living in insecurity -- that is the way towards enlightenment. And don't think about total insecurity. Start from where you are. As you are you cannot be total in anything, but one has to make a start. In the beginning it will create anxiety, in the beginning you will feel miserable -- but only in the beginning. If you can pass the beginning, if you can tolerate the beginning, the misery will disappear, the anxiety will disappear. The mechanism…

Osho, the sense of insecurity in the inner life is quite difficult, yet perhaps one can manage it. How can that sense of insecurity be applied in practical or outer life? In business, in a job, in the external life—how can we use the feeling of insecurity?

I understand. In truth the question is not about outside and inside; the question is about knowing this truth that we are insecure. You don’t have to create a feeling of insecurity; it is a fact, simply a fact, that we are insecure. What is secure—outside or inside, anywhere? Are relationships secure? They are not. Is it certain that what was yours yesterday will still be yours today? That what is yours today will be yours tomorrow morning? Nothing is certain. Is respect secure? Not in the least. Yesterday a crowd stood behind someone—today you can’t even tell whether that man is alive or dead. What is secure? Is wealth secure? Insecurity is not a feeling; insecurity is the awareness of the truth that life is insecure. As life is, it is insecure. No guarantee of birth, of youth, of the body—no guarantee of anything. Awareness of this truth—and to…

Life is insecurity. Except for the dead, no one is secure, for only the dead cannot die; the rest will die. Insecurity surrounds on all sides. We are in an ocean of insecurity. There is no knowledge of shore or bank, no destination is seen, there is no boat or oars at hand, drowning is certain. Then, closing our eyes, we construct boats of dreams. We close our eyes and make a support out of straws. Catching at straws we think we have found the shore. Such deception, self-deception, happens. Sannyasin means one who has understood this truth: however much you seek security, security does not come. However much you try to escape death, death arrives. However much you may wish not to be effaced, effacement is certain. And when security does not yield security, then the sannyasin says, I consent to insecurity. I am ready now.

Question: Second question: Osho, everyone is searching—for a fistful of sky. Everyone wants a fistful of sky to hold to the heart, such a world that one can embrace. Everyone is running after love and security, but both remain mirages. Where, after all, is security? You say: leave yourself in the hands of existence. But that state looks even more insecure. How can love and security be attained? Well asked. Man is really chasing only two things: to have love and to have security. For security he hoards money; for love he forges relationships. For security he builds houses, raises fortress walls, sets up strongboxes. For love he gathers a wife or husband, sons and daughters, friends, beloved ones, family. Such is the golden rule, full of paradox, of life. Seek security, and you will become more insecure. Seek love, and you will be filled with melancholy.

Beloved Osho, lately, I have been feeling very insecure, and I see how much I dislike that space of not knowing. And then I try all kinds of stupid things to control the situation. I feel as if it is such an imprisonment, and at the same time, I have a deep feeling in me that knows that this is how life is, and I should accept it. I find it very difficult to watch myself, and the insecurity comes up even more. Could you please comment?

Anubhasha, we are trained in wrong ways; otherwise, security is something to be afraid of, and insecurity is something to be rejoiced. What exactly is insecurity? It means tomorrow is not going to repeat today. It means tomorrow you may not even be alive. It means that one has to live each moment as if it is the last moment. A life of security will be simply boring. It will be like seeing the same movie again and again and again -- knowing every detail of what is going to happen. You can enjoy a movie only once. If you are an idiot, then it is another matter .... Insecurity is the very fabric of life. If you don't understand insecurity, you can never understand life. Seasons will change; climates will change; the fall will come, the spring will come. Everything will go on changing, nothing can be taken for…