According to Osho, there is no individual doer; existence is an autonomous happening. He says he has never ‘done’ anything—breath, speech, gestures, even birth occur on their own. The ego is nourished by doing; shifting from doing to allowing dissolves it. Trusting the flow, you act spontaneously as awareness, free of anxiety, success/failure, and disappointment, letting life move through you without claiming authorship.
Life runs itself; relax, stay aware, and let actions happen through you instead of clinging to ‘I’m the one doing it.’
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, you say the same thing in countless ways. But when I listen to you, it feels as if I am hearing it for the first time. And I feel so much joy that I don’t feel like going back home. What should I do—what can I do—so that I can just keep listening to you!
You will feel as if you have been made to rise out of season, before time—as if you were not yet to go and yet had to go. And if you go in that way, your home will become even more desolate than before. I do not want to make your home desolate; I want to make your home a temple. I want that when you go home, your home’s new form is revealed. I do not want to tear you away from home, from the world, from family life. That is the newness of my sannyas: I do not want to sever you from the world; I want to join you to the world in such a way that your connection with the world becomes a connection with the Divine. Let the world no longer be a barrier between you and the Divine; let it become a means. If…
The past is no more and the future is never going to be, so this is the moment. You can celebrate it: you can love, you can pray, you can sing, you can dance, you can meditate, you can use it as you want. And the moment is so small that if you are not very alert it will slip out of your hands, it will be gone. So, to be, one has to be very very alert. Doing needs no alertness, it is very mechanical. But don't use the word 'wait' -- because that means the future has entered again from the back door. You follow me? If you think that you should just wait, then again you are waiting for the future. So doing or waiting are not separate things. There is nothing to wait for. The existence is as perfect this moment as it will ever be.
Osho, the actions a person performs—are they not, in fact, done by God alone? Has it been rightly asked: are not the actions a person performs actually done by the Divine?
Second stage: Now we enter the second step. Keep the breathing deep, and let the body do whatever it wants—leave it to itself. Let the body make mudras, make postures; if the body starts trembling, whirling, crying—let it. Let the body go completely—breathing will remain deep, and you will let the body go. If the body falls, let it fall. If it rises, let it rise. If it begins to dance, don’t worry—let the body go. Let the body go completely. Breathing will remain deep, and the body will be left completely free. Let the body do whatever it wants. Do not stop it even a little; cooperate with it. Whatever the body wants to do, cooperate—if it whirls, let it whirl; if it sways, let it sway; if it falls, let it fall; if it cries, let it cry; if it laughs, let it laugh—let go—whatever happens, let it…
Osho, if the ego decides on non-choice—“choicelessness”—what will be its state?
The ego cannot make such a decision. Non-choice, “choicelessness,” is the name of the state of consciousness when the ego is not. The ego cannot decide, “All right, from now on we are choiceless.” That itself is a choice. You have chosen again. You remain the chooser. People come to me and say, “The mind doesn’t become quiet. We try hard to meditate, but the mind won’t settle.” I tell them, “Drop worrying about peace. Just meditate; it will quiet down.” They ask, “Then it will become quiet?” I’m telling you to drop the concern. They say, “We agree to drop even the concern—but will it become quiet or not?” They don’t drop it. Even when they say they agree, they don’t really agree. A fortnight later they come back: “You said drop the concern; we did—but it still hasn’t become quiet.” They don’t even notice what they are saying:…
Question: OSHO, EXACTLY HOW DO YOU NOT DO IT? I said, "This feeling is not from the awareness that you are, because your consciousness has remained the same. This sense of a new birth is coming from your ego; your ego is tremendously gratified, strengthened. That is your 'gain.' But according to those who know that is your loss." What is gain to the ego is loss to the soul. What is a blessing to the ego is a curse to the soul. What seems to be of tremendous importance to the ego is just sheer stupidity to the innermost core of your being. The logic of the ego is that it is never interested in the simple things, because if you say, "I can breathe!" that is not going to bring crowds to welcome you, to say, "Teertha, you are great! Your name will remain immortal because you breathe.