Does the ego have an elixir of life that allows it to revive even on the verge of dying?

Osho, does the ego have some elixir of life? Even on the verge of dying it seems to revive—who knows from where, how, and why?

Haven’t you seen that the harder it is to obtain the woman you fall in love with, the more your love seems to grow? Had Majnu got his Laila, you would never even have heard his name. The whole crux of the Majnu-Laila story is that he never got her. Quite possibly, had he got her, they would have ended in divorce. Stories proceed in strange ways. Because he did not get her, he kept weeping, aching, wandering deserts and mountains, calling “Laila, Laila!” Have you ever seen any husband doing that? Ask a husband and perhaps he hasn’t even properly looked at his wife’s face in twenty years. You too are a husband or a wife—try this: close your eyes and try to recall your spouse’s face. You will find it difficult. The faces of film actresses will come, but your wife’s face will not come clearly. And if…

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,…

So no one fights darkness—but people fight the ego, and they do not see that darkness and ego are exactly alike. There is not the slightest difference—not even an iota of difference. That is why, fighting the ego, people die, but in the end they find that the ego stands where it was—it goes nowhere; it does not stir. Then they begin to think, “Ego is a great power—we have been defeated, it has not.” They think, “Ego is very strong; it is impossible to conquer it.” And I tell you, ego is not—it is not a question of strength at all. If it were strong, somehow we could subdue it. However strong something is, a greater strength can be found. But how will you win against what is not? How will you defeat it? How will you erase it? Ego is like darkness.

Question: OSHO! KILL ME, O LORD, KILL ME! KILL ME, I CRAVE DEATH. KILL THAT DEATH OSHO DIED AND SAW. I AM SUCH A STONE, I CAN NOT COMPLETELY MELT. I AM UPSET. WHAT SHOULD I DO? How does the ego die? The ego dies by accepting what you are. You say, I am fine as I am, where I am is good. I remain just as god made me. Whatever his will is, is my will. If you let go of tension for the future -- this should be, that should be -- the ego is gone. The ego lives on a foundation of past and future. Consider the fact a little. The ego claims that in the past I did this, I did that: it is all past. And ego says I will go on doing it, I will do it and show you. It is all future.

Osho, what kind of thing is this ego! Whenever I have tried to break it, each time it has shamelessly overpowered me and roared with laughter. I can’t fight it anymore, Osho!

I never told you to fight. That is exactly what I am saying: do not fight the ego; otherwise you will never win. You think you are fighting the ego, but in truth, the one who is fighting is the ego itself—so victory is impossible. Who is it that is fighting? Who is it that wants to conquer the ego? The very desire to conquer is the ego. Earlier you wanted to conquer the world; now you want self-conquest. But you are intoxicated with victory—you must win. First you wanted to defeat the world; now you are busy trying to defeat yourself. But still, it is winning that you want. This inner obsession with winning—that is the ego. Now you say, “What is this ego! Whenever I tried to break it, it shamelessly overpowered me and guffawed.” The one who is trying to break it—that itself is the ego. That…