According to Osho, Sufism is both pre-Islamic and a revolt within Islam: the essential core, a timeless, living essence that predates forms, and a recurring rebellion against Islam's institutional shell. It renews Muhammad's original spirit while confronting ritualism and mass conformity, as Zen does in Buddhism. Whenever religion hardens, Sufis reawaken the dangerous, transformative real.
Sufism is the living heart that came before labels and keeps returning to melt the crust when religion turns into empty rules.