According to Osho, designations like ‘dharma’ and ‘spirituality’ are not superfluous but essential. Dharma means one’s intrinsic, ultimate nature—the seed of the divine that sprouts through the soil of meditation; religions are merely sampradayas, paths toward it. Spirituality (adhyatma) is your innermost, unborrowed awareness—silence before language—realized by neti-neti and pure witnessing. These terms precisely indicate self-realization’s essence, not sectarian labels.
No—‘dharma’ names your true nature that grows through meditation, and ‘spirituality’ means the inner, unborrowed awareness you discover by simply witnessing yourself.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
And you have asked, “Have designations like dharma and spirituality been unnecessarily attached to self-realization?”
No, not in the least. Those appellations are deeply meaningful. Dharma means: intrinsic nature. It is a very suggestive word. Dharma does not mean religion or creed. Religion or creed we call sampradaya. The meaning of dharma is far deeper. That by virtue of which Islam is called a dharma, Christianity is called a dharma, Jainism is called a dharma, Hinduism is called a dharma—because of which all these are called “dharmas”—that which is the essence of all, that is named dharma. These are all paths that lead to that dharma; therefore they are sampradayas. Christianity is a sampradaya, Hinduism is a sampradaya, Jainism is a sampradaya, Buddhism is a sampradaya, Islam is a sampradaya. Dharma is that which these sampradayas lead up to. So it is not proper to call Islam a dharma, nor Hinduism a dharma—sampradaya! The word sampradaya is good. It means: a path by which we…
Osho, please say something about the real nature of dharma.
Dharma means your intrinsic nature. Dharma means your spontaneity. As fragrance is to a rose, as heat is to fire, as coolness is to water, so you too have a nature of your own; living in tune with that nature is called dharma, living against it is called adharma. There will be slight differences in each person’s nature—there must be, because existence does not make carbon copies. Therefore each person’s dharma will also differ a little. What is medicine for one can be poison for another, and what is poison for one can be medicine for another. Hence each person has to search for his own nature in the depths of meditation. No one else can give you a clear, definitive statement about your nature. You yourself have to recognize, slowly, your naturalness in the depths of meditation, and then gather the courage to live according to it. Courage is…
Osho, you have titled this series of talks “Sahaj Yoga.” Do “sahaj” and “yoga” not seem mutually opposed?
Anand Maitreya! They don’t just seem opposed, they are opposed. But no ultimate truth of life can manifest without contradiction. Life is made of opposites—darkness and light, day and night, woman and man, negative electricity and positive electricity, birth and death. The very structure of life is woven of opposites. Hence the opposites are not only opposed; they are complementary to each other. If you have labored hard all day, you will be able to sleep deeply. Labor and rest are opposites, yet only the one who has worked can rest deeply—and the one who has not worked cannot. So the opposites are not only opposed, they complete each other. And only the one who has rested deeply at night can rise in the morning and engage in work again. One who has not rested through the night will not be able to work in the morning. Look closely at…
It is asked again: “Is dharma the truth?”
Dharma is truth. Dharma means: a state of non-relationship. Dharma means: to be steady in one’s own nature; to be immersed in oneself. Nothing remains outside. No kind of connection with the outside remains. Not even the relationship with the master remains. The true master is the one who brings you to the place where you are freed even from the master. Such a master is called a satguru. The one who entangles you in himself is called a false guru—who says, “Don’t go beyond me. This is your halt; the destination has arrived. No further.” The one who holds you stuck in himself is a false guru. The one who lets you go beyond himself, who becomes a ladder, a doorway—so you climb and pass through—he alone is the satguru. And remember: a feeling of gratitude arises only toward the satguru. Toward a false guru, anger will arise—if not…
It is a delight to see you. In this solitary place you have come together to realize God, to find the truth, to know your own selves. But may I ask you a question? Is what you are seeking separate from you> You can search for someone who is away but how can you seek that which is your own self> Your own self cannot be sought in the sense in which everything else is sought because in this case there is no difference between the one who is seeking and the one who is being sought. You can seek out the world but you cannot seek your self. He who goes out in search of his self goes farther away from his self. It is important to understand this fact fully. Only then the search may be possible.