According to Osho, the way through laziness is not to force activity but to discern your swadharma and transmute inertia into surrender. If the urge to work is absent, become a devotee: weep, sit silently, accept whatever comes as God’s will—“Thy will be done.” If energy arises, act resolutely as a yogi. Aligning with one’s nature opens the gate.
If you feel too lazy to act, gently hand everything to God and trust what happens—and when energy comes, do your best with full heart.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, you said there is a path even through laziness. How so? I too am lazy; please shed a little light.
I used to think only Sheela was a Das Maluka. Are there others too! In fact, there must be many; Sheela must have a large family. But pay attention: if you are truly lazy, even laziness can become a path. The point to watch is—are you really lazy? This happened in Japan. An emperor was very lazy. Naturally he thought, “I am an emperor, I am lazy, nothing obstructs me; but those who are poor and lazy must be in great difficulty.” He thought, “If I weren’t an emperor, what trouble I would be in! I don’t earn, I can’t earn—I don’t even get up from my bed. Often I simply lie there with my eyes closed. I eat and then sleep; then get up, eat again, and sleep again.” So he thought, “I am an emperor, fine—but surely there must be other lazy people in this land; what must…
Osho, I am extremely lazy. I am frightened—how will liberation happen? Please guide me!
I saw his pictures in the newspapers. In every picture—now he is naked; no newspaper will agree to print that, and they themselves must feel shy, the devotees too must feel a little shame—so in all the photos he is sitting with a very large scripture on his knees to hide his nakedness. My dear fellow, a loincloth would have sufficed—what harm in that? A loincloth would be lighter than that huge book, simpler too! Tie a simple strap. Why sit with a massive volume—just to hide a small thing! But once we have a belief, we do not see the absurdity. In Jain homes, pictures of Mahavira hang. They paint them so that Mahavira stands in meditation and a tree branch serves as a loincloth. Why trouble the poor man! I was a guest in a house. The picture was beautiful, but that one branch spoils everything—dense leaves covering…
Osho! I am supremely lazy. Can I also attain the Divine?
Yogendra! Attaining the Divine is neither a matter of action, nor of industriousness, nor of laziness. Attainment of the Divine is a matter of witnessing. The industrious person has to be a witness to his action, and the lazy person has to be a witness to his laziness. If there is action, use action as the base for becoming a witness. If there is laziness, use laziness as the base for becoming a witness. Any device will do. Become a witness, and the Divine will be found. Do not be frightened of laziness. Laziness has been condemned so much that one gets scared. So you must be worrying: “I am supremely lazy—how will I find the Divine?” First, understand: the Divine is not to be attained; the Divine is already attained. The Divine resides within you. If there is any danger in “attaining” the Divine, it is over-industriousness. The one…
Another friend has asked: if we accept what you say and understand that everything is destiny’s play, then laziness will engulf the world.
Then let it engulf the world. What trouble does that cause you? Do you know what harm the lazy have done to the world? Hitler was no lazy man, Genghis Khan was no lazy man, Tamerlane was no lazy man. All the troublemakers of the world—none of them are lazy. Can you name even one lazy person who has harmed the world? Even to cause harm, laziness won’t do, will it! In the entire history of the world there isn’t a single person we can blame who was lazy and harmed anyone. A lazy person cannot be a thief, nor a politician. Neither a thug nor a murderer. What problem do you have with the lazy? What faults do they have? All the faults lie with the industrious. The whole web of mischief rests on the doers. A little less doing in the world would not hurt. Besides, realize this:…
The lectures on zen delight me to no end. I feel myself falling in tune with it more and more. But it seems so easy. Am I becoming lazy? I thought spirituality is supposed to be arduous -- not a free and easy let-go.
The MAHAYANA story is that Buddha, after six years, came to realize that all effort is meaningless. Truth cannot be achieved by achieving, because in the very idea of achieving, ego remains -- the achiever remains. Understanding this, he dropped the very idea. He forgot all about achievement, he relaxed. He said: 'No more.' He had dropped out of the world one day; money, power, prestige -- he had dropped those goals. Then he had put all his energies into one goal -- enlightenment, NIRVANA. Now he saw the point, that this is again an ego-goal, again an ego-trip: 'I am again trying to achieve something.' Seeing this, he must have laughed. He dropped that idea too; he relaxed. That night a young woman had come to worship the tree. She was a worshipper of the tree, a pagan. And it was a full-moon night and she had come with…