Truth stays the same, but teachers change how they say it so you can understand as you grow.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho today you said to be constant is to be stupid. The truth cannot change it remains for ever constant. Now what?
Always remember... we have to use nouns because otherwise it will be very difficult to explain things to each other. For centuries we have used nouns. But whenever you use the word 'love', remember it is 'loving' -- it is a process. It is not a thing, constant. If you have loved, Zareen, you will know: morning it has one colour, afternoon it has another colour, by the evening it is a totally different phenomenon. Sometimes the river is very deep and sometimes it is very shallow. And sometimes it makes much noise, and sometimes it is very silent. So is love. Sometimes it is sad, and sometimes it is a rejoicing. It changes its moods constantly. So the only constant thing is change. But you say: THE TRUTH cannot change... WHO HAS ORDAINED IT, THAT TRUTH CANNOT CHANGE? What do you mean by it? Have you known anything in…Read the full discourse →
Beloved Osho, what is the relationship between meditation and witnessing? In what way are mind and ego dissolved by them? Is surrender possible without attaining complete egolessness? To what extent are orange clothes and the mala helpful for meditation and witnessing? Also please explain the difference between witnessing, wakefulness and right remembering.
Then there are some who say doing has no attraction for them, but thoughts come rushing in waves. They are thinkers-they have no juice for doing. They have no interest in the outer, but great waves arise within, a great tempest. And they cannot be inside for a single moment without thoughts. They say, "If we sit silently more thoughts come. When we sit silently more thoughts than usual come. Just mention worship, prayer, meditation, and a great deluge of thoughts -- -armies -- come in wave after wave and drown us. What should we do?" The master says, "Drink meditation mixed in with your thoughts. Don't stop your thoughts, but when thoughts come observe them. Don't get lost in them, stand a little apart, at a distance. Calmly watching your thoughts, you will gradually attain witnessing. Add meditation to your thoughts." Then there are some who say, "We have…Read the full discourse →
Osho, There is a very popular verse in the Manusmriti: Satyam bruyat priyam bruyat na bruyat satyam apriyam; priyam cha nanritam bruyad esha dharmah sanatanah. Meaning: A person should speak the truth, should speak what is pleasant; one should not speak an unpleasant truth, nor should one speak a pleasant untruth. This is eternal dharma. Osho, please say something about this.
Inside, he was boiling with anger. But the wife pleaded: It’s his last hour. Please look once more—maybe there is something more to be done. So that it won’t remain on my mind that we didn’t call the physician at the end. One request: what you just said—that there’s no hope—don’t say it in front of Mulla. It will sadden him. Let him depart in quiet and peace. The doctor said: All right. He went in, took the pulse, the temperature, and smiling said: Ah, Nasruddin! At noon I feared you might not make it, but now you’re absolutely fine. In a day or two you’ll be up and about. A miracle seems to have happened. Everything is as it should be; the medicine has worked. You are fortunate—your time to go has not yet come. You’ll live ten, fifty more years. Just then the wife opened the door. A…Read the full discourse →
Osho, what is the definition of God?
Words are very small. If you say God is light, then what of darkness? The scriptures have said that God is light. Suppose we accept this as a definition—then what about darkness? Where will darkness go? Darkness is too; in fact it is far more than light. Light sometimes is and sometimes is not; darkness is always, eternal. Where will you place darkness? If you say God is light, darkness is left out. If you say God is darkness, then light is left out. If you say God is both darkness and light, a contradiction arises: they cannot be together. Try to have both darkness and light in the same room. If you bring in light, darkness disappears; if you preserve darkness, you cannot have light. Then how can both be together? That becomes an impossibility. So you cannot say “both” either. Then the fourth device is to say: it…Read the full discourse →
Osho, awakened ones, considering place, time, circumstance, and the era-appropriate psychology of people, have expressed the same truth in very different forms. To the point that they appear mutually quite disputatious and even contradictory. Is an absolute expression of the ultimate truths of life and existence not possible? Will the limits of the age and the condition of the people always continue to be imposed upon truth?
Expression will always be limited. Expression will always be relative. The speaker and the listener—both create the boundaries of expression. I will say only what can be said. You will understand only what can be understood. Truth is vast. If I go to see the ocean and you say to me, “On your way back, bring a little of the ocean,” I will not be able to bring the whole ocean. I may bring a little water from it. But in that water much will be missing. There will be no storm of the ocean, no waves. And that was the real ocean: that tumultuous roar and fierce thunder! Waves crashing against cliffs! Those surges rising and spreading for miles! That swell! None of that will be there. I will bring a vessel filled with a little ocean water. Still, there will be something! If you taste it, it will…Read the full discourse →