According to Osho, truth is untouched by opinions; collecting others’ views cannot deliver it. Opinions reflect conditioning, not reality. You may listen, but don’t borrow conclusions. Turn inward: meditate, watch, experience directly. Let clarity arise from your own awareness, not consensus or authority. Seek guidance for methods, not answers; truth flowers in personal seeing.
Other people’s opinions can’t give you truth—look and experience for yourself.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
So, should one not seek anyone’s opinion?
If you ask me that, you have already started seeking opinions. You have not understood what I am saying. The moment you ask me, we are back to the same old thing. What I am saying is: know this—truth cannot be found by knowing opinions. Whether to ask or not to ask—why should I decide that for you? If you ask, still know that nothing will come of it; if you don’t ask, still know that nothing will come of it. What will happen will happen through living, through your own experience.
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…
Question: BELOVED OSHO, SHOULD WE TAKE YOUR ADVICE NOT TO TAKE ANYONE'S ADVICE? Advice is the only thing in the world which everybody gives and nobody takes. You can ask me a question, but you cannot ask for advice; I am not that foolish. I will never give you any advice, because who am I to give you advice? You are unique, every individual is unique. My advice will be my experience. That may distract you from your own life, that may take you away from your own being. I have never advised anyone. Yes, you can ask a question. The answer that I give only has to be understood, it has not to be accepted on my authority. You have to be just a listener to it, without any prejudice.
Why am I always afraid of others' opinion?
Because you are not, because you are not yet. You are nothing but a piled-up phenomenon of others' opinion. Who are you? Somebody says you are beautiful, so you are beautiful. And somebody says you are ugly, so you are ugly. And somebody says you are wonderful, so you are wonderful. And somebody says 'I have never seen such a nasty person', so you are a nasty person. And people go on saying, and you go on collecting all these things. And that is your image. That's why your image is very contradictory, ambiguous. One person says you are beautiful, another says you are ugly. You want to forget this person's idea that you are ugly, but you cannot forget it; it will be there. If you keep the opinion that you are beautiful you will have to keep the opinion that you are ugly too. Your image is very…
I am silent. Then someone remembers me, and they all want to know my opinion too. I have no opinion. I see that where there is opinion, there is no truth. Truth begins where thought ends. What shall I say! They are eager to hear. I tell them a story: "There was a mystic, Bodhidharma. In the sixth century A.D., he went to China. He stayed there for some years. Then he wished to return home and he gathered all his disciples. He wanted to know how far they had progressed in the realm of truth. In reply to his query a disciple said, "In my opinion, truth is beyond acceptance and non-acceptance. Neither can it be said that it is, nor can it be said that it is not -- because such is its nature." Bodhidharma said, "It is my skin that you have.