According to Osho, never take up the sword—don’t even lift a pebble. Violence, born of attachment and madness, perpetuates the chain; love breaks it. Offer the other cheek, forgive, and embody peace; that alone defends peace and love. Truth cannot be harmed—attacks only polish it. Therefore respond with awareness, nonviolence, and compassion, not retaliation; transformation, not victory, is the real solution.
No—when someone hurts you, don’t hit back; be loving and calm so the fight ends.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Another friend, Diwakar, has asked: “Should we also take up the sword?”
You go to watch a play, don’t you! One play happens in front of the curtain and another goes on behind the curtain. What goes on behind is more real. What is in front is only acting. Someone is dressed as Rama, someone as Ravana, someone as Sita, someone as Hanuman. In a village a troupe was staging the Ram Lila. At Sita’s swayamvara, by mistake, in place of the easily breakable bow, Lakshmanji’s bow was brought. When Rama tried to break it, it just wouldn’t break. Huffing and puffing till sweat poured, but the bow wouldn’t break. “To hell with this bow!” slipped out of his mouth. The audience began to laugh—never in a Ram Lila had anyone seen Rama speak like that! There is no mention anywhere. The old King Janaka sensed the situation. He encouraged Rama: Lord Rama, put in a little more strength; and Lakshman, you…
Osho, Lord Shri Krishna in the Mahabharata took up the Sudarshan Chakra against tyrants. The Prophet Muhammad too had to take up the sword for the sake of religion. Even the Son of God, Jesus, had to take a whip in his hand. The “ahimsa paramo dharmah” of Buddha and Mahavira must have come in the way of their path, and people committed violence against them. Osho, is that still the call of the time? Is that how the law of things stands?
Osho, until life is sacrificed in love, in my eyes there can be no true devotion before that. Osho, may my life depart in your embrace—my heart is restless for that hour; love does not happen for everyone—this deep affection is only for a few. Osho, the longing for self-offering seethes in our hearts; let us see how much strength there is in the murderer’s arm. They say nails were driven into Mahavira’s ears. Consider that story. Mahavira stood naked outside a village beneath a tree in meditation. It was during the twelve years of silence. A cowherd was grazing his herd. Someone came calling him home for urgent work. He saw a naked fellow standing uselessly and said, “Brother, watch my cows for a bit.” He said it and left, not noticing the silent man had neither nodded nor spoken. He assumed silence meant assent—mounam sammati lakshanam. Mahavira could…
Osho, you said... then you will find that the devotee is God. The question arises: if one devotee prefers to be God and another wants to remain only a devotee, then which of the two is superior?
The one who wants to be God will not be able to be. And the one who wants to remain a devotee will become God. The question of superior or inferior does not arise, because only one of the two will happen. The one who does not want to be will be. The one who wants to be will be deprived. That very wanting is of the ego. But the matter is a little delicate. Sometimes humility too belongs to the ego. Beware that your humility may not be of the ego. Perhaps you are saying, “No, I don’t want to be,” because you know that those who refuse are the ones who attain. Then you are clever. Then your humility is adulterous. Your humility is not pure, not sacred, not virginal—it is like a prostitute. The one who wants to be God, whose ego says, “I must become God,”…
And if we are harvesting violence—if violence rains on us—then accept silently: it is our past account being cleared. Do not retaliate. Retaliation sows new seeds, and the chain has no end. ‘This I take as my spiritual master.’ Lao Tzu says: this maxim is a guide. Do not become anyone’s master; do not try to prove yourself worthy to anyone; do not fall into the delusion that companionship with the other is possible. Then suddenly you will find violence has departed from your life. And the moment violence departs, your eyes become free of smoke, and the Truth hidden all around begins to appear. But we turn principles into burdens on the head. Jesus also says: he who takes the sword will perish by the sword. Mahavira says the same; Buddha the same. But principles become scriptures; we carry them on our shoulders.
Osho, what do you think about the statement that life is stranger than fiction?
IT CAN'T BE OTHERWISE, because fiction is only a reflection of life, only an echo, a faraway echo. How can fiction be more strange than life? It is just a shadow of life, footprints of life. Life is really unbelievable, incredible. It should not be, and it is. It is utterly mysterious. But you become aware of the strangeness of a fictitious story and you never become aware of the strangeness of life, because you take it for granted. You take it for granted as the fish takes the ocean for granted -- and it never becomes aware of it. How can the fish be aware of the ocean? It was born in the ocean, it has lived in the ocean; from the very beginning the ocean was there. Just as you are not aware of the air and the weight of the air, you are not aware of the…