According to Osho, 'esoteric' in spirituality means ornate occult claims—seven bodies, fourteen planes, auras, and dead 'masters'—a hierarchy of fantasies with no real criterion. He dismisses it as sheer nonsense that seduces seekers away from direct, lived awareness. Spirituality, for him, is experiential and present, not a collection of secret maps or borrowed beliefs.
It’s just made‑up secret stuff about hidden levels and powers; skip it and trust your own clear, present experience.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Beloved Osho, I have been accused of being esoteric ever since I have been a sannyasin. Why is `esoteric' a four-letter word?
It is; there is no question of why. A four-letter word is a four-letter word. All esoterics is nonsense. But the question is significant. Because you became a sannyasin, naturally people must have assumed that you have become esoteric. You are no longer part of the ordinary world; you are searching for truth, going into higher stages of consciousness. People must have thought that you had become esoteric. They don't know anything about my sannyas. The old sannyas is a four-letter word, it is esoteric. Esoteric means all kinds of nonsense -- that you have seven bodies, that you have fourteen stages of consciousness... In India there is a small, very rich community known as Radhaswamis. They are making a temple in the memory of their dead master in Agra, because he lived in Agra. They want to defeat the Taj Mahal in Agra. For one hundred years the work…
Osho: is all esotericism nonsense?
"Well, it's simple, sir," stated the operator. "The call to heaven was long distance, while the one to hell was only a local call!" Yes, Viramo, all esotericism is nonsense -- except Almasto's esoteric questions. She has again asked. She says, "Osho, can I ask a few more esoteric questions?" I love her esoteric questions -- they are REALLY esoteric! First: How many Gandhians does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Almasto, five. First of all Urinjibhai Morarjibhai Desai to hold the lightbulb, and the other four to turn the table he is standing on. This is called non-violent Gandhian revolution! Second: How many communists does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Almasto, two. One to screw in the lightbulb and one to pass out pamphlets. Third: How many Jews does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Almasto, three. One to call the cleaning woman and two…
Beloved master, what is the use of esoteric teachings and spiritual knowledge? How can I find out if they are true or not?
Sef Kicken, the esoteric teachings are only for the fools. The fools are very much interested in anything they cannot understand. The idea of the foolish mind is that anything it cannot understand must be very mysterious, must be very superior, must belong to higher planes. A really religious person has nothing to do with esoteric nonsense -- with theosophy, with anthroposophy, and with so many Lobsang Rampas... and all kinds of nonsense that goes on being written. It must be fulfilling some people's needs. Just as a few people like detective novels, a few others are interested in esoteric knowledge. There is nothing esoteric in existence. Existence is nude, naked; nothing is hidden. Once Buddha was asked, "Have you said everything, or is there something esoteric which you have not said?" Buddha showed his hand -- an open hand -- and he said, "I am like an open hand,…
The word 'esoteric' has been used in a very sacred sense. Would you please tell us what inspires you to use it in a ridiculous and humorous sense?
So I want to dissolve all distinctions, because through distinctions ego exists. So I don't say what is sacred and what is ordinary. To me the ordinary is extraordinary, the mundane is sacred. the day-to-day life is holy life -- hence I use the word 'esoteric' as a ridiculous word. It hurts many people because there are many people who think that if religion is obvious then where will they find their ego-trip? If everything is unhidden from the very beginning, then their ego has no challenge. Ego is challenged only by the difficult. This is my observation: that if you find one hundred person interested in religious enquiry ninety-nine will be there only because God is almost impossible. That gives the thrill, that makes them feel good -- that they are going to attain the impossible. Others are only working for the possible and they are working for the…
Beloved master, am I wasting energy by looking to occultism as a way to explore inner space?
Mark, don't waste your time in occultism, unless you are interested in novels, fictions. Then it is okay, then there is no problem.... The lecturer on the occult was warming to his subject of supernatural manifestations. "Ah, my friends," he exclaimed, a look of dedicated zeal animating his face. "If you could but be made to believe! If only the world would cease its scoffing and come to realize that visitations from the Mystic Shore happen all the time." The lecturer searched the faces in his audience to find those sympathetic souls who agreed with his philosophy. "I have told you about my own experiences," he continued, "but surely one of you has also had direct communication with a departed spirit. If there is any such person here in this audience who has been in touch with a ghost, I would appreciate it if he or she would stand up."…