According to Osho, to be called a utopian is to be deeply optimistic: to trust human aspirations and persevere despite failures, knowing each failed attempt narrows the path to success. True utopia does not come from redesigning society - a mere name - but from transforming individuals. Through meditation and inner centering, each person awakens; as individuals change, the so-called society naturally reflects that change.
Being a utopian means believing the world gets better when each of us changes ourselves, staying hopeful, trying again and again, and using meditation to become clear and kind.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Question: BELOVED OSHO, WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THE PEOPLE WHO CALL YOU A UTOPIAN? They are right -- just their idea of utopia is not right. They think that utopia is something which cannot be achieved; that's exactly the meaning of the word utopia. Sir Thomas More wrote a book called UTOPIA, in which he hopes for everything that man has always aspired to but has never been able to achieve. There have been revolutions, there have been attempts to make alternative societies; all have failed. But that does not mean that we have made every possible effort. I am reminded of Thomas Alva Edison. He was working on the electric bulb for three years continuously.
Beloved Osho, the longing for a better life, for a utopia, has been constantly in man's mind since he became aware of his consciousness. On the other hand he became more and more afraid of all his irrational powers. Can you please comment?
That's why marriage was created; otherwise it was easier for man not to have any marriage, because marriage was simply a responsibility -- of children, of a wife. When the woman is pregnant, then you have to feed her.... And there was no need to take all that responsibility. The woman was taking the whole responsibility. But the man wanted some immortality, and that his property should be possessed by his own blood. And the woman wanted some protection -- she was vulnerable. While she was pregnant, she could not work, she could not go hunting; she had to depend on somebody. So it was in the interest of both to have a contract that they would remain together, would not betray in any sense, because the whole thing was to keep the blood pure. So Marx's idea was that when communism comes, and property becomes collective, marriage becomes meaningless…
Beloved Osho, what do you think about the sentence: "without utopias, nothing is going to get better." is it bullshit?
Once humanity gets free from all fetters and imprisonments, once we have made utopia a reality, then perhaps utopia may not be necessary. But I don't think so, because we can never make anything perfect. Perfection is not part of existence; everything remains imperfect. It goes on becoming better and better, it goes on coming closer and closer to perfection, but it never becomes perfect. And there is a reason, a very significant reason, why it is so: the moment anything becomes perfect, it dies. Perfection is death. The vice versa is not true. I am not saying that death is perfection; otherwise everybody who dies will become perfect. Death is not perfection, but perfection is certainly death, because once you bring anything to perfection, then growth stops. Then there is nothing more, nowhere to go, nothing else to do. Human energy needs a constant flow to remain alive. It…
Beloved Osho, sometimes I am blessed by this overwhelming feeling that this commune is becoming gently one body, one organism, one heartbeat. Am I dreaming? Am I once more the usual utopian? Oh, amore, please tell me it is not a dream.
The pope this year declared that anybody who confesses to God directly is committing a grave sin, you have to go through the right channel. Naturally, because if people start confessing to God directly, raising their hands to the sky and saying, "God, I have committed this sin, please forgive me," what will happen to the church? What will happen to the money that goes on flowing into the church because you commit sin? I have heard.... A bishop was very friendly with a rabbi. They became friends because both were interested in golf. And they had decided that on Sunday after the bishop was finished with the confessionals, they would go to the golf course. The rabbi waited, but it was becoming late. So finally, he came to the church to see what was the matter. He went inside. In the Catholic church the priest sits behind a small…
What does your movement signify about the condition of society? Is it an escapist and self-regarding cult? Or do vou propose through changing human nature to change society and the world?
WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE IS NOT A movement: it is a mutation. It has no concern with the society: its whole concern is with the individual. It is a revolution in the true sense of the word. There is no idea of changing the society or the world, because there is no society at all. Only individuals exist -- society is an illusion. And because we believe in society, all the revolutions have failed. The belief that the society exists has sabotaged all efforts to change man -- because the belief is rooted in illusion. Ask the scientist: he says there is no matter but only electrons. Matter is an illusion. In exactly the same way, those who understand human consciousness will say that society is an illusion like matter. Electrons are true, so are individuals. The individual needs a mutation. And what we are doing here is utterly individualistic;…