According to Osho, don’t script a fixed ‘afterward’; cultivate a seeing, thinking consciousness that meets each moment freshly. Life changes daily, so ready‑made answers lag. Teach eyes, not routes. Then, whatever comes, we face it and let solutions emerge from awareness as a living movement, a flow—no predetermined map, only intelligence in action.
Don’t worry about what’s next—learn to see clearly, and deal with whatever comes using fresh awareness.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Then at noon a friend said, Osho, you say we should do nothing. Then what should we do? Do not accumulate knowledge, no devotion and worship, no turning the rosary and chanting mantras—then what should we do?
He had thought the king would panic. The opposite happened—the youth panicked. The king lifted his hands to the sky and said, O God, the man I was waiting for has come. How many days you pointed the way—at last he has arrived. Embracing the youth, he said, You go inside; I will go out. And these clothes too—I’ll leave them; I’ve worn them long and am tired of them. Now I would like to go naked. The youth was alarmed. Wait! Wait a moment—let me think a little more. What is this? Why are you so eager to run? Why such impatience to leave your things? The king said, Don’t ask, don’t think. Life is long—think slowly. After all, I too reached here thinking over a lifetime. How can I tell you so quickly, and how will you understand? You go in; I go out. Life is long; you…
It is not a difficult process because the process of looking is the same, just the object changes: you start turning your consciousness upon yourself. You may have seen many pictures of snakes swallowing their own tails. Those pictures are very ancient symbols of mystery schools; they represent this inner transformation. When your consciousness starts turning upon itself you become a circle, and the moment you are a circle you are no more the same old person. Your life starts having a new grace, a new beauty, a new beatitude. You become golden, you become precious. For the first time you have a contact with god, and that contact is a magical transformation. It is sheer magic and a miracle. Enjoy the trip, don't be too fixated on the target, Osho said in conclusion. Bliss is not a pond, it is a river. It is not static.
Question: Second question: Osho, is believing in fate always bad? Now there was trouble. “If the winds don’t blow—” was useless. “They are cheats! Those people are cheats. He changed so quickly! There should be fidelity, some loyalty. Once you say a thing, stand by it!” He went back. “You were right; one shouldn’t talk to them. But I must answer him once. Today he changed it—said, ‘Wherever my feet take me.’” The master said, “Tomorrow tell him: Many are lame. God forbid, but if you become lame, what then? If your feet can’t take you, where will you go?” “Good,” the boy said. “I should have thought of that.” The next day he stood ready. “Where are you going?” he asked. The other boy said, “To the market, to buy vegetables.” Ready-made answers don’t work; life changes every day. Yet you all carry ready-made answers.
Osho, how should life be lived, and what is its purpose?
Enter life—stay awake and experiment; try waking and observe; try sleeping and observe; try eating; try lying and truth-telling; try anger and forgiveness; try love and enmity—taste all. In all of it, wherever depth increases, where peace increases, where joy increases, where a glimpse of the divine comes—recognize that as the rule forming for your life. And do not make even that rule so rigid that there is no possibility of change tomorrow. No one knows what life will bring tomorrow. The straight path may suddenly need a turn. What was pleasurable may become painful. Keep an opening for tomorrow. Hence the second thing: discover life’s rules from within. And also: do not consider your discovered rule absolute. Do not regard it as perfect. It must have the flexibility to change tomorrow. Life flowers fully only in one who can change each moment. But we are “consistent” people. We insist:…
Osho, ever since I came here, only the remembrance of you abides in my heart. Everything else seems meaningless. What should I do now?
Don’t ask, “What should I do now?” Now stop doing! Now just watch. Whatever is happening, watch it. See that all has become without essence. See that a new event is occurring in your life, that a new remembrance is imbuing you. I cannot give you wealth, nor position, nor prestige. Walk with me, and whatever of these is with you may even be snatched away. Because of me you will not receive honor, applause in society. Walk with me—stones may be thrown, there may be insult, you may be taken for mad. Walking with me is a costly bargain. But it seems costly only so long as you see what is being lost. The day you begin to see what is being gained, it no longer appears costly. Then you have bought pearls for the price of shells, diamonds for a trifle. Then you have given up mud and…