You feel unworthy because you’re copying others; be yourself and the heavy feeling melts.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Beloved Osho, in your presence, I feel showered with your unconditional love and compassion. My hungry heart is opening, and I have experienced a lot of joy and stillness here in your buddhafield. But my feelings of unworthiness still dominate my life, and I'm clinging to them so tightly that I despair of ever letting go. It has been a long and serious road so far. Dear Osho, will you please help me?
But people are such that even when they have come here and they have been listening to me, they are managing what to listen to, what not to listen to. Whatever gives nourishment to their prejudices, they are open to, very happy that their convictions are being supported. The moment I say something that goes against their convictions -- and those convictions are their misery, the foundation of their suffering and their hell -- immediately they close themselves. But how long can you keep yourself closed? I go on hitting you from every dimension, every direction. Sooner or later you have to listen. Then too, such is human stupidity that people start defending themselves. I sometimes wonder why you are wasting your time. If you are here to defend yourself, that you can do very well wherever you are. It will be easier to defend yourself somewhere else; here it…Read the full discourse →
Beloved Osho, the gift of being here with you is overshadowed by a sense of unworthiness. It troubles me because I don't feel as available to you as I could be. Can you help me to dissolve this?
It is something very essential to understand, that people who are really worthy always feel unworthiness, and the people who are really unworthy never feel it. Not feeling it is part of unworthiness; feeling it is part of worthiness. The question is from Kirtan. It is good that one feels it, because there are no limits to unworthiness -- you can go as high as you desire; it is just like the sky. And to feel it means the ego is dissolving. The ego never feels unworthy; it wants to prove that everybody else is unworthy and only it is worthy. It is humbleness that feels unworthiness and pain which can give birth to a new life. So don't take it as a problem. Accept it as a blessing. Let the ego completely dissolve. It cannot stand the feeling of unworthiness. There are a few things in life which function…Read the full discourse →
Osho, when such incredible happiness descends, why do I feel so unworthy?
That's why all the religions emphasize: God is compassionate -- RAHIM, RAHMAN! -- God is compassion. This is just to give you an alternative gestalt so you become focused on His compassion, not on your unworthiness. You may be unworthy -- that is irrelevant -- but God is compassionate. You may be a sinner -- that is irrelevant -- God is compassionate. He gives for no reason at all; He is simply a giver, He knows only giving. And He does not give conditionally, He gives unconditionally. Jesus tells a parable again and again. A rich man called forth a few laborers to work in his garden in the morning. The fruits were becoming ripe and they had to be collected soon. But by the afternoon it was felt that the laborers were not enough; more were needed, so more laborers were called. By the evening it was felt that…Read the full discourse →
Osho, you have earlier said, “Live moment to moment, live in the present.” Now you are saying, “Return to the past.” What should we do?
So it is with the mind—there are ruts. The past means endless grooves. However much you understand, your intellect agrees, you make decisions, you resolve—at the moment of resolve you feel something is going to change. But not even an hour passes before your decision breaks. Then only self-condemnation is produced, nothing else. Your saints, your fakirs, your priests and pundits—most of the time they only succeed in producing self-condemnation in you, nothing else. Their words are logically correct. You cannot even say they are wrong; you have to admit they are right. In that admission you take a decision. But against what are you deciding? Inside are grooves carved since who knows when, deep tracks. Walking in them has become a habit. It is easy to walk in them. They will pull you again and again. The meaning of returning into the past is: these grooves must be erased.…Read the full discourse →
Osho, for the first few years of sannyas I lived in the illusion that I was a sannyasin. Those were great days of happiness and joy. But now when you speak of the flowering of sannyas, I find myself very unworthy. My feet have been uprooted from the ground, but wings have not yet grown. What is this state in which on the one hand I am absorbed in kirtan, dance and devotion, and on the other hand meditation and awareness also take hold? And this world—uff—how long will it go on?
“My feet have been pulled up from the ground, but wings have not yet grown.” Right. You have been pulled away from where you were headed. That direction is finished; the flavor there has ceased. But to set you on the direction where I want to take you, a certain capacity must come within you. You had skills for the old road. The old road has been removed; you have been set on a new one—but the skill for the new road must be learned. The roots have been broken—good; your feet have been uprooted from the ground—good. That is the first step toward flying in the sky. But the wings must be grown. Or, if they are present, they have not been used for lifetimes; you must learn their use. Still, it is auspicious that at least half has happened. Your feet are no longer on the ground. There…Read the full discourse →