According to Osho, when someone hates you it reveals their inner state, not yours; hatred is their problem and you are merely an excuse. If you are centered, your inner climate remains unchanged—this is mastery. Keep your compassion unconditional; it flows regardless, but a hater, like an upside-down pot, cannot receive it. Let outside reactions stay outside, and remain a lotus leaf—untouched yet present.
If someone hates you, don’t take it personally—stay steady and kind, because their hate is about them, and only openness can receive goodness.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
The Beloved Vol 2 · Discourse 8
1976-07-08 · Buddha Hall · English
What do you do when somebody hates you?
So in hate you will not receive that, in love you will receive that. And you may even feel the difference -- because one who loves me will start growing, one who hates me will start shrinking. Both will become so totally different that you may start thinking that I must be giving more to the one I Love, or one who loves me, and I'm not giving to one who hates me or is angry at me or is closed towards me. But I am not doing that. The clouds are there and they are showering: if your pot is not broken it will be filled. Or even if your pot is not broken, but is upside-down, then you will miss. Hate is a state of upside-downness. Then rains can go on showering but you will remain empty, because your opening is not there. Once you are put rightside-up,…Read the full discourse →
I feel a lot of hate inside me. What can I do about it?
This duality is a natural thing. If you love, then you have to hate. There are people who go on preaching: "Love the whole world!" But you cannot love the world unless you discover another world to hate. I don't think this planet Earth can become one until we discover enemies on some other planet. The moment we discover an enemy somewhere -- and we are trying very hard to find one -- then the whole world can become one. When India is fighting Pakistan, there is no fighting within India; India becomes one. There is a very deep patriotic feeling for India because now that love balances the hatred toward Pakistan. But when there is no war, then Hindus fight Mohammedans, and Brahmins fight Sudras, one state fights another state, one party fights another party... and the thing goes on. But if there is an enemy somewhere, then the…Read the full discourse →
Tao Upanishad · Discourse 71
1973-06-22 · Bombay · Hindi · English translation
A friend has asked: Osho, you said that love is necessary for hatred. But many times, just on seeing a man with whom we have no acquaintance, we feel hatred; we don’t even feel like meeting him or talking to him. So in such moments, is hatred possible without love?
And there is another reason, deeper than this; keep it in mind. You often hate precisely those things—those qualities in others—which you hate in yourself. This is a little deeper; it is a layer even deeper than the previous one. When, suddenly on seeing a man, hatred arises in your mind, investigate whether this is not a part of self-condemnation. For what you find bad in yourself you will also find bad in the other. This is projection. What you wish were not in you—when you see it in another—hatred arises. Hence every expansion of hatred is, somewhere deep down, a part of self-hatred. Understand this. You do not want to be angry, yet anger happens. And you hate anger. So whenever you see a glimmer of anger in someone, hatred will arise. You do not want to steal, and yet you steal. So whenever you see a thief somewhere,…Read the full discourse →
The Dhammapada The Way Of The Buddha Vol 2 · Discourse 6
1979-07-06 · Buddha Hall · English
Beloved master, you have always pointed out that most things and states are two extremes of one state, polar opposites. Then hate is the other end of love. Does this mean it is as easy to hate as it is to love? Love is so beautiful. Hate is so ugly, and yet it happens too.
Love sharpens intelligence, fear dulls it. Who wants you to be intelligent? Not those who are in power. How can they want you to be intelligent? -- because if you are intelligent, you will start seeing the whole strategy, their games. They want you to be stupid and mediocre. They certainly want you to be efficient as far as work is concerned, but not intelligent; hence humanity lives at the lowest, at the minimum of its potential. The scientific researchers say that the ordinary man uses only five percent of his potential intelligence in his whole life. The ordinary man, only five percent -- what about the extraordinary? What about an Albert Einstein, a Mozart, a Beethoven? The researchers say that even those who are very talented, they don't use more than ten percent. And those whom we call geniuses, they use only fifteen percent. Think of a world where…Read the full discourse →
Vigyan Bhairav Tantra Vol 2 · Discourse 22
1973-07-03 · Bombay, India · English
One question more is included in it: how can I be inclusive of my enemy while at the same time going fully into the emotion of hatred? Does this not lead to suppression?
Buddha said, `I did as I should have done before -- fully consciously raising the hand. It was not good of me. Something had been done unconsciously, automatically, robot-like.' Such alertness cannot become anger, such alertness cannot become hate -- impossible. So first include hate, anger, all that is thought to be bad. Include it in yourself, include it in your image, so that your ego falls down. You come down on the ground from the sky. You become true. Then don't throw it on someone else. Let it be there; express it to the sky. Be fully alert. If you are angry, move in a room, be alone, and be angry and express your anger -- and be alert. Do whatsoever you would have done with the person who was instrumental. You can take his picture there, or just put a pillow there and say, `You are my father,'…Read the full discourse →