What happens when the ego decides on choicelessness?

Osho, if the ego decides on non-choice—“choicelessness”—what will be its state?

The ego cannot make such a decision. Non-choice, “choicelessness,” is the name of the state of consciousness when the ego is not. The ego cannot decide, “All right, from now on we are choiceless.” That itself is a choice. You have chosen again. You remain the chooser. People come to me and say, “The mind doesn’t become quiet. We try hard to meditate, but the mind won’t settle.” I tell them, “Drop worrying about peace. Just meditate; it will quiet down.” They ask, “Then it will become quiet?” I’m telling you to drop the concern. They say, “We agree to drop even the concern—but will it become quiet or not?” They don’t drop it. Even when they say they agree, they don’t really agree. A fortnight later they come back: “You said drop the concern; we did—but it still hasn’t become quiet.” They don’t even notice what they are saying:…

One who has attained to the eternal absolute shall remain so even after death. So, oh innocent, attain samadhi, the highest state of unity with the supreme, and be free of the choices. The knot of ignorance in the heart is destroyed, the moment one achieves self-realization, through nirvikalp samadhi, choiceless awareness.

ONE SHOULD GIVE UP THE SELF BASED ON EGO BY STEADYING ONESELF IN UNITY WITH THE HIGHER SELF. AND ONE SHOULD BE INDIFFERENT TO EGOISM, ET CETERA, AS ONE REMAINS INDIFFERENT TO POTS, CLOTHES, AND OTHER THINGS. FROM BRAHMA THE CREATOR, DOWN TO THE STONE, ALL APPEARANCES ARE FALSE; THEREFORE, SEE EVERYWHERE YOUR OWN EXCELLENT SELF, WHICH IS EVER-UNCHANGING. THE SELF IS THE BRAHMAN, THE SELF IS VISHNU, THE SELF IS INDRA, THE SELF IS SHIVA, THE SELF IS THE WORLD, AND THE SELF IS EVERYTHING; AND THERE IS NOTHING OTHER THAN THE SELF. This sutra is concerned with choicelessness. Mind is always choosing -- choosing this against that. Mind is the mechanism of choice. Have you observed this? Observe: Mind is always choosing this against that. There is not a single moment when the mind is not in a state of choosing. We go on choosing -- choosing pleasure…

You spoke today of the necessity of having a transparent mind so one can see more clearly, thus eliminating the necessity of choice.

ARE NOT DESIRES, WHICH STEM ONLY FROM THE EGO, THE SOLE CAUSE OF THE MUDDYING OF THE MIND? THEN, WITH NO DESIRES, THERE IS NO NEED FOR CHOICE. THINGS SIMPLY HAPPEN. THE PROBLEM THEN COMES RIGHT BACK TO ELIMINATING THE EGO AND THE DESIRES. IT SEEMS TO BE A VICIOUS CIRCLE WHOSE HOLD IS BROKEN EITHER 1. THROUGH A GRADUAL PROCESS OF ATTRITION OF EGO AND DESIRES, SPANNING MANY LIVES, OR, 2. THROUGH CUTTING TANGENT TO THE CIRCLE BY TAKING THE LEAP OR GAMBLE INTO THE UNKNOWN. THE SECOND METHOD SEEMS TO BE THE PREFERABLE ONE, BUT WHERE DOES THE MOTIVATION COME FROM TO BREAK OUT OF THE CIRCLE? ACTION IS GENERALLY MOTIVATED BY SOME DESIRE. ONE CAN LET THINGS HAPPEN, OR ONE CAN ACT, WHICH AGAIN MEANS CHOICE. Your house is on fire: you rush out, you don't ponder over it. No thinking happens. In a moment of no-thought…

Osho, you tell me to float, but my body is so heavy with a dead-weight mind that I feel I will drown if I float. So I keep swimming in panic.

And just as the wretched soul jumped into the pit, a whistle blew and a voice called out: "All right, everybody! Tea break's over -- stand on your heads!" If you choose you choose hell. Choice is hell. That's how you have created your hell all around you -- by choosing. When you choose you don't allow God to choose for you. Krishnamurti goes on insisting for choicelessness. That is just one end of the whole story. The other end is: if you arc choiceless God chooses for you. That is only half of the story -- become choiceless -- just the beginning. The moment you are choiceless life continues. You will not be there -- life will continue. And you are nothing but a hell. Once you don't stand between you and God he chooses. He has been always choosing for you. There is a proverb which says, "Man…

Osho, is choiceless awareness also a kind of choice? It seems to come down to a paradox.

No, choiceless awareness is not a choice. Choiceless means we do not make any choice, we do not select any option; we simply awaken. In that awakening we do not decide, “This is right, that is wrong; this should be accepted, that should be dropped.” We make no decision. We simply look, awake. In this awakened seeing there is no choice at all. And as long as there is choice, we cannot see with awareness. “Awareness with choice”—there is no such thing. Awareness, as such, is without choice. Awareness by its very nature is choiceless. So awareness can never be together with choice, because choice means bias has begun; sleep has begun. There are so many people sitting here: if I say, “Bacchu-bhai is a fine man,” then I cannot be aware in relation to Bacchu-bhai either, because my attachment has begun. Nor can I be aware in relation to…