According to Osho, when you face the death in each exhalation and let go, fear and defensiveness dissolve, and life renews itself instantly—each moment dies and resurrects. Accepting death here-now reveals it as life’s ally, not its enemy, opening space for freshness, authenticity, and the river of love to flow between life and death.
Saying a tiny goodbye with each breath out makes room for new life now, so you can relax, be real, and let love happen.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Can you talk about facing the death of each moment and letting go?
In the West now, there is a craze about how to prolong life. That simply shows that somewhere life is being missed. Whenever a country or a culture -- starts thinking about how to prolong life, it simply shows one thing -- that life is not being lived. If you live life, then even a single moment is enough. A single moment can be equal to eternity. It is not a question of length, it is a question of depth; it is not a question of quantity, it is a question of quality. Just think: would you like one moment of Buddha's life or would you like a thousand years of your own life? Then you will be able to understand what I mean about the quality, the intensity, the depth. In a single moment fulfillment is possible: you can bloom and blossom. But you may not bloom for one…
Question: FOCUS ON FIRE RISING THROUGH YOUR FORM FROM THE TOES UP UNTIL THE BODY BURNS TO ASHES BUT NOT YOU. MEDITATE ON THE MAKE-BELIEVE WORLD AS BURNING TO ASHES AND BECOME BEING ABOVE HUMANAS, AS SUBJECTIVELY, LETTERS FLOW INTO WORDS AND WORDS INTO SENTENCES, AND AS, OBJECTIVELY, CIRCLES FLOW INTO WORLDS AND WORLDS INTO PRINCIPLES, FIND AT LAST THESE CONVERGING IN OUR BEING It makes no difference whether you are afraid or not; it is irrelevant. In life, nothing is certain except death. Everything is uncertain; only death is not accidental. And look at the human mind. We always talk about death as if it is an accident. Whenever someone dies we say his death was untimely. Whenever someone dies we start talking as if it has been an accident. Only death is not an accident -- only death. Everything else is accidental. Death is absolutely certain.
So the friend has asked: "When tears begin to flow, an ego takes hold within—ah, blessed fortune!—how I am drowning in the nectar of devotion!"
Accept death. In accepting death, the ego cannot remain. Once you truly see that death is certain—it will be, whether today or tomorrow or the day after; there is no way to avoid it; no one has ever escaped—where will you run? Running and running, all arrive at the same place: into the mouth of death. Embrace it. In that embrace the ego dies. I had little awareness; otherwise, in the course of life, with every breath, a revolution would have arisen within me. I had little awareness, little sensitivity—no vigilance, no wakefulness. …Otherwise, all through life, with every breath, a revolution would have arisen within me. With every breath the possibility of revolution arrived—and I kept missing it. With every breath a revolution could have occurred; the ego could have been dropped, and an entry into the realm of the Divine could have opened—but awareness was scant. Awaken this…
Osho, do you feel that life and death are just two moments of the same thing—the same aspect?
Such a person will be miserable, in pain, because what he wants is impossible. All dualities are linked; you cannot save the half. One who sees this attains bliss—because now there is no sorrow left, no pleasure left. Whatever comes is accepted; whatever does not come is also accepted. If a friend arrives—there is joy. If a friend departs—there is joy. Joy here means: in both situations he does not choose. He has become choiceless. There is no preference, no alternative; all is okay, all is okay. Even yes and no have become equal. As one slowly comes to this total acceptance, trust arises. A theist accepts even atheism—that things are such that someone may say, “God is not.” A supreme theist will not even quarrel with an atheist, because he will say, “Fine—this too can be, that a person may say God is not. Where there are those who…
Thirdly, use your breath as an awareness of life and death, simultaneously. When the breath goes out, it is associated with death. When the breath comes in, it is associated with life. With every outgoing breath you die, and with every incoming breath you are reborn. Life and death are not two things; separate, divided. They are one. And each moment, both are present. So remember this: when your breath is going out, feel as if you are dying. Don't be afraid If you are afraid, the breath will be disturbed. Accept it: the outgoing breath is death. And death is beautiful; it is relaxing. Whenever you are relaxed you say AHH and the breath goes out. Feel a deep relaxation with the outgoing breath. And when the breath comes in, feel, "Ah! Life is coming in" -- you are reborn. Make it a circle: life and death.