According to Osho, the only meaningful New Year’s resolution is to make none at all. Resolutions imprison the future, enforce ego-driven control, and smother spontaneity. Instead, leave tomorrow free to arrive with its own gifts; live alert, open, and responsive to the present. Let life flow naturally—the only golden rule is that there are no golden rules.
Don’t make fixed promises for the year; stay open and do what feels true and alive in each moment.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, if one were to make only one new year's resolution, what would you suggest?
ANURAG, THIS AND ONLY THIS CAN BE THE NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION: I resolve never to make any resolutions because all resolutions are restrictions for the future. All resolutions are imprisonments. You decide today for tomorrow? You have destroyed tomorrow. Allow the tomorrow to have its own being. Let it COME in its own way! Let it bring its own gifts. Resolution means you will allow only this and you will not allow that. Resolution means you would like the sun to rise in the west and not in the east. If it rises in the east, you will not open your windows; you will keep your windows open to the west. What is resolution? Resolution is struggle. Resolution is ego. Resolution is saying, "I cannot live spontaneously." And if you cannot live spontaneously, you don't live at all -- you only pretend. So let only one resolution be there: I…
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.
Osho, what is the meaning of life? Life has no meaning by itself; we have to pour meaning into it. Life is an opportunity; if you infuse it, it becomes meaningful.
Life is like a blank canvas; paint upon it and meaning will appear. The meaning will depend on your skill. If a Picasso paints, it will be worth millions; if you paint, perhaps it won’t fetch millions. There is as much meaning in life as we put into it. Life in itself is empty; life is a bare opportunity. Possibility is all; actuality is nothing. That’s why people so often think: life is futile! What meaning? People come to me asking, “What is the meaning of life?” They are imagining that meaning is some ready‑made thing—lying around somewhere to be handed to you, like predigested food. No; meaning is born of creativity. Compose a few songs; make a sculpture; dance a little. Love a little; meditate a little. Explore; dive into inquiry. And you will find that meaning begins to arrive. And the more multidimensional your being, the more unending…
Osho, what is the meaning of life? Life has no meaning by itself; we have to pour meaning into it. Life is an opportunity; if you infuse it, it becomes meaningful.
Life is like a blank canvas; paint upon it and meaning will appear. The meaning will depend on your skill. If a Picasso paints, it will be worth millions; if you paint, perhaps it won’t fetch millions. There is as much meaning in life as we put into it. Life in itself is empty; life is a bare opportunity. Possibility is all; actuality is nothing. That’s why people so often think: life is futile! What meaning? People come to me asking, “What is the meaning of life?” They are imagining that meaning is some ready‑made thing—lying around somewhere to be handed to you, like predigested food. No; meaning is born of creativity. Compose a few songs; make a sculpture; dance a little. Love a little; meditate a little. Explore; dive into inquiry. And you will find that meaning begins to arrive. And the more multidimensional your being, the more unending…
Question: Second question: Osho, life seems meaningless. What should I do? He asked the second son. He smiled and said, “I was clever beforehand—I wouldn’t fall into that trouble.” He quickly opened the safe. A terrible stench rose—the seeds had rotted. From which flowers could have bloomed, from which an incomparable fragrance could have arisen—there was only ash. The father said, “These are seeds? This is ash. Are seeds to be kept in a safe? Madman! Are seeds banknotes? Banknotes are already dead—you can keep them anywhere. Do notes contain any possibility? They are corpses. Have you ever seen anything deader than money? If they were notes, a safe would do. But seeds? Do you store seeds in safes? They are not minted in man’s mint; God creates them. You do not lock them away. You have killed them—you have destroyed all possibility.