According to Osho, man is the seed of the Divine, a living prayer to dissolve the ego and transcend all limits. True humanity is the urge toward the boundless—the courage to walk alone, inquire rather than believe, and flow like a river into the ocean of the Infinite. Man’s essence is self-transcendence: the capacity to go beyond oneself into Buddhahood, both glory and agony.
We’re here to grow beyond our small ‘me,’ seek truth for ourselves, and unite with something bigger than us.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, what is the definition of God?
Words are very small. If you say God is light, then what of darkness? The scriptures have said that God is light. Suppose we accept this as a definition—then what about darkness? Where will darkness go? Darkness is too; in fact it is far more than light. Light sometimes is and sometimes is not; darkness is always, eternal. Where will you place darkness? If you say God is light, darkness is left out. If you say God is darkness, then light is left out. If you say God is both darkness and light, a contradiction arises: they cannot be together. Try to have both darkness and light in the same room. If you bring in light, darkness disappears; if you preserve darkness, you cannot have light. Then how can both be together? That becomes an impossibility. So you cannot say “both” either. Then the fourth device is to say: it…
Osho, what is it to be a man?
One man was saying to Mulla Nasruddin, one of his friends, 'My wife can talk for hours! Just a small opportunity and she starts.' Mulla Nasruddin said, 'That's nothing! My wife needs no opportunity -- she is a self-starter! Just the other day I was sitting silently and she came and said, "Why are you sitting silently? What do you mean by sitting silently? Have you lost your voice? Can't you say something nice to me?"' But in love dialogue is possible, conflict becomes impossible. If you are not reducing the other to a slave there is no need for conflict. Conflict is an indication that the other is feeling that you are trying to dominate him, you are trying to destroy him, and the other is trying to destroy you -- you are feeling it. So the question is of survival, who wins. But in love there is no…
Deva means divine, manu means man. The English word 'man' comes from the root 'manu'; the root is Sanskrit. Divine man: man has to surpass his humanity. Man is only man in surpassing his humanity. Man is the only animal who can surpass himself. No dog can do it, no lion can do it, no elephant can do it. An elephant is born an elephant and will have to die as an elephant. They are completely programmed. By their very birth the whole programme is determined; they cannot go anywhere else than is destined by nature. Man is the only free animal in existence. That is his dignity and the danger too, because if man decides to fall he can fall below man. Just as he can go beyond man, he can also fall below man.
What exactly is man?
That's why I say man is a mere perhaps, a bewildering paradox, an absurd being. He is and he is not. He is an in-between. He is the only animal that can make a fool of himself. No animals can make fools of themselves -- only man, because man has the capacity to become wise. If you don't grow into wisdom, you will behave like a fool. That's what the majority of the people in the world ARE doing. If you watch from a detached viewpoint, you will be surprised how people are living... in such a mess, in such confusion, in such madness. How are they moving? They are not moving at all -- they are jogging on the same place. And if you watch man, you will be surprised: it is very rare to come across a wise man. Fools and fools... fools abound. But remember: no other…
Question: Second question: Osho, why have the saints sung such glory of human life? Look at the word “manushya” (human). It is born of “manan”—reflection. The one who has the capacity to reflect. The English word “man,” too, is born of manan. The Urdu word aadmi is very ordinary; it is derived from “Adam.” Adam means earth—clay, a figure of clay. That is not the essence of man. In the word aadmi, the essence of man is not there; only the shell is. A clay figurine—yes, that is true. But who is hidden within the clay figurine? In the earthen, the conscious is hidden! The lamp may be of clay; granted. But the flame that burns is not clay. The word aadmi speaks of the outer shell; the word manushya speaks of the pulp hidden within that shell, of the soul.