According to Osho, misunderstanding is the near-constant distortion produced by our vast unconscious—the 'mother superior' of mistakes—overwhelming a skin-deep consciousness. It doesn’t come from outside but from inner darkness. Only increasing awareness—transforming unconsciousness into consciousness—ends misunderstanding. Until awakening, humility, the word ‘perhaps,’ and meditative innocence help loosen ego and reduce error.
We mostly get things wrong because a big sleepy part inside twists what we see; waking up with awareness is like turning on a light so we can see clearly.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Question: BELOVED OSHO, WHAT IS MISUNDERSTANDING? Devageet, misunderstanding is obviously the mother superior of mistakes. Man lives almost half awake, half asleep. Hence whatever he understands is only half. With each of his understandings there is a shadow, a deep unconsciousness which continues to misinterpret, to distort, to confuse whatever small light, whatever small consciousness he has got. His consciousness is certainly very small -- just a thin layer, not more than skin-deep. And his unconsciousness is long, deep, nine times more than his consciousness. That dark night is within you. It has never seen the light of the day. So whatever your consciousness tries to see, to hear, your unconsciousness, which is nine times more -- its weight, its pressure is tremendous -- distorts it. You think you have understood something, but it is always finally a misunderstanding.
Question: OSHO, WHAT IS UNDERSTANDING AND WHAT IS MISUNDERSTANDING? Dharmaraj, Mind is misunderstanding -- any kind of mind, good or bad, educated or uneducated, cultured or uncultured, Christian or Hindu; it does not matter what kind of mind it is. Mind as such is misunderstanding. Mind means you are carrying a priori conclusions; you are not seeing that which is, you are seeing that which you want to see. You are not seeing but projecting. Your mind is a projector; it uses everything as a kind of screen, it projects itself on the screen. In the dim light you can see a rope as a snake. the snake does not exist; it is your fear projected, the rope becomes a screen. But for you the snake becomes as real as if it was really there. It can affect you -- it will affect you.
Question: BELOVED MASTER, WHAT IS MISUNDERSTANDING? Sahajananda, misunderstanding happens only to knowledgeable people, it never happens to the innocent. It never happens to those who know that they know nothing; only to them understanding happens. But to those who think they know already, their very knowledge is a disturbance, a distraction. It is knowledge that creates misunderstanding. If you are already carrying something in your mind, and then you listen to me, there are only two possibilities: either you find me agreeing with you or you find me disagreeing with you. If you find me agreeing with you, you must have misunderstood, because I cannot agree with you. It is impossible, I can agree with you only if you are also awakened, if you are also in the same space, only then.
Question: BELOVED OSHO, IS MISUNDERSTANDING NATURAL TO THE HUMAN MIND? Milarepa, misunderstanding is certainly natural to the human mind. Mind is a misunderstanding, and through mind whatsoever you understand is misunderstanding. Understanding arises only when mind is absent, because what is mind after all? -- just a collection of thoughts, none of which is your experience. Through that screen of collected thoughts, whatever you see you interpret. You never see what is there, you only see what your mind can interpret. And all interpretations are misunderstandings. When there is no interpretation, you simply see the fact, the truth... that which is. Then the mind does not distort, does not color, does not give meanings to it. You don't have any mind; you are just an opening, a mirror reflecting reality as it is. What are the differences in the world between people?
Why is there so much misunderstanding in the world?
Now the same sentence takes a new meaning, just the contrary to the first. The meaning is that man is free. That man can be whatsoever he chooses to be. That man is a kind of god. That nobody decides for man, man has to decide for himself. That man's decision has to come from his own soul. What he is going to write on the tabula rasa is his own writing, there will be his own signature. Man has individuality. No mango tree has any individuality. No peacock has any individuality -- all peacocks are alike, and all mango trees. But man has uniqueness, individuality. There is great hope. Now see? The meaning has turned just to the opposite polarity. I have come across a third interpretation too. For others it means: Everything is permissible to man. And with that they abandon all restraint, they become licentious. They say,…