According to Osho, spirituality cannot be defined; it must be explored by turning inward and asking 'Who am I?' Strip away borrowed beliefs and see the mind clearly—then you are no longer in it. That simple awareness, a state of no-mind, is enlightenment. It means living the utterly ordinary—loving, dancing, creating—with extraordinary intensity and presence, without esoteric fantasies.
Forget big ideas; look inside, drop secondhand beliefs, and be fully present in ordinary life—this clear, simple awareness is what people call enlightenment.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho: what is spirituality? And what is enlightenment? Mind is a monkey. The more someone wants to erase the impressions carried by him, the more he goes on gathering new ones. Osho, could you please show me a way?
How many Rajneesh sannyasins does it take to screw a lightbulb in? Almasta, five thousand plus one: one to screw the lightbulb in -- whose name is Haridas -- and the other five thousand to celebrate the great occasion. And her ninth and the last question is: How many Oshos does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Almasta, none... sitting silently doing nothing, the spring comes and the lightbulb screws by itself. G.D. Murthi, this is far more beautiful than your stupid question which appears to be spiritual. You are thinking you are asking something great: WHAT IS SPIRITUALITY? Never heard of it! AND WHAT IS ENLIGHTENMENT? How am I supposed to know? You seem to know everything! MIND IS A MONKEY. THE MORE SOMEONE WANTS TO ERASE IMPRESSIONS CARRIED BY HIM, THE MORE HE GOES ON GATHERING NEW ONES. Then stop erasing! Then why do you go on…
Beloved Osho, what is enlightenment? Have the experience and the idea of enlightenment evolved with time?
So nirvana is just like darkness. The light is put off and your reality is all there, with all its beauty, benediction, blessing. But there is no word in English to translate nirvana. Jainas use the word moksha. Moksha means absolute freedom, ultimate freedom, freedom from all fetters. And the biggest fetter is the ego. Other fetters are just parts of the ego: greed, lust, ambition, anger. All that is thought to be sin in other religions, in Jainism is thought only to be a fetter. But the root, the main root of the whole tree of your slavery, is the ego. So cut the main root and all other roots will die of their own accord. Don't bother to cut small roots, branches, leaves, because they will come again. Cut the main root and the whole tree will die. And when all your fetters fall, what remains? The unfettered…
Osho, what is the most significant thing about enlightenment?
People want definite answers to believe in: this way or that. Either be a Catholic or be a communist, but be clear. People want clarity because they are so confused, and this man brings all these seven categories; now their confusion is worse, they are even more confounded. First you were at least aware that you were confused. Now you will not be aware to which category you belong: yes, no, yes -- no both, neither yes nor no, or indescribable. Mahavira could not create a world religion for the simple reason that perhaps he had the deepest penetration into reality. If you ask about his enlightenment, he will answer in seven sentences. You will not be able to come to any conclusion -- and I feel this is something tremendously valuable. Why this urge to come to a conclusion? If existence is a continuum, an ongoing process -- never…
Osho, the famous psychologist A. H. Maslow has placed self-actualization at the last rung in the hierarchy of human needs. In your view, is enlightenment an essential need of human life, and have terms like religion and spirituality been unnecessarily attached to enlightenment? Please explain.
Hunger is a man’s first need, but van Gogh must have been receiving something that no one could see—some stream of savor must have been flowing. Otherwise why? What purpose? No prestige, no name, no money—hunger, pain, poverty—yet he goes on painting. When he began to paint, hunger vanished, the body vanished—he became bodiless. When all the paintings he had to create were done, he committed suicide. In the letter he left he wrote: “Now there is no meaning left in living.” This is most intriguing. He wrote: “What I had to paint, I have painted; what I had to hum, I have hummed; what I had to pour into colors, I have poured; what I had to say, I have said; what was hidden within me has been expressed; now there is no meaning in staying.” Those “meaningless” paintings were his very meaning. When that work was finished, he…
Spirituality is to be disidentified with everything that you can see, that can be an object to you -- so that finally you remain only the subject. Pure subjectivity is spirituality. It has nothing to do with renouncing anything. In fact, the spiritual being will be able to enjoy everything more intensely, more totally than the materialist. The materialist is very poor. All the religions have condemned the poor materialist. He has nothing worth condemning. His life is superficial. Spirituality is life in depth, in ultimate depth. You are centered at your very being. But you can go on living on the circumference, moving freely anywhere -- still remaining at the center. Your identity is at the center. You know who you are. Then there is no problem, if you enjoy food, if you enjoy clothes, if you enjoy a beautiful house, if you enjoy music, painting.