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Osho on What is the beatitude about those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake?

What is the beatitude about those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake?

To be persecuted for righteousness is a blessing, for it reveals your authenticity, burns the ego, and opens the door to the Kingdom of inner freedom and love.

— Osho
According to Osho, to be 'persecuted for righteousness' means society attacks you when you live from your inner rightness, not borrowed morality. Such persecution is a blessing: it proves your authenticity, burns the ego, deepens courage and aloneness, and opens the door to the Kingdom—an inner state of freedom, love, and God-alignment beyond approval or fear.

If people hassle you for truly doing what’s right inside, it makes you stronger and freer, bringing you closer to deep peace and love.

In His Own Words

From the Discourses

Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.

Beloved Osho, what is innocence, what is beauty?

In the moment of innocence, not knowing, the difference between the observer and the observed evaporates. You are no more separate from that which you are seeing, you are no more separate from that which you are hearing. Listening to me, right now, you can function in two ways. One is the way of knowledge: chattering inside yourself, judging, evaluating, constantly thinking whether what I am saying is right or wrong, whether it fits with your theories or not, whether it is logical or illogical, scientific or unscientific, Christian or Hindu, whether you can go with it or not, whether you can swallow it or not, a thousand and one thoughts clamoring inside your mind, the inner talk, the inner traffic -- this is one way of listening. But then you are listening from so far away that I will not be able to reach you. I go on trying…
Maha Geeta · Discourse 66Question 4 1977-01-16 Pune Hindi

Osho, the people in my home and village have been calling me crazy ever since I began to meditate. And sometimes I fall into conflict, into great confusion; because following what people say disturbs my peace. Osho, please guide my path and make my life successful. Asked by Swami Arvind Yogi.

And there is no greater courage in the world than sannyas. The crowd is worldly; to become a sannyasin is suddenly to step out of the crowd. The crowd does not like anyone to be different. The crowd wants you to behave as they do: wear the same clothes, sit and stand the same way, walk the same way, follow the same rites and customs. The crowd cannot tolerate your being otherwise, because your being otherwise implies: are you saying the crowd is wrong? Does it mean we are all wrong and you are right? When people saw Jesus, the question arose: if Jesus is right, what about us? Are we all wrong? So they crucified Jesus—out of compulsion, to save themselves. There was no relish in crucifying him; the “relish” was in removing the discomfort. If Jesus is right, then we are wrong—and that is too costly, too undemocratic.…

Osho, from the very beginning of life everyone is taught: speak the truth, do good deeds, do not be violent, do not sin. But we sannyasins are trying to walk exactly on this path; then why are we opposed? Please kindly explain this contradiction.

So Mahavira would not turn at night lest a bug be crushed. And naked Mahavira must have been tormented by bugs and mosquitoes—no doubt. Mahavira told his disciples: mosquitoes will disturb meditation—don’t worry; it’s a test. Mosquitoes have always been enemies of meditators! I once heard a mosquito telling his kids, “If you behave today, in the morning I will take you to Buddha Hall for discourse! But only if you behave!” Mosquitoes are old enemies. Mahavira said: mosquitoes will torture you; they will create obstacles in meditation. The ascetic pays them no attention; he remains in his meditation—let them bite; he won’t move a muscle. And Mahavira must have been all the more tormented—Jains say that when a snake bit him, milk flowed instead of blood! Will mosquitoes leave milk? So cheap—without going to a dairy—just suck Mahavira and drink milk! They must have swelled with joy! So Mahavira…

Osho, you often say that this world is an echo point, from where we receive back exactly what we give it: love meets love and hatred meets hatred. If that is so, why were Buddha and Mahavira tortured; why were Jesus and Mansoor killed? And why are you receiving false allegations, slander, and abuse here? And can this world ever find people who offer more guileless love and blessing than you?

These feeling-moments come within you. To block them you must heap every possible abuse on Jesus. You will have to prove to yourself—convince yourself with all kinds of arguments—that this man is wrong; do not go near him, not even by mistake. So remember: man maligns to protect himself. Before giving Socrates the hemlock, the very court that ordered it also felt within… Do you think those who stood to crucify Jesus had no doubt in their hearts? No question arose—What are we doing? Is this right? How is it justified? The same happened with Socrates. The judge felt a great stirring, because this man is certainly unusual, different, unparalleled. But no error appears in him. Nothing could be proved against him in court except one thing: all of Athens is against him. Nothing else was established. But if everyone is against him—the jury against him, the magistrate against him,…
The Messiah Vol 1 · Discourse 20Question 1 1987-01-18 Chuang Tzu Auditorium English
Question: BELOVED OSHO, THEN ONE OF THE JUDGES OF THE CITY STOOD FORTH AND SAID, SPEAK TO US OF CRIME AND PUNISHMENT. AND HE ANSWERED, SAYING: IT IS WHEN YOUR SPIRIT GOES WANDERING UPON THE WIND, THAT YOU, ALONE AND UNGUARDED, COMMIT A WRONG UNTO OTHERS AND THEREFORE UNTO YOURSELF. AND FOR THAT WRONG COMMITTED MUST YOU KNOCK AND WAIT A WHILE UNHEEDED AT THE GATE OF THE BLESSED. LIKE THE OCEAN IS YOUR GOD-SELF; IT REMAINS FOR EVER UNDEFILED. AND LIKE THE ETHER IT LIFTS BUT THE WINGED. EVEN LIKE THE SUN IS YOUR GOD-SELF; IT KNOWS NOT THE WAYS OF THE MOLE NOR SEEKS IT THE HOLES OF THE SERPENT. BUT YOUR GOD-SELF DWELLS NOT ALONE IN YOUR BEING. MUCH IN YOU IS STILL MAN, AND MUCH IN YOU IS NOT YET MAN, BUT A SHAPELESS PYGMY THAT WALKS ASLEEP IN THE MIST SEARCHING FOR ITS OWN AWAKENING.