According to Osho, the very concept of a beginning is logically impossible. Any start presupposes prior conditions, so it is already preceded by existence; likewise, every end implies a beyond. Boundaries exist only where two meet. Therefore existence is beginningless and endless; nothing can arise from absolute nothing, or it would not be nothing.
Everything comes from something before it, so there’s no first start or final stop—just an endless flow.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
To know? No, no. Not to know—about there being a beginning; the question of knowing does not even arise. If there is a beginning, it can be known. Whatever is, can be known. Now, what is not—what will you do about that? A beginning is impossible. The question of the limit of knowledge does not arise at all. That is, it is not that Mahavira says, “I don’t know whether there is a beginning or not.” I am also not saying that this is the limit of our knowledge—that we cannot find out when the beginning happened.
No, that is not the question. The question is that the very concept—the hypothesis—of a beginning is impossible; it is not possible. It is impossible because even for a beginning, something must already be there eternally; otherwise, even a beginning cannot occur. That is, for a beginning to be possible, existence must precede it; otherwise the beginning itself is not possible. And once there is a prior existence, it is no longer a beginning. And then you can keep pulling this back. Consider someone saying the world, existence, has a boundary. We might say: “We have no evidence of a boundary—of a point where the world ends, where existence comes to an end and beyond which there is nothing.” So we might say, “We don’t know. Perhaps one day man will reach that place where the world ends. Our knowledge is limited—we know very little. We have barely managed to…
Beloved Osho, the christian bible begins with the statement, "in the beginning, was the word." do you agree?
There has been no creation. How can there be "the beginning"? The creation is continuous; it is creativity. Back you move, you will not find the beginning; ahead you go, you will not find the end. It is beginningless, endless creative energy. So in the first place there was no beginning. God never created the world -- there is no God. And the Bible says, "In the beginning was the word." That is the most ridiculous thing to say. If we assume just for the argument's sake that there was a beginning, then I will say, "In the beginning there was silence." How can there be "the word" in the beginning? Just look at the idea. How can the word be in the beginning? -- then what was before the word? Of course there must have been silence, before the word disturbed it. And silence means much more because that's…
Question: YOU SAID THE OTHER DAY THAT NO ONE IS INTERESTED ANY MORE IN QUESTIONS LIKE "WHO CREATED THE UNIVERSE?" BUT A RECENT EDITION OF TIME MAGAZINE DEVOTED CONSIDERABLE SPACE TO AN ARTICLE ENTITLED "IN THE BEGINNING: GOD AND SCIENCE." THE BASIC THEME OF THE ARTICLE WAS THAT SCIENCE AND RELIGION HAVE BEEN BROUGHT CLOSE TOGETHER BY THE "BIG BANG" THEORY OF CREATION IN WHICH THE UNIVERSE IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE COME INTO BEING THROUGH A VAST FIREBALL EXPLOSION, FIFTEEN OR TWENTY MILLION YEARS AGO. TIME SAYS THAT THIS SOUNDS VERY MUCH LIKE THE STORY WHICH THE OLD TESTAMENT HAS BEEN TELLING ALL ALONG, NAMELY THAT THE UNIVERSE BEGAN IN A SINGLE FLASHING ACT OF CREATION. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE HYPOTHESIS THAT THE UNIVERSE WAS CREATED, THAT IT HAD A BEGINNING? AND WHY DO YOU ASSERT THAT IT DID NOT?
My mind has difficulty understanding the existence of beginninglessness. Would you please talk about it?
Slowly slowly, learn the art of contacting reality without the mind interfering. Sometimes when the sun is setting, just sit there looking at the sun, not thinking about it -- watching, not evaluating, not even saying, "How beautiful it is!" The moment you say something, the mind has come in. The mind consists of language. Don't use language. Can't you just see the sunset and its beauty? Can't you be overwhelmed by its beauty? Can't you be possessed by its grandeur? What is the point of bringing language in? Nobody is asking you to say anything. The sun does not understand your language, the clouds that have become so beautiful and luminous in the setting sun are unable to understand your language. Why bring it in? Put it aside; be in direct contact, be thrilled. If tears come to your eyes, good. If you start dancing, good. Or if you…
Beloved Osho, I see the beginning with you, but not the end. Please comment.
There is no end to this pilgrimage, there is only the beginning. It is a very profound question. Gautam Buddha is reported to have said "The world never begins, but it ends. Enlightenment begins, but it never ends. Ignorance has no beginning, but it has an end. Awareness has only a beginning, but no end." So it is absolutely correct that you cannot see any end, you can only see the beginning. It is not my fault, it is not your fault; it is how things are. In ordinary life, in the mundane life, everything is limited; it has a boundary to it. In the spiritual realm, no experience has any boundary; it is oceanic. It simply goes on and on, you never come to a point where you can say, "Now I have arrived." You are always arriving and always arriving, but you never arrive -- because that will…