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Osho on What is the difference between no-mind and my-mind?

What is the difference between no-mind and my-mind?

The only difference between no-mind and my-mind is the illusion of possession; when you drop the "my," consciousness expands into a boundless, silent presence.

— Osho
According to Osho, the only difference between no-mind and my-mind is possessive identification. The word “my” creates a boundary that imprisons consciousness; remove I, my, mine and mind opens into no-mind—limitless, silent presence. Drop identification, stay alert to self-deception, and the highest consciousness—an unmoving, pure awareness—reveals itself as an inexhaustible inner treasure.

If you stop saying “my mind,” what’s left is wide, quiet awareness.

In His Own Words

From the Discourses

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

The Great Pilgrimage From Here To Here · Discourse 23
1987-10-01 · Gautam the Buddha Auditorium · English

Beloved Osho, what is the difference between the emptiness of the child before the formation of the ego and the awakened childlikeness of a buddha?

Whether you are for it or against it doesn't matter -- your concern shows where your ego is hanging. And I will include the capitalist in it also: his whole concern is how to gather money, hoard money -- because money has power over matter. You can purchase any material thing through money. You cannot purchase anything spiritual, you cannot purchase anything that has any intrinsic value; you can purchase only things. If you want to purchase love, you cannot purchase; but you can purchase sex. Sex is the material part of love. Through money, matter can be purchased, possessed. Now you will be surprised: I include the communist and the capitalist both in the same category, and they are enemies, just as I include Charvaka and Mahatma Gandhi in the same category, and they are enemies. They are enemies, but their concern is the same. The capitalist is trying…
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Sat Chit Anand · Discourse 19
1987-12-01 · Chuang Tzu Auditorium · English

Beloved Osho, is there any difference between the state of no-mind and being present?

Just leave the mind aside ... But we are against the body, we are very condemnatory of the body, not knowing at all that this condemnation of the body is breaking the bridge to your being. A man of authentic spirituality is deeply in love with his body, because he knows body shares many things with being. Mind shares nothing, either with body or with being. It is an absolute stranger that has been forcibly put into you by the culture, the religion, the society. They are using the mind to enslave you. And because you are in the mind you continuously go on asking about things of which you have no experience. You don't know what no-mind is, except a word. You don't know what presence of being is, except that you have heard about it. Just words won't do. Move away from the mind ... And when I…
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The Great Zen Master Ta Hui · Discourse 4
1987-07-16 · Chuang Tzu Auditorium · English
Question: BELOVED OSHO, DO NOT GRASP ANOTHER'S BOW ACTIVELY TRY TO CLEAR OUT YOUR MIND, THEN YOU WON'T GO WRONG; SINCE YOU DON'T GO WRONG, CORRECT MINDFULNESS STANDS OUT ALONE. WHEN CORRECT MINDFULNESS STANDS OUT ALONE, INNER TRUTH ADAPTS TO PHENOMENA; WHEN INNER TRUTH ADAPTS TO EVENTS AND THINGS, EVENTS AND THINGS COME TO FUSE IN INNER TRUTH. WHEN PHENOMENA FUSE WITH THEIR INNER TRUTH, YOU SAVE POWER; WHEN YOU FEEL THE SAVING, THIS IS THE EMPOWERMENT OF STUDYING THE PATH. IN GAINING POWER YOU SAVE UNLIMITED POWER; IN SAVING POWER YOU GAIN UNLIMITED POWER. THIS MATTER MAY BE TAKEN UP BY BRILLIANT, QUICK-WITTED FOLKS, BUT IF YOU DEPEND ON YOUR BRILLIANCE AND QUICK WITS, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO BEAR UP. IT IS EASY FOR KEEN AND BRIGHT PEOPLE TO ENTER, BUT HARD FOR THEM TO PRESERVE IT.
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I Celebrate Myself God Is No Where Life Is Now Here · Discourse 2
1989-02-14 · Gautam the Buddha Auditorium · English
Question: The first question: TO US, ARE THE WORDS `GOD' AND `NO-MIND' SYNONYMOUS? No, not at all. God can never be synonymous with no-mind. God is always there, far away. God has been always referred to by the word `that' -- invisible, just a fiction. No-mind has been always referred to as this. No-mind is your reality, your ultimate nature; God was a mind-created lie. No-mind is your truth, your splendor, your very universe. They cannot be synonymous. God does not exist; no-mind exists. God is only a belief; no-mind is an experience. God has been the cause of all your mental sickness. No-mind is pure health, wholeness. The moment you utter the word `God' you immediately start thinking of him as a person, as a creator. No-mind is not a person; on the contrary, your very personality disappears, only then does no-mind start blossoming. No-mind is not a creator.
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The New Alchemy To Turn You On · Discourse 27
1973-02-14 · Anandshila · English

Are mind and consciousness two separate things or is the silent mind (or the concentrated mind) what is called 'consciousness'?

IT DEPENDS. IT DEPENDS ON YOUR DEFINITION. But to me, mind is that part which has been given to you. It is not yours. Mind means the borrowed, mind means the cultivated, mind means that which the society has penetrated into you. It is not you. Consciousness is your nature; mind is just the circumference created by the society around you, the culture, your education. Mind means the conditioning. You can have a Hindu mind, but you cannot have a Hindu consciousness. You can have a Christian mind, but you can't have a Christian consciousness. Consciousness is one; it is not divisible. Minds are many because societies are many; cultures, religions are many. Each culture, each society, creates a different mind. Mind is a social by-product. And unless this mind dissolves, you cannot go within; you cannot know what is really your nature, what is authentically your existence, your consciousness.…
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