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Osho on What is the difference between obeying and surrender?

What is the difference between obeying and surrender?

Obedience keeps you separate, while surrender is a total dissolution of the ego, where there is neither yes nor no, only the oneness of love.

— Osho
According to Osho, obedience keeps you separate and split between a forced yes and a repressed no, breeding guilt, hypocrisy, or even madness. Surrender is total: the ego dissolves, so there is neither yes nor no. In love with the Master, two bodies share one soul; the disciple ‘is not.’ This non-dual yielding is true obedience beyond choice, conflict, and revengeful unconsciousness.

Obeying is forcing a yes while a hidden no fights inside; surrender is dropping the ‘me’ that argues, so nothing inside resists.

In His Own Words

From the Discourses

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

Philosophia Perennis Vol 1 · Discourse 2
1978-12-22 · Buddha Hall · English

What is the difference between waiting for godot and waiting for god?

It is as if the sun has risen in the morning and you are sitting in your room with closed doors and windows, in darkness. Open the doors, you become available to the sun. The sun was already available -- just the meeting happens. You cannot wait for God. All waiting is for Godot. Godot means the one who never comes, who CANNOT come, whose arrival is impossible. And the only impossible thing is that which has already happened -- how can it happen again? You are alive, and you are waiting for life, Now, this is ridiculous. The real man of religion does not think in terms of God. He thinks in terms of life or, even better, of living -- because life can again become an abstract idea. Living, moment-to-moment living. In that very living, one knows what God is, because one knows who one is. Your idea…
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Walking In Zen Sitting In Zen · Discourse 11
1980-05-05 · Buddha Hall · English

Osho, please talk about surrender and obedience.

And because from the very beginning your father, your mother, your parents, your teachers, your priests are all teaching you, "Do this, don't do that," they all create a certain obedience in you. You become addicted to obedience; it is a drug. So when you come to me you would like.... People go on asking me -- I never answer their questions -- they go on asking me, "Give us detailed instructions what we should do and what we should not. We want clear instructions from you." I give you clarity not clear instructions, because my instructions may be right today and tomorrow they may not be right. My instructions may be a hindrance to your growth tomorrow because nobody knows about tomorrow -- it is unpredictable. So I give you clarity so that you can find your own way of life today and tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.…
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From Death To Deathlessness · Discourse 36
1985-09-10 · Rajneeshmandir · English

Beloved Osho, to be disobedient and to surrender seem to me polar opposites. Please explain how the two can be lived.

They are not polar opposites. Just a little awareness.... Be disobedient to your ego -- that is the meaning of surrender. If you want to be disobedient to the person you are surrendering to, then they are opposite, polar opposites. Then why surrender? Surrender simply means you trust the person more than your ego, you trust the person more than your own mind. Surrender happens only in a situation where you have found someone whom you can trust more than you can trust yourself. Then disobey your ego. But people never think in that way. They never think of disobeying their ego, they are always disobeying others. And they don't understand that disobeying others may be just obeying their own ego. This is what has happened with J. Krishnamurti. For his whole life he has been a teacher of thousands of people, telling them to disobey, to be rebellious, not…
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The Search · Discourse 2
1976-03-02 · Buddha Hall · English
Question: BELOVED OSHO, WHY DOES SO MUCH REACTION COME TO ME AGAINST DISCIPLINE? AND AN ATTRACTION AND A VOICE SAYING, "YOU MUST!" IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OBEYING AND SURRENDER? There is a great difference. Not only a difference: obeying and surrender are diametrically opposite. Listen well. If you are surrendered then there is no question of obeying. Then my voice is your voice; you don't obey it. Then I am no more separate from you. If you are not surrendered, then you obey it, because my voice is separate from yours. You manage to obey, you enforce a certain discipline on yourself. There must be some greed behind it. You must be looking for some result. So you obey, but deep down you remain separate. Deep down the resistance goes on continuing. Deep down you are still fighting with me. In the very word 'obey' there is resistance.
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Take It Easy Vol 1 · Discourse 8
1978-04-18 · Buddha Hall · English

What is the difference between waiting for godot and waiting for god?

It is as if the sun has risen in the morning and you are sitting in your room with closed doors and windows, in darkness. Open the doors, you become available to the sun. The sun was already available -- just the meeting happens. You cannot wait for God. All waiting is for Godot. Godot means the one who never comes, who CANNOT come, whose arrival is impossible. And the only impossible thing is that which has already happened -- how can it happen again? You are alive, and you are waiting for life, Now, this is ridiculous. The real man of religion does not think in terms of God. He thinks in terms of life or, even better, of living -- because life can again become an abstract idea. Living, moment-to-moment living. In that very living, one knows what God is, because one knows who one is. Your idea…
Read the full discourse →
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