According to Osho, pleasure and bliss differ qualitatively: pleasure depends on external objects or people, is momentary, creates bondage and fluctuates with age and circumstances; bliss is your intrinsic nature—an inner flowering—independent, self-sufficient, timeless, and liberating. Pleasure is fine but limited; a life built only on it remains shallow. Bliss arises by turning inward through meditation, discovering the freedom of your own being.
Pleasure comes from outside and fades; bliss comes from within and frees you, found by being quiet and aware.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, what is the difference between surrender and blind imitation?
So be careful: the freedom you allow yourself, allow the other too. You have no right to judge another as blindly credulous or as a surrendered being. Drop that concern. You cannot judge anyway—how will you enter another’s heart? How will you know? Think only about yourself. See within whether, up to now, you have lived by blind belief or by surrender. Decide only there; leave worrying about others. Otherwise, all your judgments will be wrong. Jesus said: Judge not; do not set yourself up as a judge in relation to another. To the friend who has asked: if you are asking for yourself, good. Drop worrying about others. Look within and see: whatever I have been clinging to till now—have I ever staked my life to hold it? Have I meditated for it? Have I loved for it? Or am I just clutching what culture, society, civilization handed me?…
Start with the body because the body is the most easily observable thing. It is an object. Thoughts ere also objects but they are more invisible. Once you have become aware of the body you will be able to watch your thoughts too. Once you have become aware of your thoughts you will be able to watch your moods too but they are the subtlest; so only at the third state that awareness has to be tried. Once one becomes aware of all these three concentric circles around your centre the fourth happening of its own accord. Suddenly you know who you are -- not verbally; you don't get an answer, you cannot tell anybody -- but you know. You know in the same way you know when you have a headache. You know in the same way as you know when you are hungry or thirsty.
Osho, could you say something about what is going on in Delhi?
I’ll tell a little story. When Lanka’s former ruler Ravana was on his deathbed, Rama sent Lakshman to learn statecraft from him—saying, “Son, we may have won, but we have no experience of running the administration here; go and ask him how to run things.” Lakshman went there and said to Ravana, “You are dying now—tell us how to govern here.” Ravana said, “Half the politics I handled, half Kumbhakarna did. Had you gotten in touch with Kumbhakarna as well?” Lakshman said, “Yes—he said: eat to your heart’s content and then sprawl on the sofa with your eyes closed. This is the best method.” “Tell me,” Ravana asked, “are you going to unleash dictatorship, or will you run things by democracy? Which method will be suitable?” “What will go down well with the people?” “Nothing,” said Ravana. “When you impose dictatorship, the people will yearn for democracy; and when you…
[NOTE: This is an unedited tape transcript of an unpublished darshan diary, which has been scanned and cleaned up. It is for reference purposes only.] Pleasure is from the outside and bliss is from the inside. Pleasure depends on others. Bliss is independent. Pleasure inevitably brings bondage. Bondage is sbsolutely part of pleasure, because the source of pleasure becomes more important than you are, and the fear arises that today it is available, but what is going to happen tomorrow? So make sure that it remains yours tomorrow too -- but then you have to bargain, you have to lose something, you have to pay for it. And then too it is never absolutely certain -- hence fear, anxiety. And when there is fear and anxiety and bondage, what pleasure can you have? It is all destroyed.
If it comes through the mind it is happiness, we know it as happiness. If it comes through meditation -- that is through being -- then it is bliss, then it is pure. Pleasure depends on the body and the body is not trustworthy. It is there today, tomorrow it is gone. Today it is young, tomorrow it is old. Today it is healthy, tomorrow it is sick. It is not dependable; one should not trust it very much. It is a very temporary abode -- just a bamboo hut. A small earthquake is enough to finish it! Or just a small fire, or just a strong wind, and it is gone, gone with the wind! One should not invest too much in the physical world. And happiness also is not of any more value -- a little higher than pleasure, a little better, but just a little.