According to Osho, the religion of the future will be grounded not in rational doctrines but in the mystical: direct, aesthetic experience of existence—like poetry, dance, and art—which awakens ecstasy, silence, and wonder beyond meaning. As reason has reached its limits, this religion rests on lived awareness and celebration rather than explanations, allowing consciousness to resonate with the mystery that pervades life.
It’s about directly feeling and living life’s mystery instead of trying to explain it with ideas.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, what is the definition of God?
Words are very small. If you say God is light, then what of darkness? The scriptures have said that God is light. Suppose we accept this as a definition—then what about darkness? Where will darkness go? Darkness is too; in fact it is far more than light. Light sometimes is and sometimes is not; darkness is always, eternal. Where will you place darkness? If you say God is light, darkness is left out. If you say God is darkness, then light is left out. If you say God is both darkness and light, a contradiction arises: they cannot be together. Try to have both darkness and light in the same room. If you bring in light, darkness disappears; if you preserve darkness, you cannot have light. Then how can both be together? That becomes an impossibility. So you cannot say “both” either. Then the fourth device is to say: it…
Osho, what is the definition of God?
Words are very small. If you say God is light, then what of darkness? The scriptures have said that God is light. Suppose we accept this as a definition—then what about darkness? Where will darkness go? Darkness is too; in fact it is far more than light. Light sometimes is and sometimes is not; darkness is always, eternal. Where will you place darkness? If you say God is light, darkness is left out. If you say God is darkness, then light is left out. If you say God is both darkness and light, a contradiction arises: they cannot be together. Try to have both darkness and light in the same room. If you bring in light, darkness disappears; if you preserve darkness, you cannot have light. Then how can both be together? That becomes an impossibility. So you cannot say “both” either. Then the fourth device is to say: it…
Osho, why is your religion so simple? Because of this simplicity it doesn’t look like religion at all but like a celebration, and for this very reason many people don’t find you religious. For myself I say: celebration is liberation, liberation is celebration.
And I have not cut sannyas off from the world. So they feel I have made it too simple. The truth is the opposite. Running away from the world is easy. All cowards run—and we clever folk give them beautiful names. You see temples everywhere named “Sri Ranchhoddasji.” Do you know what Ranchhoddas means? One who fled the battlefield—showed his back! But we decorated the abuse—Ranchhoddasji! A Vaishnav sadhu used to visit me; his very name was Mahant Ranchhoddasji. I asked him, “Do you know what your name means? It means coward, deserter.” He said, “Now that you say it, it seems true. But I never thought of it. For fifty years my guru has called me this; now I’m seventy. It never occurred to me that Ranchhoddas would literally mean this. But now you’ve created trouble—whenever someone calls me ‘Ranchhoddasji,’ I’ll remember it’s not a name, it’s a kind…
Osho, what is the name of your religion? Who is the deity of your religion? What is worship? What is the goal of your religion? What is the purpose of the organization that the thousands around you are creating? Please also tell us when and how the welfare of this sad humanity will happen.
My religion is rejoicing, celebration. Does celebration have a goal? Joy is its own goal. Ask someone, “What is the goal of your love?” He will tell you. Here in our country, anyone will tell you the goal of love: to get a scooter. Someone else wants something else in dowry. What all things people demand! The goal of love! If love is true, its goal is itself; it has no other goal. Love is its own joy—supreme joy. Joy has no goal. Religiosity is another name for joy. We sing love’s song to the instrument of ecstasy. With the heat of our sorrow we melt stone. Once we awaken, even on the gallows sleep does not come. If the time demands, we sleep on burning coals. Who could love life more than we do? And if it comes to dying—then we die. Even buried in the dust we cannot…
The religions of the past were anti-individual. They did not give individuals freedom; they did not give them individuality. They tried to make people into sheep. I want to give you freedom. I want to give you your uniqueness. You are unrepeatable. No one here is like anyone else. You need not be an imitation of another. Be as you are—and you must become only yourself. Only thus will you delight the Divine. If you are a rose, blossom like a rose; if you are jasmine, bloom like jasmine—you need not be a lotus. If you are a lotus, bloom as a lotus; the lotus need not become a rose. Accept yourself, embrace yourself. You do not have to become a Buddha, or a Mahavira, or a Rajneesh. You have to become you. And the day you become you, joy will dawn in your life.