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What is the meaning of 'Don't do unto others what you don't want others to do unto you'?

Do unto others what you would love done to you, for in the embrace of positivity, awareness flourishes and the shadows of negativity fall away effortlessly.

— Osho
According to Osho, the negative rule ‘Don’t do unto others…’ stagnates awareness because it centers on avoidance and lifeless negation. Reframe it positively: ‘Do unto others what you would love done to you.’ Meditating and acting from the positive fosters growth, love, and creativity; then the “don’ts” follow effortlessly as a shadow—what you won’t do is naturally included without fixation.

Do good to others the way you want good done to you, and the bad stuff drops away on its own.

In His Own Words

From the Discourses

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

Tao The Pathless Path Vol 2 · Discourse 12
1977-03-08 · Buddha Hall · English

Don't do unto others what you don't want others to do unto you.' Osho, I was meditating about it, but I feel stuck, I can't reach the bottom. Please can you tell me something about it?

THE FIRST THING: never meditate on anything negative. 'DON'T DO UNTO OTHERS WHAT YOU DON'T WANT OTHERS TO DO UNTO YOU.' This is a negative message 'DON'T DO.' If you don't want to get stuck then meditate on something positive. The same thing can be made positive: Do unto others what you would like others to do unto you. Then you will not get stuck. When you move in a negative commandment you cannot move much. How can you move in a negative commandment? A negative commandment is like death. How can you meditate about death? You can start but you will be stuck at the very start. You can meditate about life, certainly. Life has so many things to meditate about -- the flowers, the birds, the rivers, the stars, love, people, the beauty of it, the song of it. You can meditate about life infinitely and you will…
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Is The Grass Really Greener · Discourse 14
1980-12-15 · Chuang Tzu Auditorium · English
Moses has said that something is right and something else is wrong and so has Manu and so has Mohammed, but it is not your heart. And the ultimate decision has to be yours. How can Manu, Moses or Mohammed decide for you? -- everything has changed. So much water has gone down the Ganges since Manu. Manu existed five thousand years ago and Hindus are still following his dictates; he has decided what is moral and what is immoral. No, this is sheer nonsense. Life has completely changed. If Manu comes back he will not be able to recognise anything he will be simply bewildered. He will only be able to understand his own book, MANUSMRATI, the book that he wrote five thousand years ago; everything else has changed. But he will certainly laugh at the foolishness of the Hindus -- that they are still following him.
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Jyun Tha Tyun Thaharaya · Discourse 4
1980-09-14 · Pune · Hindi · English translation

Osho, from the very beginning of life everyone is taught: speak the truth, do good deeds, do not be violent, do not sin. But we sannyasins are trying to walk exactly on this path; then why are we opposed? Please kindly explain this contradiction.

So Mahavira would not turn at night lest a bug be crushed. And naked Mahavira must have been tormented by bugs and mosquitoes—no doubt. Mahavira told his disciples: mosquitoes will disturb meditation—don’t worry; it’s a test. Mosquitoes have always been enemies of meditators! I once heard a mosquito telling his kids, “If you behave today, in the morning I will take you to Buddha Hall for discourse! But only if you behave!” Mosquitoes are old enemies. Mahavira said: mosquitoes will torture you; they will create obstacles in meditation. The ascetic pays them no attention; he remains in his meditation—let them bite; he won’t move a muscle. And Mahavira must have been all the more tormented—Jains say that when a snake bit him, milk flowed instead of blood! Will mosquitoes leave milk? So cheap—without going to a dairy—just suck Mahavira and drink milk! They must have swelled with joy! So Mahavira…
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Es Dhammo Sanantano · Discourse 76
1977-04-05 · Pune · Hindi · English translation

Osho, you said... then you will find that the devotee is God. The question arises: if one devotee prefers to be God and another wants to remain only a devotee, then which of the two is superior?

The one who wants to be God will not be able to be. And the one who wants to remain a devotee will become God. The question of superior or inferior does not arise, because only one of the two will happen. The one who does not want to be will be. The one who wants to be will be deprived. That very wanting is of the ego. But the matter is a little delicate. Sometimes humility too belongs to the ego. Beware that your humility may not be of the ego. Perhaps you are saying, “No, I don’t want to be,” because you know that those who refuse are the ones who attain. Then you are clever. Then your humility is adulterous. Your humility is not pure, not sacred, not virginal—it is like a prostitute. The one who wants to be God, whose ego says, “I must become God,”…
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Naye Samaj Ki Khoj · Discourse 4
1970-03-09 · Hindi · English translation

A friend has asked: Osho, what is the difference between sin and virtue? And as long as the mind is filled with sin, how can there be faith, devotion, feeling? How will prayer happen while the mind is full of sin? So first let the mind be filled with virtue; then prayer will happen!

It sounds right. It seems reasonable. Yet it is not right—and it is full of unawareness. It sounds right to say, “As long as the mind is full of sin, how can there be prayer!” But that is like a physician saying, “As long as you are sick, how can I give you medicine! First get well and healthy, and then take the medicine.” But once you are well, why would you need medicine? If you decide to pray only after you’ve dropped all sin, you will never get the chance to pray. As long as there is sin, you won’t pray. And when there is no sin left, why pray? What would be the meaning of prayer then? Prayer is the medicine. Therefore, one has to pray while still a sinner. And another thing: how will sin go? It cannot go without prayer. Those who try to remove sin…
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