According to Osho, boredom is not in life but in us: a dull, insensitive mind that stops seeing the ceaseless newness of existence. When perception is clogged with habit - 'inner gramophone' - everything seems repetitive, mechanical, and empty. In truth each moment is unrepeated, alive. Clear the dust through awareness and sensitivity, and boredom disappears.
Life isn't boring; our sleepy eyes make it look the same - wake up and look freshly, and everything feels new.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Question: OSHO, WHAT IS BOREDOM? ARE YOU NEVER BORED WITH LIFE? I said, "Simple, just open the show tomorrow. Declare that the show will be on and that it will be the first show. When the curtain opens, Janaka, the father of Sita, will declare, 'Yesterday, through the mistake of my servants, the real bow of Shiva was left In the palace. The bow that got broken was just a bow which children play with. Today, the real bow is here and the show starts.'" The manager said, "That good -- that will do." So the show started next day. People were laughing t because again it was a bamboo bow and if somebody wanted to break it, he could. But that Ravana was taken out, there was somebody else playing the role.; The story continued, and the people fell asleep and snored.
Beloved Osho, how is one to overcome boredom? How can one rediscover mystery in things that have become boring, repetitive, demystified?
What to do? Meditate. Whenever you see a thing which you feel is old, meditate. Look deeper, look again, think twice, feel, touch, be sensitive. Try to discover something new in it and you will always be enriched, you will always find something new there. Sometimes sit with your wife or with your child, with your friend, and look in the eyes, touch the face as if you are meeting for the first time. Close your eyes, put the light off, touch the face of your wife or your husband and feel the lines, the curves, as if for the first time. And suddenly the boredom will disappear, the person will become new. The person has always been becoming new only you never touched, your touch was dead. You never felt, your feeling was dead. "How is one to overcome boredom?" The first thing to remember, drop your pattern; your…
What exactly is boredom? If I don't do something, even something needless, a panic arises, a huge fear. What is it that causes this frenzy of movement? Why am I so uncomfortable with this feeling? The frustration of boredom increases when I think that what I would do is equally a meaningless frenzy. I feel caught.
ABHA, BOREDOM IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN HUMAN LIFE. Only man is capable of boredom; no other animal is capable of being bored. Boredom exists only when mind starts coming closer and closer to enlightenment. Boredom is just the polar opposite of enlightenment. Animals cannot become enlightened, hence they cannot become bored either. Boredom simply shows that you are becoming aware of the futility of life, its constant repetitive wheel. You have done all those things before -- nothing happens. You have been into all those trips before -- nothing comes out of it. Boredom is the first indication that a great understanding is arising in you about the futility, meaninglessness, of life and its ways. Now, you can respond to boredom in two ways. one is what is ordinarily done: escape from it, avoid it, don't look eye to eye into it, don't encounter it. Keep…
I get bored in the discourse. Then I fear and feel guilty.
It happened: A great Hassidic Master had a big book always by his side, and he would never allow anybody to look into it. When there would be nobody around, he would close the windows and doors. And people thought 'now he is reading.' Whenever there was somebody, he would put the book aside. And it was prohibited -- nobody should touch it. Of course, it became a great curiosity. When he died, the first thing the disciples did.... They forgot about the old Master. He was Lying dead; now nobody was to prohibit them. They jumped on the book. It must carry something tremendously meaningful. But they were very much disappointed. Only one page was written -- and the rest of the book was empty. And on that page also, there was not much, only one sentence. And the sentence was: 'When you can make a distinction between the…
Please explain the nature of the experiences we call boredom and restlessness.
No woman can believe that her husband is attracted to other women. There is the whole point, the whole crux. If he is not attracted to other women, how can she expect that he will be attracted to herself? If he is attracted to other women only then can he be attracted to her, because she is also a woman. The wife wants him to be attracted to her and not attracted to anybody else. Now this is asking something absurd. It is as if you are saying, 'You are allowed to breathe only in my presence and when you go near somebody else, you are not allowed to breathe. How dare you breathe anywhere else?' Just breathe when the wife is there, just breathe when the husband is there, and don't breathe anywhere else. Of course, if you do that you will be dead and you will not be…