According to Osho, destruction is not the enemy of creation but its prerequisite: two sides of one coin. Personal growth demands the courage to break stale beliefs, roles, and social arrangements, to discard accumulated junk of the past. When we let what is outlived die, fresh vitality and true creativity arise. Without this conscious unmaking, we hoard, stagnate, and mistake busy 'construction' for renewal.
Like cleaning your room: throw out broken, old stuff so there’s space for new, beautiful things to come in.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Another friend has asked; he has asked that... Osho, what difference do you see between socialism and communism?
I see the same difference as between the first stage of tuberculosis and the third—no other difference. Socialism is a somewhat pale, diluted communism; it is the first stage of the disease. And in the first stage the disease is not clearly visible, so it is easier to be taken in by it. That is why, all over the world, communism has started using the word “socialism.” The word “communism” has become notorious. And because of what communism has done to the world in the last fifty years, its respect has withered. In these fifty years, communism’s prestige has been dragged into the dust. So now communism has begun to use the word “socialism.” Now it talks of socialism and may even try to say it is different from communism. But there is no fundamental difference between socialism and communism—only a difference of words. Yet by changing the word we…
A friend has asked: Why are you destructive, why are you a demolisher? Why aren’t you constructive?
Perhaps that friend does not even know that destruction and construction are not two different things; they are two sides of the same coin. We think in a language where building is one thing and demolition another, and we imagine that whoever destroys is the enemy of the builder. The truth is: no creation ever happens without destruction. Where there is destruction, there is creation. When something dies, something is born. When something is erased, something is made. And if you become afraid of erasing, afraid of letting things die, afraid of breaking, understand that your capacity to create has ended—you will never be able to create. Why do I talk about destruction? Because destruction comes first and creation after. Creation cannot come first. What is, has to be broken. Once it breaks, then I will speak of creation. If you become my companions in destruction and things are broken…
Osho, you said that creativity is of the divine nature and that destruction and annihilation are demonic. But in existence both processes go on together. And it isn’t only in war that destruction happens; so-called acts of God are no less destructive.
The divine quality is creative; this does not mean that the one who creates does not also efface. To make, one has to unmake. If you want to carve a statue, you have to cut away the stone. If you want a tree to be born, the seed has to disappear. If you want to find God, you have to let your self be erased. Creativity does not happen without some dissolving. Something goes so that something can come. Dissolution is the very experiment of becoming. Then what is the difference? Because the divine quality also erases, and the demonic quality also erases. What distinguishes them? The difference is in the goal. The divine quality always erases in order to create. The demonic quality erases in order to erase. Even when the demonic seems to build, it builds only to destroy. The difference is this: if the demonic quality appears…
Osho, why are you destroying the great religious leaders and ideologies of the world?
I am not in favor of destroying anything at all. My whole approach is creative. But creation involves destruction. That is not my problem. Creation itself is not possible without destroying something. The moment you create something you are simultaneously destroying something else. But when destruction is on the way towards creation you need not be worried about it. It is not destructive, it is creative. Let me repeat: it is creative destruction. There is a possibility, in the same way, of destructive creation. What are nuclear weapons? Certainly a tremendous act of creation -- but for what? Where is it going to lead? What is going to be the outcome? -- nothing but pure destruction. So this is creation leading towards destruction. Only fools will call it creativity. And only fools can call my action destruction. So that is the first thing to be understood. It is not creation…
Beloved Osho, how can I come out of self-destruction? Are all unenlightened people self-destructive?
Yes. Unfortunately, all unenlightened people are self-destructive. They are self-destructive because they don't know why they are here, where they are going, what the meaning and purpose of their life is. Without knowing anything about themselves, whatever they do is going to be harmful. It is going to be harmful to you, and through you, to others. You cannot do anything but harm because your eyes are closed, you don't have any inner sensitivity, you don't have any creative joy. And above all, for centuries you have worshipped self-destructive people. There was a man in Alexandria who remained seated on a thirty-foot-long pole. It was a pole from an old, ancient temple which was now in ruins but the pole had remained intact. This man, Peter of Alexandria, remained for twelve years sitting on the pole. That was his only contribution to the world, but he was recognized by the…