According to Osho, Ultimate Reality is purposeless, spontaneous lila—divine play. Creation, preservation, and destruction are not steps toward a goal but rhythmic expressions of the same Whole, like waves rising and falling in an ocean. There is no cosmic plan, sin, or blame; the wheel turns for no destination. Understanding this shifts us from seeking purposes to joyfully witnessing and participating in the dance.
Reality is like a game where things appear and disappear for fun, not for a big reason.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, The Ultimate Reality has been called supreme consciousness and supreme wisdom. But when we see within it this circle of creation, then destruction, then creation again, and then destruction again, it feels very strange. Can you explain whether there is any cause, any meaning, any significance, any purpose behind this cycle?
But even as he says it, he does not see that he is contradicting himself. On the one hand he says, “Remove this terrible form and be pleased.” Pleasantness is also a mode of activity. And on the other hand he says he wants nothing to do with activity, he wants to know the essence. Pleasantness is not essence. Pleasantness too is a doing. Just as fierceness is a doing, pleasantness is a doing. Just as death is a doing, so too is life. Yet we keep choosing. He says, “Be cheerful, be joyful.” He probably believes joy is essence. It is not. Essence is emptiness—shunya. And to see shunya is very difficult. We only perceive activity. Where do we see emptiness? Only when emptiness takes on the form of activity does it come within our grasp. Otherwise, how can it be grasped? If I simply sit here in silence,…
Osho, you have said: take life as Leela, a divine play. How? And if life is merely Maya, what is the need for this life?
Binding the infatuated with attachment, it ferries him across the mirage to the ocean. To this thousand-formed one I bowed my head and called her Rama-pervaded. Those who know will even bow to Maya—this too is His play. I tell you: don’t discard Maya; it is His shadow as well. The Beloved is dear, and His shadow is dear too. That is why I tell my sannyasin: no renunciation, no flight from the world. If you understand this shadow rightly, through this very shadow you will understand the One of whom it is the shadow. Yet I still say to you: lightly, lightly! Do not become grave and ponderous. For centuries, grave religion has committed great murder upon man. Temples turned gloomy; mosques, temples, churches became like cremation grounds. Do not become a renunciate. God is hidden in enjoyment—seek Him there. When you eat, seek Him somewhere in the taste.…
Another friend has asked: flowers bloom in their season, the moon rises on time, water turns to steam at one hundred degrees. If the whole universe is purposeless, then how is there such regularity? If all activity and movement are just lila—play, delight—why is there such profound lawfulness?
Remember: wherever there is play, great care has to be taken about rules. A game endures only by virtue of its rules. There is nowhere else for it to stand; only the rules are there. Two people are playing cards. There are rules by which they must proceed, because in a game there is nothing else—everything rests on rules. If the two card players do not accept even a single rule, the game stops. A game survives only on rules. So keep in mind: if you cheat in your business, people will not condemn you as much. But if you cheat while playing cards and violate the rules, everyone will condemn you. To cheat in a game is much despised, because you are pulling out the very ground on which the game stands. The basis of the game is the rules. There is so much lawfulness in this world precisely…
Osho, who am I, where have I come from, and what is my destiny?
He went with Farid. They undressed and entered the river. As soon as the man ducked under, Farid climbed atop him and held him down, pressing his neck so he couldn’t come up. The man began to thrash, like a fish flung onto burning sand—hands and feet flailing. But Farid was strong; still, when it’s life and death, hidden strength surges. The man, though thin and scholarly as inquirers often are, gathered all his might and with one wrench threw Farid aside and burst to the surface. Farid asked, “Did you understand something?” The man said, “Understand? You were about to kill me! Is this how one realizes God? Are you a man or a murderer? I had heard you were an accomplished fakir—but you seem mad. You were choking me!” Farid said, “We’ll talk about that later. First, before you forget—human memory is very weak—tell me: while I held…
Osho, alan watts once described the universe by saying, "it is as if god is playing a game." if there is no god, who is playing and what is the game?
The Master said, "That is the first requirement, that time is not binding. I cannot say how much time it will take -- one year, two years, ten years, fifty years -- nothing can be said about it. It all depends on you, on how quick you learn. I will try my best because I am old, I am also in a hurry. I was not going to accept another disciple, but if the king sends you -- he is my old friend, we both were under the same Master learning meditation -- I cannot refuse you. Your training starts from now." The prince asked, "What do I have to do?" The old Master said, "You have not to do anything except just ordinary things: cleaning, cooking, drawing the water from the well, cutting wood. But remember one thing, I can hit you any time from behind, so remain alert.…