According to Osho, idol worship is objectionable because clinging to a statue blinds us to the living presence of the divine in everyone; once God is seen in all, the very idea of separate worship collapses. Real devotion is compassion and awareness—like quenching a thirsty donkey—not carting ritual water. See life as sacred first; then even the stone is included, without attachment.
If God is in everyone, help living beings instead of staring at statues—that’s real worship.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
What my friend has asked is: Osho, if God is in everyone, then He must also be in an idol. So if we worship an idol, what objection do you have?
I object very much. My objection is strong. And the objection is precisely this: as long as you cling to the idol, He will not be seen in all. And once He is seen in all, then He will be in the idol too. But what need will there be for worship then? Who will worship? Whom will one worship—when He is seen in everyone? Eknath was returning from Kashi with all his friends. They were carrying water to offer at Rameshwaram. In between there was a desert, and a thirsty donkey lay there. Could God possibly be in a donkey? Never—how could God be in a donkey? In earlier primers for children, for the letter “ga” they used to write, “ga for Ganesh.” In some books people wrote, “ga for gadha (donkey).” The religious folk protested mightily: “This is very wrong. It should be ‘ga for Ganesh’—how can it…
A friend has asked: Osho, if God is everywhere, then why would he not be in an idol?
Of course he will be. But the one who insists that he is only in the idol will never find him everywhere. And for the one who does not find him everywhere, he cannot be in the idol either. God is everywhere—certainly he is also in the idol. But the person who says, “He is only in the idol,” for that person he is not everywhere; and for the one for whom he is not everywhere, he cannot be in the idol either. And the one who says, “He is everywhere,” will not go searching for an idol; whatever he encounters will be God. He will not go searching for a temple, because all is his temple. Then he will not say, “This is my idol; I will worship it.” Whom to worship then? When all is that. Every breath is that, every particle is that—so whom to worship? I…
Today I would request Osho to guide us on idol worship.
A Japanese seeker from Soto Zen told me of a practice: twenty-four hours a day the disciple intones “Muuuu… muuu…” After days, the sound storms inside; thoughts drop. By three weeks, the roaring “Muuuu!” possesses him. Food, sleep fall away; guards must watch him. At the final climax, a last thunderous roar—and suddenly all is still. For days he lies in deep quiet. When he returns, the old man is dead; a new man stands—continuity with the past broken. Om is such a sound; every religion has its own. As worship deepens, sound transforms consciousness. Repetition is crucial. If you sing one hymn one day, another the next, there will be no results. Continuous blows on one point drive the nail. But beware of mechanical repetition—then it is wasted labor. If the sound becomes your very life, every cell, bone, blood crying it—then sound can open the door. And all…
Question: In this context, listen to the second question. Satya Vedant has asked: Osho, in a recent statement Shri Dongre Maharaj said that a person who eats food without worshipping the deity is not eating food but sin. He said that the first vision of Brahman happens in the idol. Shri Dongre Maharaj said that one should drink water only after worshipping Ganapati. And Ganapati is the only deity who sits holding a laddoo in his hand! There is sweetness in this laddoo, because knowledge itself is the laddoo. He said that it is also necessary to worship the Mother, Shakti. Without Shakti life is useless. From Shakti comes devotion, and from devotion comes steadiness in meditation! By meditating on Ganapati obstacles do not arise. And by meditating on the Mother, Shakti comes.
There has been no society on earth which did not have an idol. No group of human beings in any corner of the world has existed where there was no idol in one form or other. This indicates that the idol fulfills some inherent need, not just for the individual but for the whole of humanity. It is only in this century or the last two hundred years that the concept of an idol has been shattered. Some people argue that idols are a meaningless burden, just stones, and they must be removed. But if first the meaning behind idol worship is properly understood, I don't think that any intelligent person will want to remove idols. But if the scientific thought behind idol worship is not understood, then idols will have to be removed; they can't be saved. They will probably fall away by themselves.