According to Osho, the paradox is only apparent: you fear death not despite finding no relish in life, but because you still secretly hope life will yield its missing taste. Fear signals unfinished living and clinging to possibilities. When, through your own experience, it becomes clear that worldly life is inherently savorless (dukkha), the thread of hope snaps, fear of death dissolves, and the search turns inward.
You’re scared to die because a part of you still thinks life will get tasty; when you truly see it won’t, the fear drops and you turn within.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, I find no relish in the world, nor is life itself full of savor. Yet the fear of death persists. What kind of paradox is this?
Don’t turn back half-finished on the hearsay of saints. Otherwise, religion will never become the truth of your life, because you’ll have missed the very first truth. Without a foundation, how will the temple be built? Don’t return from the middle on the saints’ word. Don’t return until you have your own experience, until your heart is torn and tattered from all sides. Otherwise, what happens is you become a hypocrite—you turn back midway; you start putting on a show of one thing while inside you are in a different state. You sit like a monk, but your mind is in the world—in the shop, in the market. You close your eyes to remember Ram, but Ram doesn’t come; something else, ever and again, only the nets of the world appear. We are estranged from ourselves, we are broken and battered. Truth averts its eyes from us— so false are…
Osho, to remain awake to life, is the fear of death necessary?
I did not speak of fearing death, because what does fear of death even mean? It is essential to know that death is. The one who does not know this is the one who is afraid. To be afraid means we carry the notion that someday we will die—that what we presently take to be life will be snatched away. So the fear is that death might take away our life. That is what the fear is. But if you come to know that you are already dead, what is there to fear? If you come to see that every day you are dying, that much of you has already died, what is there to fear? As long as what you take to be life appears to you as life, the fear of death appears. And if this very thing begins to be seen as death, what fear of death…
Osho, you said the truth of life is death. Then what is the truth of death?
Buddha called this the state of suchness—accepting what is, as it is. No yes-and-no. No imposing your desire that it be like this or like that. As it is, let it be as it is. Kabir said: Just as it is—accept it as such. Because as long as you reject, you are fighting life—you are contending with God. You are trying to impose your will. You are not a seeker of truth; your ego is still thick. In accepting what is, as it is, the ego dissolves; there remains no place for it. The struggle is gone, the ego is gone. Ramana lay down. He consented: If death comes, it comes. What is in my hands? “Jih vidhi rākhe Rām, tih vidhi rahiye”—In whatever way Ram keeps you, remain that way. If death has come, it has come. This is how Ram wishes to take me—so be it. He was…
Osho, forget even talking about death—I am afraid of the very word. How can one get rid of death?
Kusum Rani! There is no getting rid of death. One will have to die! Death is the other side of the same coin as birth. Once you are born—once you have taken one side of the coin—how can you avoid the other? Death already happened in birth. It may take you seventy years to find out, that’s all; but the event has already occurred. The very day a child is born, cry then and there; death has arrived. Now, whether anything else happens in life or not, one thing is certain: there will be death. Life is wondrous! In it, nothing is certain except death. Everything else is uncertain—may or may not be; but death will surely be. However much you run and hide, no one can escape death, no one can outrun it. And the more you fear, the more you die. Death comes only once, but to the…
Osho, I can bear neither sorrow nor joy. I am frightened of everything. I am afraid of death, of course, but I am also afraid of life. What is the path for me?
You will be surprised. You say, “We want to live happiness with our whole heart, but it is rare; and who would want to live sorrow wholeheartedly! Why would one? And it is plentiful.” Try living sorrow wholeheartedly too. What do I mean? Suppose you have a headache. The usual concern is: how to get rid of it? If it doesn’t go, at least forget it. Take an Aspro or an Anacin. If it won’t go, may I at least not feel it. Try an experiment: Sit quietly; accept that there is a headache today. Acknowledge it. Drop the tension. Drop the ill will toward the headache. Drop the notion that it should go. It is—accept it. Relax and observe the headache peacefully. You will be amazed: as acceptance deepens, the pain diminishes. Try it; it’s experimental. These are the ordinary processes of yoga—this is real yoga. Physical calisthenics and…