What is the reason for being wrong in entirety—ego or ignorance, vanity or delusion? Are ego and ignorance interdependent?

Osho, the other day you said, “You are not wrong in part; you are wrong in your entirety. Whatever you are, you are wrong.” What is the reason for this—ego or ignorance, vanity or delusion? And are ego and ignorance interdependent?

First, these are all just names for one and the same disease. Suppose you fall ill and go to an Ayurvedic physician—he calls it dama. You go to an allopathic doctor—he calls it asthma. Don’t worry that you now have two diseases—that you’re in big trouble: dama as well as asthma! Go to a Unani hakīm or a homeopath and they’ll give still other names; their languages and technical terms differ. The human disease is one—call it ignorance, call it ego, call it māyā, delusion, unconsciousness, stupor, heedlessness, sin, forgetfulness—whatever you like. One disease, a thousand names. So first remember this: you don’t have many diseases. Even this will lighten your mind—that there is only one. And you don’t have to treat thousands of diseases; otherwise, if the disease doesn’t kill you, the medicines will. You don’t have many diseases. Illusion, envy, greed, attachment, anger—these are not separate ailments; they…

Yesterday Dhabbu-ji was saying, Osho, I finished my worship and then saw my little niece, a while later, sitting on the same seat with eyes closed, hands folded, swaying and singing: “Do bechaare, bina sahaare, phirte maare-maare!” (Two poor fellows, without support, roam around hounded!)

Dhabbu-ji told me this, and I burst out laughing. I asked, “Ninu, what’s this?” She said, “Please be quiet, I’m doing puja, Uncle!” Dhabbu-ji said, “Puja? But that’s a film song, not a hymn!” She quickly shot back, “In puja you and Grandma also sing ‘Om Jai Jagdish Hare’—that’s a song from the pictures too.” What difference does it make what you’re singing? Whether it’s a bhajan or a film song—within your sleep, all is equal. Even if you dream of heaven, it makes no difference. Even if gods appear in your dream, nothing changes. When you wake up, you’ll find all dreams were false. Some people are lost in worldly dreams; others are lost in dreams of renunciation. And these renouncers you’ve kept calling “great souls.” Their sleep is just like yours—no real difference at all. Even their dreams are like yours, because a dream is a dream; what…

Osho, you said... then you will find that the devotee is God. The question arises: if one devotee prefers to be God and another wants to remain only a devotee, then which of the two is superior?

The one who wants to be God will not be able to be. And the one who wants to remain a devotee will become God. The question of superior or inferior does not arise, because only one of the two will happen. The one who does not want to be will be. The one who wants to be will be deprived. That very wanting is of the ego. But the matter is a little delicate. Sometimes humility too belongs to the ego. Beware that your humility may not be of the ego. Perhaps you are saying, “No, I don’t want to be,” because you know that those who refuse are the ones who attain. Then you are clever. Then your humility is adulterous. Your humility is not pure, not sacred, not virginal—it is like a prostitute. The one who wants to be God, whose ego says, “I must become God,”…

Osho, whenever someone tells you that such-and-such is happening in meditation and you say, “Good, that is auspicious,” the ego grows even more. And at all other times the ego keeps raising its head. Even while writing this question the ego thought a lot about it, and still...?

And I tell you: only the shadow remains with you; you have lost the soul. Imagine what your plight must be! Losing a shadow caused such trouble; you have lost the soul and kept only the shadow. But perhaps you don’t notice much trouble because those among whom you live have also lost their souls. The truth is, if you gain your soul, the trouble begins—those without souls become your enemies. Otherwise, why would people stone Mahavira, insult Buddha, crucify Mansoor, poison Socrates, kill Jesus? The crowd is without soul. Whenever a soul-full person stands among them, they become very uneasy. What foolishness! They should learn from the soulful how to become soulful. But seeing a soulful person, they get anxious. They say, “His presence proves we failed to become what we should have become. We lost.” Anxiety arises: “Our life is wasted. Remove this man; his presence is a…

And whenever there is a man with a sincere enquiry the answer is not very far. In fact the answer is always hidden in the question itself; all that is needed is a sincere heart to enquire. When the question is authentic... Our questions also are not authentic, they come out of borrowed knowledge. For example if a Christian comes he will ask a question that no Hindu is ever going to ask. If a Hindu comes he will ask a question that no Mohammedan is ever going to ask. A Mohammedan asks a question which no Buddhist would ever ask. I have known all these people -- they come with different questions. I was puzzled, puzzled because if the question is real then it can't be that a Christian will not ask something and only a Hindu will ask it. If the question is real it is everybody's question.