What is the relationship between humility and ego in the context of respect?

Question: OSHO, WHAT IS THE PLACE OF SURRENDER IN YOUR RELIGION? That is the meaning of respect. It is one of the most beautiful words in the English language. It does not mean what it has come to mean: honor. No -- respect simply means re-spect, to look again. That's the literal meaning of the word; there is no place for honor. Just look again, look back, look deep. "Spect" means honor. "Spect" means to see, look; "re" means again. And once you knew the real self Before you entered and became part of a society, a culture, a civilization, you knew it. It is not a coincidence that people go on thinking that their childhood was the most beautiful part of their life.

Mahavira says humility is an inner quality—unrelated to the outside—unconditional. Not: “If you are like this, I will honor you,” but: “You are—enough. I honor you.” Because reverence is an inner quality, and reverence leads a person toward the inner self. I will honor you without conditions. Whether you drink or do not drink is not the question; that you are life is enough. This whole existence sustains you; the sun gives you light—it does not refuse because you drink. The winds do not deny you oxygen because you are dishonest. The sky does not say, “We won’t give you space because you are not good.” When existence accepts you, who am I to reject you? You are—that is enough. I give you honor, I give you respect. This simple, causeless respect for life is humility—without conditions, without investigation—because such investigation is impossible.

Osho, what is the relationship between meditation and patience?

If you sit to meditate to remove mental restlessness, you will keep looking back again and again: “Has it gone yet?” And the irony is that when you begin to meditate, restlessness will increase. Because what has been repressed will start surfacing; catharsis will begin. The rubbish you have kept hidden within and never allowed to express—meditation will break open those doors too. It will clean the house. Dust piled up for years, for births, will rise again; there will be gusts and storms. For a while even the little peace you had will be lost. Then you will panic: “I came for peace, and even what I had is gone.” Without patience, you could even become unhinged, because meditation brings such a great storm. The disease is not from a day or two; it’s from lifetimes. Meditation will break through all the layers to reach your innermost core. In…

Osho, what is the difference between surrender and blind imitation?

So be careful: the freedom you allow yourself, allow the other too. You have no right to judge another as blindly credulous or as a surrendered being. Drop that concern. You cannot judge anyway—how will you enter another’s heart? How will you know? Think only about yourself. See within whether, up to now, you have lived by blind belief or by surrender. Decide only there; leave worrying about others. Otherwise, all your judgments will be wrong. Jesus said: Judge not; do not set yourself up as a judge in relation to another. To the friend who has asked: if you are asking for yourself, good. Drop worrying about others. Look within and see: whatever I have been clinging to till now—have I ever staked my life to hold it? Have I meditated for it? Have I loved for it? Or am I just clutching what culture, society, civilization handed me?…

The so-called religious people are almost always egoistic people. Even if they pretend to be humble, you can see through their humbleness. There is a very beautiful anecdote about a mystic who came to see Socrates.... The mystic used to say that he was the most humble man in the world. He used to wear a gown full of holes -- dirty, rotten, very ancient. When he came to see Socrates, Socrates looked at him and said 'But through the holes of your robe, only ego is looking at me, nothing else.' And he was right! So somebody can cultivate poverty and become very egoistic about it, somebody can cultivate humbleness and become egoistic about it. To me, real humbleness arises as a fragrance of love. It cannot be cultivated, you cannot practise it, there is no way to learn it.