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Osho on What is the relationship between love and hatred?

What is the relationship between love and hatred?

Hatred is merely love's shadow, born from the wounds of familiarity; when we heal our past, love can blossom anew in the very places where hate once thrived.

— Osho
According to Osho, hatred is love’s shadow: it arises only from familiarity—traits you once knew, even loved, that later wounded you. Stored imprints, especially from parents, color perception; a father- or mother-figure triggers old failures, instantly turning love’s memory into aversion. Society’s manufactured reverence tries to cover these latent conflicts. Recognize projection, heal early wounds, and love can reappear where hate stood.

Hate shows up when someone reminds you of a person you once loved but got hurt by.

In His Own Words

From the Discourses

Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.

Tao Upanishad · Discourse 71
1973-06-22 · Bombay · Hindi · English translation

A friend has asked: Osho, you said that love is necessary for hatred. But many times, just on seeing a man with whom we have no acquaintance, we feel hatred; we don’t even feel like meeting him or talking to him. So in such moments, is hatred possible without love?

And there is another reason, deeper than this; keep it in mind. You often hate precisely those things—those qualities in others—which you hate in yourself. This is a little deeper; it is a layer even deeper than the previous one. When, suddenly on seeing a man, hatred arises in your mind, investigate whether this is not a part of self-condemnation. For what you find bad in yourself you will also find bad in the other. This is projection. What you wish were not in you—when you see it in another—hatred arises. Hence every expansion of hatred is, somewhere deep down, a part of self-hatred. Understand this. You do not want to be angry, yet anger happens. And you hate anger. So whenever you see a glimmer of anger in someone, hatred will arise. You do not want to steal, and yet you steal. So whenever you see a thief somewhere,…
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A Rose Is A Rose Is A Rose · Discourse 21
1976-07-19 · Chuang Tzu Auditorium · English
[A sannyasin asks about his relationship which is bringing up some hatred and aggression on both sides.] Mm, it's natural. When you allow love to come out, hate will also come out. That's why many people repress their love -- because they have been taught to repress their hate and they are both aspects of the same energy. They are not two; they are one. So when love comes up, hate will also, and if you repress hate, love will be repressed simultaneously. ... If you understand, you will not think in terms of wanting or not wanting. It is a fact. Your wanting or not wanting does not make any difference. One has to accept it, one has to accept whatsoever is. What can you do? If you repress hate -- and your dislike will repress it -- then immediately love will be repressed.
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From Misery To Enlightenment · Discourse 13
1985-02-10 · Lao Tzu Grove · English

Osho, you say that love and hate are one; but I see more hate in the world than love. At the same time, you say that enlightenment is neither love nor hate. Are you speaking of two different qualities of love? How does this fit with your message of love?

And it is only you who can find what is right for you and what is wrong for you. Then keep the thread of awareness running through all your actions, and in your life you will not find any hate, any anger, any jealousy. Not that you have dropped them, not that you have repressed them, not that you have somehow got rid of them, not that you have practiced doing something against them. No, you have not done anything, you have not even touched them. This is the beauty of awareness: it never represses anything; but there are things which simply melt in the light of awareness and change. And there are things which become more solid, more integrated, more profound, more strong: love, compassion, kindness, friendliness, understanding. All the religions up to date have been focusing people's minds on actions; and labeling -- this is bad, this is…
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The Heartbeat Of The Absolute · Discourse 7
1971-04-07 · Mt. Abu, Rajasthan, India · English
Question: HE WHO SEES THE ENTIRE WORLD OF ANIMATE AND INANIMATE OBJECTS Dislike or hatred of another is the basis of deep-seated complications for mankind. It can be said that the poison of hatred becomes manifest in all his poisonous displays. The word hatred means the desire to destroy the other. Love means being willing to sacrifice oneself for another, if necessary. Hatred means being willing to destroy another for oneself even if it is not necessary. In the way we all live there is an abundance of hatred and no music of love. The feeling which we call love is, in fact, a form of hatred. In making love we make another our means for happiness; and no sooner does one make another a means than hatred begins. In making love we live for our own self. We want to serve our own selfish end.
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Ishavashya Upanishad · Discourse 5
1971-04-06 · Mount Abu · Hindi · English translation
Verse (Sanskrit): यस्तु सर्वाणि भूतान्यात्मन्येवानुपश्यति। सर्वभूतेषु चात्मानं ततो न विजुगुप्सते।।6।। Transliteration: yastu sarvāṇi bhūtānyātmanyevānupaśyati| sarvabhūteṣu cātmānaṃ tato na vijugupsate||6|| Translation: He who sees all beings in the Self alone। and the Self in all beings—then he does not loathe।।6।। He who beholds all beings only in the Self, and the Self also in all beings—therefore he harbors hatred toward none।।6।। At the root of man’s deepest entanglements lies hatred. One can say: the poison of hatred alone erupts in man and in all his poisonous expressions. Hatred means: an eagerness for the other’s destruction. Love means: a longing for the other’s life. Hatred means: a longing for the other’s death. Love means: the readiness, if need be, to end oneself for the other. Hatred means: even if there is no need, to be ready to end the other for oneself.
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