According to Osho, mastery and control are opposites: true mastery has no “self” to master—only pure, egoless awareness in which one belongs to the divine. Control, by contrast, is saturated with self; it inflates ego through repression and feats. Thus, ascetic control breeds pride, while acknowledged weakness can foster humility. Real freedom comes from selfless presence, not domination.
Real mastery is calm awareness without a bossy “me,” while control is the ego trying to boss everything and getting bigger.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Beloved master, what is the relationship between mastery over the self and control?
Nasruddin said, "I am a poor sinner, my dream was very ordinary -- very ordinary, not worth even telling. But because you insist and because we have agreed, I will tell you. In my sleep God appeared and he said, 'You fool! What are you doing? Eat the halva!' So I have eaten it -- because how can I deny his order? There is no halva left now!" Self-control gives you the subtlest ego. Self-control has more self in it than anything else. But self-mastery is a totally different phenomenon; it has no self in it. Control is cultivated, practiced; with great effort you have to manage it. It is a long struggle, then you arrive at it. Mastery is not a cultivated thing, it is not to be practiced. Mastery is nothing but understanding. It is not control at all. For example, you can control anger, you can repress…
You said that those who want to attain need discipline and effort at first. Is that not a thing of the ego, and will it not become more strengthened? I have always been hard on myself and missed much of the joys of life. Please explain the difference between discipline and control.
A student learns the word, the dead word; a disciple just learns the secrets of understanding, and when he has his own understanding, he goes on his own way. He pays his respect to Lao Tzu and says: Now I'm ready, I'm grateful, I go my own way. He will always be grateful to Lao Tzu -- and this is the paradox: people who have been deadly following Jesus, Buddha or Mohammed can never forgive them. If you miss your joys of life because of them how can you forgive them? How can you really be in gratitude? In fact you are deeply in anger. If you come across them you will kill them, you will murder them because these are the people who have forced you into a controlled life; these are the people who didn't allow you to live as you would have liked to live; these are…
If one is in the situation of muso's disciple -- wishing to terminate a samurai for daring to assault the master -- should one do it with concrete totality, and meditate after- wards, or suppress the ego-based impulse, or is there a third alternative?
The first thing, and the most basic to be understood, is that whatsoever you do, it should not be a reaction. If it is an act then there is no problem. If Muso's disciple had acted out of his spontaneity, Muso would have certainly blessed him, but he started saying, that he would like to do this, he cannot allow this man to live any more, he has insulted his master.... If he had acted rather than brooding about it, rather than bringing the mind in; if he had acted with no-mind, the master would have certainly blessed him. Action is always good; reaction always bad. So try first to understand this term 'reaction'. It means you are acting unconsciously. Somebody is manipulating you. Somebody says something, does something, and you react. The real master of the situation is somebody else. Somebody comes and insults you and you react, you…
A man of courage is always a king. Only cowards are slaves. But to really be a king one has to be A master of oneself -- not of others. That is very easy and cheap Because there are millions of cowards in the world Who are really hankering for somebody To enslave them, who cannot live on their own. They are always longing Tor somebody to dictate to them. They cannot move even an inch in their lives By their own light. They want to cling. They want to be guided, led, like sheep They always need shepherds. Hence it is very easy to become A ruler of people -- that is not worth much. The real problem, the real challenge, is To be a master of oneself. And that is the whole purpose of sannyas: To make you a master of yourself.
Prem means love, das means a servant -- a servant of love. But to be a servant of love is the way to become a master. One who is ready to surrender to love becomes immensely powerful. It is not a defeat; it is a victory. The way of love is very illogical. If you surrender you are victorious. If you try to save yourself you will be lost. If you are ready to lose yourself you will find yourself; in fact for the first time you will know who you are. The way of love is the way of paradox. In love opposites meet and become one: defeat and victory become one, life and death become one. All dualities disappear. Love means union of the opposites. Love is so vast that it can contain its opposite too and yet remain itself.