According to Osho, real socialism is not a political or economic program but the fragrance of a meditative commune—a revolution in individual consciousness. When many egoless, meditative people live in communion (sangha), a new quality arises—true communism—free of power, ambition, and politics. Such socialism appears around an awakened center (a Buddha) and endures only while inner awakening continues.
Osho says true socialism happens naturally when people drop their egos through meditation and live together with open hearts—it doesn’t come from politics or rules.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, you have been speaking on several occasions against socialism, and yet I feel that in this commune the first experiment of an alive socialism is happening. Is this another of your contradictions?
THE REAL SOCIALISM can only be the fragrance of a commune deep in meditation. It has nothing to do with the social structure or the economy. Real socialism is not a revolution in the society, it is not social: it is the revolution in the individual consciousness. If many people who are going through an inner revolution live together, then there is bound to be a new quality. You can call it socialism; the better word will be "communism", out of "commune". Only a commune can have communism, but a commune exists only once in a while. When Buddha was alive a commune grew around him; he called it sangha, another name for commune. The meaning of sangha is: where the initiates have dropped their egos and are no more functioning like islands but have become one with each other, where a communion is happening. Communication is between the heads;…
So all that is unnecessary to teach and waste time, should be optional. Or for what libraries exist? People should go -- if they have an interest in geography and history, they look in the library. But more basic things... And whenever you create something, when your rose bush brings beautiful roses, you have a certain happiness that destruction cannot have. So education should be divided. A part we certainly need, but that too will not be a slave. But the major part should be made creative, he should not be dependent on anybody. Students should be supported in making communes, not factories owned by one individual. The commune owns everything and the commune provides everybody's need. This is my conception of an authentic socialism. VEDANT: SINCE YOU MENTION SOCIALISM, I HAVE A QUESTION. IS SOCIALISM VIABLE, AND IS SOCIALISM RELEVANT TO INDIA?
One sannyasin has asked: what is the difference between communism and socialism?
The next day, nearabout fifteen minutes before eleven, he became fidgety -- not knowing why. I asked, "What is the problem? Why do you look so tense?" He said, "I don't know, but something seems to be happening inside me." I said, "Nothing is happening." I took his pillow -- he watched -- and I put the pillow in my suitcase and locked it. He became more and more troubled. Exactly as it was coming to be eleven, he looked at the clock and he asked me, "Please give me the key." I said, "Why?" He said, "I want my pillow back." I said, "What are you going to do with it at eleven o'clock? In the night I will give it to you." He said, "No! Just give me the key!" I gave him the key, he opened the suitcase. It was exactly eleven; the clock was striking the…
Another friend has asked; let me take that question as well.
In this country the stark selfishness you see everywhere lies behind the teachings of the so‑called religious. Each person absorbed in his own little worries, with no concern for anyone else. Behind this are not the hands of “bad” people but of the so‑called good, for they teach: each individual should seek his own liberation, cancel his own sins, accumulate his own merits. There is no such thing as society; we are not connected; we are all traveling separately. This notion has turned India’s social life into a madhouse, an ugliness—a very filthy pit—because everyone is busy with his own worry. His own worry. The day Jesus was crucified—perhaps you don’t know—there was a man in the same village with a toothache. Jesus is being crucified—the most loving of men is about to be hung on the cross—and a man has had a toothache since the night before. From morning…
Question: OUR BELOVED MASTER, DOGO VISITED NANSEN, WHO ASKED HIM, "WHAT IS YOUR NAME?" DOGO REPLIED, "MY NAME IS ENCHI." NANSEN ASKED, "HOW DO YOU EXPRESS THE PLACE WHERE WISDOM DOESN'T REACH?" DOGO REPLIED, "I WOULD NEVER EXPRESS IT." NANSEN SAID, "THAT'S RIGHT. IF YOU EXPRESS IT, HORNS WILL GROW AND YOU WILL BECOME A BEAST." A FEW DAYS LATER, DOGO AND UNGAN WERE SITTING OUTSIDE THE DORMITORY AND DOING SOME WORK. NANSEN WAS TAKING A WALK, AND WHEN HE SAW DOGO, HE ASKED, "ENCHI, THE OTHER DAY, YOU SAID YOU WOULD NEVER EXPRESS THE PLACE WHERE WISDOM DOESN'T REACH. NOW, HOW ARE YOU PRACTICING IT?" HEARING THIS, DOGO SLIPPED INTO THE DORMITORY, WAITED THERE UNTIL NANSEN WALKED AWAY AND THEN APPEARED AGAIN. UNGAN ASKED DOGO, "WHY DIDN'T YOU ANSWER WHEN OSHO ASKED YOU THE QUESTION?" DOGO REPLIED, "WHAT A CLEVER CHAP YOU ARE!