What is the root cause of fear of other people?

Why am I afraid of other people?

If you are afraid of yourself. only then are you afraid of other people. If you love yourself, you love others. If you hate yourself, you hate others. Because in relationship with others, it is only you mirrored. The other is nothing but a mirror. So whatsoever happens in relationship, always know it must have happened before, within you -- because the relationship can only magnify. It cannot create; it can only show and manifest. If you love yourself, you love others. If you are afraid of yourself, you are afraid of others. Because, in coming in contact with others you will start manifesting your being. You have been conditioned -- in the East, in the West, everywhere. Christian, Hindu, Mohammedan, Jain -- you all have been conditioned to hate yourself. It has been taught to you continuously that to love oneself is bad. 'Love others. Hate yourself.' This is…

Beloved Osho, of my many fears, the one of which I am most aware is that of intimacy. I am like a hit and run driver in my relationships with people. Could you speak to me of my fear of intimacy?

Just an idea came into his mind at that moment that perhaps there is a train going to hell, also. So he rushed back to the station, and the train was standing at the platform, ready to leave for hell. He entered the train, and as the hell started coming closer, he was even more puzzled. The wind was fragrant with flowers. There was so much greenery, lush green. The station was so beautiful -- he had never thought that a station could be so beautiful. And people looked so happy, so joyous. He said, "My god, is there something wrong or what?" He enquired, "Is this really hell?" They said, "It used to be. Before Gautam Buddha, Socrates, Epicurus, Mahavira, Lao Tzu, people like these came here, it used to be hell. But now they have transformed the whole place." He entered hell and he could not believe --…

Beloved Osho, more and more it happens that I'm alone, and I am beginning to love and enjoy this silent space. But a fear is coming up: I am afraid that in this way I will lose contact with others and I will become a stranger. I feel a longing that brings me towards you, but a passion and desire to fall in love with someone seems to be no more there. My beloved master, can you please tell me what is happening? Am I right or am I going astray?

And once you start feeling the same heartbeat with these beautiful people who are here and around the world, you will not feel lonely. You will certainly remain alone, but you will never feel lonely. You will remain a stranger to the world, but I have gathered all kinds of strangers; you will not be a stranger here. Here everybody is a stranger, everybody is an outsider. Amongst my people, nobody will condemn you, nobody will say that you are worthless. You will be loved and respected as you are, not as you should be. Shoulds we have dropped; we live in the existential and the real. We don't insist that "first you should be according to my ideal and then I will love you." Once when I was a child my father told me, "Unless you follow the religion of our family, which our ancestors have followed for thousands…

Will you comment on the nature of fear?

He sailed off in his boat -- just in the middle of the lake he could not believe his eyes: those three persons, those foolish people, were coming running on the water. They said: Wait! Once more! We have forgotten! Now this was impossible to believe! The priest fell at their feet and he said: Forgive me. You continue your Prayer. The third love energy is prayer. Religions, organized churches, have destroyed it. They have given you readymade prayers. Prayer is a spontaneous feeling. Remember this story when you pray. Let your prayer be a spontaneous phenomenon. If even your prayer cannot be spontaneous, then what will be? If even with God you have to be readymade then where will you be authentic and true and natural? Say things that you would like to say. Talk to him as you would talk to a wise friend. But don't bring formalities…

It is arduous, it is very subtle, but one has to watch and work on it. Just watch.... Whenever you see that you are becoming tense because somebody is entering your territory, relax. Remember that he is just like you. We live in people, we grow with people, our whole life is entangled with people. We exist through people. We cannot exist without them. People are like the ocean and we are like fish. If the fish is afraid of the ocean, there will be trouble. One has to trust the ocean. It is our very life... we are born in it. If you were afraid of people then you would not have even been born. You entered a woman's womb; you became part of two people's love affair. You allowed two people to bring you to earth. You allowed two people to create a body for you.