What is the significance of humility in spiritual hierarchy?

Where there is anger, within there is ego. Where anger is not, within there is no ego. Anger arises only when the ego is obstructed—by nothing else. If your ego is constantly gratified, you will never be angry. If the whole world agreed to gratify your ego, you would never know what anger is. But if someone blocks your way, anger erupts. Anger is born when the ego is thwarted. Now, there remains no cause for anger—if I see that you move by your karma and I move by mine; on the road we only cross paths here and there. You speak from yourself; I speak from myself. Our behaviors coincide in the outer world, but that is incidental. No one is to be held responsible—hence no anger. And without anger, the ego loosens; it cannot stay dense.

Osho, you have earlier said, “Live moment to moment, live in the present.” Now you are saying, “Return to the past.” What should we do?

So it is with the mind—there are ruts. The past means endless grooves. However much you understand, your intellect agrees, you make decisions, you resolve—at the moment of resolve you feel something is going to change. But not even an hour passes before your decision breaks. Then only self-condemnation is produced, nothing else. Your saints, your fakirs, your priests and pundits—most of the time they only succeed in producing self-condemnation in you, nothing else. Their words are logically correct. You cannot even say they are wrong; you have to admit they are right. In that admission you take a decision. But against what are you deciding? Inside are grooves carved since who knows when, deep tracks. Walking in them has become a habit. It is easy to walk in them. They will pull you again and again. The meaning of returning into the past is: these grooves must be erased.…

Osho, the awareness of one’s smallness before this vast universe can strengthen an inferiority complex in a person and cripple him. And feeling inferior is not egolessness. Please tell us how to dissolve the ego without falling into inferiority.

Understand this well. Many people keep on making effort without caring whether the feeling is pure, the heart is pure; the consequences can be dangerous. A man may not purify his heart and yet cultivate concentration—he can. Even the worst person can become concentrated; concentration has nothing to do with goodness. In fact, a bad man may find concentration easier, because one trait of the bad is that whatever he does, he does madly. He is stubborn; evil cannot be carried out without obstinacy. For such a person hatha yoga is easy: once he gets a notion, he clings to it. He can be cruel to others and to himself. If you practice hatha yoga you will feel, “Why torture this body? Why sit so long? Legs ache; eyes water.” The wicked don’t care. They can torment others and themselves equally. You will be surprised to know that more than…

Beloved Osho, what is the difference between the emptiness of the child before the formation of the ego and the awakened childlikeness of a buddha?

Whether you are for it or against it doesn't matter -- your concern shows where your ego is hanging. And I will include the capitalist in it also: his whole concern is how to gather money, hoard money -- because money has power over matter. You can purchase any material thing through money. You cannot purchase anything spiritual, you cannot purchase anything that has any intrinsic value; you can purchase only things. If you want to purchase love, you cannot purchase; but you can purchase sex. Sex is the material part of love. Through money, matter can be purchased, possessed. Now you will be surprised: I include the communist and the capitalist both in the same category, and they are enemies, just as I include Charvaka and Mahatma Gandhi in the same category, and they are enemies. They are enemies, but their concern is the same. The capitalist is trying…

Another friend has asked something related. He says, Osho, when you get up—someone folds their hands to you, someone touches your feet—I feel very puzzled. He has written that he feels very surprised. Why should anyone touch someone’s feet? Why should anyone fold their hands to someone?

And then it is worth asking: someone else is bowing, and some third person is getting upset! If they were bowing and they themselves were troubled, it would be understandable. But one person bows at someone’s feet and another person gets disturbed. What a strange disturbance! Why are you disturbed? Why should I be disturbed? Two people are loving—and I become disturbed! I grow restless: why are two people loving? What does my restlessness reveal? One person is giving another respect, reverence, thanks—and I get upset. Why am I disturbed? There can be two or three reasons. One: seeing others bow, my inner ego, which never knows how to bow, gets badly hurt. If no one bows, it relaxes. If someone bows, it feels wounded. Like this: three men are walking and a beggar stands before them. One of the three takes out money and gives it, and the other…