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According to Osho, true rebellion is fundamentally a yes: an affirmative, creative surge that inaugurates a new humanity—love, peace, joy, art, and oneness beyond families, nations, and religions. The necessary no only clears the rubble—demolishing harmful past structures—so the yes can build. Rebellion’s essence is constructive trust and creativity, with destruction serving creation in life’s dialectic.
Real rebellion mostly means saying yes to building something loving and new after clearing away what hurts people.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Beloved Osho, this morning the top of my head flew off to greet you. Like a lidless pot I sat drinking you in. Suddenly a question popped up: all the historical rebellions have a huge "no" at their source. Your rebellion of the soul is centered in the mystery of "yes." will you please speak to us on the alchemy of "yes"?
Certainly, a rebellion of my vision will take away all this garbage of nations, and discriminations between white and black, and give the whole of humanity a natural, relaxed, comfortable life. This is possible, because science has given us everything that we need, even if the population of the earth is three times more than it is today. Just a little intelligence is needed -- which will be released by meditation -- and we can have a beautiful earth with beautiful people, and a multidimensional freedom which is not just a word in the dead constitution books but a living reality. Devageet, one thing finally to be remembered: the days of revolution are past. We have tried them many times, and every time the same story is repeated. Enough. Now something new is urgently needed. And except the idea that I am giving to you of a rebellion, individual and…
Beloved master, one of the most beautiful and relaxing spaces I know is the one of "yes," and an acceptance of myself and others. Beloved master, would you like to talk about "yes" as part of the rebellion?
Sadhan, the ordinary connotation of rebellion will be easier with "no" than with "yes"; will be easier with disobedience than with obedience, will be easier with doubt than with trust. But that is the ordinary connotation of the word. The rebellion I am talking about is certainly a "no" to the past -- to all that is superstitious, to all that has harmed humanity, to all that has hindered the growth of human consciousness, to all that has made the world a hell. But this is not the basic part of rebellion. The fundamental part of the rebellion is, "yes." Yes to a new man, yes to a new woman, yes to a new kind of love relationship, yes to a new world without families, without nations, without religions. Yes to a whole humanity as one family. Yes to a world of peace, love, joy -- which to me are…
Osho, how can rebellion be receptive, feminine, yes-saying? It feels so much like a no to all these old things. Is it just awareness and love that is it?
REVOLUTION IS NO, REBELLION IS YES. Revolution is negative, rebellion is positive. Revolution says no to all that is wrong and should not be. Rebellion says yes to all that is beautiful, good. Revolution is past-oriented, rebellion is present-oriented. They are not synonymous. Revolution is destructive, rebellion is creative. Revolution can never be feminine, receptive, yes-saying. That is impossible. But rebellion is always feminine, always receptive, always yes-saying. I am talking about rebellion, I am not talking about revolution. Revolution is political, rebellion is spiritual. Revolution is of the crowd, rebellion is individual. You can be a rebel and you don't need anybody else to be with you -- you alone can be a rebel. But you alone cannot be a revolutionary; you will need a great organization, you will need a great army behind you. And the problem is -- one of the most significant things to be understood…
Beloved master, what is yes? I find that I have no real understanding of it. I have seen that whenever I say yes, there is a hint of surprise, as if I am amazed that there is no reason to say no. My yes is always instead of no. Where is the seat of this experience, yes...?
Just the other day Buddha was talking about trust: Trust, meditate, and see. Yes means trust, and trust is the beginning of meditation. Meditation means relaxing with existence. Unless you trust, unless you can say yes to existence, how can you relax? People cannot relax because they are afraid. People cannot relax because they fear that if they relax they may be cheated. People can relax only with others whom they trust. With a stranger in your room you may not be able to sleep in the night. Who knows, he may cut your throat. Who knows, he may steal your money and escape. But with your wife or husband you go into deep sleep, you can trust. The child can go with his father or mother anywhere. Even if the father is going into fire, the child can go singing a song, dancing, inquiring, questioning, unafraid, because he knows…
Question: BELOVED OSHO, WHAT IS YOUR NOTION OF REBELLION AND OF A REBEL? Giulia, my notion about the rebel and rebellion is very simple: a man who does not live like a robot conditioned by the past. Religion, society, culture... anything that is of yesterday does not in any way interfere in his way of life, in his style of life. He lives individually -- not as a cog in the wheel, but as an organic unity. His life is not decided by anybody else, but by his own intelligence. The very fragrance of his life is that of freedom -- not only that he lives in freedom, he allows everybody else also to live in freedom. He does not allow anybody to interfere in his life; neither does he interfere in anybody else's life.