According to Osho, vows have no intrinsic value; only awareness transforms. A vow signals inner unconsciousness and outsources discipline to social pressure and ego-prestige. Liars lean on oaths; the truthful need none. Real change arises when you see clearly—then the habit drops without witnesses, promises, or struggle. Handing your authority to public pledges breeds hypocrisy; reclaim it through alertness.
Don’t rely on promises to others; look clearly inside, and what’s false will fall away by itself.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Question: Second question: What is the value of vows in life? Vows have no value at all; only awareness has value. A vow itself means there is a lack of awareness, and you are trying to compensate for that lack with a vow. You have seen it: the more untruthful a person is, the more he swears oaths. He is always ready to swear in every matter. The liar walks leaning on oaths; he wants to pass off his lies as truth by taking an oath. In the West there is a small Christian mystical sect, the Quakers. They even refuse to swear oaths in court. Hundreds of times they have suffered punishment because the court insists they must take an oath, Bible in hand: “I will tell the truth.” But the Quakers’ point is right: is “I will tell the truth” something to swear about?
Osho, isn’t it possible that among them there was someone like that?
It is impossible, isn’t it! It’s like someone asking, “If a man gouges out his eyes, will he then be able to see?” Understand my point. I would say that whether he gouges his eyes for twenty-five hundred years or twenty-five thousand years, after gouging them out he will not be able to see. And only the one who has become afraid of seeing, who does not want to see, gouges out his eyes. What does a vow mean? A vow means your state of mind is one thing, and you take a vow that is the opposite of it. A vow is a rule of suppression. I am full of lust, I take the vow of celibacy; full of violence, I take the vow of nonviolence; full of possessiveness, I take the vow of non-possessiveness. No one has to take a vow of possessiveness, nor of violence, nor of…
An elderly, very significant and precious person told me—he was my host at his home—I have in my life... He is a follower of Acharya Tulsi, a Terapanthi Jain. And Acharya Tulsi’s business is precisely this: take small vows—anuvrata—swear and renounce... So I asked him, What have you renounced? You are his special follower. He said, What is there to hide from you! I have taken the vow of brahmacharya four times. Four times! For brahmacharya one vow should be enough; why take it again? Then I asked, Why not a fifth time? He said, I am tired; four times I took it and each time I broke it. So I have at least understood this much—that it will not happen of itself; therefore I have not taken it the fifth time. The total result of four vows of brahmacharya was that the man is filled with self-condemnation.
And if you go to a temple or mosque and swear: O Master, bless me, from now on I will always add two and two as four — it is clear you are deranged. And whoever blesses you is further gone than you. Your mind is broken. You suspect you will add two and two as five. To fight that suspicion you are making prior arrangements. You know your inner state that when I add, two and two will become five. 'No-no, swear, arrange in advance!' Then within you, you know two and two will become five, therefore take a vow and create a block so two and two will be four. But this is not knowledge; this is greed. The greedy man becomes vowed; the man of understanding is avratī. This does not mean there is no revolution in his life — only in his life does revolution happen!
The rabbi prayed continuously day and night for the three days. Fifty thousand dollars! -- and this man has not even given a single pai to anybody ever! The man survived. One month passed and the rabbi tried diplomatically many times to remind him about those fifty thousand dollars, but he would not even listen! He would not even talk about it; he would avoid the subject. Finally the rabbi was at a loss what to do. One day he said frankly, 'Have you completely forgotten?! What about those fifty thousand dollars that you promised for the new synagogue? Now you are okay. The miracle happened -- I prayed three days, day in, day out. I didn't sleep.' The old jew said, 'What fifty thousand dollars? What are you talking about? Did I promise you? That simply shows how ill I was, that's all.