According to Osho, drop all accumulations and let yourself become utterly empty; the first task is unlearning and cleansing the mind of doctrines and habits, like uprooting weeds before planting. Pass through this inner 'demolition' without adopting new beliefs on anyone’s authority; let your own seeing confirm it. In the silence of emptiness, fresh seeds of authentic life can sprout and right action arises.
Stop stuffing your mind; clean it out like a garden and sit quietly so real understanding can grow by itself.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Then at noon a friend said, Osho, you say we should do nothing. Then what should we do? Do not accumulate knowledge, no devotion and worship, no turning the rosary and chanting mantras—then what should we do?
He had thought the king would panic. The opposite happened—the youth panicked. The king lifted his hands to the sky and said, O God, the man I was waiting for has come. How many days you pointed the way—at last he has arrived. Embracing the youth, he said, You go inside; I will go out. And these clothes too—I’ll leave them; I’ve worn them long and am tired of them. Now I would like to go naked. The youth was alarmed. Wait! Wait a moment—let me think a little more. What is this? Why are you so eager to run? Why such impatience to leave your things? The king said, Don’t ask, don’t think. Life is long—think slowly. After all, I too reached here thinking over a lifetime. How can I tell you so quickly, and how will you understand? You go in; I go out. Life is long; you…Read the full discourse →
It is asked: Osho, if we drop acquired knowledge—if we let go of what we have learned—won’t it create dullness and inactivity?
I have heard: In a school a teacher was teaching his students mathematics. He asked the children: “In a small pen, in a little garden, eleven sheep are penned. Five of them jump out—how many sheep are left inside?” A child waved his hand, a very small child waved his hand first. The teacher asked: “What is the answer?” The child said: “Not a single sheep will be left.” The teacher said: “You are absolutely crazy! Five sheep went out and eleven were inside—none will be left inside?” The child said: “You may know mathematics; I know sheep. We have sheep at home. If even one sheep jumps out, none will remain behind. You may know mathematics, but I know sheep—there are sheep in my house.” Can we not say the same about man—that he has behaved like sheep? Can we say we are thoughtful like humans, or do we…Read the full discourse →
Osho, it is difficult to practice what you say. Please tell us, in meditation whom should one remember?
There is a story in the Jain scriptures. A young man returned after listening to Mahavira. He was sitting in his bath pavilion; his wife was rubbing ubtan on him, bathing him—an old story; now no wife bathes her husband. Even if the husband is bathing, she knocks at the door: “Come out—how long will you sit in there? There are other things to do than bathe!” Those were earlier days. She was rubbing ubtan, cleaning his body. They began to talk. The wife said, “You’ve returned from listening to Mahavira; my brother also goes to listen. He’s so impressed that he says, ‘In two or four years I’ll take sannyas.’” Her husband laughed. He said, “Sannyas—‘in two or four years’! There is no certainty of tomorrow, no certainty of the next moment!” The wife said, “I know—he’s practicing at home right now. When his practice is complete, he’ll leave…Read the full discourse →
Osho, you always emphasize experience. I have done everything—worship and rituals, yoga and meditation, vows and fasting! And for some years I even lived like an old-style sadhu. Yet nothing came of all that. What should I do now?
You have done nothing. Do you even know what fasting is? Fasting—upavas—means to dwell near, to sit close to the Divine. It does not mean starving. Yes, it often happens that sitting close to Him you forget food; you forget to eat. In real fasting, food is not in the focus—God is; and God is so much in focus that you forget the body. Then food does not come to mind: that is fasting. When you fast, the exact opposite happens. What you do should not be called upavas; that is why we have another word—anashan, a hunger strike. You go on a hunger strike: “Today I will not eat.” But have you seen what a man does when he decides to fast? “Tomorrow I mustn’t eat”—so tonight he stuffs himself. He makes up for tomorrow today. Is that fasting? And what will you do tomorrow all day? You will…Read the full discourse →
Osho, I am worn out from practicing religion—vows, fasts, yama and niyama—I’ve tried them all and found nothing. What should I do now? I have come to your refuge to ask this.
So sometimes fasting is useful. But fasting is not a way of life. Otherwise you are choosing slow suicide; you begin enjoying torturing yourself; you turn perverse and violent toward yourself. Such fasting is abuse—self-abuse—and no one can protect you from it. And your mute body already suffers so much at your hands. Do not imagine this abuse will bring you religion. Yes, the body will dry and wither—but do not fall into the delusion that the lotus of the soul blooms because the body withers. There is no necessary connection. So all that you did—yamas and niyamas, vows and fasts—each has its own value in its own place. But when you take them as synonyms for religion, Dayanand, you go astray. They are not synonyms. Religion has only one synonym—meditation. Mahavira used an exact word for it: samayik. The Jains call the soul “samay”—the timeless time. Samayik means: abiding…Read the full discourse →