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What will be the state of the ego when it decides on choicelessness?

Choicelessness arises not from a decision of the ego, but from its dissolution; it is the state where awareness simply is, free from the chains of choice and expectation.

— Osho
According to Osho, the ego can never 'decide' choicelessness; that very decision is another choice, keeping the chooser intact. Choicelessness is the state that dawns only when the ego dissolves—when greed, control, and the sense of doership drop. Then dualities cease, heaven/hell are seen as projections, and awareness remains without selecting, expecting, or strategizing.

If your ego says, “I’ll stop choosing,” it’s still choosing; real choicelessness shows up only when the ego’s need to control fades away.

In His Own Words

From the Discourses

Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.

Maha Geeta · Discourse 52
1976-12-02 · Pune · Hindi · English translation

Osho, if the ego decides on non-choice—“choicelessness”—what will be its state?

The ego cannot make such a decision. Non-choice, “choicelessness,” is the name of the state of consciousness when the ego is not. The ego cannot decide, “All right, from now on we are choiceless.” That itself is a choice. You have chosen again. You remain the chooser. People come to me and say, “The mind doesn’t become quiet. We try hard to meditate, but the mind won’t settle.” I tell them, “Drop worrying about peace. Just meditate; it will quiet down.” They ask, “Then it will become quiet?” I’m telling you to drop the concern. They say, “We agree to drop even the concern—but will it become quiet or not?” They don’t drop it. Even when they say they agree, they don’t really agree. A fortnight later they come back: “You said drop the concern; we did—but it still hasn’t become quiet.” They don’t even notice what they are saying:…
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That Art Thou · Discourse 40
1972-10-16 · Mt Abu Meditation Camp, India · English

One who has attained to the eternal absolute shall remain so even after death. So, oh innocent, attain samadhi, the highest state of unity with the supreme, and be free of the choices. The knot of ignorance in the heart is destroyed, the moment one achieves self-realization, through nirvikalp samadhi, choiceless awareness.

ONE SHOULD GIVE UP THE SELF BASED ON EGO BY STEADYING ONESELF IN UNITY WITH THE HIGHER SELF. AND ONE SHOULD BE INDIFFERENT TO EGOISM, ET CETERA, AS ONE REMAINS INDIFFERENT TO POTS, CLOTHES, AND OTHER THINGS. FROM BRAHMA THE CREATOR, DOWN TO THE STONE, ALL APPEARANCES ARE FALSE; THEREFORE, SEE EVERYWHERE YOUR OWN EXCELLENT SELF, WHICH IS EVER-UNCHANGING. THE SELF IS THE BRAHMAN, THE SELF IS VISHNU, THE SELF IS INDRA, THE SELF IS SHIVA, THE SELF IS THE WORLD, AND THE SELF IS EVERYTHING; AND THERE IS NOTHING OTHER THAN THE SELF. This sutra is concerned with choicelessness. Mind is always choosing -- choosing this against that. Mind is the mechanism of choice. Have you observed this? Observe: Mind is always choosing this against that. There is not a single moment when the mind is not in a state of choosing. We go on choosing -- choosing pleasure…
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Yoga The Alpha And The Omega Vol 9 · Discourse 2
1976-04-22 · Buddha Hall · English

Osho, you tell me to float, but my body is so heavy with a dead-weight mind that I feel I will drown if I float. So I keep swimming in panic.

And just as the wretched soul jumped into the pit, a whistle blew and a voice called out: "All right, everybody! Tea break's over -- stand on your heads!" If you choose you choose hell. Choice is hell. That's how you have created your hell all around you -- by choosing. When you choose you don't allow God to choose for you. Krishnamurti goes on insisting for choicelessness. That is just one end of the whole story. The other end is: if you arc choiceless God chooses for you. That is only half of the story -- become choiceless -- just the beginning. The moment you are choiceless life continues. You will not be there -- life will continue. And you are nothing but a hell. Once you don't stand between you and God he chooses. He has been always choosing for you. There is a proverb which says, "Man…
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Jin Khoja Tin Paiyan · Discourse 7
1970-06-15 · Bombay · Hindi · English translation

Osho, can there be an egoless program?

Yes, certainly there can be; it has nothing to do with ego. Ego is quite another matter. Ego is quite another matter. For example, we have decided that at five o’clock we will all sit with such-and-such preparations. In this, there is no question of the seeker’s being egoless; the only question is that the one who is to become the medium be egoless. And egolessness is not such a thing that you can sometimes be it and sometimes not. If it has happened, it has happened; if it hasn’t, it hasn’t—isn’t that so! If I am egoless, I am; if I am not, I am not. It is not that tomorrow morning at five I will become egoless. Do you understand what I am saying? How will I become? There is no method. If I am now, I will be at five as well—whether I make some arrangement or…
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Naye Samaj Ki Khoj · Discourse 16
Hindi · English translation

Osho, is choiceless awareness also a kind of choice? It seems to come down to a paradox.

No, choiceless awareness is not a choice. Choiceless means we do not make any choice, we do not select any option; we simply awaken. In that awakening we do not decide, “This is right, that is wrong; this should be accepted, that should be dropped.” We make no decision. We simply look, awake. In this awakened seeing there is no choice at all. And as long as there is choice, we cannot see with awareness. “Awareness with choice”—there is no such thing. Awareness, as such, is without choice. Awareness by its very nature is choiceless. So awareness can never be together with choice, because choice means bias has begun; sleep has begun. There are so many people sitting here: if I say, “Bacchu-bhai is a fine man,” then I cannot be aware in relation to Bacchu-bhai either, because my attachment has begun. Nor can I be aware in relation to…
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