According to Osho, he admires “my people” most—those who are with him on the path, his own community of seekers. Rather than idealizing distant figures, he honors the living presence and commitment of the people around him. His admiration is rooted in direct connection, shared inquiry, and the real-time transformation happening among his closest companions.
He most admires his own people—the ones around him on the journey.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Which philosophers influenced you, and which one is closest to you?
I don't like the word `influence'. I have not been influenced by anybody, and I don't want to influence anybody, because that is only a subtle name for spiritual slavery. But there are a few great human beings I have loved. Socrates comes first, because his devotion to truth is absolute and total. He is ready to accept death, but not ready to accept any condition. And the conditions were such that anybody would think they were acceptable. The judges themselves must have felt... Socrates argued so well, and his opponents had nothing to say, but because it was a city-state and a city democracy, everybody had the power to vote, and the mob was unable to understand what Socrates was saying. It went over their heads. They were all in favor that Socrates should be poisoned. But the magistrates gave Socrates three alternatives. They said, "You can leave Athens…
Beloved Osho, greetings from the indian "rajneesh times" family and everyone at the rajneeshdham neo-sannyas commune. There are many sannyasins both in india and abroad who have never seen you, but their love for you and their commitment to your vision is awe-inspiring. How exactly does this happen -- this much love, this much trust?
It is in fact easier if you have not seen me, and yet the love has happened, the commitment. It will be far more pure, far more unconditional, far more impersonal. Seeing me, being with me, and yet loving me totally, is more difficult. The reasons are that our minds are brought up in such a way that we are always full of expectations. If I fulfill your expectation, it is good; but if I don't fulfill your expectation, then your dedication, your trust, start wavering. And as far as I am concerned, I cannot fulfill your expectation. If I fulfill your expectation, then I will not be the person to help you grow. Your expectation fulfilled, you remain as you are -- no new openings. I am not here to support your mind. I am here to take it to ultimate heights. But your expectations are a problem. In…
Beloved Osho, some people are interested in you, some people appreciate you, others recognize you, and some fall in love with you. Please speak about the journey to the master and also the journey with the master.
They admire a novel of Fyodor Dostoyevsky, they admire a painting of Picasso, they admire the music of Mozart -- they admire me. But what can admiring the painting of Picasso give you? That's where it ends. It is a nice, heartfelt feeling, you are overwhelmed -- but then what? Your admiration is not going to change your life, it is not going to become a transformation. And what is your fourth category? OTHERS RECOGNIZE YOU. Right. The fourth category -- of the people who recognize me -- also consists of two types of people. One, which will be the majority.... It is again an ego number. By recognizing me they are trying to put themselves above me, to show that they understand me, that they understand my enlightenment, that they recognize me as a master. But it is almost like a blind man recognizing a man with eyes just…
Osho, are you in favor of hero-worship? Does hero-worship bring understanding or exaggeration?
Third, I oppose it because hidden within the feeling of worship is the notion that someone else will do something for me. That through worship, something will be done for me. If I worship Rama, Rama will do something for me. If I call out to Christ, Christ will do something for me. In this world, no one can do anything for anyone else. And those who get the idea that someone else will do something for them become deprived of what they themselves could have done. They fall into deep laziness and negligence. All devotees, all worshipers, ultimately fall into inertia; they themselves do nothing. They say, “There is God, there is the guru, there is the tirthankara, the avatar—when he does it, it will happen.” Unknowingly, what they could have done becomes impossible, because their mind clings to a prop: someone will do it. Fourth and finally, I…
Question: BELOVED OSHO, YOU ARE MY INSPIRATION. I HAVE HEARD YOU SAY YOU NEVER HAD A MASTER; BUT WAS THERE ANY SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR YOU WHEN YOU BEGAN YOUR JOURNEY? His wife said, "Come to your senses!" -- because he spoke in the same way, in an accent one hundred years old. His wife said, "Don't stretch the joke too much. Just become your real self and come home." He said, "I am my real self, I am Abraham Lincoln." For one year continuously he had lived as Abraham Lincoln, he died thousands of deaths as Abraham Lincoln; he had completely forgotten that he was ever anybody else. He was brought to a doctor. The doctor talked to him, but he was still in his dramatic role. The doctor said, "Just forget that drama." The man said, "What drama?