According to Osho, there is only one golden rule: there are no golden rules. What pass as “golden” are merely gold‑plated edicts ghostwritten by those who possess gold—the wealthy and power‑holders—draped in moral shine. Truth is living, not codified; rely on awareness and intelligence in the present rather than secondhand commandments.
No one holy makes perfect rules; rich and powerful people make them up—so trust your own awareness instead.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Question: BELOVED OSHO, WHO IS THIS GHOSTWRITER WHO IS MAKING THE GOLDEN RULES? Amrito, as far as I am concerned there is only one golden rule, that there are no golden rules. What are known as golden rules are only gold-plated. These so-called golden rules are obviously made by people who have gold. You can see that these rules are not golden but only gold-plated... Women have a much better time than men in this world; there are far more things forbidden to them. Many a romance begins when a girl sinks into his arms -- and ends up with her arms in his sink. Bachelor: A man who comes to work each morning from a different direction. Milligan's Law of Home Economics: Two can live as cheaply as one, for about half as long.
Beloved Osho, I have heard you know something about this guy murphy and some of his golden rules. Please tell us some!
Premraja, I don't know much about this guy Murphy, but I don't know much about anything else either! I am not a man of knowledge; I function from a state of not knowing, and I have found that that is the most beautiful space to function from. I have heard a few of the golden rules of this guy Murphy, so I will tell you a few. George Bernard Shaw has written a beautiful book, MAXIMS FOR A REVOLUTIONARY. The first maxim is a beautiful one: The first golden rule is that there are no golden rules. But Murphy has improved upon it, and George Bernard Shaw would have appreciated it very much. Murphy's first golden rule is: Whoever has the gold makes the rules. Second: Never think of the future -- it comes soon enough. Third: For every credibility gap there is a gullibility fill. Fourth: Youth looks ahead,…
Beloved Osho,
IN PLACE OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, WITH WHICH I WAS BROUGHT UP, I HAVE GIVEN MYSELF A NEW SET OF RULES -- BE ALERT, BE PATIENT, BE SPONTANEOUS, ACCEPT MYSELF. A game cannot continue if rules are not followed, but life will continue without rules. What rules are these trees following? What rules does the sun follow? What rules does the sky follow? The human mind is such that it thinks they are also following rules, moving according to rules. The sun moves, it follows a rule, so there is a ruler -- the God who controls everything. He is like a great super-manager. He goes spying on everybody -- who is following, who is not following. This is a mind creation. Life exists without rules; games cannot exist without rules. So real religion is always without rules; only false religion has rules, because false religion is a game. I…
Moses has said that something is right and something else is wrong and so has Manu and so has Mohammed, but it is not your heart. And the ultimate decision has to be yours. How can Manu, Moses or Mohammed decide for you? -- everything has changed. So much water has gone down the Ganges since Manu. Manu existed five thousand years ago and Hindus are still following his dictates; he has decided what is moral and what is immoral. No, this is sheer nonsense. Life has completely changed. If Manu comes back he will not be able to recognise anything he will be simply bewildered. He will only be able to understand his own book, MANUSMRATI, the book that he wrote five thousand years ago; everything else has changed. But he will certainly laugh at the foolishness of the Hindus -- that they are still following him.
Osho, the Buddha gave his sannyasins minute and detailed rules regarding diet and daily routine, conduct and behavior—such as looking no farther than four cubits ahead, exactly how monks and nuns should relate to one another, what to eat, what to wear, where to go and where not to go, and so on. Why don’t you set such things for your sannyasins?
Buddha said that so that monks would not start asking. It is ugly if a Buddhist monk becomes a beggar. A monk is not a beggar. He is not asking for anything. If you give—good; if you don’t—good. He will only bless you. And if he starts asking, he becomes a burden. Suppose he stands before a poor man’s house and demands kheer; if the poor man cannot give, he suffers; if he does give, he is strained. Whatever dry bread the poor can offer—accept that. If he gives nothing, do not harbor ill will or complaint. That is why it was said. Buddha could not know that life is such that a kite might drop a piece of meat. That is an exception. No kite is going to drop meat every day. But now this Buddhist monk asked, “What shall I do? And you say: do not eat meat.”…