According to Osho, people oppose certain teachings not from reason but from fear born of misunderstanding. Conditioned by conventions, traditions, and ready-made beliefs, their prejudiced minds mishear anything that challenges the past. Because authentic religion is individual rebellion—not a transmissible tradition—new revelations threaten inherited identities and security. Thus the masses resist what demands personal discovery, risking the admission that they and their forebears may have been wrong.
People resist new teachings because they’re scared of what they don’t understand and of losing the comfort of old habits.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Question: , WHY ARE PEOPLE SO MUCH AGAINST YOU? Sudheer, they are not so much against me as they are afraid of me. Out of fear they are against, but the root cause is fear. And why are they afraid? -- because they don't understand. It is misunderstanding. It always happens, it is bound to happen; it is nothing new. I say one thing, they understand something else because their minds are prejudiced. They have been brought up in certain traditions and I am breaking all traditions! They have been brought up to think in certain ways, and my whole effort here is to take you beyond thinking. People are conventional, conformist, traditional. And to me religion is rebellion -- rebellion against all conventions, against all conformities, against all traditions. Religion is never a tradition, can never be a tradition. Science can be a tradition but religion never.
Osho, why are so many people attracted towards you from all parts of the world?
DON'T know! I am also surprised; it should not be so. The government is against me, the society is against me, all the religions are against me, and still people go on coming. All kinds of barriers are created, still people go on coming. Something mysterious is happening, something which cannot be explained. Something is transpiring which is elusive. That's why those who come as observers or spectators or journalists cannot catch hold of it. So they collect rumors in the town from people who never come here, and they go on reporting. Almost all over the world, in almost all the languages, there are rumors and rumors. This is very strange! The people have not experienced what is happening here, they have not been participants, and yet they think they have understood. There are things which can be understood only when you participate. You cannot know what love is…
Why are your teachings not accepted as religion or religious by the society?
THEY ARE NOT RELIGIOUS OR RELIGION in the ordinary sense of the term. They are far more... they are far deeper and higher. The so-called society has no vision; it consists of blind people. It has always been happening. When Buddha appeared, they didn't believe that his teachings were religious. When Jesus appeared, they crucified him. When Mansoor declared, "I am God," they killed him. Mohammedans thought Mansoor was one of the greatest irreligious persons who has ever been on the earth -- to declare oneself God? This is KUFR; this is irreligion, this is anti-religion. Whenever it happens that something of the pure truth is expressed, is sung, the society starts becoming uneasy about it. It is natural, because the society has a very pseudo kind of religion -- comfortable, convenient, consolatory. It has false temples to worship in, false gods to worship, false priests to follow. And it…
Osho, why am I afraid of your neo-sannyas? I do not feel even a little afraid of the old-style sannyas.
Does any Jain read the Gita? Could a Jain really understand it? Impossible. He would find himself opposed at every turn; anger would arise at every step. He would find arguments against Krishna immediately. For Krishna tells Arjuna, “Do whatsoever God wills.” The Jain will say, “And if God is making him renounce, why are you making him fight? How can you decide what God wants?” If Arjuna were truly a Jain, he would have thrown down the Gandiva bow and said, “All right. Now I shall do only what God makes me do. God says, ‘Take the peacock-feather whisk and the begging bowl; sit under a tree; do tapas.’ It is the voice of my inner self!” You know this “voice of conscience.” Delhi politicians have popularized—or polluted—the phrase. Whenever they need to come or go, suddenly their “inner voice” is heard! Krishna deluded him—that is how Jains will…
Osho, why do Shankara and you, before telling us to sing the praises of Govinda, always address us as fools?
Edison said, people say I know a great deal. My condition is like that of a small child on the seashore who has gathered a few shells and conches. That is the extent of my knowledge—just a few shells in my fists—while the vast ocean lies there, unknown to me. Your little knowledge seems very big to you! You have lit a small lamp; its flickering light falls a little around you, a small area gets illuminated—and you call this knowledge! And the infinite lies there filled with darkness; you have no awareness of it! When you understand your foolishness, you will say, “Is this knowledge—the flicker of a tiny lamp!” The infinite lies ahead to journey through, to explore, to search—and I, clutching these shells in my hands, am posing as a wise man! Then you will drop even this “knowledge.” And the day you know that you are…