People fight truth because it pops their nice dreams and shows scary facts like death, so they attack those who wake them up.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, why are the common masses against you, when what you say appears to us the very truth?
The king simply slipped away, took his fastest horse and rushed as fast as it was possible, away from the palace where the dream had happened. By the evening he had gone hundreds of miles, and he was very happy that he had come so far away: "Now it will be difficult for death to find me at the place, at the fixed time." The sun was setting. He had reached the outskirts of the city of Damishk. Just to rest... because the whole day he had not eaten, he had not even taken a cup of water. Time was so precious! Thirst is not going to kill you just in one day, hunger is not going to kill you just in one day. He was going to rest in a garden just outside of the city. He went into the garden and was tying the horse to a tree,…Read the full discourse →
Osho, what kind of justice is it that you are distributing nectar, yet people want to poison you! You want to give humankind a new life, and people are trying to snatch away your life! Does history keep repeating its mistakes?
You see this all around. The crowd has no insight of its own. No one in a crowd has their own seeing. That is precisely why they gather in a crowd. They think others will have the insight; the others think they will. No one has it. Kabir says: “The blind push the blind; both fall into the well.” The blind are shoving the blind. The blind have become leaders of the blind—and then all fall into the well. And you can see that every person has fallen into a well. In whose eyes is there a ray of joy? In whose being are the songs of love? Upon whose lips is the taste of nectar? Who has recognized God? Who has had a glimpse of the eternal life? Whose feet are ankleted with the eternal—whose life is a dance, a song, a celebration? All are sad—utterly sad. Everyone’s life…Read the full discourse →
Beloved Osho, I see that people go on saying that they want the truth -- nothing but the truth -- and freedom; they want to live in freedom. But when it actually comes down to it, nobody wants to hear the truth or live in freedom. They want to continue to live in lies and possess what they think they have. I see that in myself, and it is becoming less and less as I am walking the path with you. Why do we want to hold on to the ugly lies of life so much that we give up our trueness and our nature?
The court of the king was full. For the first time everybody was present; the queen was present, the princesses were present. The man said to the court and to the king, "I have brought the clothes. And for these clothes, the two, three million rupees that you have given are nothing. When you see the clothes you will see they are a thousandfold more costly. In fact you cannot appraise their cost on the earth; they are something that belongs to heaven. They are not found on the earth." The king was in a hurry. He said, "Open your box!" The man said, "The way it must be done has been explained to me. You give me your cap. First I will put your cap into the box, then I will take out the cap of God and put it on your head. Just one condition has to be…Read the full discourse →
Beloved Osho, I was blind. You gave me light for which I am extremely grateful. Until now, I did not ask a single question, but now I cannot hold back. Osho, it seems that some men of truth, after contemplating the consequences of telling the truth, came to observe, "say the truth, but say the pleasant truth. Don't say the truth that is unpleasant." Osho, please say something about it.
And in the evening a third man came. He was neither a theist nor an atheist; he was just an innocent seeker. He said to Buddha, "I don't know whether God exists or not. But there is a great urge in me to seek the truth. Can you be of any help?" Rather than answering him, Buddha closed his eyes. There was utter silence... and Ananda was surprised. Seeing Buddha closing his eyes and sitting in silence, that man also closed his eyes and sat in silence. Almost an hour must have passed. Then the man opened his eyes, touched Gautam Buddha's feet and said, "Your answer is so precious that I will keep it in my heart forever." Now it was too much, and as the man left, Ananda was furious. He said to Gautam Buddha, "What is going on? In one day you have contradicted yourself again and…Read the full discourse →
Beloved Osho, I loved it when once you said, "when I started I was in a majority of one." does truth always prevail?
Even today I am in the majority of one. I will die in the majority of one! Truth is not something that can become collective; it remains individual. The collective masses are not without reason so much afraid of a man of truth, because truth can never become collective; only lies can become collective. Even a single man of truth is enough to put fire to the whole forest of lies, because even thousands of lies cannot face a single statement of truth. Lies don't have any life; they are dead. They are just a burden -- they don't give you any freedom, they don't give you any joy; they simply burden you so much that you lose all hope of ever becoming a free individual and accept enslavement. And that is their function. Every society, every religion, every civilization is lying and corrupting the minds of their children with…Read the full discourse →