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Osho on Why do only negative emotions emerge during catharsis and not positive feelings like love and joy?

Why do only negative emotions emerge during catharsis and not positive feelings like love and joy?

To reach the depths of love and joy, you must first clear the surface of repressed negativity; only then will the treasures of compassion and bliss emerge naturally.

— Osho
According to Osho, negativity surfaces first in catharsis because it forms the upper crust of our karmic layers—like stones and rubbish encountered before reaching water when digging a well. Love, joy, and compassion lie deeper. Empty the repressed anger, jealousy, and sorrow completely; then their polarities—compassion, nonviolence, and bliss—arise naturally. Persist with continuous effort and awareness, without refilling the well through daily unconsciousness.

The nice feelings are deeper inside you, so when you start cleaning, the dirt on top (anger, hurt) comes out first, and once that’s cleared, love and joy flow by themselves.

In His Own Words

From the Discourses

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

The Great Transcendence · Discourse 4 Question 3
1975-11-14 · Buddha Hall · English

Beloved Osho, during catharsis I express only negative emotions, anger, jealousy, anguish, etcetera. Why do I not express love, devotion, bliss and religious emotions? Do I not possess them?

They are in you but they are a little deeper. When a well is dug, first of all it is stones, pebbles and mud which come out and not the water. It depends on the land also. Somewhere the water is at thirty feet and somewhere the water is at sixty feet deep. Water is certainly there. Every land has water underneath it but the difference is of depth. A simple-minded person will get the water soon -- maybe at two, three or ten feet, and if a complicated person digs then he may get it at fifty or sixty feet. An innocent-minded person will get it quickly, but a violent, angry man will take a long time to reach the water level. The difference is in the layers of the land. Water is underneath all land. The soul is there in everyone, godliness is there in everyone -- the…
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Bhaj Govindam · Discourse 4 Question 3
1975-11-14 · Pune · Hindi

Osho, when I do catharsis, only negative emotions like anger, jealousy, sorrow come out. Why don’t love, devotion, joy and religious feelings appear? Are they not within me?

The head servant got very angry. “Why did you hide it so long?” The servant said, “Even now I lack the courage to say it, but it has become unbearable; first hear my whole story.” The head said, “First tell me his name. Who is he? He will be punished.” The servant who had come to reveal the secret lowered his head and sat silently. The head asked, “Why don’t you speak? Say his name. What are you afraid of?” The servant said, “You won’t be able to believe it. It was our master who threw the seeds. Those weeds—our master himself sowed them.” Then both decided to keep this to themselves, to tell no one. Jesus’ story says: What you build in the day, you erase in the night; in sleep, in unconsciousness, you undo what you created in wakefulness. There are people who somnambulate—walk in sleep. Such cases…
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Vigyan Bhairav Tantra Vol 1 · Discourse 40 Question 4
1973-03-01 · Woodlands, Bombay · English

"what are the possible reasons for not having an explosive catharsis? I constantly, even with today's shaktipat meditation, have only a very mild catharsis. Does it necessarily mean that I am not open or not open enough, or are there other possible reasons? My concern over this then becomes a distraction to me during the meditation and after."

The first thing to be noted, to be remembered: catharsis will happen deeply if you just help it to happen, if you just cooperate with it. Mind is so suppressed, and you have so much pushed things down, that to reach them your cooperation is needed. So whenever you feel even a light catharsis, help it to become stronger. Don't just wait. If you feel that your hand is trembling, don't just wait, help it to tremble more. Don't feel, think that it has to be spontaneous, so you have to wait. If it has to be spontaneous, then you will have to wait for years, because for years you have been suppressing and the suppression was not spontaneous. You have done it on purpose. You will have to do quite the opposite now. Only then can the suppressions be brought to the surface. You feel like weeping; you weep…
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Another friend has asked in this connection: you say that revolution can only be nonviolent. But he says that revolution is always violent; a nonviolent revolution never happens.

In Russia, those who gained power were good men; before a revolution, everyone looks good. After power comes into hand, then it is revealed who is truly good and who is not. There is even the possibility that Stalin poisoned Lenin. And there is the possibility that one by one, all who had led the revolution were eliminated. Trotsky was killed in Mexico. Those who made the revolution were picked off by Stalin, one after another—because now the game of power had begun. In India, many fine, innocent-looking people made revolution with Gandhi—white as freshly washed garments they appeared. But once power came into their hands, we saw they had changed; they proved to be different men. Only their clothes were white; within, they were not. What happened the moment power was in their grasp? The real man inside showed himself. As long as there is no power, the real…
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I Say Unto You Vol 2 · Discourse 8 Question 5
1977-11-07 · Buddha Hall · English

Of what value are the 'cathartic' therapies: the reliving of one's traumatic moments or acting out of fears etc? Is not insight enough? Or bliss methods, such as sufi dance?

Mantra, insight is enough, but how to get the insight? It is hidden in much rubbish. The diamond is there, but it is hidden under much debris, dirt. The dirt has to be removed only then will the diamond be available, will the insight be available. The therapies do the spade work. If insight were available directly, it would have been very easy. Then you could become blissful any moment. But you are layers upon layers of repression. You have repressed your fear, you have repressed your anger, you have repressed your love, you have repressed your sex. You have repressed so many things! The insight is there, but these layers of repression have to be thrown out. The cathartic therapies help. They will not produce your insight, they will only clear the way. They will only make the insight available to you. The insight is there. Everybody has brought…
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