Why do people lie?

I am addicted to telling lies. Why do I do it?

Vimal, it may be just to feel superior! People start telling lies because that gives them a speciality: they can pretend that they know things which nobody else knows. Truth is universal, the lie is private. It is your own creation, nobody else knows about it; you become very special, the knower. If you say the truth you will not be special. I have heard that in a village there was a wise man. Once it happened that from the palace of the king some very precious diamonds were stolen and the king's people were searching for the stolen treasure. The king had loved those stones so much that at any cost they had to be brought back, but no clue was available. Then somebody suggested, "We have an old wise man in the town; maybe he can be of some support, some help, some insight he can give. Whenever…

Osho, in every dimension of life it is difficult to bow before truth and easy to bow before lies. Why this topsy‑turvy?

Mukesh, that’s why friendship with untruth is easy: untruth never asks to transform you. Untruth says you already are what you should be—indeed, you are even better. It builds bridges of praise for you. It gives you great consolation. And how many lies we have fabricated! So many that if you start searching, you will be shaken. Truth is one; lies are endless. Just as health is one and diseases are many, so truth is one. And truth will not flatter you; it will not cajole you. Truth will seem bitter, because you have become addicted to the sweetness of lies. Lies come sugar‑coated. Truth is as it is—naked. Those addicted to lies will avert their eyes from truth; truth will not go down on their tongues. Truth will taste very astringent, very bitter. Remember, we live by habit. I have heard: on a road at high noon a man…

But Osho, I have learned that there are four types of movement: physical movement, intellectual movement, emotional movement, and the fourth is wisdom. Perhaps, in the ultimate state of leisure, what is meaningful is that a person’s intellectual or emotional capacities be stimulated, so that he can shift from one plane and move to another?

This is exactly what I am saying: for human energies to move into higher dimensions, it is essential that one be freed from the lower. So I do not say that the old man’s answer to Confucius was right. I do not agree with the old man—though I have heard that Confucius agreed with him. Gandhi would have agreed with him; I would not. In my view, perhaps the old man saved his son from laziness, but then what? The boy would still die harnessed to the plough like an ox. And if the old man thinks that if the boy uses a tool he will become a machine, has he noticed that by yoking him like a bull he is turning him into a bull? That does not occur to him. Besides, using a machine is not possible for an animal; it is possible only for man. So rather…

Question: Second question: Osho, why is untruth so influential? Understand this. To attain truth brings bliss—but truth will not come to your door saying, “I will give you bliss.” Truth says, “I am truth. Come, drown in me.” Bliss comes, but that is secondary; it happens of its own accord when you enter truth. The lie does not say, “I am truth.” It says, “Immerse in me; you will get happiness.” See the difference. Truth says only, “I am truth,” nothing more—no temptation. The lie won’t say what it is; it says, “Dive into me; you’ll get happiness—immense happiness. I’ll take you to a great heaven.” Your longing is not for truth; your longing is for happiness. People come to me and say, “We’ll meditate—what will be the benefit?” Even in meditation—benefit? Then your very question is wrong. You will enter meditation only when you leave profit and greed behind.

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…