According to Osho, the doctrine that humans must wander through countless life-forms is mainly a scare tactic—a psychological device to make you obedient. Fear of endless transmigration keeps you anxious and controllable, diverting you from direct awareness here and now. He urges dropping fear-based narratives and trusting immediate insight, so spiritual growth comes from presence, not manipulation or promised futures.
They say you’ll be reborn many times just to scare you into obeying, but you should simply pay attention to your own awareness now.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, you have frightened us a lot. After wandering through eighty-four crores of wombs (840 million life-forms) the blade of the wheel of life rises into the human form only once; and if, in this one chance, through stupor and ignorance the possibility of becoming divine is lost—and there is every chance of losing it—will one then have to wander again through those eighty-four crores of wombs? Please explain what is meant by the eighty-four crores of wombs and free us from fear.
I cannot free you from fear; only you can. The fear is real. You would like me to tell you, “No, no, there’s nothing to worry about, these eighty-four crores of wombs don’t exist”—so that you can feel light and jump back into the race of your desires. No, that I cannot say. It is as it is. The truth is that this wheel is revolving. If you do not make use of being human, you forfeit the right to be human. It is simple arithmetic. Human birth came to you for a reason. Someone asked Buddha—once a young man came wishing to renounce. He said, “Seeing you, watching you walk the path, your grace-filled radiance, that unearthly beauty—I have felt a deep longing arise. But never before had I thought of sannyas. I was never interested in religion and the like. I kept my distance from scholars and priests.…
Osho, what is the first experience of samadhi like?
You will know only when it happens. It cannot be said; at most a few hints can be given. It is as if, in the dark, a lamp is suddenly lit. Or as if a dying patient, right at the edge of death, suddenly finds a medicine that works; life’s wave, life’s thrill spreads again—so it is. As if a corpse becomes alive—such is the first experience of samadhi. It is the taste of nectar. The experience of the ultimate music. But it will be only when it happens; and only then will you understand. You will not understand by my saying it. It is as with love. How can anyone explain it? To someone who has never loved, never known love, no matter how many explanations you offer—he will hear it all and still ask, “I haven’t understood; please explain a little more.” It is like explaining light to…
Question: The first question: Osho! About thirty years ago in Jabalpur, when a pandit was disputing topics like moksha, Daddaji said, “You may know the scriptures and doctrines; I only know that this is my last birth.” On another occasion, he went to Kashi on work and attended a muni’s satsang. Finding Daddaji a stranger, after the discourse the muni asked, “I haven’t seen you here before!” He said, “Yes, I am not from here.” He asked, “Where have you come from, and where will you go from here?” He said, “I have come from Nigod and I will go to moksha.” Five years ago, when he had a heart attack, seeing Mother anxious he said, “Do not worry. I still have five years of life left.” Osho, please shed compassionate light on the mystery behind these proclamations of his.
Question: OSHO, IS THE THEORY OF REINCARNATION NOT TRUE? In my childhood I used to have one strange game, invented by myself -- very dangerous. I would challenge the neighborhood children to walk on a plank of wood that was just lying there. Our new house was being built, and there were many planks of wood; this was a long, flat plank. I would tell the children to walk on it, and they would; there was no problem. I would say, "You can walk on it? Then I will put it across two balconies." Then I would say, "Now walk on it. It is the same plank: you walked on it when it was on the floor. There is no difference, except that now it is high above." And they would say, "We cannot walk on it." But I said, "What is the difference?
Osho, Mahipal-ji asks about karma: this evolution that is happening—the animals and birds moving toward the human realm—is it simply the result of a spontaneous, automatic evolution that runs by itself, or does their conscious effort also participate in it?
As I said: when a new consciousness develops, new bodies must be assumed. When a conscious society’s numbers increase, new planets and satellites must be colonized. Scientists cannot explain how life first appeared on Earth; they can describe evolution, but evolution presupposes something that evolves. Where did life come from? If the fish became human, where did the fish come from? If plant became fish, where did life enter the plant? Life must come from somewhere. Similarly, when a mother becomes fit to conceive, a soul enters her. When a planet or satellite becomes fit for life, life migrates there from other planets. The first germs always transmigrate; there is no other way. From another planet—perhaps one where life is nearing its end—the seed comes. You also asked whether the efforts of Buddhas and Mahaviras—or I, or anyone—ever actually help beings to evolve. It has happened many times. Our view…