Why should the ego be removed if it is created by nature?

A friend has asked: Osho, since the ego too is born of nature, why is there any need to remove it?

Lao Tzu does not say, “Remove it.” Nor does Lao Tzu say that the ego is not born of nature. All illnesses are born of nature. Whatever is born is born of nature. Lao Tzu only says: if you cling to the disease of ego, you will suffer. If you want suffering, cling to it by all means. But man is strange. He clings to the ego and wants to attain bliss. Then Lao Tzu says, you are speaking wrongly. If a man wants to die, let him drink poison; poison too is born of nature. But if he says, “Poison is natural, so I will drink it; but I don’t want to die,” then he will be in difficulty. Lao Tzu says: if you want to die, drink the poison cheerfully and die. If you do not want to die, then don’t drink the poison. Death is natural, and…

One friend has asked, "ego is also created by nature then why should it be removed?"

Lao Tzu does not tell us to remove the ego, nor does he deny the fact that it is given to us by nature. All illnesses also, are born out of nature. Whatever is in creation, is born out of nature. Lao Tzu only says this: that if you cling to the malady that is ego, you will suffer. If you want to suffer then go ahead and cling to it! But man is strange! He clings to the ego and craves for bliss! Then, Lao Tzu says, you are doing wrong. If a man wants to die, he can take poison. Poison also is created by nature; but if the man is willing to take poison because it is nature's creation and is yet unwilling to die, then it is difficult. Lao Tzu says that if you want to die, take the poison and die. If you do not…

Before it comes into existence one lives moment to moment. Who cares to remember the past? So the child up to the third or fourth year remains spontaneous, wild, natural, outside society, on the fringe. It is a cultivated phenomenon, hence it can be dropped. If it were natural there would be no way to drop it. Because it is put together by society it can be easily dismantled. And that's what sannyas is all about, dismantling the ego. The process is painful because you have to become too attached to it. But once you understand that the ego is the root cause of all your misery, you are ready to go through the surgery. It is better to be finished with it in one stroke rather than to go on being miserable for your whole life.

Osho, ego is the greatest obstacle to taking sannyas. How can it be removed? The ego-sense does not go.

Ego has no reality. Then how to define it? Understand ego in this way: when you look outward, there is ego; when you look inward, ego departs. Enter meditation; drop the very worry of fighting with ego. Fighting the ego is like someone fighting darkness—pushing at it, trying to throw it out. No, I say, light a lamp. Enter meditation, enter prayer; light the lamp—turn within. Close your eyes and begin to look inside—what is there? You will discover one thing: you will never find the ego. And where there is no ego, there is the Divine. The Divine is your true nature; ego is your delusion. As someone sees a rope and takes it for a snake—or sees a snake in a rope—so is ego: a mis-seeing. To see what is, as it is—that is God-experience. And certainly, ego is the greatest obstacle to taking sannyas. But sannyas is…

Another friend has asked, Osho, how can we know whether we are in tune with nature or against it?

Ego is a scabies. It is not pure pain; there is a taste mixed in it. That taste pursues you—wherever you go. If you are suffering, know that the ego is there. If you are suffering, know you are going against nature. And there are two ways of going against nature. The body needs food. You can damage the body in two ways: eat so much that the body cannot bear it—suffering begins. That is against nature. Or don’t eat at all—fast—suffering begins. So note: there are two ways to be against nature, and one way to be in tune. And the human mind finds it convenient to move from one contrariness to the other—because that too is an extreme. That’s why those who overeat often agree readily to fasting. In truth, one who eats rightly will never get into the stupidity of fasting. Why fast? One who eats only…