Desireless Action

When no desire arises for objects worthy of being enjoyed, know this as the limit of nonattachment. When no I-ness arises, know this as the limit of knowing.

WHEN THE DISSOLVED DESIRES DO NOT ARISE BACK AGAIN, THIS IS THE LIMIT OF RELAXEDNESS, AND SUCH A STHITPRAGYA, A SEEKER, STABLE IN WISDOM, EVER REMAINS IN BLISS. HE WHOSE SELF IS ABSORBED ONLY IN BRAHMA, THE ULTIMATE REALITY, REMAINS DESIRELESS AND ACTIONLESS. WHEN PURIFIED BY ITS ONENESS WITH BRAHMA AND DROWNED IN THIS ONE SINGLE RAPTURE, THE ACTIVITIES OF MIND ARE CHOICELESS AND REMAIN ONLY AS THE CONSCIOUSNESS, THEN IT IS CALLED PRAGYA, THE WISDOM. HE WHO ALWAYS HAS SUCH A PRAGYA IS CALLED JIVANAMUKTA, THE ONE LIBERATED WHILE LIVING. ONE WHO HAS NO I-NESS FOR HIS BODY AND THE SENSES, AND NO MY-NESS FOR THE OTHER THINGS, IS A JIVANAMUKTA, THE ONE LIBERATED WHILE LIVING. WHEN NO DESIRE ARISES FOR OBJECTS WORTHY OF BEING ENJOYED, THEN KNOW THIS AS THE LIMIT OF NONATTACHMENT. WHEN NO I-NESS ARISES, KNOW THIS AS THE LIMIT OF KNOWING. People come to me…

Osho, another difficulty has arisen. Today there is such a gap between the private sector and the public sector that if we destroy the private sector, initiative disappears—and when initiative disappears, movement stops. In the same way, when one descends into non-attachment, or desirelessness, or karma-sannyas, it seems that initiative, zest, and drive all get converted into inactivity. That possibility seems real.

Where we claim to go against biology but still obey biology’s rule—being attracted to the opposite—everything turns dull and empty. Houses remain huts, pressed to the ground; all activity wanes; no one sings; a singing person seems criminal; bright clothes disappear; color, charm, beauty are lost; everything becomes sad, subdued, and shrunken. My own view is that both have their own laws, and a true culture stands on both. A true culture will be sex-free in the sense of being un-repressed: it will rejoice in sex, be festive in sex, and vast worldly activity will arise. And true spirituality, based on the right choice of type, will spread a web of spiritual activity. Krishna stands rightly in his own type; Buddha in his own; Mahavira in his own. Hence Krishna acts in one way, but it is not that Buddha does not act. Buddha’s life, too, is a vast web…

Beloved Osho, I feel and realize the futility of desiring. There seems to be no ambition in me. But yet there is a thirst, a yearning, and an inner sense of unfulfillment. Please explain whether this too is a part of desiring.

Yes, this too is a part of desiring -- the negative part. Everything has two parts, the positive and the negative. The positive part of desiring is to desire something, to be ambitious. To be aware of the object of desire is a positive desire. The negative desire is: one is not aware of the object of desire, but one is aware only of the thirst of desire -- of the yearning. These are the two parts. The subjective feeling of unfulfillment is the negative part of ambition and being obsessed with an object of desire is the positive part of ambition. Both are ambition. And if you intellectually understand that desire is futile, the negative part will remain with you -- if you INTELLECTUALLY understand that desire is futile and this is not an existential experience. You have been hearing things, you have been listening and you have been…

Osho, why does every desire come carrying its opposite? Is its dividedness inevitable? And is no whole and undivided desire possible? What is desire?

One day, by mistake, he wandered into the camp of a Muslim chieftain. He was going along in ecstasy, dancing; the camp happened to be in the way—that was all. The women, frightened, screamed. A naked man, dancing in ecstasy, had walked in—they thought he was mad. Seeing a naked sadhu intrude, the chieftain, too, grew angry. He drew his sword and struck. One of Sadashiva’s hands was cut off and fell to the ground. But Sadashiva’s joy suffered no interruption. The hand fell, blood began to flow, yet the dance continued. Just as he had been dancing, he turned and kept dancing as he walked away. The chieftain was astonished, and also pained—he had never seen such ecstasy. And that a hand could be cut off and he would not even notice—such ecstasy! The man was in some other realm. Looking into his eyes, it was as if he…