The ego is the villain of nearly every story Osho told: the false center we mistake for ourselves, the one illness wearing a thousand names. But his treatment of it is unusual. The ego cannot be fought, he insisted, because fighting strengthens it; it cannot commit suicide, because it does not substantially exist. It can only be seen through — and what sees it is already free of it.
These four passages trace his anatomy of the ego, from its shadow-nature to the strange freedom of being nobody. Each links into the full discourse it is drawn from.
“A true devotee cannot harbor ego; in the surrender of love, the veil of the self falls away, revealing only the Divine.”
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks on ego — each links to the complete discourse.
How can I be nothing and unique?
You can be unique only when you are nothing. If you are something, you are comparable. If you are somebody you can be compared with others, and that which can be compared cannot be unique. Unique means incomparable. Unique means you are alone, there is nobody like you. So if you are somebody.... If you are a man there are millions of men; you are comparable. If you are rich, then there are millions of rich people; you are comparable. If you are good you are comparable. If you are bad you are comparable. If you are a painter you are comparable. If you are a singer you are comparable. If you are somebody you are comparable, and by being comparable you cease to be unique. The moment you attain to a nothingness, when the "I" disappears.... The "I" is comparable; the "no-I" is incomparable. That's why I say if…Read the full discourse →
Osho, can there be an egoless program?
Yes, certainly there can be; it has nothing to do with ego. Ego is quite another matter. Ego is quite another matter. For example, we have decided that at five o’clock we will all sit with such-and-such preparations. In this, there is no question of the seeker’s being egoless; the only question is that the one who is to become the medium be egoless. And egolessness is not such a thing that you can sometimes be it and sometimes not. If it has happened, it has happened; if it hasn’t, it hasn’t—isn’t that so! If I am egoless, I am; if I am not, I am not. It is not that tomorrow morning at five I will become egoless. Do you understand what I am saying? How will I become? There is no method. If I am now, I will be at five as well—whether I make some arrangement or…Read the full discourse →
If ego evaporates in the fourth stage, then what happens after the fourth stage is over and one comes back from meditation?
The ego returns, because the whole mechanism is still there. It has not died; the whole past is still there. For a while you were not part of it, for a few minutes you transcended the mind, the ego. You were beyond it. You left the house; now you have come back. But you cannot come back as the same person who left it because you now have known something beyond. You cannot be the same again, but still you come back. The easier it becomes to go out and come in, the more likely it is that a new stage will begin in which you are neither out nor in: you transcend both. This is the culmination, because then you can be out when you want to go out and you can be in when you want to come in. You are neither in nor out; you transcend both.…Read the full discourse →
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…Read the full discourse →
Read 8 more passages on ego
Osho, are mind, intellect (buddhi), chitta, and ego (ahamkar) distinct things—separate entities—or one and the same? And is the soul different from these, or is their aggregate itself called the soul? Among these, which is inert and which is conscious? And where exactly are they located in the body?
It’s like asking: is the father different, the son different, the husband different? No—the person is one. But before some he is a father, before others a son, before others a husband; before some he is a friend, before others an enemy; to some he appears beautiful, to others not; to some he is master, to others servant. If we had never visited that house and someone told us, “Today I met the master,” another said, “Today I met the servant,” a third said, “I met the father,” and a fourth, “The husband was at home,” we might think many people live there—some master, some father, some husband. The person is one. Our mind behaves in many ways. When it stiffens and declares, “I am everything; no one else is anything,” it appears as ego—ahamkar. That is one mode of the mind’s functioning. When the mind thinks—reasons—it is buddhi, intellect.…Read the full discourse →
What is the difference between waiting for godot and waiting for god?
It is as if the sun has risen in the morning and you are sitting in your room with closed doors and windows, in darkness. Open the doors, you become available to the sun. The sun was already available -- just the meeting happens. You cannot wait for God. All waiting is for Godot. Godot means the one who never comes, who CANNOT come, whose arrival is impossible. And the only impossible thing is that which has already happened -- how can it happen again? You are alive, and you are waiting for life, Now, this is ridiculous. The real man of religion does not think in terms of God. He thinks in terms of life or, even better, of living -- because life can again become an abstract idea. Living, moment-to-moment living. In that very living, one knows what God is, because one knows who one is. Your idea…Read the full discourse →
You said that noise and disturbances are not outside in the world, but are because of your own minds and ego. But why do the saints and mystics always live in unnoisy, uncrowded places?
Because they are still not saints and mystics. They are still endeavoring, still working. They are seekers, not SIDDHAS. They have not reached. Noise will disturb them, the crowd will disturb them. The crowd will pull them back to its own level. They are still weak, they need protection. They are still not confident. They cannot move into temptation. They have to protect themselves in the lonely solitude where they can grow and become strong. When they are strong there will be no problem. Mahavir moved into the wilderness. For twelve years he was alone, silent, not talking, not moving in villages or cities. Then he became enlightened. Then he came back to the world. Buddha was in total silence for six years. Then he came back to the world. Jesus or Mohammed, or anyone -- when they are growing they need protected conditions. When they have grown, then there…Read the full discourse →
Can the ego commit suicide?
NO, BECAUSE IT IS NOT. To commit suicide it is needed to be there. Let me put it in another way: can a shadow commit suicide? A shadow cannot commit suicide because a shadow doesn't exist. If you commit suicide, if you cut off your head, then the shadow will be without a head. It simply follows you. The ego is just a shadow, it cannot commit suicide. If you cut off your head, the ego commits suicide -- not that it commits, it happens. Try to understand that the ego is not substantial; the ego is just like a shadow. The body moves -- a shadow is created, a physical shadow; the mind moves -- a mental shadow is created. That mental shadow is the ego. When the mind stops there is no ego, when the mind is not functioning there is no ego. When the mind is functioning…Read the full discourse →
Beloved Osho, you say that one attains truth with the grace of the master. Then why do you also encourage the effort of ego?
Truth is attained by the grace of the master. But you cannot get the grace of the master without effort. The divine is attained through grace, but one has to seek the master; one has to have the ability to be near the master. Effort has to be made, but always remember that the ultimate is attained without effort. This will seem contradictory to you but these are the two wings, the two oars -- effort and grace. The journey is completed with these two. In this world there are two types of illusion. Some people think that they will attain the divine by their effort. They never attain because their ego never disappears; the effort makes it even stronger -- the doors remain closed instead of opening. There is also the other type of people who believe that the divine cannot be attained through effort, but only through grace.…Read the full discourse →
Before I know it my watcher turns into my judger. What to do?
Don't judge it. If your watcher becomes a judger, okay. Don't judge the judger -- watch it. If again the judger comes, watch it. Always go on falling back on the watcher; don't be defeated by the judger. And don't be disturbed. It is not a question that you have to not judge. If you force it you will not be happy -- you will be suppressed. And whatsoever you will do, the judger will be there -- no matter how you force, suppress. No! Release it I If a thought comes, and another thought follows and becomes a judgment, watch the judgment also. Always go on falling into the watcher -- that's the whole thing. If again the judger comes, let it come. Don't be afraid. You are always free to become a watcher again. The whole method of watching is not to be deceived and not to be…Read the full discourse →
Osho, the other day you said, “You are not wrong in part; you are wrong in your entirety. Whatever you are, you are wrong.” What is the reason for this—ego or ignorance, vanity or delusion? And are ego and ignorance interdependent?
First, these are all just names for one and the same disease. Suppose you fall ill and go to an Ayurvedic physician—he calls it dama. You go to an allopathic doctor—he calls it asthma. Don’t worry that you now have two diseases—that you’re in big trouble: dama as well as asthma! Go to a Unani hakīm or a homeopath and they’ll give still other names; their languages and technical terms differ. The human disease is one—call it ignorance, call it ego, call it māyā, delusion, unconsciousness, stupor, heedlessness, sin, forgetfulness—whatever you like. One disease, a thousand names. So first remember this: you don’t have many diseases. Even this will lighten your mind—that there is only one. And you don’t have to treat thousands of diseases; otherwise, if the disease doesn’t kill you, the medicines will. You don’t have many diseases. Illusion, envy, greed, attachment, anger—these are not separate ailments; they…Read the full discourse →
Osho, you say that truth is attained by the Master’s grace. Then why do you also encourage the ego’s effort?
Truth is attained by the Master’s grace, but the Master’s grace will not come without effort. Where will you find the Master’s grace? The Divine is received as grace; but the Master has to be sought, and you must gather the fitness to be near the Master. Effort must be made—and yet remember, what is ultimate is received without effort. This may sound contradictory, but these are the two wings, the two oars—effort and grace. Only with both is the journey completed. There are two kinds of delusions in the world. Some people think, “By effort alone it will be attained.” Such people never meet the Divine, because their ego never falls; effort only strengthens it. The doors close even tighter instead of opening. And some believe, “It does not come by effort; only grace gives it.” They just sit; they never rise, they never walk. They waste it in…Read the full discourse →
“True reverence is not in seeking blessings, but in the motive-less gratitude of simply being present; in that silence, the blessing unfolds by itself.”
Understanding Osho's Vision of the Ego
The threads that run through his discourses on ego.
The Ego Is a Shadow
Can the ego commit suicide? Osho's answer: a shadow cannot kill itself, because it was never there as a thing in the first place.
Let me put it in another way: can a shadow commit suicide? A shadow cannot commit suicide because a shadow doesn't exist. If you commit suicide, if you cut off your head, then the shadow will be without a head. It simply follows you. The ego is just a shadow, it cannot commit suicide. If you cut off your head, the ego commits suicide -- not that it commits, it happens. Try to understand that the ego is not substantial; the ego is just like a shadow. The body moves -- a shadow is created, a physical shadow; the mind moves -- a mental shadow is created. That mental shadow is the ego. When the mind stops there is no ego, when the mind is not functioning there is no ego.Tao: The Three Treasures Vol 1, Chapter 8 →
Unique Only When You Are Nothing
Asked how one can be both nothing and unique, Osho showed the two are the same: everything the ego claims makes you comparable, and only nothingness is beyond compare.
You can be unique only when you are nothing. If you are something, you are comparable. If you are somebody you can be compared with others, and that which can be compared cannot be unique. Unique means incomparable. Unique means you are alone, there is nobody like you. So if you are somebody.... If you are a man there are millions of men; you are comparable. If you are rich, then there are millions of rich people; you are comparable. If you are good you are comparable. If you are bad you are comparable. If you are a painter you are comparable. If you are a singer you are comparable. If you are somebody you are comparable, and by being comparable you cease to be unique. The moment you attain to a nothingness, when the "I" disappears.... The "I" is comparable; the "no-I" is incomparable.The First Principle, Chapter 2 →
The Ego Returns — Until It Doesn't
Meditation dissolves the ego, but at first only for minutes. Osho describes the honest mechanics of coming back — and the transcendence in which coming and going both cease to matter.
The ego returns, because the whole mechanism is still there. It has not died; the whole past is still there. For a while you were not part of it, for a few minutes you transcended the mind, the ego. You were beyond it. You left the house; now you have come back. But you cannot come back as the same person who left it because you now have known something beyond. You cannot be the same again, but still you come back.The Great Challenge, Chapter 2 →
One Disease, a Thousand Names
Ego, ignorance, maya, sin — in the Maha Geeta discourses Osho collapses the entire vocabulary of human trouble into a single diagnosis.
The human disease is one—call it ignorance, call it ego, call it māyā, delusion, unconsciousness, stupor, heedlessness, sin, forgetfulness—whatever you like. One disease, a thousand names.Maha Geeta, Chapter 14 →
“Cowardice is not just a part of the ego; it is the very essence of the ego, which thrives on fear and distance, while true courage arises when the illusion of the self dissolves.”
Questions Osho Answered on Ego
210 questions in the library — the most sought-after:
When you feel like nobody in meditation, your ego is fading; you’re the quiet, mirror-like watcher—just keep watching fear and emptiness until only calm awareness stays.
If you bow because you want something, you’re really bowing to your own wanting; real respect has no reason and simply feels joyful by itself.
Yes - holding yourself back because of what others might think is just your ego in disguise; be natural and do what feels true.
Ego is the pretend ‘me’ others taught you to be; let it go to find your real, peaceful self.
A child’s innocence is unaware and fragile; a Buddha’s is the same innocence regained after life’s storms, now fully aware, strong, and centered.
Feeling special for being spiritual is still ego; real spirituality is letting go of wanting to be more and resting content in the present.
You can’t see your own mistakes because you’re always looking outside; if you quietly look inside like using a mirror, the mistakes show up and fade on their own.
You're not fighting a 'male' ego; it's your own ego reacting—don't submit to demands, drop your ego, and in real love surrender happens naturally and makes you freer.
“Never take yourself seriously; laughter is the bridge to truth, while seriousness is the mask of the ego.”
Frequently Asked
A functional fiction — the mind's shadow, a bundle of memories, roles, and comparisons mistaken for a self. Osho did not treat it as an entity to be destroyed but as a misperception to be seen through: when the mind is silent, the ego simply is not found.
Not by fighting it — humility practiced by the ego becomes spiritual ego, subtler and more dangerous. His way was watching: observe the ego in action without judgment, and it starves. What cannot be dropped by will falls away in awareness, the way darkness leaves when a lamp is lit.
Osho often said yes in practical terms: a seed must ripen before it can break. A crushed, borrowed self cannot surrender, because there is nothing yet to surrender. First become an individual, he said — then discover that the individual too is a wave, not the ocean.