Osho's perspective on Forgiveness
When Osho Spoke About Forgiveness
Passages from the discourses where this theme comes alive.
Is jesus' 'offer the other cheek' attitude applicable for us today here in poona, or should we meet the force offered to us with force -- or should we respond as we feel befits the situation?
No, I don't give you any dogma, I don't give you any formula to live up to, because all formulas are false, all formulas are dead, all formulas create a structure around you and that structure becomes by and by your imprisonment. I don't give you any formula, not even the Jesus formula. I want you to be understanding, alert, aware. Let that be your only source of action. Sometimes maybe it is good to offer the other cheek, but only sometimes. It is relative. Sometimes it is better to hit hard, but that too sometimes, and one can never predict. You have to watch the whole situation of a certain moment and live with total response. If you carry a formula you will not be free. I have heard an anecdote. A Christian saint who used to follow Jesus' sayings word for word, literally, was hit hard by an…
Osho, why is it so difficult to forgive, to stop clinging to hurts long since past?
It is very essential to understand because you are all disciples here, and you all will be carrying some grudge or other against me, for the simple reason because I am trying to destroy your ego. That I have to do; that's the function of the Master, to destroy your ego. And you can become very revengeful, and you can carry deep wounds through it. Katyayani, you ask me: WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT TO FORGIVE, TO STOP CLINGING TO HURTS LONG SINCE PAST? For the simple reason that they are all that you have got. And you go on playing with your old wounds so that they keep fresh in your memory. You never allow them to heal. A man was sitting in a compartment in a train. Across from him was sitting a Catholic priest who had a picnic basket beside him. The man had nothing else to…
Osho, the world has very cruelly dashed all my hopes. Even if I want to forgive the world, how can I?
Under brisk feet, groaning with pain, it lifts its face toward the young ears on both sides, then falls silent thinking only this: Had the travelers not crushed my womb by their ceaseless walking! my sons too would by now have become young men, my daughter too would have been fit to wed. Within everyone there are a thousand-and-one desires, passions; they are not fulfilled. Even if they are fulfilled, nothing is resolved. One is fulfilled, ten are born. To awaken from this futility is what sannyas is. And then, when you live without hope—Buddha has said—when you live with nirasha, only then for the first time do you live in bliss. But understand the meaning of nirasha. Buddha’s nirasha is not the same as yours. Your meaning of despair is: hope has broken. Buddha’s meaning of nirasha is: there is freedom from hope. In Buddha’s nirasha there is neither…
Osho, what do you think about the statement that life is stranger than fiction?
IT CAN'T BE OTHERWISE, because fiction is only a reflection of life, only an echo, a faraway echo. How can fiction be more strange than life? It is just a shadow of life, footprints of life. Life is really unbelievable, incredible. It should not be, and it is. It is utterly mysterious. But you become aware of the strangeness of a fictitious story and you never become aware of the strangeness of life, because you take it for granted. You take it for granted as the fish takes the ocean for granted -- and it never becomes aware of it. How can the fish be aware of the ocean? It was born in the ocean, it has lived in the ocean; from the very beginning the ocean was there. Just as you are not aware of the air and the weight of the air, you are not aware of the…
"To forget is to resist; acknowledge the wound, and it will fade naturally as life unfolds, reminding us that in the end, all are equal in the game of existence."
"The world never dashed your hopes; it simply flows on, unaware of your expectations. Surrender to life, and in that acceptance, resentment will dissolve."
"Life is fluid, and true action arises from choiceless awareness; respond with total understanding, not fixed ideologies."
"When you choose not to confront the one who has cheated you, the true confrontation must happen within; only by watching your pain without blame can you dissolve it, while avoidance merely allows resentment to fester."
"Forgive the thieves of your ideas, for their opposition is merely a mask for their own insecurity; instead, create with awareness, humor, and detachment."
"Forgiveness is not an effort but a natural release that arises when you see the absurdity of the mind's games and shift your focus from wounds to the beauty of life."
Profound Quotes on Forgiveness
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