Osho's perspective on Identity
When Osho Spoke About Identity
Passages from the discourses where this theme comes alive.
Questioner: is there a special significance in changing one's name and wearing a mala given by you?
Yes, it has significance, great significance. The change of name has great significance for a sannyasin. It is an index, a symbol. Everything in our life is symbolic. You have a name; you are identified with this name. This name has become your symbol; it is identified with your individuality. Your name has an association with everything that you have been before yesterday. Changing the name of a sannyasin means we disconnect him from his old identity, from his old associations. We say to him, now you are not the same as you were before yesterday. Now you are starting on a new journey with a new name, a new identity. Since ancient times they have had a small ceremony at the time of one's initiation into sannyas. It is a kind of cremation ceremony. Exactly as we bathe a dead body and shave its head before putting it on…
Question: OSHO, IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH ME? I FEEL PROUD TO BE A POLACK! THERE IS nothing wrong to be a Polack. Polacks are as beautiful as anybody else, or a little more, a little more juicy. A sign outside a police station read: Man Wanted For Rape. Next day three Polacks applied for the job. But it is certainly wrong to feel proud. Whether one feels to be proud as an Indian or as a Polack or as an Englishman, it does not matter. These are just excuses. The real thing is that the ego wants some support. The ego cannot stand on its own feet; it needs crutches. It claims that "My country is the best country in the world, my religion the most superior, my culture the most evolved," and so on, so forth.
Osho, do the mala and the renaming have any special significance?
Yes, they do; there is great meaning. Changing a sannyasin’s name has deep significance. It is symbolic. And in our lives, everything is symbolic. You have lived with one name; your identity is tied to it. A name has been your symbol. Your personality has become connected with it. Your name is associated with all that you were till yesterday; it is linked to that. The meaning of changing a sannyasin’s name is that we break him from his old identity. We say: now you are not who you were till yesterday. Now you set out on a new journey, carrying a new identity. In the old days, when initiation was given, they performed a small experiment. It was like this: just as we bathe a corpse before placing it on the bier, so they would bathe him. Just as we shave a corpse’s hair, shave the head, so they…
Some days I feel like a swami and others like a ma. Can I be both? Or will I grow up schizy?
The question is from Mallika. Everybody is both, and you have become aware -- that's very good; that's a great insight into your being. Everybody is both. The difference between a man and a woman is not much; the difference is only of degree, quantity -- not of quality. A woman may be sixty percent woman and forty percent man, or may be just fifty-one percent woman and forty-nine percent man. And so is the case with men. It is only a question of percentage -- but both exist in you. You come from both -- from your father and from your mother; they both have contributed to you. Men and women are not just men and women: they are bisexual, they are a meeting-place of both the sexes. The polarity is there. So, no woman is just a pure simple woman. If you understand this your life will become…
Are religious identities like Hindu, Jain, Christian, and Buddhist merely borrowed personalities?
definition"Drop your borrowed identities and turn within; the path to truth is not in following others, but in becoming your own master."
"Embrace both your swami and ma, for within you lies the dance of masculine and feminine energies, a harmonious unity that transcends conflict and leads to wholeness."
Did he live in Kashmir under another name?
definition"Jesus did not die on the cross; he transformed his suffering into a journey of enlightenment, finding solace and wisdom in the serene valleys of Kashmir."
How does the choice to not wear malas or red clothes fit into the identity of a Rajneeshee?
definition"To wear the mala and red clothes is to embrace the courage of your commitment; to drop them is to turn away from the path of deconditioning and the fellowship of the heart."
How to transcend cultural identity?
practice"Transcend your cultural identity by embracing the beauty of the ordinary; live each moment for sheer joy, free from ambition and greed."
"When the river merges into the ocean, its individuality fades, yet its essence transforms into the boundless; identity dissolves, but being remains eternally present."
Is it true that Osho is really Italian?
definition"To touch the extremes of folly is to awaken the longing for the source, for only in the depths of experience can one leap beyond the mind into the silence of meditation."
Is my name essential or non-essential?
definition"Your name is merely a label; do not let it define you, for the essence of your being transcends all identification."
"Clinging to a false sense of uniqueness is a form of suicide; true authenticity arises not from imitation, but from engaging with the world and transforming it through real action."
"To transcend being a German, drop all labels and stand simply as a human being; in this openness, collective identities dissolve."
"Rejoice in the mess of your cultural identity, for it is the very chaos that paves the way to enlightenment; witness it with awareness, and clarity will emerge from confusion."
Is there significance in being a Jew?
definition"Honor your identity, for it carries unique gifts, but remember that true freedom lies in transcending all labels."
"Pride in identity is the ego's way of seeking validation, separating you from the oneness of existence; true aliveness arises in embracing your ordinariness and equality with all."
"Your national identity is merely an accident of birth; do not cling to it, but instead, live from the awareness that transcends flags and borders."
What defines a car's identity in culture?
definition"A car's identity is not in its metal but in the meanings we project onto it; what truly matters is the consciousness of the driver, not the vehicle's cultural costume."
What do you call American females?
definition"Embrace the aliveness of diversity and let go of rigid labels; true vitality and intelligence flourish when we transcend tribal boundaries in love and life."
What does it mean to be a Marwari?
definition"A Marwari is not a learned role but an innate archetype, embodying a razor-sharp mind and an instinct for life’s intricate accounts; you cannot create what is born."
"To wear the mask of an identity like Cleopatra is to live a borrowed image, creating conflict within; true freedom arises when you drop all labels and embrace your authentic self."
"You are not a fixed identity; you are the boundless essence of nothingness, free from the confines of labels and definitions."
"Do not let a name define you; remain inwardly nameless, free from the confines of identity."
"When you surrender to the Whole, your identity dissolves like a river into the ocean, revealing the true freedom of choiceless awareness."
"You are not the shifting aspects of your personality; you are the witnessing mirror that reflects the truth of your being. When you discover the witness within, anger dissolves into compassion and judgment fades away."
"When you cease to identify with your professional role, you enter a painful limbo that is the birth pain of your true self, leading you from the pursuit of having to the profound discovery of being. In this inward journey, you are reborn into peace, bliss, and the only real success—"
"You cannot hide your true self; your essence radiates through your energy and presence, inviting others to see the light within you."
"Poetry arises when the poet disappears; it is in the absence of the self that the divine can flow through you. Embrace emptiness and let creation unfold without the need for identity."
Profound Quotes on Identity
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