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Osho on Nondoing

Nondoing

In Osho's vision, nondoing transcends the dullness of laziness, embodying a vibrant state where energy flows freely and awareness sharpens, inviting us to embrace the present moment without forcing choices, allowing spontaneous action to arise effortlessly.

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Osho's perspective on Nondoing

When Osho Spoke About Nondoing

Passages from the discourses where this theme comes alive.

How can I tell the difference between 'nondoing' and being lazy... And if 'floating' -- how to make decisions?

IT IS not difficult. Both have different tastes, and very clear-cut, very distinct. When you are lazy, it is a negative taste -- you simply feel you have no energy, you simply feel dull; you simply feel sleepy, you simply feel dead. When you are in a state of nondoing then you are full of energy -- it is a very positive taste. You have full energy, overflowing. You are radiant, bubbling, vibrating. You are not sleepy, you are perfectly aware. You are not dead -- you are tremendously alive. So there is not a problem. You can just check in, and always continue to check. There is a possibility the mind can deceive you: it can rationalize laziness as non-doing. It can say "I have become a Zen master" or "I believe in Tao" -- but you arc not deceiving anybody else. You will be deceiving only yourself. So…
Tao The Three Treasures Vol 2 · Discourse 6 1975-06-26 Buddha Hall English

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…
Tao Upanishad · Discourse 103Para 1 1975-02-04 Pune Hindi
Your energy will awaken only when you become utterly non-doing in this world; when you do not waste even a grain here. There is nothing here worth spending for. There is nothing here worth gaining. What shopping are you busy with? You are only losing. Here is a desert that will drink your energy away. Seal all the leaks. Close all the pores, says Lao Tzu. Close all the doors, so that energy becomes organized. The organization of energy, and a growing accumulation, at a certain point turns into a qualitative change. Quantitative change, at a point, becomes qualitative. There is a limit of quantity where the quality itself changes. Like heating water—the water remains water up to ninety-nine degrees; at one hundred it becomes steam. What is happening? What revolution occurs by adding just one more degree? Only a difference of quantity: from ninety-nine to one hundred.

Osho, I am extremely lazy. I am frightened—how will liberation happen? Please guide me!

I saw his pictures in the newspapers. In every picture—now he is naked; no newspaper will agree to print that, and they themselves must feel shy, the devotees too must feel a little shame—so in all the photos he is sitting with a very large scripture on his knees to hide his nakedness. My dear fellow, a loincloth would have sufficed—what harm in that? A loincloth would be lighter than that huge book, simpler too! Tie a simple strap. Why sit with a massive volume—just to hide a small thing! But once we have a belief, we do not see the absurdity. In Jain homes, pictures of Mahavira hang. They paint them so that Mahavira stands in meditation and a tree branch serves as a loincloth. Why trouble the poor man! I was a guest in a house. The picture was beautiful, but that one branch spoils everything—dense leaves covering…

"Laziness is dull and lifeless, while nondoing is a vibrant overflow of energy and awareness; in the space of floating, let your choices arise naturally and act without friction."

If you feel heavy and sleepy it’s laziness; if you feel bright and full of energy with no rush, it’s nondoing—stay awake and let the next step show itself.
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