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Osho on Prison

Prison

True liberation emerges when one acknowledges that the prisons we inhabit are woven from the fabric of our conditioned minds—hypnotic self-images and comforting beliefs that mask our reality, binding us in an illusion of freedom.

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Osho's perspective on Prison

When Osho Spoke About Prison

Passages from the discourses where this theme comes alive.

The Invitation · Discourse 4Question 1 1987-08-22 Chuang Tzu Auditorium English

Beloved Osho, george gurdjieff has said: "you are in prison. If you wish to get out of prison, the first thing you must do is realize that you are in prison. If you think you are free, you can't escape." what are the prisons that I call "home"?

Religions have created all kinds of crimes in the mind of man, just by prohibiting them. They have also created ideas which prevent man from any search. They say, "Believe" -- and belief is cheap. You don't have to do anything. Gurdjieff had to go to such extents that he started saying to people, "You don't have souls. It is a wrong idea, implanted within you by religions, that everybody has a soul." He had to say such a thing just to wake you up to search whether it is true or not; otherwise, everybody was perfectly asleep. What is the need to search? You already have it; God is within you! So do other things which, if you don't do, you will not get -- become a president, prime minister, become the richest man in the world, conquer the world -- because these things will not happen on their…
The Messiah Vol 1 · Discourse 16Question 1 1987-01-16 Chuang Tzu Auditorium English
Question: BELOVED OSHO, THEN A MASON CAME FORTH AND SAID, SPEAK TO US OF HOUSES. AND HE ANSWERED AND SAID: BUILD OF YOUR IMAGININGS A BOWER IN THE WILDERNESS ERE YOU BUILD A HOUSE WITHIN THE CITY WALLS. FOR EVEN AS YOU HAVE HOMECOMINGS IN YOUR TWILIGHT, SO HAS THE WANDERER IN YOU, THE EVER-DISTANT AND ALONE. YOUR HOUSE IS YOUR LARGER BODY. IT GROWS IN THE SUN AND SLEEPS IN THE STILLNESS OF NIGHT; AND IT IS NOT DREAMLESS. DOES NOT YOUR HOUSE DREAM? AND DREAMING, LEAVE THE CITY FOR GROVE OR HILLTOP? WOULD THAT I COULD GATHER YOUR HOUSES INTO MY HAND, AND LIKE A SOWER SCATTER THEM IN FOREST AND MEADOW. WOULD THE VALLEYS WERE YOUR STREETS, AND THE GREEN PATHS YOUR ALLEYS, THAT YOU MIGHT SEEK ONE ANOTHER THROUGH VINEYARDS, AND COME WITH THE FRAGRANCE OF THE EARTH IN YOUR GARMENTS.
Zen The Quantum Leap From Mind To No Mind · Discourse 4Question 1 1988-06-14 Gautam the Buddha Auditorium English
Question: BELOVED OSHO, RYUGE WAS ASKED BY A MONK, "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF BODHIDHARMA COMING FROM THE WEST?" RYUGE SAID, "WAIT TILL THE STONE TURTLE SPEAKS WORDS OF EXPLANATION AND I WILL TELL YOU." THE MONK SAID, "THE STONE TURTLE HAS SPOKEN!" RYUGE SAID, "WHAT DID IT SAY TO YOU?" THE MONK WAS SILENT. ONE OF DAIBAI'S MONKS ASKED HIS MASTER THE SAME QUESTION, TO WHICH DAIBAI REPLIED, "HIS COMING HAS NO MEANING." THE MONK BROUGHT THIS QUESTION UP TO ENKAN, WHO SAID, "TWO DEAD MEN IN ONE COFFIN." GENSHA, HEARING OF THIS, SAID, "ENKAN IS A CLEVER CHAP." THE SAME QUESTION -- THE MEANING OF BODHIDHARMA COMING FROM THE WEST -- WAS BROUGHT TO SEKITO, OR "STONEHEAD", AS HE WAS ALSO KNOWN. "GO AND ASK THE OUTSIDE POST OF THE HALL!" HE EXCLAIMED. THE MONK SAID, "I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN." "NOR DO I," SAID SEKITO.

Osho, what is the definition of God?

Words are very small. If you say God is light, then what of darkness? The scriptures have said that God is light. Suppose we accept this as a definition—then what about darkness? Where will darkness go? Darkness is too; in fact it is far more than light. Light sometimes is and sometimes is not; darkness is always, eternal. Where will you place darkness? If you say God is light, darkness is left out. If you say God is darkness, then light is left out. If you say God is both darkness and light, a contradiction arises: they cannot be together. Try to have both darkness and light in the same room. If you bring in light, darkness disappears; if you preserve darkness, you cannot have light. Then how can both be together? That becomes an impossibility. So you cannot say “both” either. Then the fourth device is to say: it…

"Your true prison is the conditioned mind, the self-images and beliefs that create a false sense of freedom; liberation begins the moment you recognize that you are both the prisoner and the prison itself."

You’re stuck by the make-believe stories and comforting beliefs in your head; freedom starts when you admit you’re the one building the cage.
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