Osho's perspective on Responsibility
When Osho Spoke About Responsibility
Passages from the discourses where this theme comes alive.
If I am to be my brother's keeper, how far does my responsibility go?
No, you are not. Nobody is. Nobody is meant to be anybody's keeper. You are here to be yourself. Your only responsibility is towards yourself. I would like you to be totally selfish because only in that is there a possibility that you may be helpful to others. Unless you are deeply self-centred, unless you are so selfish in your being that you are happy, celebrating, you will not be able to share it. Humanity has been put on the wrong track by altruists, by people who say: Serve others, you are responsible for others. Nobody is responsible for anybody. The only responsibility is towards yourself. And if you are fulfilled in that responsibility you respond beautifully. A really fulfilled husband will love his wife, because out of his fulfilment love flows. But if he thinks he has to fulfil responsibilities, he has a duty to care because he has…
Beloved Osho, it is my experience that outside our international communes mankind has based life on a system of penalty and reward. Are our communes the only places where there is complete acceptance of responsibility, and mistakes are recognized as opportunities to learn? Please comment.
In my commune there is no punishment because I accept your mistakes as human, natural. To punish you for something natural and human is to destroy you, your humanity and your natural spontaneity. Nobody is rewarded, because punishment and reward are together. The reward says, "You have done right. Now go on doing right until you get the Nobel Prize." It is a bribe. It is an effort to mold your life according to the vested interests. The society needs slaves, it does not need independent rebels. And my commune consists only of independent individuals, rebels. They have gathered together -- not that they believe in a certain catechism, not that they believe in a certain dogma. I don't give you any dogma, any doctrine. You have gathered here because you have found a certain synchronicity with other sannyasins. You are all rebels. Your rebellion joins you together. Your rebellious…
You said the other day that duty was a four-letter word, but I have also heard you say many times that you want your sannyasins to be tremendously responsible. Please tell me, are not a sense of duty and a sense of responsibility the same thing? I hope, beloved Osho, that I am not confusing you!
You cannot... because I am utterly confused. You cannot confuse me any more. I am absolutely confused. Duty and responsibility are synonyms in the dictionary. but not in life. In life they are not only different, they are diametrically opposite. Duty is other-oriented, responsibility is self-oriented. When you say 'I have to do it', it is a duty. 'Because my mother is ill, I have to go and sit by her side.' Or, 'I have to take flowers to the hospital. I have to do it, she is my mother.' Duty is other-oriented: you don't have any responsibility. You are fulfilling a social formality -- because she is your mother; you don't love her. That's why I say that duty is a four-letter, dirty, word. If you love your mother, you will not say 'This is a duty.' If you love your mother, you will go to the hospital, you…
Beloved Osho, in being responsible, one has to choose. How does it fit together with choicelessness?
He came back. He was looking very miserable, even after the shower. And I said, "I was just joking! Can't you see me? Can't you understand? Have you forgotten all those Hindus outside?" -- because in India you can recognize very well who is who. Mohammedans have different caps, different kind of clothes; Hindus have different caps, different kind of clothes. It is not difficult. I said, "You are just unnecessarily bothering." He fell again. He kissed my feet this time really hard. He said, "I was suspecting while I was taking the shower... this man does not look like a Mohammedan. And I am relieved of a great difficulty; otherwise I would have repented my whole life." I said, "You will have to repent. Can't you see my beard?" He said, "What do you mean?" I said, "Exactly what you understand. I am a Mohammedan." The man rushed back…
"Duty is a burden imposed by society, while responsibility is a joyful response from the heart; choose to act only when your inner sensitivity calls you."
"In a commune, mistakes are not condemned but embraced as lessons, allowing individuals to grow in self-acceptance and responsibility, free from the chains of guilt and fear that bind them in society."
"You are not responsible for external events like death or betrayal, but you are wholly responsible for how you interpret and respond to them; the only true betrayal is betraying yourself."
"True responsibility arises not from choice, but from a state of choiceless awareness; when you live as a witness, action flows spontaneously from clarity, rendering duties unnecessary."
"True responsibility lies in recognizing the ego's game and surrendering it, not when it is convenient, but precisely when it challenges your preferences. Only then does the illusion of 'I' dissolve, revealing the authentic inner voice that guides your life."
"You are entirely responsible for your experiences; your freedom lies in choosing what deepens love, clarity, and compassion. Stay alert to the signs of stagnation, for they reveal when you are moving away from your true path."
"Taking responsibility for yourself is to live in awareness, where the light of consciousness dispels the darkness of ego, allowing you to awaken from the sleep of unconsciousness effortlessly."
"You are not your brother’s keeper; your true responsibility lies in becoming deeply centered and fulfilled within yourself, from which genuine love and service will naturally flow."
What is the meaning of responsibility?
definition"Responsibility is the ability to respond with awareness, transforming reactions into conscious actions that preserve your inner peace."
"Responsibility is not about adhering to a single ideal; it is about responding to the totality of life, where even conflict can awaken our deepest potential and serve the greater truth of dharma."
"Either you carry the weight of your ego alone, or you surrender to the Vast and let it bear the burden of existence with you."
"A true teacher does not bear the weight of responsibility; their presence is a celebration of love and communion that nourishes both the teacher and the seeker."
"Share not dogma but the living awareness that awakens humanity to its true potential, where freedom, individuality, and love reign supreme."
"In the absence of God, the weight of existence rests solely on the "I," transforming every action into a profound responsibility that ultimately leads to liberation in the void."
"Your loving awareness is the true shield of a living master; it is your vigilance that transforms persecution into protection."
"The awakened must bear the weight of responsibility, for in their silence lies the potential for both love and the misuse of power by the sleepwalkers."
Profound Quotes on Responsibility
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