Osho's perspective on Suffering
When Osho Spoke About Suffering
Passages from the discourses where this theme comes alive.
Why do I remember god only when I am in suffering?
You don't remember God. When you are in suffering your remembering God is just meaningless. Just because you want to avoid suffering, you remember God as a protection. You are not interested in God, you are only interested in how to avoid the suffering. So that's why when you are happy you forget all about God. But know well, only when you remember God in happiness is there remembrance, otherwise not. In suffering everybody remembers God -- even an atheist. That's why even atheists start becoming theists as they become older. And at the death point almost every atheist becomes a theist -- when the real suffering of death comes then all your philosophy of atheism disappears. But that is not real, authentic prayer, authentic remembrance. Religious persons are those who remember when they are happy, because they remember in gratitude. When you see a rose flower, that will be…
Question: OSHO, WHY AM I ALWAYS LIVING IN A KIND OF HELL? IT IS ALWAYS your own creation. Whether you live in heaven or hell, you live in your own creation. Nobody else is responsible. Don't throw the responsibility onto God, fate, KISMET, society, economic structure. Don't throw the responsibility on your past lives, on others. Take the whole responsibility on yourself, because that is the only way to move, to change, to go beyond. The only cause of hell, the only cause of misery is you and nothing else. Except you, nobody can cause it. And it is not the past; you are creating it each moment. A construction worker is sitting astride a beam on the twenty-fifth story of a New York skyscraper which is being built. The lunch hour bell rings and he takes out a box of sandwiches from his lunch pack.
Beloved Osho, why is the world so sick today? Why are misery and tension increasing?
It is the outcome of all the idiotic ideas that have dominated humanity in the past. It was bound to happen. All the religions are responsible for it. What they have done, whether knowingly or unknowingly, is the cause of the misery, suffering and anguish of the whole of humanity. Let us think of the most fundamental causes one by one. The first: All the religions have been imposing the idea that God has created the world and God is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent. He knows all, he is all-powerful, he is everywhere. This idea prevented man from doing anything to life to make it better, beautiful. When somebody all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere present, is looking after the world, then what can you do? How far can you see? What can be your contribution? If God is the creator of the world, you cannot improve upon it. If you do anything you…
Why does man continue to live the way he lives -- in misery, in agony, in suffering?
These ambitions create misery. They never make you happy, they create misery. Once the mind becomes ambitious the seeds of misery are planted deeply in you. Now you will never be happy, because the future never comes, tomorrow never comes -- and your hope hangs in the tomorrow which never comes. You may have a big house, but you will not be happy because there will always be bigger houses than your house, and that will create misery. You may have a beautiful woman, but there are thousands, many more beautiful women in the world, and that will not make you happy. You will have money, but even that won't make you happy, because more is always possible. This is the trick: "more" has been implanted in you like an electrode -- "Have MORE, then you will be happy." Now how can you have more? Whatsoever you have, you can…
"When jealousy and passion fade, their energy can transform into love and compassion, but remember, life is a continuous evolution—stay alert and present to let love blossom."
"Only by ending your own suffering through awareness can you truly contribute to the world; external solutions merely shift the form of pain, never abolishing it."
"True renunciation does not impoverish; it reveals the inner richness of fearlessness, peace, and truth, awakening us to the highest flowering of life."
"You do not truly know suffering; you become it. Witness your pain without identification, and bliss will naturally reveal itself as your innate nature."
"Recognizing the inherent misery of life does not deepen your gloom; it liberates you to see the truth without fear of worsening your experience."
"Suffering on the path is not inevitable; it is born from our resistance to growth. Embrace the present, let go of the past, and allow your journey to unfold in bliss."
"Your suffering arises not from your identity, but from the burdens of borrowed labels; embrace your true self and watch the conflict dissolve into joy."
How can one be free from suffering?
practice"Drop the profit you take from pain, and watch as suffering fades effortlessly in the light of awareness and joy."
"Hope outwits experience, leading us to chase a tomorrow that ultimately remains empty; true freedom and joy arise only when we turn inward and embrace the present."
"You stop creating suffering the moment you realize it is your own creation; true knowledge transforms you, and in that awareness, the cycle of pain dissolves."
"Darkness is not a substance; it is merely the absence of light. Awaken to your own ever-burning light, for suffering dissolves in the presence of awareness."
"Awakening reveals life as it is, and if it sounds extreme, the distortion lies not in their clarity but in our own misunderstanding."
"Suffering begins the moment we are born, as we are thrust from the blissful womb into a world of separation, forever longing to return to that original harmony."
"Injustice is a dance between the urge to dominate and the desire to be dominated; true liberation comes when awareness dissolves these hidden invitations."
"Happiness is not found in the world of seeking; it is the fragrance of your being, discovered when you turn your awareness from the outside to the present moment."
What are the causes of suffering?
definition"Suffering is born from our attachments and expectations; when we learn to witness without craving or aversion, we transcend the cycle of pleasure and pain."
"Suffering arises from the disconnection between you and existence; to cure it, restore the harmony within through awareness and inner awakening."
"A true devotee chooses God over happiness, embracing even pain as a reminder of the divine, for in the hands of God, suffering transforms into joy and a path to deeper understanding."
"Awakening dissolves the entire dream of life, revealing a reality so profound that it transcends all concepts of joy and sorrow, leaving only the bittersweet regret of not having woken up sooner."
"Love's cross burns away the false, allowing your authentic being to resurrect into truth, freedom, and unborrowed joy."
"Step out of the bag of your habits, and you will find that the cycle of suffering can end with a single act of decisive awareness."
"When emotional suffering flattens you like a steamroller, it is not about reassembling the old form, but about embracing the end of what you were to discover the new."
"Suffering is born from the mind's addiction to complexity; when you shift from mind to heart, the burdens dissolve and existence reveals its effortless, playful nature."
"When suffering arises, the mind's tricks only deepen the poison; true transformation comes from the radical act of non-doing—accepting the feeling without reaction."
"When you let go and flow with life, the doer dissolves, and you become a vessel for existence, where pain loses its sting and pleasure its grip, revealing the serene bliss of non-duality."
Profound Quotes on Suffering
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