Citations Osho

Here are 100 quotes attributed to Osho, the Indian mystic and spiritual teacher:

 

1. "Don't be unnecessarily burdened by the past. Go on closing the chapters that you have read; there is no need to go back again and again."

 

2. "Live life in its totality. And living in the world, don't be of it. Live in the world like a lotus flower in water: it lives in water, but the water touches it not."

 

3. "If you love a flower, don't pick it up. Because if you pick it up it dies and it ceases to be what you love. So if you love a flower, let it be. Love is not about possession. Love is about appreciation."

 

4. "The moment you start seeing life as non-serious, a playfulness, all the burden on your heart disappears."

 

5. "To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it."

 

6. "Experience life in all possible ways — good-bad, bitter-sweet, dark-light, summer-winter. Experience all the dualities. Don't be afraid of experience, because the more experience you have, the more mature you become."

 

7. "Nobody has the power to take two steps together; you can take only one step at a time."

 

8. "Listen to your being. It is continuously giving you hints; it is a still, small voice. It does not shout at you, that is true. And if you are a little silent you will start feeling your way. Be the person you are. Never try to be another, and you will become mature. Maturity is accepting the responsibility of being oneself, whatsoever the cost. Risking all to be oneself, that's what maturity is all about."

 

9. "To avoid pain, they avoid pleasure. To avoid death, they avoid life."

 

10. "Be — don't try to become."

 

11. "If you can bring your consciousness, your awareness, your intelligence to the act, if you can be spontaneous, then there is no need for any other religion, life itself will be the religion."

 

12. "Remember, the moment you start looking at the world through an ideology you are finished. No reality fits an ideology. Life is beyond that."

 

13. "Truth is not something outside to be discovered, it is something inside to be realized."

 

14. "You feel good, you feel bad, and these feelings are bubbling from your own unconsciousness, from your own past. Nobody is responsible except you. Nobody can make you angry, and nobody can make you happy."

 

15. "Courage is a love affair with the unknown."

 

16. "Each person comes into this world with a specific destiny. He has something to fulfill, some message has to be delivered, some work has to be completed. You are not here accidentally — you are here meaningfully. There is a purpose behind you. The whole intends to do something through you."

 

17. "Friendship is the purest love. It is the highest form of Love where nothing is asked for, no condition, where one simply enjoys giving."

 

18. "Don't be a follower, be a presence."

 

19. "Creativity is the greatest rebellion in existence."

 

20. "Sadness gives depth. Happiness gives height. Sadness gives roots. Happiness gives branches. Happiness is like a tree going into the sky, and sadness is like the roots going down into the womb of the earth. Both are needed, and the higher a tree goes, the deeper it goes, simultaneously. The bigger the tree, the bigger will be its roots. In fact, it is always in proportion. That's its balance."

 

21. "Nobody is there to fulfill your dream. Everybody is here to fulfill his own destiny, his own reality."

 

22. "My meditation is simple. It does not require any complex practices. It is simple. It is singing. It is dancing. It is sitting silently."

 

23. "Be realistic: Plan for a miracle."

 

24. "If you suffer, it is because of you. If you feel blissful, it is because of you. Nobody else is responsible — only you and you alone. You are your hell, and your heaven too."

 

25. "The moment you start clinging to things, you have missed the target. Because things are not the target, you, your innermost being, is the target — not a beautiful house, but a beautiful you; not much money, but a rich you; not many things, but an open being, available to millions of things."

 

26. "Life begins where fear ends."

 

27. "I live my life based on 2 principles. One, I live as if today was my last day on earth. Two, I live today as if I am going to live forever."

 

28. "Life repeats itself mindlessly — unless you become mindful, it will go on repeating like a wheel."

 

29. "Experience life in all possible ways — good-bad, bitter-sweet, dark-light, summer-winter. Experience all the dualities. Don't be afraid of experience, because the more experience you have, the more mature you become."

 

30. "You need power, only when you want to do something harmful. Otherwise, love is enough to get everything done."

 

31. "Drop the idea of becoming someone, because you are already a masterpiece. You cannot be improved. You have only to come to it, to know it, to realize it."

 

32. "A real relationship is where two people who know that they are not perfect do not give up on each other."

 

33. "To be alone is not lonely. It means the mind is not influenced and contaminated by society."

 

34. "Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness."

 

35. "Meditation is the only lasting cure for all our mental suffering, the only authentic way to transcend misery."

 

36. "Don't seek, don't search, don't ask, don't knock, don't demand — relax. If you relax, it comes. If you relax, it is there. If you relax, you start vibrating with it."

 

37. "The less people know, the more stubbornly they know it."

 

38. "You are never alone. You are eternally connected with everyone."

 

39. "When I say be creative, I don't mean that you should all go and become great painters and great poets. I simply mean let your life be a painting, let your life be a poem."

 

40. "Life is a balance between rest and movement."

 

41. "Don't let the past blackmail your present to ruin a beautiful future."

 

42. "If you love a person, you accept the total person. With all the defects. Because those defects are a part of the person. Never try to change a person you love, because the very effort to change says that you love half, and the other half of the person is not accepted."

 

43. "Truth is not something outside to be discovered, it is something inside to be realized."

 

44. "The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman

 

existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new."

 

45. "I say that freedom is not a gift but a responsibility. It is not a blessing but a challenge."

 

46. "Your whole idea about yourself is borrowed — borrowed from those who have no idea of who they are themselves."

 

47. "Drop the idea of becoming someone, because you are already a masterpiece. You cannot be improved. You have only to come to it, to know it, to realize it."

 

48. "Don't be angry at life. It is not life that is frustrating you, it is you who are not listening to life."

 

49. "Life is a journey that must be traveled no matter how bad the roads and accommodations."

 

50. "You can go on changing the outer for lives and you will never be satisfied; something or other will remain to be changed. Unless the inner changes, the outer can never be perfect."

 

51. "Don't move the way fear makes you move. Move the way love makes you move. Move the way joy makes you move."

 

52. "Life begins where fear ends."

 

53. "You exist in time, but you belong to eternity."

 

54. "Never belong to a crowd; Never belong to a nation; Never belong to a religion; Never belong to a race. Belong to the whole existence. Why limit yourself to small things? When the whole is available."

 

55. "I don't teach you anything. I just help you to explore yourself."

 

56. "Drop the idea of becoming someone, because you are already a masterpiece. You cannot be improved. You have only to come to it, to know it, to realize it."

 

57. "To avoid pain, they avoid pleasure. To avoid death, they avoid life."

 

58. "Love can never possess. Love is giving freedom to the other. Love is an unconditional gift, it is not a bargain."

 

59. "If you want to be happy, be."

 

60. "Be — don't try to become."

 

61. "Do not be concerned with the fruit of your action — just give attention to the action itself. The fruit will come of its own accord."

 

62. "When you really laugh for those few moments you are in a deep meditative state. Thinking stops. It is impossible to laugh and think together."

 

63. "Truth is not something outside to be discovered, it is something inside to be realized."

 

64. "Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness."

 

65. "Friendship is the purest love. It is the highest form of Love where nothing is asked for, no condition, where one simply enjoys giving."

 

66. "Courage is a love affair with the unknown."

 

67. "Each person comes into this world with a specific destiny. He has something to fulfill, some message has to be delivered, some work has to be completed. You are not here accidentally — you are here meaningfully. There is a purpose behind you. The whole intends to do something through you."

 

68. "Nobody is there to fulfill your dream. Everybody is here to fulfill his own destiny, his own reality."

 

69. "My meditation is simple. It does not require any complex practices. It is simple. It is singing. It is dancing. It is sitting silently."

 

70. "Be realistic: Plan for a miracle."

 

71. "If you can bring your consciousness, your awareness, your intelligence to the act, if you can be spontaneous, then there is no need for any other religion, life itself will be the religion."

 

72. "Nobody has the power to take two steps together; you can take only one step at a time."

 

73. "If you suffer, it is because of you. If you feel blissful, it is because of you. Nobody else is responsible — only you and you alone. You are your hell, and your heaven too."

 

74. "Don't be a follower, be a presence."

 

75. "Creativity is the greatest rebellion in existence."

 

76. "Sadness gives depth. Happiness gives height. Sadness gives roots. Happiness gives branches. Happiness is like a tree going into the sky, and sadness is like the roots going down into the womb of the earth. Both are needed, and the higher a tree goes, the deeper it goes, simultaneously. The bigger the tree, the bigger will be its roots. In fact, it is always in proportion. That's its balance."

 

77. "Nobody is there to fulfill your dream. Everybody is here to fulfill his own destiny, his own reality."

 

78. "You feel good, you feel bad, and these feelings are bubbling from your own unconsciousness, from your own past. Nobody is responsible except you. Nobody can make you angry, and nobody can make you happy."

 

79. "Courage is a love affair with the unknown."

 

80. "To be alone is not lonely. It means the mind is not influenced and contaminated by society."

 

81. "Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness."

 

82. "Meditation is the only lasting cure for all our mental suffering, the only authentic way to transcend misery."

 

83. "Don't let the past blackmail your present to ruin a beautiful future."

 

84. "If you love a person, you accept the total person. With all the defects. Because those defects are a part of the person. Never try to change a person you love, because the very effort to change says that you love half, and the other half of the person is not accepted."

 

85. "Truth is not something outside to be discovered, it is something inside to be realized."

 

86. "The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new."

 

87. "I say that freedom is not a gift but a responsibility. It is not a blessing but a challenge."

 

88. "Your whole idea about yourself is borrowed — borrowed from those who have no idea of who they are themselves."

 

89. "Drop the idea of becoming someone, because you are already a masterpiece. You cannot be improved. You have only to come to it, to know it, to realize it."

 

90. "Don't be angry at life. It is not life that is frustrating you, it is you who are not listening to life."

 

91. "Life is a journey that must be traveled no matter how bad the roads and accommodations."

 

92. "You can go on changing the outer for lives and you will never be satisfied; something or other will remain to be changed. Unless the inner changes, the outer can never be perfect."

 

93. "Don't move the way fear makes you move. Move the way love makes you move. Move the way joy makes you move."

 

94. "Life begins where fear ends."

 

95. "You exist in time, but you belong to eternity."

 

96. "Never belong to a crowd; Never belong to a nation; Never belong to a religion; Never belong to a race. Belong to the whole existence. Why limit yourself to small things? When the whole is available."

 

97. "I don't teach you anything. I just help you to explore yourself."

 

98. "Drop the idea of becoming someone, because you

 

are already a masterpiece. You cannot be improved. You have only to come to it, to know it, to realize it."

 

99. "To avoid pain, they avoid pleasure. To avoid death, they avoid life."

 

100. "Love can never possess. Love is giving freedom to the other. Love is an unconditional gift, it is not a bargain."

 

These quotes reflect Osho's teachings on life, love, mindfulness, and self-realization. They offer insight into his philosophy and approach to spiritual growth and personal development.