Self

 

 

People have only egos. The ego is a substitute self. Because we are not aware of the true self, we create the ego; it is a make-believe. Because we cannot live without the centre we have to invent a false centre.

 

There are two possibilities: either know the true centre or create a false centre. The society helps the false centre because the false person can easily be dominated -- not only can he be easily dominated: he seeks domination. He is constantly in search of somebody to dominate him. Without being dominated he does not feel good, because only when he is dominated does he have a certain feeling of 'I am.' When he is fulfilling somebody's order, he feels 'I have some worth.' His worth, his life, all are borrowed. He has no meaning in his life on his own; somebody else has to give meaning to him.

 

He becomes part of a church, then he feels good: he is a Christian, and Christianity gives him at least a false feeling of meaning. Or he becomes a Communist and the great crowd of Communists helps him to feel that he is doing something important. He cannot stand alone; and that is the whole strategy of the society: it does not allow you to stand on your own. It cripples you, from the very beginning it makes you dependent on crutches. And the best way to do it is not to allow you to become aware of your true self.

 

Instead of the true self it simply gives you a toy called the ego. It supports the ego tremendously; the society praises the ego, nourishes it. If you follow the dictates of the society in every possible way you will be respected, and respectability is nothing but a food for the ego. If you don't follow the dictates of the society you will be disrespected. That is punishing your ego, keeping it starved; and it is very difficult to live without a centre, so one is ready to fulfil all kinds of demands rational, irrational.

 

My effort here is to help you to drop this false entity called the ego. Dropping it is half of the work, and the other half is easier: to make you aware of your true self. Once the false is seen as false, it is not very difficult to see the true as true. That true self is atten.

 

The ego is a created thing, hence it has to die. The true self was before you were born and will be there after you are gone, dead. The true self does not exist only between birth and death. On the contrary, birth and death are just episodes in the long, eternal journey of the true self. And this is not the only birth; many have happened before and many may happen afterwards.

 

The moment one becomes aware of one's true centre, one becomes aware of eternity, and to know eternity is to know god. Hence, the true self is the door to god.

 

-Osho, "Turn On, Tune In and Drop the Lot, #26"

 

 

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the ego is needed because the true self is not known. The ego is a substitute, it is a pseudo entity. Because you don’t know yourself you have to create an artificial center; otherwise functioning in life will be impossible. Because you don’t know your real face, you have to wear a mask. Not knowing the essential, you have to trust in the shadow.

 

There are only two ways of living in life. One is to live it from the very core of your being — that has been the way of the mystics. Meditation is nothing but a device to make you aware of your real self — which is not created by you, which need not be created by you, which you already are. You are born with it, you are it! It needs to be discovered. If this is not possible, or if the society does not allow it to happen…and no society allows it to happen, because the real self is dangerous — dangerous for the established church, dangerous for the state, dangerous for the crowd, dangerous for the tradition — because once a man knows his real self, he becomes an individual. He no longer belongs to the mob psychology; he will not be superstitious, and he cannot be exploited. He cannot be led like cattle, he cannot be ordered and commanded. He will live according to his light, he will live from his own inwardness. His life will have tremendous beauty, integrity. But that is the fear of the society.

 

Integrated persons become individuals, and the society wants you to be non-individuals. Instead of individuality, the society teaches you to be a personality. The word ‘personality’ has to be understood. It comes from a root, ‘persona’ — persona means a mask. The society gives you a false idea of who you are; it gives you just a toy, and you go on clinging to the toy your whole life.

 

The one way is to live through meditation — then you live a life of rebellion, of adventure, of courage. Then you really live! The other way to live, or to fake living, is the way of the ego — strengthen the ego, nourish the ego; so that you need not look into the self, cling to the ego. The ego is an artifact created by the society to deceive you, to distract you.

 

The ego is man-made, manufactured by us. And because it is manufactured by the society, society has power over it. Because it is manufactured by the state and the church, and those who are in power, they can destroy it any moment; it depends on them. You have to be constantly in fear, and you have to be constantly obeying them, conforming to them, so that your ego remains intact. The society gives you respect if you are not an individual. The society honors you if you are not a Jesus, not a Socrates, not a Buddha. It respects you only if you are a sheep, not a man.

 

The West has completely forgotten how to meditate — and Christianity has been the reason. Christianity has created a very false religion, which knows nothing of meditation. Christianity is very formal; it is a ritual. It is part of the society and the political structure of the society. Karl Marx is perfectly right about it, that it is the opium of the people. Because of Christianity, the West has lost track of its own being. And one cannot live without SOME idea of one’s self — and if you cannot discover, then create something. It will be false, but something is better than nothing.

 

Aradhana, what you have been told is utter nonsense. It does not matter who has been telling it — the universities, the politicians, the priests. Certainly, you will be feeling confused, because I am telling you just the opposite: I am telling you to get rid of the ego, because if you get rid of the ego, you get rid of the rock that is preventing the flow of your consciousness.

 

Your consciousness is there, just behind the rock; it has not to be brought from somewhere else. Remove the rock — real religion consists only of removing that which is unnecessary, and then the necessary starts flowing. That which is unessential has to be removed. And the essential is already there, is already the case! You remove the rock and you will be surprised: you need not create the real self — it reveals itself to you.

 

And the real has beauty, and the real is deathless. Because it is deathless it has no fear. The unreal is constantly trembling. The ego is always in danger — anybody can destroy it. Because it has been given to you by others, they can take it back. Today they respect you, tomorrow they may not respect you. If you don’t follow their idea of life, if you don’t confirm their style of being, they will withdraw their respect. And you will be flat on the ground…and you will not know who you are.

 

-Osho, "The Dhammapada: The Way of the Buddha, Vol 2, #8, Q1"