Osho on Right and Wrong

 

 

The child learns one thing, that to exist in this world this is basic: you should behave, you should always do the right thing, never do the wrong thing. This creates a deep rejection about himself because those wrong things go on coming up -- just by saying that something is wrong, it is not dropped, it goes on coming. Then the child starts feeling guilty about himself, he rejects himself. He says, "I am no good. I am a bad child, a bad boy, a bad girl." And the problem is that things which we call wrong are natural, so the child cannot throw them, they have to persist.

 

Every boy, every girl, starts playing with their sex organs. It is enjoyable, it gives a soothing feeling, the whole body feels blissful. And the moment the child touches his sex organ, everybody stops him immediately -- everybody feels embarrassed. The father, the mother, will stop him, they may even bind his or her hands so he cannot touch them. Now the child feels in a very deep riddle. What to do? He likes the feeling that comes from the touch, he enjoys the feeling, he feels it is beautiful, but if he is to follow that feeling then everybody rejects him. He is a bad child and they punish him. And they are powerful, so what to do?

 

"And such a wrong thing is happening to me," the child thinks. "It may be that only I am doing this wrong thing, nobody else is doing it." And he cannot know about others so he feels guilty: "The whole world is good, only I am guilty." This is a deep problem.

 

-Osho, "The Mustard Seed: My Most Loved Gospel on Jesus, #15“

 

 

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This is how we all have been brought up. Our whole education – in the family, in the society, in the school, in the college, in the university – creates tension in us. And the fundamental tension is that you are not doing that which you ought to do.

 

Then it persists your whole life; it follows you like a nightmare, it goes on haunting you. It will never leave you at rest, it will never allow you to relax. If you relax, it will say, "What are you doing? You are not supposed to relax; you should be doing something." If you are doing something it will say, "What are you doing? You need some rest, it is a must, otherwise you will drive yourself crazy -- you are already on the verge.“

 

If you do something good, it will say, "You are a fool. Doing good is not going to pay, people will cheat you." If you do something bad it will say, "What are you doing? You are preparing the way to go to hell, you will have to suffer for it." It will never leave you at rest; whatsoever you do, it will be there condemning you.

 

This condemner has been implanted in you. This is the greatest calamity that has happened to humanity. And unless we get rid of this condemner inside us we cannot be truly human, we cannot be truly joyous and we cannot participate in the celebration that existence is.

 

And now nobody can drop it except you. And this is not only your problem, Krishna Prabhu, this is the problem of almost every human being. Whatsoever country you are born in, whatsoever religion you belong to, it doesn't matter -- Catholic, communist, Hindu, Mohammedan, Jaina, Buddhist, it does not matter to what kind of ideology you belong, the essential is the same. The essential is to create a split in you, so one part always condemns the other part. If you follow the first part then the second part starts condemning you. You are in an inner conflict, a civil war.

 

-Osho, "The Book of Wisdom, #11, Q2“

 

 

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A master cannot plan for the future. Of course he is ready: whatsoever happens, he will respond -- but he cannot go through a rehearsal, and he cannot plan... and he cannot move before the reality has come. He will say, 'Let the reality come, let the moment knock at my door, and then we will see.' Unburdened with rehearsals, plans, he is always spontaneous -- and whatsoever he does with his spontaneity is always right.

 

Remember this criterion always: whatsoever comes out of your spontaneity is right. There exists no other criterion of right and wrong. Whatsoever comes out of the moment, your alive response to it is good. Nothing else is good -- there exists no other criterion for good and bad.

 

But you are afraid. Because of your fear you create morality. Because of your fear you create distinctions between right and wrong. But don't you see that sometimes a situation is different, and the right becomes wrong and the wrong becomes right? But you remain dead. You don't look at the situation. You simply go on following your right and wrong and the conceptions around it. That's why you become a misfit. Even trees are wiser than you -- they are not misfits. Even animals are better than you -- they are not misfits. Even clouds are worthier than you -- they are not misfits. The whole of existence fits together; only man is a misfit. Where has he gone wrong?

 

He has gone wrong with his mental distinctions -- this is right and that is wrong -- and in life such fixed things cannot be useful. Something is wrong this moment, next moment it becomes right. Something is right this moment, next moment it is right no more. What will you do? You will be constantly in a state of fear and worry, an inner tension.

 

So the foundational teaching of all those who have known is: be alert and spontaneous, and whatsoever happens out of your spontaneous alertness is right, and whatsoever happens out of your sleep, unconsciousness, is wrong. Whatsoever you do unconsciously is wrong -- whatsoever you do with awareness is right. Right and wrong is not a distinction between objects; right and wrong is a distinction between consciousnesses. [....]

 

Be spontaneous. If you feel like helping, don't bother about what Mahavira has said. If you feel like helping, help. Do your thing. If you don't feel like helping, don't help. Whatsoever Jesus may have said, that by helping people you will help me -- don't bother, because sometimes the help may be dangerous. A man is ready to kill somebody, and he says to you, 'Give me water, because I am feeling so thirsty, and I cannot go on this long journey to kill that man' -- what will you do? ... Because if you give him water, you help him in murder. Decide! -- but NEVER decide before the moment because all such decisions will go false. One never knows what type of situation will be there. [....]

 

Don't decide. But your mind will feel uneasy without a decision because the mind needs clear-cut answers. Life has none, no clear-cut answers. Only one thing is certain: be spontaneous and alert and aware, and don't follow any rule. Simply be spontaneous -- and whatsoever happens, let it happen. If you feel in that moment like taking the risk of losing truth, lose it. If you feel in that moment that that man is not worth it, then let the violence happen, or if you feel, 'That man is worth more than me,' stand in between.

 

Millions of possibilities will be there. Don't fix it beforehand. Just be aware and alert and let things happen. You may not wish to say anything. Why not be silent? Don't tell any untruth, don't help the man in violence, don't force the murderer to commit two murders. Why not be silent? Who is forcing you?

 

But let the moment decide: that is what all the awakened ones have said.

 

But if you listen to ordinary moralists they will tell you that life is dangerous, to go with a decision; otherwise you may do something wrong. And I tell you whatsoever you do through a decision will be wrong, because the whole existence is not following your decisions; the whole existence moves in its own way. You are a part of it -- how can you decide for the whole? You have to simply be there and feel the situation and do whatsoever you can do with humbleness, with every possibility of it being wrong.

 

Don't be such an egoist as to think, 'Whatsoever I do will be right.' Then who will do the wrong? Don't be such an egoist that you think, 'I am moral, and the other is immoral.' The other is also you. You are also the other. We are one. The murderer and the victim are not two.

 

But don't decide. Just be there; feel the whole situation, be in rapport with the whole situation, and let your inner consciousness do whatsoever comes. You should not be the doer, you should be just a witness. A doer has to decide beforehand, a witness need not.

 

-Osho, "And The Flowers Showered, #7“

 

 

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I want to say to you that you are only responsible to yourself, and nobody else.

 

And when I say it, don't misunderstand me -- because a person who is responsible to himself is automatically responsible to everybody with whom he comes into contact. He cannot be irresponsible. His every act comes out of consciousness, how can it be irresponsible?

 

What have religions done? -- they have done just the opposite. No religion says you have to be responsible to yourself; but to the motherland, to the fatherland to the church... to all kinds of nonsense. And by being responsible to all that nonsense you destroy your freedom, your consciousness.

 

They have given you another word, conscience. Otherwise there was no need. They have repressed consciousness and put on top of it a conditioned layer, which they call conscience. Conscience means what your religion wants you to do; if you go against it you are being irresponsible. And the scripture decides what is right and what is wrong.

 

No, no scripture can decide what is right and what is wrong. Each moment the situation changes, and each moment you have to come up with a fresh decision, whether it is right or wrong. No dead principles can help, but only living consciousness. And there is no need....

 

-Osho, "From Misery to Enlightenment, #11, Q1“