Question 1:

Do you think it is a bad thing to be Moral?

 

 

No. I do not consider it bad to be moral but I do consider the illusion of being moral bad. It gets in the way of real morality. False morality is an outer coating, a covering. It serves no purpose other than satisfying hypocrisy and in my view there is no greater immoral state of mind than that of hypocrisy and egoism. False morality makes a show of humility and of freedom from egoism, but beneath it the ego is nourished and flourishes.

 

Do you not see the truth of what I am saying in the so-called sadhus and saints in this country? This so-called morality, adopted, cultivated and achieved by effort is nothing but acting, in my view. Often things in a man’s inner mind are just the opposite. What appears on the surface is absent inside. There are flowers above and thorns below. And this continuous battle between behavior and the inner being, this unbridgeable gap between consciousness and unconsciousness divides and disintegrates a man’s personality. In such a man there is no harmony. And where there is neither harmony nor music there is no joy. In my view, a real moral life is an expression of joy.

 

Morality is an articulation of joy, a spontaneous expression. When joy flows from one’s inner being it is expressed outside in good conduct, in morality. The fragrance of bliss that emanates from such a man is truly the goodness of life. Therefore I ask you to create harmony, not conflict. Please try to see this truth. Do not just listen to what I say but try to live it. Then you will see how with our own hands we have thrown our lives into an anarchy of conflict and inner duality – lives we could have transformed into one continuous and beautiful dance to the divine music.

 

Morality comes of its own accord just as flowers appear on a tree. It is not an accomplishment. The seeds of meditation are sown and then the crop of morality is harvested. Morality is not something to be attained by effort. It is something that is accomplished, achieved, through meditation. From meditation, peace, harmony and beauty flow. And he who is peaceful within himself is incapable of making others restless. He who has music within him will find the echo of his own music reverberating from everyone around him, and he who has beauty within him will find that his behavior causes all ugliness to disappear. Is not all of this, in itself, morality?

 

–Osho, “The Perfect Way, #5, Q1”