Osho on freedom

THE BUDDHA is the greatest anarchist in human history. He does not believe in any rule from the outside. To help you become free from the outside, he teaches you an inner rule, an inner discipline. Once you have learned the ways of the inner discipline, he’s there, ready to destroy that too — because either you are ruled from the outside or from the inside. You are a slave; freedom is only when there is no rule.

So the inner discipline is just a step to get out from the outer domination of the society, of the state, of the masses, civilization, culture, etcetera. Once you are free of the outer domination, then Buddha starts destroying your inner discipline too. That’s why I call him the greatest anarchist ever. There have been people who have taught that no outside rule should exist, but Buddha is alone in teaching that even the inside rule is a form of slavery, a subtle slavery. No-discipline is his discipline. And when a person is absolutely without any discipline, then there is beauty — because then there is freedom. Then one acts spontaneously; not according to any rule imposed by others or imposed by oneself. Then one simply acts out of nothingness. Then the response is total; nothing is being held back, and there is no enforcement of any sort, there is no violence. There is tremendous grace, there is benediction — because now the actor has completely disappeared, the doer is no more there. If you are trying to discipline yourself, the doer remains, in a subtle way.

If you are trying to discipline yourself, you remain schizophrenic, you remain divided. A part of you disciplines you, another part is being disciplined by you. So one part becomes the master and another part becomes the slave. Again there is division, again there is duality, again you are not one. And there is bound to be conflict in this duality, because in reality you are one, and this is a fiction. Who is trying to rule whom? Who is there to be dominated by whom? There is only one existence inside, one being. To bring any sort of discipline means to divide that unity, and that division is misery, that division is hell.

So first Buddha says: There is no God — because if there is a God and any belief in God, then man can never be free; because then there is a dominator, a dictator. With a God in the world, there can be no democracy — impossible. If God has created man, then of course He is the ultimate power. If He’s omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, then how can freedom exist? You are never left alone, He’s everywhere: that’s what the so-called religious people teach. They say, “He’s looking at you wherever you are. In the most private situation also, He’s there, watching you constantly. His eyes follow you.” This seems to be a very dangerous teaching: it means you don’t have any freedom, it means you don’t have any privacy. And God is like a universal peeping-tom; He’s always there at the keyhole, you cannot escape from Him. His very presence is destructive; His presence means that man has no freedom.

Neitzsche’s declaration that God is dead and now man is free, has a Buddhist tone to it. That’s what Buddha has said: God is not and there is freedom. Freedom means: you are not created by anybody and you are not dominated by anybody and you are not manipulated by anybody. To Buddha, freedom is God.

Try to understand it. It is difficult, because Buddha uses such terminology that it becomes very difficult for childish minds to understand. The childish mind can always understand that there is a God dominating you, looking after you: compassionate, kind, great — the Father, the Mother. These are childish ways to understand the truth.

Buddha says: There is no God, and freedom is absolute. That absolute freedom is Buddha’s God. Freedom is God. Freedom is divine. So first he takes away all outer beliefs. There is no need to believe in a God. The belief itself will become the barrier.

Source:

Listen to complete discourse at mentioned below link.

Discourse Series: The Discipline of Transcendence, Vol 4

Chapter #11

Chapter title: Collecting pebbles on the seashore of life

10 November 1976 am in Buddha Hall

References:

Osho has spoken on ‘freedom, god, man’ in many of His discourses. More on the subject can be referred to in the following books/discourse titles:

1. Beyond Psychology
2. From Bondage to Freedom
3. The Great Pilgrimage: From Here to Here
4. The Path of the Mystic
5. That Art Thou
6. Zarathustra: The Laughing Prophet
7. Zen: The Solitary Bird, Cuckoo of the Forest
8. The Razor’s Edge
9. The Book of Wisdom
10. From Ignorance to Innocence
11. Theologia Mystica
12. Take It Easy, Vol 2
13. The Secret