Three quotes by Carl Rogers

People are just as wonderful as sunsets if you let them be. When I look at a sunset, I don’t find myself saying, “Soften the orange a bit on the right hand corner.” I don’t try to control a sunset. I watch with awe as it unfolds.

The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.

I’m not perfect… but I’m enough.

Below an excerpt from Osho’s answer to: I am a so-called psychologist. Usually I enjoy it. Recently I have begun to appreciate witnessing. I wonder now if I am ‘qualified” to be a psychologist. Carl Rogers used the phrase “unconditional positive regard” as the core of psychotherapy. Compassion is so foreign and new to me. Kindly advise. […]

“Carl Rogers used the phrase ‘unconditional positive regard’ as the core of psychotherapy.”

Yes, it is – compassion. An unconditional acceptance of the other’s being as he is. Ordinarily psychology has a condemnatory attitude – it goes on labeling. You say something and they will say you are a schizophrenic. You say something and you are a split personality. You say something, you are a neurotic or a psychotic. And they go on labeling – as if man is just a thing to be labelled. Man is not a thing to be labelled: man is something to be revered, with deep regard.

“Compassion is so foreign and new to me.”

Yes, it is foreign to psychologists because they take people as patients not as persons. They have to treat you. Something has gone wrong; they have accepted it. It is new. If you start witnessing your being, you will feel more and more compassion. Allow it to happen more and more.

In deep compassion you will be able to help many more people – because, in fact, compassion is the only thing that helps. Compassion is therapeutic. Compassion is the only therapy there is. “Yes, it is – compassion. An unconditional acceptance of the other’s being as he is. Ordinarily psychology has a condemnatory attitude – it goes on labeling. You say something and they will say you are a schizophrenic. You say something and you are a split personality. You say something, you are a neurotic or a psychotic. And they go on labeling – as if man is just a thing to be labelled. Man is not a thing to be labelled: man is something to be revered, with deep regard.”

Osho, A Sudden Clash of Thunder, Ch 6, Q 4 (excerpt)

Carl Ransom Rogers (January 8, 1902 – February 4, 1987) was an American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic approach in psychology. Rogers is widely considered to be one of the founding fathers of psychotherapy research. The person-centered approach, his own unique approach to understanding personality and human relationships, found wide application in various domains such as psychotherapy, counseling, education, organizations, and other group settings.

Thanks to Antar Marc