The Truth about Osho’s Teachings

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Dhruv Rathee is a successful Indian influencer and social media activist, originally from Haryana but now based in Berlin. He is known for his YouTube videos on social, political, and environmental issues. According to wikipedia.org, as of June 2025, he has over 36 million subscribers and 7 billion views across all of his channels. youtube.com

Hello, friends!

Many of you ask me to make a video on Osho.

Not only in India, but Osho is an internationally renowned philosopher and spiritual guru. But people are usually more interested in the person than their ideologies, you might assume that this video will be his biography.

But do you know what, friends? When Osho was asked about his biography during a lecture, he said that he doesn’t have a biography. And what is thought to be a biography, is simply meaningless.

The day he was born, he country he was born in, none of that matters. The only thing that matters is who he is now.

In another instance, he said that Vasant Joshi is writing his biography. But it will only be superficial. So superficial that it won’t be worth reading. Because every biography is the story of one’s ego. Never the story of the soul.

So reflecting Osho’s thoughts here, we’ll skip his biography and talk about his belief system. Belief system. But there’s a problem with that. The problem is, do you know what he said about one’s belief system? He said that he doesn’t have a belief system.

“I do not believe in anything. I do not believe in believing.” ¹

I’m quoting Osho’s exact words here. He said that he wants to destroy all belief systems. Whether Catholic or Communist, it doesn’t matter.

“I want to destroy all belief systems. Catholic or Communist. It does not matter.” ¹

He was talking to an interviewer. Then the interviewer counter-questioned him. What should we call the belief system that doesn’t believe in belief systems?

“Q: What about the belief system that doesn’t believe in belief systems?” ¹

“It is not a belief system. It cannot be a belief system. It simply deprograms people but it does not program them. It leaves them clean.” ¹

He says that it ‘cleans’ people. Without rewriting their beliefs. The way they were born. Innocent.

He made it his job to deprogram the Jews, Hindus, Muslims, and whoever goes to him. To deprogram everyone and destroy their belief system. He claims that he doesn’t push them to another belief system. Because he doesn’t have any belief system.

Osho says that for the past 32 years, he has been nothing. The deeper you go, the emptier you’d find everything. The deeper you go into yourself, you’d eventually be faced with a void. He says that this is the point of Enlightenment.

“Buddha actually has given it the name nothingness. Nirvana.” ¹

Buddha called it Nirvana. Which literally means nothingness. The end to your ego. Now the question here is, friends, what really is this ego?

Osho says that ego is the mask to hide an inferiority complex.

“Ego is how a person hides their inferiority complex. There’s a knot of inferiority complex within us, telling us we’re nothing, So you strive to be something. That gives rise to the ego.” ²

When people feel unworthy and unseen, they strive to be something more. Birds don’t have any ego. Animals don’t have any ego. Because ego is a human concept. It’s created by humans.

Since childhood, we’ve been told to become something. To prove yourself. To leave your mark in history. To do something great. Because you aren’t enough. Be a sculptor, a painter, get into politics, make a lot of money, all to prove yourself. This feeling of not being enough, the only way to ease this pain is through ego. This desire of self-importance is ego. Schools teach this as ambition.

Now you will think, friends, if someone feels as if they’re unworthy, and then they work hard to achieve something, it’s a good thing, isn’t it? Parents would be proud of us, we’ve proved ourselves and have a status in society.

If someone wins an Olympic medal, or an Oscar, the entire country is proud of them. And the most important thing is, it feels good seeing themselves in the mirror. To finally feel like they’re not unworthy. Proud of what they’ve achieved. But what’s wrong with that?

When asked this, Osho tells us a story.

There was a sage meditating in the forest. And a rat would be playing around him. The sage got attached to it too. Once a cat attacked the rat. The sage had some supernatural powers. So he turned the rat into a bigger cat. The smaller cat got scared and ran away. And the rat, now a cat, was happy. The sage was happy too.

But then, a dog attacked the cat. So the sage turned the cat into a cheetah. But this peace didn’t last long. Soon, a lion attacked the cheetah. So the sage turned the cheetah into a lion. And the lion attacked the sage.

When the sage’s life was threatened he was upset that his rat forgot his kindness. So the sage undid his magic, and the lion became a rat once again.

Osho says, the way the lion easily turned back into a rat in this story, it isn’t so easy in reality. We start by turning our rat into a cat, then a dog, a cheetah, a lion, and keep making it bigger. Eventually, it becomes so big that we are burdened with it.

Friends, all of this might sound like nonsense, but it’s not.

I’ve already made a video on the sad life of rich people. It looks at this philosophy from a practical perspective. You might remember that video. I talked about how even famous superstars can be depressed. Despite being the richest person, look at Elon Musk’s loneliness, insecurities, and stress. He spoke about them.

Or look at Donald Trump. He became the US President twice. But now he is miffed about not getting a Nobel Prize. He wants the Nobel Prize. He insists that he stopped the India-Pakistan war. As well as the Russia-Ukraine war and Israel-Iran war. A few months ago, he said how he should have won 4-5 Nobel Prizes already.

The truth is, Trump compares himself to Barack Obama. Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize. And Trump has openly criticised this decision repeatedly. Becoming the President of the most powerful country in the world, twice, is still not enough. The ego wants to become even bigger. That’s why Trump compares himself to Obama.

Osho says that comparison is the window to ego. The problem is, no matter how much you achieve, someone will always be ahead of you. If you become the most powerful, someone might be wealthier. If you become the richest, someone might be more beautiful.

Osho gives an example of Napoleon. How Napoleon won over the world, but he still had a complex for being short.

For the record, let me tell you, Napoleon wasn’t actually short. He was around 5 feet 6 inches, taller than the average French adult male in the 1800s. But at that time, a British cartoonist, James Gillray, depicted Napoleon as a short guy in his cartoons. Short, angry, and boastful.

Look at this caricature, Little Boney in a Strong Fit.

Napoleon was quite irritated by these caricatures. In fact, he was so irritated that he sent diplomatic notes asking the British government to censor these cartoons. But obviously, this didn’t happen. And basically, as you can see, despite not being short, it hurt his ego.

Osho says that if someone has wealth, they would lack intelligence. If they’re intelligent, they’ll lack something else. No one can have everything. And if there is someone who has everything, people will kill them immediately. Because they won’t be able to bear it.

He points out, if someone is rich, people start disliking them. Even if someone is intelligent and happy, people still get irritated. Because seeing someone’s success, reminds them of their own shortcomings.

Ego gives us happiness and sadness both. When we see someone worse off, we are happy. And when we see someone doing better, we get sad. When it upsets them, people talk about letting go of ego. But until they give up the temporary happiness they get from their ego, the sadness would stay with them.

This temporary happiness, of one-upping someone else, rendering someone speechless, making someone else envy you, this temporary ego boost is like placing a flower on a wound. It doesn’t cure the wound. It just covers the wound for a while. Some people spend their entire lives hiding the wound. That’s why it is important to let go of ego completely.

So the question arises: can someone really let go of their ego?

Osho says that if you try to let go of your ego, you might end up getting an ego boost for letting go of your ego. The pride of being able to control your ego. Telling you how amazing you are.

That’s why he chooses Buddha’s way. To understand ego, to observe it, to accept the emptiness within you.

People have been telling you that you’re nothing, it’s your turn to accept that you really are nothing. If you don’t feed your ego, it will die out. A breeze of consciousness will blow it away like a house of cards.

Friends, you might be wondering, if everyone gives up their ego, if no one has any ambition, how will the world run?

No one will want to work much. They’ll do the bare minimum needed for survival and nothing more.

Osho says that when you are satisfied with being zero, you’ll be able to achieve a lot. You might write a beautiful song, sculpt a sculpture, the ego withered away, and everything beyond that will be because of who you really are.

Your efforts will give you results, but without any trace of anxiety. And most importantly, there won’t be any competition with others. The way a river flows naturally towards the ocean, you too will flow towards success.

Now you might say that this is all nonsense. It only sounds good, but doesn’t work practically. Even if someone wants to let go of their ego, but they’ll still be stuck in the same toxic job.

How will they flow like a river towards their success? Spirituality and practicality don’t go hand in hand. Someone may leave their ego, but how will they leave their job?

For this, I’d ask you to follow Vijeta’s example. Vijeta Dahiya, my friend and a researcher for this channel, comes from a middle-class family. So, on the parents’ advice, he did engineering, just like me. He did engineering from Delhi College of Engineering, now known as DTU. And during campus placement, he got a good job at a MNC in Gurgaon.

But only after working for 10 months, he quit his corporate job. Not because of a low salary or similar financial reasons. He quit because his heart wasn’t in this work. He dreamt of writing, acting, and film-making. But he faced many challenges in fulfilling this dream.

So he chose to go for SSC’s Combined Graduate Level Exam, CGLE. He became an Assistant Section Officer in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He worked there for three years and then left this government job, a government job for which millions of people in our country are struggling.

After that, he went in a completely different direction. He joined a media organisation. He started writing for cinema. But when that wasn’t satisfying either, he left that job within three months.

And today, friends, he is the content researcher and a writer for one of the biggest YouTube channels in India. But apart from this, for his writings, Quora India awarded him the Top Writer Award in 2021.

In terms of film-making, he has made a Haryanvi feature film, Daraarein, and a web series, Opri Paraai. Not only did he write the storyline of the film, but also directed, edited, and acted in the film. This film and web series have been hits with the Haryanvi audience, and he won awards for it.

But the biggest thing is that he worked on what he wanted to. He also did street theatre in Haryana. He even played Lakshman in Delhi’s famous Punjabi Bagh Ram Leela. And apart from working on these YouTube videos, he is also writing the script for his next film, Monu Rockstar.

Just look at his story. He had no contact with writing or the film industry. He was a person working at a simple corporate job – so how could he do all this? Quitting three jobs, pursuing his dreams, and then earning money. How did this happen?

Friends, he shares his story in his new book, To Hell With That Job. The name shows that you shouldn’t chase a role. This is a full-length e-book of around 430 pages. It is available in Hindi e-book and English e-book formats, as well as a Hindi audio series.

I read this book. This is truly such an inspirational and motivational book, because this isn’t just a story – this is a way of life. Most of the motivational gurus give you mantras like “You can do it!” and “You will do it!”, but not in this book. This offers you A to Z practical tips.

Practical tips for those people who feel that they are missing out on their passion. They don’t know what they want to do in life. Someone may struggle with talking to their parents, or someone may struggle with peer pressure. Scared of being left behind by their classmates and colleagues. What if they get a bigger car, or they go on a world trip, or they live peacefully in a bigger house, while I get left behind?

Many of you can’t quit your job because you’re worried about the EMIs for your home loan and car loan. Some may be clueless about what they’d do if they quit their job. We are conditioned to have mental constraints. We struggle to gather enough courage for freelancing or starting a business, because we look for stability. Secondly, we’re used to taking instructions from others.

Vijeta addressed these financial, social, psychological, and spiritual issues in this book. It is a detailed book, and it took him almost a year to write it.

So if you are interested – if you are one of those people who are stuck in their toxic jobs and you cannot see an escape route to leave, or if you are someone who is struggling to get a job, or you don’t know how to turn your passion into your profession – then this book is for you.

The link to buy this book is in the description, or you can use this QR code. It’ll cost you only ₹399. This will give you both the e-books, as well as the Hindi audio book, all at only ₹399. So it’s up to you whether you want to read it or listen to it.

Apart from this, it’s available only at Dhruv Rathee Academy. You won’t get it on any other platform. For the best reading and listening experience, you can download the Dhruv Rathee Academy iOS or Android app. Both are linked in the description below.

But do check it out because, with the money you spend on a single pizza, for that amount, someone will change your life.

Vijeta and I believe that since we spend a large portion of our lives working, that’s why not only should your work be comfortable and well-paying, but it should also be joyful.

I upload so many videos regularly on this channel. Do you think it’s possible to do it without passion? Not at all.

Vijeta used a word in his book for this – resonance. How your work should be an extension of meditation, something that brings you joy.

And believe me, just like Osho says, you will succeed. Vijeta and I have experienced it. We know how it feels, and you too can experience the same feeling.

Osho has similar views on ego and jealousy. It’s a powerful device used by society to control you.

“Jealousy is one of the greatest devices. It means, live in comparison.” ³

It is used to destroy your integrity. People compare themselves to others. There are people on the lower rung and upper rung of life, but no one is at the top of the ladder. Everyone is stuck in the middle – a kind of circular ladder. Everyone sees someone ahead of them, whether in terms of looks, intelligence, or wealth. Someone’s a painter and someone else, a poet. You are competing alone against the whole world. You will go crazy like this.

That’s why it is wise to jump out of that circular ladder. Get rid of this competition and jealousy. These are all nonsense.

According to Osho, these are weapons crafted by religious priests – a fear instilled by all old religions, lest you find real contentment within yourself, lest you be happy with what you are. If it happens, why will you continue to follow them? Hang on to their every word?

“No society wants you to become wise. It is against the investment of all societies. If people are wise, they cannot be exploited. If they are intelligent, they cannot be subjugated. They cannot be forced into a mechanical life.” ⁴

I have already told you how to avoid being trapped by this society. Observe and understand everything. Whether it is Jiddu Krishnamurti or Osho, this is the central principle of their discourse: self-awareness. They might call it mindfulness or super-consciousness. They teach you that the more you become aware, the less mechanical you’ll become. But the problem is that the world doesn’t want your awareness. They demand your efficiency, and efficiency comes from being mechanical.

“You are expected to be efficient. Efficiency is a quality of machines.” ⁵

Because of this efficiency and mechanical behaviour, you might succeed in getting money, power, and respect, but you might lose yourself.

Just like Ekta Kapoor’s serials are now following a factory system. No one cares who wrote or directed the serial, because it doesn’t bring out any unique creative voice. This applies to any factory, to every corporate job.

Vijeta has dedicated an entire chapter on this topic. Along with explaining the history of work, he also explained why, by design, corporate jobs are so boring today. How humans are alienated from their creative nature, and are turned into a cog in the machine. This mechanical nature has seeped into our lives.

Osho’s teaching about self-awareness has become much more relevant today.

Why do people spend so much time on social media today? Because they lack self-awareness. Every now and then, our hands reach for our phones mechanically. Our thumbs know the pattern of how to open which app. Former executives of social media companies have also revealed how these apps are meticulously designed to hack the users’ minds, to keep them trapped.

“Every single action you take is carefully monitored and recorded. Exactly what images you stop and look at, for how long you look at it… Oh yeah, seriously, for how long you look at it!” ⁶ (You might remember that I made a video on this.)

Or take shopping for example. Earlier, shopping used to mean buying things. You needed something, went out, and bought it. But then companies tricked you into getting used to online shopping. While shopping online, you can add things to your wishlist. You can indulge in window shopping on websites. You can add items to your cart. If you search for a product but stop yourself from buying it, that product gets re-marketed for you. You don’t have to log in repeatedly. You don’t have to add your card details every time. You can buy everything with a single click.

This lack of self-awareness is contributing to the big problems of the world too. Take climate change for example. We see landslides, floods, storms, rising sea levels, and suffocating pollution. Why is this happening? Technically, it’s because of rising CO₂ emissions. But the actual reason is the ego and greed of a small group of individuals, and the lack of self-awareness among others – living their lives mindlessly and mechanically.

But not even the macro issues… will you find any contentment in your life living like this? You won’t, because the game is rigged – to keep you unhappy.

Your ego will make you show off your things and consumption on social media. You bought a car, you’re not unworthy. You shopped a lot, you are wealthy and not unworthy. Someone else will feel insecure about your social media posts, and they’ll show off their consumption. And the cycle will continue…

There is only one [way to] escape: self-awareness. Only this can help your mind break this trap. It can free you from ego and jealousy. It can feel joy doing what it loves to do.

When people start doing so collectively, we can make the world a better place.

Friends, if you want to know more about Osho’s thoughts, we have added Osho’s avatar to AI Fiesta. If you’re an AI Fiesta subscriber, it’s free of cost for you. Simply log on to the app to find him on the Avatar page.

Friends, if you want to know about the exact path to achieve this, Vijeta has talked about it in detail in his e-book, To Hell With That Job. You can read or listen to this e-book by clicking here. It’s linked below in the description too.

If you liked this video, you can click here to watch this one too. It’s about the sad life of rich people. And I’ll see you in the next video.

Thank you very much!

Sources

1. Osho, The Last Testament, Vol 1, Ch 26, interview with Interview with KGO TV, San Francisco, CA
2. [From a Hindi discourse]
3. Osho, From Personality to Individuality, Ch 4, Q 1
4. Osho, The Goose Is Out, Ch 6, Q 1
5. Osho, Beyond Enlightenment, Ch 11, Q 2
6. Jeff Seibert from Twitter, former Executive Serial Tech Entrepreneur