Excerpt: Find out how you can stop fearing death and what Osho believes to be the “secret” of life. These Osho quotes on life and death are deep…
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Introduction: The “Art” of Living and Dying:
When we think of “art” we usually think of paint and canvas, camera and film, rock and chisel, pen and paper, drums and sticks, monitor and mouse, movement and dance, etc. And when we think of “masterpieces” we usually think of the best pieces produced using those mediums. But beyond these avenues of artistic expression, the larger “art” that we should be working hard to master is the art of living and the ultimate “masterpiece” that we should be looking to produce is that of our best life.
Without the proper investment of time and energy into learning the art of living (and subsequently, the art of dying) then we’re going to miss out on bringing to fruition the full potential of what we are capable of producing. Just like mastering an art form takes a lifetime of study, discipline, and trial-and-error, so too does learning how to live fully because without the study, discipline, and trial-and-error, you’ll undoubtedly get by but your life will be average at best, just like your artwork will remain average at best under study-less, non-disciplined, no try circumstances.
Enter, The Art of Living and Dying by Osho—a masterpiece in the form of ink and paper, bound together into a deeply insightful book, that will take you to a whole new level of understanding of life and death. It’s one of those rare resources that is packed with wisdom and can get you into a blissful state of enlightenment by the time you’re finished reading it’s pages. But before you dive into the book, we have gathered for you 13 of our favorite Osho quotes on life and death from The Art of Living and Dying to whet your appetite.
Take some time to reflect on how you prioritize your day and make sure you have some “life study” and “death study” plugged in next to “painting time” and “writing time” (for example). It could be one of the most important time and energy investments you ever prioritize. We hope you enjoy our list and would love it if you would leave us some of your enlightened thoughts in the comment section below! …Cheers to living your best life!
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The List: 13 Osho Quotes on Life and Death
Osho is one of the most provocative and inspiring spiritual teachers of the twentieth century. Below, you will find some of his teachings on the art of living and dying derived directly from his book entitled just that, The Art of Living and Dying.
Find out what he believes to be the “secret” of life and how you can come to terms with death so that it is no longer a fear. And as with any other deep insight, it will take discipline and deep reflection to internalize his message. Good luck and enjoy! :)
“What is the secret to the art of life? The secret is this – live in full awareness. Don’t grope in the darkness; don’t walk in sleep; walk in awareness. Whatsoever you do, no matter what it is – even if it is as insignificant as opening and closing your eyes – do it thoughtfully, do it with awareness. Who knows, everything may depend on that tiny action, on opening and closing your eyes. You may be walking along the road and see a woman, and you may spend your whole life with her! Even opening and closing your eyes, stay alert.”
Osho, The Art of Living and Dying
“Life is spread out over a long time – seventy years, one hundred years. Death is intense because it is not spread out – it is in a single moment. Life has to pass one hundred years or seventy years, it cannot be so intense. Death comes in a single moment; it comes whole, not fragmentary. It will be so intense you cannot know anything more intense. But if you are afraid, if before death comes you have escaped, if you have become unconscious because of the fear, you have missed one of the golden opportunities, the golden gate. If your whole life you have been accepting things, when death comes, patiently, passively you will accept and enter into it without any effort to escape. If you can enter death passively, silently, without any effort, death disappears.”
Osho, The Art of Living and Dying
“The fear of death is fear of time. And the fear of time is, deeply down, fear of unlived moments, of an unlived life. So what to do? Live more, and live more intensely. Live dangerously. It is your life. Don’t sacrifice it for any sort of foolishness that has been taught to you. It is your life: Live it! Don’t sacrifice it for words, theories, countries or politics. Don’t sacrifice it for anybody. Live it! Don’t think that it is courageous to die. The only courage is to live life totally; there is no other courage.”
Osho, The Art of Living and Dying
“The more you fight with death, the more anxiety-ridden you will become, you are bound to become. It is a natural consequence. If you fight with death you know that you are going to be defeated. How can you be happy with a life which is going to end in defeat? You know that whatsoever effort you make, nothing is going to succeed against death. Deep down you are certain about only one thing and that is death. In life everything else is uncertain, only death is certain. There is only one certainty, and in that certainty you have an enemy. Fighting with certainty and hoping for uncertainties how can you be in a repose? How can you be relaxed, calm, collected? Impossible.”
Osho, The Art of Living and Dying
“Once you understand that death is not the opposite of life but part of it, an intrinsic part of it, which can never be separated from it – once you accept death as a friend, suddenly a transformation happens. You are transfigured, your vision now has a new quality in it. Now there is no fight, no war, you are not fighting against anybody, now you can relax, now you can be at home. Once death becomes a friend only then does life become a friend also. This may look paradoxical but it is so, only the appearance is paradoxical. If death is the enemy, then deep down life is also the enemy, because life leads to death.”
Osho, The Art of Living and Dying
“If you have not lived rightly, you will not be able to die rightly. Death is the final offering. It is the highest; it is the crowning or the peak. Death is the essence and the flowering of life. How can your death be right if you have spent your life wrongly? How can your death be full of meaning if your life has been a waste? How can a tree whose roots are rotten bear sweet fruit? It is impossible.”
Osho, The Art of Living and Dying
“Hell is not part of geography, it is part of your psychology, and so is heaven. You create your hell, you create your heaven. And it is not in the future. Herenow somebody is living in heaven and somebody is living in hell – and they may be sitting together, they may be friends. Don’t be worried about hell and heaven; they are just your states. If you live in the mind, you live in hell. If you live in the no-mind, you live in heaven.”
Osho, The Art of Living and Dying
“You start dying really when you start breathing, at the same moment. It is not right to say that death comes in the end, it has always been with you from the very beginning. It is part of you, it is your innermost center, it grows with you, and one day it comes to a culmination, one day it comes to flowering. The day of death is not the day of death’s coming, it is the flowering. Death was growing within you all this time, now it has reached a peak; and once death reaches a peak you disappear back into the origin.”
Osho, The Art of Living and Dying
“Old age is tremendously beautiful, and it should be so because the whole of life moves towards it. It should be the peak. How can the peak be in the beginning? How can the peak be in the middle? But if you think your childhood is your peak, as many people think, then of course your whole life will be a suffering because you have attained your peak – now everything will be a declining, coming down. If you think young age is the peak, as many people think, then of course after thirty-five you will become sad, depressed, because every day you will be losing and losing and losing and gaining nothing. The energy will be lost, you will weaken, diseases will enter into your being, and death will start knocking at the door. The home will disappear, and the hospital will appear. How can you be happy? No, but in the East we have never thought that childhood or youth is the peak. The peak waits for the very end.”
Osho, The Art of Living and Dying
“There is nothing to be worried about. You will disappear like a snowflake in pure air. You are not going to die, you are only going to disappear. Yes, you will not be found in the individual form. The form will disappear into the formless – the snowflake into the pure air. But you will be there and more so. When the river disappears into the ocean, it is not dying – it is becoming the ocean, it is spreading, it is becoming bigger, huge, enormous, infinite.”
Osho, The Art of Living and Dying
“A man is really a mature man when he has come to this conclusion: ‘If death is happening to everybody else, then I cannot be an exception.’ Once this conclusion sinks deep into your heart, your life can never be the same again. You cannot remain attached to life in the old way. If it is going to be taken away, what is the point of being so possessive? If it is going to disappear one day, why cling and suffer? If life is not going to remain forever, then why be in such misery, anguish, worry?”
Osho, The Art of Living and Dying
“If you have lived your life, you will welcome death. It will come like a rest, like a great sleep. If you have peaked, climaxed in your life, then death is a beautiful rest, a benediction. But if you have not lived, then of course death creates fear. If you have not lived, then certainly death is going to take time from your hands, all future opportunities to live. In the past you have not lived, and there is going to be no future: fear arises. Fear arises not because of death but because of unlived life.”
Osho, The Art of Living and Dying
“Once you know what death is you will receive it with great celebration. You will welcome it. It is the fulfillment of your whole life’s effort. It is the fruition of your whole life’s effort. The journey ends. One comes back home. In death you don’t die. Just, the energy that was given to you through the body and through the mind is released and goes back to the world. You return home.”
Osho, The Art of Living and Dying
If you enjoyed these Osho quotes on life and death you should read The Art of Living and Dying in full. It comes highly recommended:
Book Overview: Why are we afraid of death? Should we tell someone they are dying? Is reincarnation true? With depth, clarity, compassion, and even humor, Osho answers the questions we all have about this most sacred of mysteries and offers practical guidance for meditation and support. He reveals not only that our fear of death is based on a misunderstanding, but that dying is an opportunity for inner growth. When life is lived consciously and totally, death is not a catastrophe but a joyous climax.
Comment Prompt: Which of the above Osho quotes on life stood out to you the most? Why?
…Ready To (Finally) Put An End To The Self-Improvement Yo-Yo-Ing?
Our NEW Guide will teach you how to integrate self-improvement tasks into your life—for life—without requiring NAVY Seal level self-discipline or grit. Download now and get INSTANT access to:
- 30 Powerful, One Page Meditations
- 30 Pace Conscious Challenges
- 30 Original, Downloadable Illustrations
…Build habits that stick or your money back.
Written by Matt Hogan
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