There seems to be a contradiction between us wanting to “be our own person,” “to be ourselves,” and at the same time wanting “to fit in” with others, to belong to different groups, to associate ourselves with different identities.
“This is one of the greatest paradoxes of life, that we are not separate from the whole, yet each individual is unique. This is really difficult to comprehend, because the moment we think of uniqueness, immediately we think of the self. Our idea of uniqueness is that we can be unique only if we are separate from everything else; if we are units, unconnected, existing like islands, then only can we be unique. If we are part of the whole, then how can we be unique? Logically it looks absurd, but existentially this is how it is: we are part of the whole and yet we are unique, because the whole is unique, and each part represents the whole and represents its uniqueness.”
Osho, Zorba the Buddha, Talk #20
Doesn't the fact we are all different create inequality?
“Everybody is equal in the eyes of existence. But remember, equality does not mean similarity. Everybody is equally unique.”
Osho, The New Dawn, Talk #13
In Existence There Is No Inferiority
“I am against equality. It is psychologically wrong. People are neither of equal height nor are people of equal intelligence, nor are people of equal health, nor are people equally creative, nor are people equally capable of painting or sculpture or music or poetry. Everybody is unique, so the question of equality does not arise.”
Osho, The Last Testament, Vol. 3, Talk #16
If we are inevitably unequal in so many different ways, doesn’t that lead to endless comparison – between siblings, between classmates and workmates, between friends…. In fact everywhere?
“I am not saying people are unequal, I am saying they are not equal. That implies they are not unequal either. The very idea of comparison is invalid. Man is unique. Man is not just a member of the society, a part of the society. He is an individual, an independent whole in himself….”
Osho, From Personality to Individuality, Talk #30
Life Is the Ultimate Yes
“Equality is possible only when comparison disappears from the world.”
Osho, The Dhammapada: The Way of the Buddha, Vol. 02, Talk #8
The Most Uncharted Sea
“And never compare. Comparison is a disease, one of the greatest diseases and we are taught from the very beginning to compare. Your mother starts comparing you with other children, your father starts comparing you with other children. The teacher compares you: ‘Look at Johnny, how well he is doing, and you are no good at all! Look at others!’ From the very beginning you are being told to compare yourself with others. This is the greatest disease; it is like a cancer that goes on destroying your very soul – because each individual is unique, and comparison is not possible. I am just myself and you are just yourself. There is nobody else in the world you can be compared with.
“Do you compare a marigold with a rose flower? You don't compare. Do you compare a mango with an apple? You don't compare. You know they are different – comparison is not possible….
“There has never been any individual like you before and there will never be again. You are utterly unique. This is your privilege, your prerogative, existence's blessing – that it has made you unique. Don't compare. Comparison will bring trouble.”
Osho, Guida Spirituale, Talk #5
The Essential
“This is our whole life's struggle: who is the greatest?
“And we waste our life in this struggle. This is politics, this is not religion. Wherever the ego is, there is politics. Once the ego goes, there is no politics; you don't compare yourself with anybody because each individual is incomparable. Each individual is unique, so unique that comparison is not possible. You don't put yourself higher and you don't put yourself lower. You are simply different. There is no question of putting yourself higher or lower. You are you and somebody else is somebody else; there is no question of comparison. Remember, when the ego disappears, comparison disappears. When comparison disappears, competitiveness disappears, and there arises great peace.
“What is your anxiety? What is it that creates anguish, competition, comparison, conflict in you? – the effort to be the greatest, to be the first. Everybody is trying to be the first, hence the war-like quality that surrounds society.”
Osho, I Say Unto You, Vol. 2, Talk #3
Who Do You Think You Are?
“Don't compare, there is no need. Comparison is one of the greatest calamities that has fallen on humanity. You are perfect as you are. Love yourself, respect yourself. If you are not going to respect yourself, who is going to respect you? If you are not going to love yourself, who is going to love you? People don't respect themselves and expect everybody else to respect them. They don't love themselves and want the whole world to fall in love with them. Now you are asking impossibilities – these things cannot happen. Love yourself, respect yourself, and a person who respects himself never compares. Comparison is a disrespect.”
Osho, The Divine Melody, Talk #10
Beyond Comparison: The Beauty of Being Unique
“A man who understands the uniqueness of everybody can be religious, can only be religious because he feels immense gratitude for whatsoever life has given to him. If you don't compare, then you are neither bigger nor smaller, neither ugly nor beautiful, neither intelligent nor stupid. If you don't compare, you are simply yourself. And in that state of simply being yourself spring comes, flowers come, because a deep acceptance of life and a deep gratitude to existence helps to bring the spring.”
Osho, Guida Spirituale, Talk #5
The Essential
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