From Ignorance to Innocence - Osho - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 30. SURRENDER: THE EGO UPSIDE DOWN
how egoless he is. The ego has come from the back door and now it is no more condemned, but
appreciated.
And why is a meek person, a humble person appreciated? That too is a strange story. He is
appreciated because he fulfills everybody else’s ego. lust see the whole game of it. Why do you
appreciate a humble person? – because being humble to you he buttresses your ego. And because
your ego is buttressed, you in response buttress his humbleness.
Now a vicious circle is created. He will become more and more humble because everybody loves
his humbleness. He gains respectability, and everybody enjoys his humbleness because everybody
is being satisfied by his humbleness – it is a deep satisfaction for the ego.
Yes, blessed are the humble and the meek because without them how are the egoists going to be
contented?
And when you say, ”They shall inherit the kingdom of God,” then naturally one is ready to do anything.
I want you to understand it clearly:
Ego and surrender are two sides of the same coin.
I don’t teach the ego, so how can there be any place for surrender in my religion? I don’t teach you
to be meek, I don’t teach you to be humble.
I teach you to be authentic, integrated individuals with immense self-respect. The word self-respect
may create doubts in your mind because self-respect seems to mean again the ego. It is not so. You
have to understand both words, ”self” and ”respect”; both are significant.
Self is that which you are born with.
Ego is that which you accumulate.
Ego is your achievement.
Self is a gift of existence to you. You have not done anything to earn it, you have not achieved it;
hence nobody can take it away from you. That is impossible because it is your nature, your very
being.
Ego is all that you go on accumulating through education, manners, civilization, culture, schools,
colleges, universities.... You go accumulating it. It is your effort, you have made it, and you have
made it so big that you have completely forgotten your real self
To know the real self is enough: the ego falls flat on the ground without any effort to surrender it.
Unless the ego falls on its own, without your effort, it is not going to leave you. If you make effort to
drop it, and that is what surrender is....
All the religions teach surrender, hence I say they don’t understand even the very basics of
psychology.
From Ignorance to Innocence 442 Osho