Osho – A thought is a thought is a thought; it has nothing to do with good and bad

Osho – You will have to start by becoming aware of your thoughts, be more and more alert. Whenever you are sitting, just close your eyes and watch with no judgement, with no evaluation: don’t say that this thought is good and this thought is bad. All thoughts are simply thoughts; there is no distinction of good and bad.

A thought is a thought is a thought; it has nothing to do with good and bad. Once you say ’this is good’. you start clinging to it; once you say ’this is bad’, you start pushing it out. Then conflict arises, then you cannot remain detached, you cannot remain distant, you cannot become a witness – you become involved. So no friendship, no enmity, neither for nor against – just
a detached observation of what goes on.

Don’t label, don’t say ’This is absurd – why should it be there?’ Whatsoever is, is. It is not going
to be changed by labelling it good or bad, absurd, relevant or irrelevant, consistent or inconsistent, meaningless or meaningful. It is not going to change by your labelling it, by categorising it, so don’t pigeonhole anything – simply watch.

Watching in this way for a few weeks, one day you will start seeing that thoughts have gone a little further away. Yes, they are there, distant, you can hear the noise, but they are not very close by. A new layer arises into your vision; you start feeling feelings, emotions arise.

Sometimes you find yourself crying for no reason at all, and sometimes you find yourself laughing for no reason at all. Allow that too. Sometimes you feel yourself full of love and sometimes full of hatred – not directed towards anybody; it is simply there, undirected.

Watch it, again remember: no justification, no rationalisation, no criticism, no appreciation – nothing. Remain aloof and go on watching. That too is a game of the mind – subtler than the first but still the same game on a different plane.