Fear of Death means a Partially-Lived Life - By Osho

Often the fear of death comes up, intense and strong, and the fear of having to leave all this beauty, this friendship and love. How is it possible to relax in this certainty of death?


First, it is possible to relax only when death is a certainty. Relaxing is difficult when things are uncertain. If you know that you are going to die today, all fear of death will disappear. What is the point of wasting time? You have one day to live: live as intensely as possible, live as totally as possible.

Death may not come. Death cannot come to people who live very intensely and very totally. And even if it comes, those people who have lived totally, welcome it because it is a great relief. They are tired of living, they lived so totally and so intensely, so death comes like a friend. Just as after the whole day’s hard work night comes as a great relaxation, as a beautiful sleep, so does death come after life. Death has nothing ugly about it; you cannot find anything cleaner.

If the fear of death comes in, that means there are a few loopholes that are not filled with living. So those fears of death are very indicative and helpful. They show you that your dance has to go a little faster, that you have to burn the torch of your life from both ends together.

Dance so fast that the dancer disappears and only the dance remains.

Then it is not possible for any fear of death to visit you.

“And the fear of having to leave all this beauty, this friendship and love.” If you are totally herenow, who cares about tomorrow? Tomorrow will take care of itself. Jesus is right when he prays to God, ‘Lord, give me my daily bread.’ He is not even asking for tomorrow, just today is enough unto itself.

You have to learn that each moment has a completion.

The fear of having to leave it all comes only because you are not completely living in the moment; otherwise there is no time, and there is no mind, and there is no space.

Once a merchant was asked, “How old are you?”

He said, “Three hundred and sixty years old.”

The man could not believe it. He said, “Please, repeat it. Perhaps I have not heard rightly.”

The merchant shouted and said, “Three hundred and sixty years old!”

The man said, “Forgive me but I cannot believe it. You don’t look more than sixty!”

The merchant said, “You are also right. As far as the calendar is concerned I am sixty. But as far as my life is concerned I have lived six times more than anybody else. In sixty years I have managed to live three hundred and sixty years.”

It depends on intensity.

There are two ways of living.

One is the way of the buffalo. It lives horizontally, in a single line.

The other way is of a buddha. He lives vertically, in height and in depth. Then each moment can become an eternity.

Don’t waste your time in trivia, but live, sing, dance, love as totally and overflowingly as you are capable of. No fears will interfere and you will not be worried what will happen tomorrow. Today is enough unto itself. Lived, it is so full; it leaves no space to think about anything else. Life unlived, worries come and fears come.

Just live, love, and make each moment a deep ecstasy. All fears may disappear.


The Golden Future