Beloved Osho,

An old Tibetan is quoted as saying:

“Like a lion, I have no fear.
Like an elephant, I have no anxiety.
Like a madman, I have no hope.
I tell you the honest truth.”

Osho, what is so wondrous and precious about the honest truth?

In fact, to use these two words together shows a deep misunderstanding.
“Honest truth” implies that there can be dishonest truth.

Truth is enough.

Honesty is a very ordinary quality that comes as a shadow of truth, with many other qualities. There is something immensely important about truth. But remember, never use the words honest truth. That means you have a suspicion: deep down you yourself are not convinced of the truthfulness of truth. To substitute, to compensate, you add honesty to it.

Nothing can be added to truth.

Truth is always pure, nude, alone.

And there is great beauty, because truth is the very essence of life, existence, nature. Except for man, nobody lies. A rosebush cannot lie. It has to produce roses; it cannot produce marigolds – it cannot deceive. It is not possible for it to be other than it is. Except for man, the whole existence lives in truth.

Truth is the religion of the whole of existence – except man.

And the moment a man also decides to become part of existence, truth becomes his religion. It is the glorious moment.

When I say that except for man everything is living truth – the ocean, the clouds, the stars, the stones, the flowers – that everything is nothing but truthfulness, nothing but just itself, with no mask, and only man is capable of deceiving others, of deceiving himself – it has to be remembered that this is a great opportunity. It has not to be condemned, it has to be praised, because even if a rosebush or a lotus wants to lie, it cannot. Its truth is not freedom; its truth is a bondage. It cannot go beyond the boundaries.

Man has the prerogative, the privilege of being untrue. That means man has the freedom to choose. If he chooses to be truthful, he is not choosing bondage, he is choosing truth and freedom. Freedom is his privilege. In the whole of existence, nobody else has freedom.

But there are dangers when you have opportunities. When you have freedom, you can go wrong. No rose can go wrong, no rock can go wrong. You can go wrong; hence a deep awareness of each act, of each thought, of each feeling, has to penetrate you.

To me that is what is the meaning of a seeker of truth.

Only man needs to seek it; everybody has already got it, but the glory of freedom is not there. You have to seek it, and find it. And in that very seeking and finding you are glorious, you are the very crown of existence.

But truth is enough.

Don’t burden it with honesty or anything else.

Osho, Beyond Psychology, Ch 17, Q 3