Have you ever been told that you just need to “tune in to the positive” and all your problems will disappear? Or that in order to achieve your goals in life, you just need to “visualize them” and add a pinch of “positive intention”?
This philosophy has been popular for decades. Mostly thanks to books like How to Win Friends and Influence People and Think and Grow Rich.
But will it help us to live more conscious and fulfilling lives? Hardly.
Spiritual guru, Osho, believes that this is, in fact, one of the most "crappy philosophies."
This is why "positive thinking" will not help you.
When the guru was asked what he thought of the "positive thinking" movement, Osho replied that it does more harm than good.
Why? Because that means we deny reality and remain dishonest with ourselves:
“The philosophy of positive thinking is insincere. She teaches you to be dishonest with yourself. It means seeing certain things and denying that you see them. It means deceiving yourself and others."
Promotional video:
“Positive thinking is the only philosophy that America has introduced into human consciousness - nothing more. Dale Carnegie, Napoleon Hill, and Christian priest Vincent Peel - all of these people have filled the minds of Americans with the absolutely absurd idea of positive philosophy.
But why, then, is it precisely this philosophy that attracts mediocre minds?
Dale Carnegie's book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, was sold in the same print run as the Christian Bible. No other book has achieved such popularity.
In fact, the Christian Bible should not be a competitor because it is often given for free.
But people bought Dale Carnegie's books. Nobody gave them away for free. And this created a certain type of ideology that has spawned many similar books. But for me it is disgusting.
… Dale Carnegie created a school of positive philosophy, positive thinking: I don't see the negative part, I don't see the dark side.
But why do you think that if you don't notice the negative, then it will disappear? You are just fooling yourself. You cannot change reality. Night will come anyway. You may think that a day lasts 24 hours, but just by your thought, the sun will not begin to shine in the place where you live, 24 hours a day.
The negative is as much a part of life as the positive. They balance each other.
There is another popular book that has become a pillar of this philosophy - "Think and Grow Rich":
“As for Napoleon Hill, I remember … that he himself was a poor man. This is enough to refute his entire philosophy. He became rich selling the book Think and Grow Rich.
But it was not positive thinking that made him rich, but the fools around the world who bought the book. He was made rich by his work, his work, his efforts.
But in the early days when his book came out, he himself stood in bookstores, personally convincing people to buy it.
And it so happened that Henry Ford got out of his latest model car and went into the bookstore to buy something to read.
And Napoleon Hill did not want to miss this chance. He walked up to Ford with his book, and said:
“A wonderful book has just been published - you will be happy with it. This is not just a book, it is a sure method of success.
Henry Ford looked at the man and said, "Are you the author of this book?"
Napoleon Hill proudly said, "Yes, I am the author of the book." And he can be proud of it: this book is a work of art. And creating a work of art out of shit is a real skill.
Henry Ford, without touching the book, asked only 1 question: "Did you come here by your car or by bus?"
Napoleon Hill did not understand what he meant and said: "Of course, I came by bus."
Then Henry Ford said:
“Look outside. There is my personal car, and I am Henry Ford. You are deceiving people. You don't even have a personal car, and you are writing the book "Think and Grow Rich!" And I got rich without thinking, so I don't want to worry about it. Do you think and get rich? When you get rich, then come to me. This will be the proof. The book is not proof."
They say that Napoleon Hill was never able to gather his courage and meet again this old man, Henry Ford, although he became a little richer. But compared to Henry Ford, he was always a poor man.
Either way, Henry Ford's logic is clear.
Not. I don't believe in the philosophy of positive thinking.
A dangerous half-truth.
Osho says that by forcing yourself to think positively, you are simply denying the reality of life, and in the end it will hit you painfully.
“You ask me: am I against positive philosophy? Yes, I am against, and I am also against negative philosophy.
I am opposed to both, because both of these philosophies recognize only half of the fact, and both try to ignore the other half.
And remember: half-truths are much more dangerous than lies, because sooner or later any lie will be revealed. How long can she go unnoticed? A lie, of course, remains a lie. It looks like a house of cards - a little breeze and it will fall apart.
And half-truths are dangerous. You can never find it thinking that it is the truth. So the real problem is not the lie itself, the real problem is the half-truth pretending to be the truth; And that's what these people are doing."
The negative ideas in your mind should be released, not suppressed.
Osho says it is harmful to suppress negative emotions:
“The negative ideas in your mind should be released, not suppressed by positive ideas. You have to create a consciousness that is neither positive nor negative. It will be pure consciousness.
Only in pure consciousness will you live the most real and blissful life …
You do not like a person, you do not like many things, you do not love yourself, you do not like the situation in which you are. All this garbage continues to gather in the unconscious, and a hypocrite appears on the surface, who says: "I love everyone, love is the key to Bliss."
But there is no bliss in this person's life. He has hell inside.
He can deceive others, and if he deceives long enough, he begins to deceive himself. But this will not lead to change. It's just a waste of life that you can't get back.
Positive thinking is a philosophy of hypocrisy, that's its correct name.
“When you feel like crying, she teaches you to sing. You can do this, but suppressed tears will come out at some point, in a certain situation. There is a containment limitation. And the song you sang was completely meaningless. You did not feel it, it was not born in your heart."