Do not fight with desire

What the method is

The method “Do not fight with desire” is a core tenet of Tantra, directly opposing the conventional approach of suppression or negation of desires and energies. It is a path of total acceptance and non-conflict with one’s inner nature and energies. Unlike Yoga, which often emphasizes fighting or suppressing energies like sex, Tantra asserts that the ultimate reality is not opposite to one’s current state, and one can grow to the ultimate by using rather than fighting one’s nature. The central teaching of Tantra is “no-fight”.

How it is done

This method is practiced not through an act of forceful control or renunciation, but through deep awareness and acceptance:

  • Cultivate Awareness of Desire: When any desire or emotion (such as anger, sex, or greed) arises, the instruction is to “be aware of the desire; do not create any fight”. This means to move into the desire “with full consciousness,” observing it directly and immediately without interpretation or judgment.
  • Total Acceptance of All Energies: Approach all your inner energies and moods (including those traditionally labeled “negative” like anger, sex, or greed) with total acceptance. Instead of trying to renounce or change them, the aim is to understand them in their totality. Tantra encourages you to “be friendly with all the energies that are given to you. Welcome them. Feel grateful”.
  • The “Third Alternative”: Passive Alertness: Neither suppress the desire (which creates suppressed complexes and perversion) nor merely express it (which dissipates energy). Instead, embrace a “third alternative”: remain “uninterruptedly aware” or “passively alert” while the desire manifests. This involves a “witnessing consciousness” where you become an “onlooker, a spectator” to the happening on the periphery of your being.
  • Move to the Inner Source: When a mood or desire arises, do not project it onto the external person or object. Instead, “move to the source” from where the emotion is coming within yourself. Use the energy of the desire to journey inward, connecting with its origin. As the “mood is hot, the path is clear, visible inside; you can move on it”. When you reach the original source, the energy subsides back into it.
  • Allow Full Experience (Without Identification): If you feel misery, for example, “be miserable; don’t fight with it… be totally miserable”. The purpose is to suffer it totally, to feel the “whole poison of it”. This total experience, undergone with awareness but without identification, allows for transformation. If you can observe the desire or emotion without being moved by it, you become its master.
  • Start with Easier Sensations: For intense desires or emotions, it’s advisable to begin practicing “stop” and awareness with simpler, everyday experiences (e.g., walking, thirst, small gestures) to develop the capacity for sustained awareness before tackling more complex inner states.
Commentaries and Insights
  • Tantra’s Core Principle: No Fight: Osho unequivocally states that “No-fight” is the central teaching of Tantra. This contrasts sharply with Yoga, which is seen as a “path of the warrior” and suppression, creating a split between the self and reality. Tantra views reality as non-dual; there is no inherent conflict between the “world” (sansara) and “liberation” (moksha).
  • Transformation through Acceptance, Not Renunciation: Tantra does not seek to renounce anything. Instead, it claims that “acceptance is transcendence”. By fully accepting “whatsoever you are” without judgment or ideals, the inner division dissolves, leading to a state of wholeness and unity. This allows the energy that would otherwise be wasted in internal conflict to accumulate and be transformed.
  • Alchemy of Energy: All energy, including that of desire, is considered neutral. Through “passive alertness”, this energy can be transmuted. For instance, anger, when met with awareness instead of suppression or expression, transforms into compassion; sex can become love or a “meditative circle”. This is Tantra’s “alchemy”.
  • Ego Dissolution: The act of fighting, suppressing, or controlling reinforces the ego. By embracing “no-fight” and total acceptance, the ego is “shattered” or becomes “impotent,” creating the possibility for the true “Self” or “Atman” (the undivided energy) to emerge.
  • Existential Experience over Philosophy: Tantra is a “science” of “how” to attain truth, rather than a “philosophy” of “why”. It emphasizes direct, existential experience over borrowed beliefs, intellectual understanding, or moral precepts. This means confronting desires as raw facts of your inner life, rather than interpreting them through societal or religious conditioning.
  • The Role of Suffering: Osho indicates that one must be willing to “suffer totally” and “feel the whole poison” of their desires to genuinely understand them. This suffering, when met with awareness, purifies and liberates, making one authentic. “Suffering is the path. It purifies you, it makes you alert, it makes you aware”.
  • Effort Toward Effortlessness: While initially, there may be an “effort” to be aware and not react to desires, this effort is meant to be a “starter” or a “jumping board” towards a state of effortless, passive awareness. The ultimate goal is a “beingness” where no “doing” is required, and everything happens spontaneously.
  • Connection to “No-Mind” and Samadhi: When the energy is allowed to return to its source without dissipation in external conflict or internal suppression, it leads to a state where the mind ceases to function. This “no-mind” state is where the “center explodes” into cosmic consciousness or samadhi, leading to an “oceanic feeling” of oneness with existence.
  • The Buddha’s Middle Path: This Tantric approach aligns with Buddha’s “majjhim nikai,” the middle path, which advocates remaining “in the middle” between polarities (e.g., pleasure and pain, happiness and unhappiness) by continuously witnessing them without attachment or repulsion.