Inside every person, says Osho, are at least three personalities. One is what you really are, about which you know almost nothing. The second is what you think you are. The third is what you want to project to other people that you are.

Why are we so afraid to be who we really are?

“Inside every man there are at least three personalities. One is what he really is, about which he does not know anything. The second is what he thinks he is. The third is what he wants to project to people that he is. Every individual is divided into three levels. The first is the one he is really on, but is unaware of. The second is the one he considers himself on. The third is the one he wants others to believe he is on. In this way every individual is divided over three levels.

“The real man is who you actually are. You think that you are very humble, and you are filled with ego inside. If you think you are very religious, inside you will be full of irreligiousness. If you think you are a man who does a lot of social service, from the inside you will always want everyone to serve you. Are you really the person you understand yourself to be? If you remain stuck at who you think you are, you will never come to know your real inner being.

“Before he can come to know himself, a man has to become naked; he has to drop all his clothes. We not only wear clothes on the outside, we also wear clothes on the inside, in the mind. We are not only afraid to be naked on the outside, we are also very afraid to be naked on the inside. We are very afraid to see ourselves naked, to see what we really are. We should not see what we are, otherwise we will be afraid of ourselves. So we put on many faces and decorate ourselves in many ways; we make many arrangements to avoid seeing our real inner self.”

Osho, Three Steps to Awakening, Talk #3

Do I have the guts to be myself?

“So consider a little whether you can gather the courage to be yourself or not. If not, then the foundation of your personality will certainly be theft. Haven't you tried to be like someone else? Is there an urge somewhere in your conscious or unconscious to become like someone else? If there is, then it is necessary to understand that urge and become free of it. Otherwise, the state of non-theft cannot come into being.

“And this theft is such that no one can stop you from committing it – because stealing personalities is invisible theft. If you steal wealth, you can get caught; if you steal a personality, who will catch you? How will they catch you? Where will they catch you? The theft of a personality is such that you do not take anything from anyone, and yet you become a thief. The theft of a personality is easy and straightforward. From the time you get up in the morning, it is important to watch how many times you become someone else. We cannot be individuals because of these personalities.”

Osho, The Art of Living, Talk #3

“Nobody is what they really are. Understand this, that no one is in their right place, everyone is standing in someone else's shoes. Nobody is looking through his own eyes; everybody is looking through someone else's eyes. Nobody is laughing with his own mouth; everyone is laughing with someone else's mouth. Nobody is living as himself; everyone is living as someone else. But this is impossible. I can neither live in someone's place nor can I die in someone's place, nor can I laugh through someone else's mouth, nor can I feel through another's heart.”

Osho, The Art of Living, Talk #3

Does this mean that the personality is like a mask?

“Because of the personality, the individual cannot emerge. This word, personality, is a good word – it comes from Greek dramas. In those dramas, each actor would wear a mask, a face; they had to wear a mask. They used to call the face a persona, and the identity created by that mask was called the personality. It meant something they were not. Personality means that which you are not.”

Osho, The Art of Living, Talk #3

“And no two individuals are alike – this is the problem. And you are searching for your mother unconsciously. When you suddenly see a woman as beautiful, that is your mother – in some way she resembles your mother. But in some way only. Maybe her voice is like your mother, maybe her eyes have the same color, maybe her hair is the same color. Or maybe the way she walks is exactly the way of your mother. And you don't know it; you don't know it consciously. It is in your unconscious – it is hidden deep there in the darkness. And you fall in love. But no woman can be exactly like your mother, so sooner or later things start coming up which are not like your mother. Then disturbance starts – the honeymoon is complete.”

Osho, Zen: The Path of Paradox, Vol. 2, Talk #10

How do I know what is a mask and what is real?

“But you must know what is a mask and what is real. You must be aware of what is going on within. That is your real being. And what is going on, on the face is just a social utility. If you can make a clear-cut distinction between you and your personality, then the personality becomes just like clothing. You can drop it at any moment and become naked.

“If you cannot drop it, it means that you are so attached to it that the distinction is not there, the separation is not there: there is no gap. A gap is needed so that at least in your room, in your bathroom, you can put your personality away and become real. At least in meditation, you can throw off the personality and become real, because there it is not needed.

“Meditation is non-social. It is not concerned with anyone else, it is concerned only with yourself. So no mask is needed, you can be authentic.”

Osho, The New Alchemy: To Turn You On, Talk #14

“Personality is just like clothing: you can drop it, you can be naked any moment. Your essence can be naked any moment. And when the essence is naked, you are healed – because the essence knows no illness. The essence is always in the state of health, in the state of wholeness.”

Osho, The Secret of Secrets, Talk #18

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