"The question was not meant to be answered at all; intrinsically the question is such that no answer is possible.

"For example, if you ask who created the world, then it is something unanswerable. It is absurd. And do not ask metaphysical questions, not because they are not real questions – they are real questions – but they cannot be answered. Their realm is of the beyond. So you can question but they cannot be answered. They can be solved, but they cannot be answered.

"Ask questions which are personal, intimate, existential. That is, one must be aware of what one is questioning and enquiring of – whether it is something which really means something to you. If it is answered, will a new dimension open for you? Will something be added to your existence? Will your being in any way be transformed through it? Really, is it something which you needed to have answered? Only such questions are religious.

"Religion is really concerned with problems, not simply with questions. A question can be only a curiosity, but a problem is something intimate, personal, in which you are involved. It is you. A question is something separate from you; a problem – it is you. So before asking, dig deep inside and ask something that is intimate and personal, in which you are confused, in which you are involved. Only then can you be helped.

"So now begin.

Osho,
I have many confusions, but my main one is that I would like to know if everything I do is premeditated, my whole life. No matter what I do is there a certain course that it will take. Do I have any hand in it? – there is confusion.

"It is both: yes and no both.

I would like to know if our lives are predestined or not?

"It is both – yes and no both – and it is always so with living problems. In a way you are determined – in a way. Whatsoever is physical in you, whatsoever is material in you, whatsoever is mental in you, is determined. And everything has a cause somewhere and is predictable. But still something in you constantly remains undetermined, and is unpredictable, and that is your consciousness."