If hate arises for someone or against someone, or love arises for someone, what do we do? We project it on the person. If you feel hate towards me, you forget yourself completely in your hate; only I become your object. If you feel love towards me, you forget yourself completely; only I become the object. You project your love or hate or whatsoever upon me. You forget completely the inner centre of your being; the other becomes the centre. This sutra says when hate arises or love arises, or any mood for or against anyone, do not project it on the person in question. Remember, you are the source of it.
I love you: the ordinary feeling is that you are the source of my love. That is not really so. I am the source; you are just a screen on which I project my love. And I say that you are the source of my love. This is not fact, this is fiction. I draw my love energy and project it onto you. In that love energy projected onto you, you become lovely. You may not be lovely to someone else; you may be absolutely repulsive to someone else. Why? If you are the source of love, then everyone will feel loving towards you, but you are not the source. I project love, then you become lovely; someone projects hate, then you become repulsive. And someone else doesn’t project anything, he is indifferent; he may not even have looked at you. What is happening? We are projecting our own moods upon others. Remain centred. Remember that you are the source, so do not move to the other, move to the source. When you feel hate, do not go to the object. Go to the point from where the hate is coming. Go not to the person to whom it is going, but to the centre from where it is coming. Use your hate or love or anger or anything as a journey toward your inner centre, to the source. Try it! This is a very, very scientific, psychological technique. Someone has insulted you — anger suddenly erupts, you are feverish. Anger is flowing toward the person who has insulted you. Now you will project this whole anger onto him. He has not done anything. If he has insulted you, what has he done? He has just pricked you, he has helped your anger to arise — but the anger is yours
The other is not the source; the source is always within you. The other is hitting the source, but if there is no anger within you, it cannot come out. If you hit a Buddha, only compassion will come out because only compassion is there. Anger will not come out because anger is not there. If you throw a bucket into a dry well, nothing comes out. In a water-filled well, you throw a bucket and water comes out, but the water is from the well. The bucket only helps to bring it out. So, one who is insulting you is just throwing a bucket in you, and then the bucket will come out filled with the anger, hate, or fire that was within you. You are the source, remember.
For this technique, remember that you are the source of everything that you go on projecting onto others. And whenever there is a mood against or for, immediately move within and go to the source from where this hate is coming. Remain centred there; do not move to the object. Someone has given you a chance to be aware of your own anger — thank him immediately and forget him.
-Osho