Are little children really so full of talent?

Osho! You say meditation is a rebirth and one becomes gifted like small children. Are little children really so full of talent?

I find sense, consistency, and honesty in Sartre’s stance—though he is an atheist; he believes neither in God nor in any inherent meaning of life, nor in any soul that survives. Yet his courage, his boldness, his strength! One thing is clear to him: “Since I oppose the values of this society, how can I accept honors from it?” If someone conferred on me the title Bharat Ratna, how could I accept it? Impossible. Because I oppose nations. I cannot be the jewel of any nation—at best, a pebble. I cannot be any country’s jewel; that would amount to accepting nationalism. I do not believe the earth should be divided. I do not believe there should be passports. I do not believe there should be any barriers to people going from one country to another. Every constitution proclaims freedom of movement. But what freedom is this? Is there freedom of…

Osho, are the children really as intelligent as you say they are, before the society starts destroying them?

A CHILD is pure intelligence because a child is yet uncontaminated. A child is a clean slate, nothing is written on him. A child is absolute emptiness, TABULA RASA. The society will start writing immediately that you are a Christian, Catholic, Hindu, Mohammedan, Communist. The society will immediately start writing the Bhagavad Gita, Koran, Bible. The society cannot wait. The society is very much afraid that if the child's intelligence is left intact, then he will never be a slave. He will never be a part of any slavery, of any structure of domination. He will neither dominate nor be dominated. He will neither possess nor be possessed. He will be pure rebellion. His innocence has to be corrupted immediately. His wings have to be cut, he has to be given crutches to lean upon so he never learns how to walk on his own feet, so he remains always…

Question: OSHO, ARE CHILDREN REALLY SO INTELLIGENT AS YOU ALWAYS SAY THEY ARE? Intelligence is not something that is acquired, it is inbuilt, it is inborn, it is intrinsic to life itself. Not only children are intelligent, animals are intelligent in their own way, trees are intelligent in their own way. Of course they all have different kinds of intelligences because their needs differ, but now it is an established fact that all that lives is intelligent. Life cannot be without intelligence; to be alive and to be intelligent are synonymous. But man is in a dilemma for the simple reason that he is not only intelligent, he is also aware of his intelligence. That is something unique about man, his privilege, his prerogative, his glory, but it can turn very easily into his agony. Man is conscious that he is intelligent; that consciousness brings its own problems.

Osho, is the innocence of small children just ignorance, or has it got any value too?

The innocence of the children is ignorance, it is not true innocence. The true innocence happens only after the second birth. The true innocence happens only after you have reached your very core through awareness; that is the second birth, that is resurrection -- you are born anew. The first innocence of a child when it is born is only ignorance, but that ignorance is far more valuable than the knowledge that your so-called learned people are burdened with. So these things have to be remembered. Real innocence belongs to the Buddhas. They have lost their first childhood in knowledge and then they become aware of what they have lost. They have lost the precious, the essential for the non-essential, so they drop their knowledge. Dropping their knowledge they become innocent again. This is second innocence, second birth. In India we call such a person dwija, twice-born. He is a…

Osho, is it possible for a man's consciousness to become like that of a newborn child?

Certainly. A lake is all quiet. Then waves arise, gusts of wind come—the lake trembles. When the gusts pass, the lake again becomes still, becomes a mirror again. The lake is pure. Leaves fall, it becomes dirty. The leaves will settle to the bottom; the lake will again be fresh and clear. When the child is born, the lake is still clear—there are no ripples, no leaves of thoughts, no waves of desire. Then everything becomes wave-tossed—storms arise, the mind trembles, the mirror is lost. Youth comes; everything turns stormy; nothing remains settled; the wild, tempestuous surges of great desires arrive. Then old age comes; all the rubbish, the stones, the ruins lie about. But what was there at the source is still there. A little understanding—to let the leaves settle; a little understanding—to let the winds of desire stop. The lake will become the same again; the nature of…