According to Osho, he does not resent America; he loves its people and land, but condemns the U.S. government and bureaucracy as fascist masquerading as democratic, deceiving citizens and the world. His ban only deepened mutual love with Americans, and he vows to return when possible, distinguishing heartfelt love for people from opposition to oppressive institutions.
He loves Americans and their land, but strongly criticizes the government and plans to come back when allowed.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, do you resent america?
No, I love America. I love the people of America, I love the land of America, but I certainly hate the American government, the bureaucracy. It is the most fascist government on the earth today, pretending to be democratic. It is deceiving the whole world, and it is deceiving its own people. I would like this government to go down the drain. But America I love, and I will continue to love. And the day I can enter America... because right now the American government has prevented me from entering the country for five years -- after five years, if I am alive, the first thing I am going to do is to enter America. I have so many lovers there, so many friends, so many sympathizers. And what the government of America has done to me, has created a tremendous love and sympathy for me in the people of…
Beloved Osho, george gurdjieff said, "bravo, america!" after seeing how inhumanely the united states treated you, I say, "to hell with america!" beloved master, what do you say?
So always remember to make a differentiation between the government and the people. The government is not necessarily the representative of the people. In most cases it has cheated people, exploited people. It is not for them. I know... the question is from Milarepa. I can understand your anger. Every sannyasin would like to say, "To hell with America!" But just say, "To hell with the American government!" America is far bigger, far more important, and I still hope that the new man will be born in America. These governments come and go; the people remain. The people are the very soul. A country is not made of land, it is made of the people. In those twelve days in jail, moving from one jail to another, I came in contact with the common people and with the lowest of the low -- the criminals -- and I have seen…
[NOTE: This discourse will be in the book "India Coming Back Home", which has not been published, as of August 1992.] INTERVIEW BY SURYA MAGAZINE AFTER FOUR YEARS IN AMERICA, WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS? It is a beautiful country, beautiful people; but dominated by very dirty politicians. It is not a democracy; it is a hypocrisy. They arrested me without any arrest warrant. They arrested me without showing any cause. They arrested me at the points of twelve guns around me -- a man who has no gun, who has nothing in his hands. And for twelve days they tortured me as much as they could. They knew my physical problems. They knew that I am allergic to many things which bring on asthma attacks. They put me in situations where it was bound to happen.
Beloved Osho, india, your homeland, has treated you badly and without due respect. Yet sometimes when I hear you speak, do I not detect a subtle fondness in you for india and her people? Osho, what do you love about india?
India, to me, is not only a country, but a concept... not just a land, but a way of life, a tremendously significant philosophy. So when I talk about India, it does not matter at all that they have treated me badly, that they would like me to be killed. They have made efforts -- unfortunately they failed. These are small things, and I don't take them into consideration. My consideration is for the India as a concept. It is the only part of the world which has gone deep into the interiority of man, which has discovered for the first time the ultimate in consciousness, the universality of individual beings. Science has discovered much, but no discovery of science can be compared to the discovery that India has made in the past. For ten thousand years continuously it has devoted its whole energy to finding out the meaning of…
Question: BELOVED OSHO, THEN AN OLD MAN, A KEEPER OF AN INN, SAID, SPEAK TO US OF EATING AND DRINKING. AND HE SAID: WOULD THAT YOU COULD LIVE ON THE FRAGRANCE OF THE EARTH, AND LIKE AN AIR PLANT BE SUSTAINED BY THE LIGHT. BUT SINCE YOU MUST KILL TO EAT, AND ROB THE NEWLY BORN OF ITS MOTHER'S MILK TO QUENCH YOUR THIRST, LET IT THEN BE AN ACT OF WORSHIP, AND LET YOUR BOARD STAND AN ALTAR ON WHICH THE PURE AND THE INNOCENT OF FOREST AND PLAIN ARE SACRIFICED FOR THAT WHICH IS PURER AND STILL MORE INNOCENT IN MAN. WHEN YOU KILL A BEAST SAY TO HIM IN YOUR HEART: BY THE SAME POWER THAT SLAYS YOU, I TOO AM SLAIN; AND I TOO SHALL BE CONSUMED. FOR THE LAW THAT DELIVERED YOU INTO MY HAND SHALL DELIVER ME INTO A MIGHTIER HAND.