Does the absence of a central god in communism and Zen imply a greater affinity of Russia with Zen compared to the West?

Question: Maneesha has asked a question: OUR BELOVED MASTER, NEITHER COMMUNISM NOR ZEN HAVE A GOD AS A CENTRAL HYPOTHESIS ON WHICH A BELIEF SYSTEM IS BASED. DOES THIS IMPLY THAT RUSSIA MIGHT HAVE A GREATER AFFINITY WITH ZEN THAN THE WEST HAS? Certainly, Maneesha. The Soviet Union will be more capable and receptive because it has dropped all gods and all the superstitions surrounding God. It has dropped all consolations, all opium. It has dropped all that has been forced on man for millennia. The Soviet Union is almost in a state of innocence. But the danger is that this innocence can be exploited if the Soviet leaders are not conscious about it, that there is an innocent mind which has been created in seventy years and this can be exploited by organized religions very easily. Keep the organized religions out!

Question: The second question, which is connected: IS IT NOT TRUE THAT IN THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE THE ZORBA IS ALREADY SO MUCH ALIVE THAT IT IS EASIER TO BRING BUDDHA IN THAT COUNTRY THAN IN ANY OTHER? AND IS IT REALLY DEPENDENT ON COMMUNISM, BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE LESS CONDITIONED? Zorba is certainly there. But if vodka is denied to the Zorba, that will be a disaster! I am absolutely against Gorbachev's idea of prohibition. Vodka is every Russian's birthright! That is all they have. Don't take away their dance and their joy unless you can provide something better. That's my very simple arithmetic: don't take anything from anybody unless you can give something better in its place. And I don't know that Gorbachev has anything better to offer. He himself does not know anything better.

Question: HE IS CALM. IN HIM THE SEED OF RENEWING LIFE HAS BEEN CONSUMED. HE HAS CONQUERED ALL THE INNER WORLDS. WITH DISPASSIONATE EYE HE SEES EVERYWHERE THE FALLING AND THE UPRISING. AND WITH GREAT GLADNESS HE KNOWS THAT HE HAS FINISHED. HE HAS WOKEN FROM HIS SLEEP. AND THE WAY HE HAS TAKEN IS HIDDEN FROM MEN, EVEN FROM SPIRITS AND GODS, BY VIRTUE OF HIS PURITY. Religion consists not of conscience but of consciousness. Hence, even an atheist can believe in morality. Of course, in Soviet Russia or communist China they have to follow a certain code of morality. They may not believe in God, but they have to enforce morality on people. In fact, they have to enforce it even more because the fear of God is lost.

Question: BELOVED MASTER, YOU HAVE BROUGHT ZORBA THE BUDDHA TO LIFE, LOVE AND LAUGHTER, WITH LUMINOUS SILENCE. YOU HAVE ALSO SPOKEN ON THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN REBELLION AND REVOLUTION. IF ZORBA THE BUDDHA WERE IN THIS COMMUNE, HOW COULD HE HAVE RESPONDED TO THE GROWING MENACE OF SHEELA AND HER GANG? WOULD HE, AS ONE REBEL AMONG THE COMMUNITY OF REBELS, HAVE ACTED NOT ONLY INDIVIDUALLY, BUT TOGETHER WITH OTHERS? COULD THERE BE SOME SHARED AWARENESS OR ACTION WHICH MIGHT HAVE FREED US FROM THE ENEMIES WITHIN? PLEASE COMMENT ON ZORBA THE BUDDHA'S RESPONSIBILITY AS A SOCIAL OR COMMUNAL BEING. My whole effort is to bring East and West to a deep merger. The West has science, technology -- they are all for the foundations. They can create better machines, but they cannot create better men.

Question: BELOVED OSHO, JAPAN IS ABOUT TO SURPASS THE UNITED STATES IN PER CAPITA INCOME. IT IS ALREADY AN ECONOMIC SUPERPOWER, DOMINATING LARGE SECTIONS OF WORLD TRADE, AND HAS RECENTLY BEGUN TO DOMINATE THE FINANCIAL MARKETS. IN FACT, THE ONLY MATERIAL THING THAT JAPAN'S ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY MILLION PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE MUCH OF, IS LAND. ITS AREA IS LITTLE BIGGER THAN THE INDIAN STATE OF RAJASTHAN. IN ADDITION, JAPAN IS SURROUNDED BY SEVERAL OTHER ASIAN COUNTRIES WHOSE ECONOMIC PROGRESS IS OUTSTRIPPING THE WEST. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SEVERAL CENTURIES THE GEOPOLITICAL CENTER OF THE WORLD IS MOVING AWAY FROM THE CHRISTIAN COUNTRIES OF THE ATLANTIC TO THE BUDDHIST COUNTRIES OF ASIA -- TOWARDS THE LAND OF ZEN. WILL THIS CHANGE HAVE ANY SIGNIFICANCE FOR YOUR WORK? The West was poor in those days, really poor.