Does the mind also have a memory?

You said that biologists now say that memory resides in the brain. Does the mind also have a memory?

Yes, absolutely. In fact, biologists say that memory is in the brain, in the cortex—it is part of the body. Being part of the body, the memory that is in the brain will die with the body. But biologists have not gone deeper than this. What they call “brain,” we have never called “mind.” From our perspective, the brain is merely the mechanism, and the mind is its active force. It’s like a lamp that is glowing. Anyone seeing it will say, “There is electricity in the bulb. Break the bulb and the electricity breaks.” He can even offer proof: smash the bulb and it goes dark. Yet even so, he is not saying the right thing. His proof is solid and we may not be able to deny it, but still he is not right. The bulb is not electricity; the bulb is only a mechanism through which electricity…

Beloved Osho, I often hear you saying that every child comes to this world with an empty mind, as a tabula rasa. How is it possible that we, in spite of this, carry memories and conditionings from past lives? Would you please say something about this?

The same is going to happen with computers. It will help you immensely to remember, but it will help also in a negative way -- you will not have memory. Even the names of your friends you will have to check on the computer. Even the street number where you live you will have to check on the computer, because now there is no need for your own computer to work -- you have a mechanical device. The brain is not a problem because the brain is only a machine. The problem is the contents in the brain which is the mind. The brain is only a container, and each life you get a new container. The old content is shifted as a layer surrounding your consciousness. So when I say you get a fresh beginning I mean in the brain, not the mind. But in English they are being…

Beloved Osho, are there two kinds of memories, a factual memory, and a spiritual memory? If yes, is there a connection between them?

It seems there is an automatic reversal process. You have to reverse a tape, but your brain reverses immediately. When you put the needle on the dream center again it starts from A B C, not from the point where it has stopped. If you take the needle away again, it reverses so quickly that no time is lost. Put the needle back and it starts from A B C again. If the man was saying, "I am Alexander the Great..." -- if you have touched his past life memory center and he was saying, "I am Alexander the Great," and if you take the needle away and put it back again, he will again start with, "I am Alexander the Great." Your brain contains all the memories, psychological memories of your past lives. But the more you meditate, the more you go on erasing all psychological memories. Begin first…

Beloved Osho, I heard you say that if a person can remember his birth and being in the womb, then the memory of his last death may come.I have tried to remember, but only imagination is there. I also heard you say that it is not possible to remember beyond three to four years old because the baby has no mind. Is there a remembrance that is not of the mind?

But Hindus have a totally different approach. It is to be remembered that this is the only point on which all the three religions that were born in India agree: about everything else they have their own philosophy, but about reincarnation they all agree. And that is not just an accident, because all three religions were working on the same lines -- looking into the unconscious of man -- and they all found the same results. To call the cow mother... the whole world laughs at it, but I don't think anybody understands why Hindus call the cow mother. If they are right -- the cow has the qualities of a mother, and it is far better to be connected with the cows than with the monkeys. So don't try to remember. It is not a question of remembering. You cannot cross the barrier with the conscious mind; you can…

Beloved Osho, you said that to live moment to moment one must throw away one's dead past and memories. Does it mean that all the memories have to be dissolved and destroyed to transcend the mind? But one needs a strong mind and an intense and sufficient accumulation of memories to function in this world.

The atom bomb is not such a great danger as these secrets are because the very soul of man can be enslaved through them. If Jesus is born now in Soviet Russia or communist China, they will not crucify him; first they will try to destroy his memory. They cannot be successful with Jesus but they can be successful with you. They cannot succeed with Jesus because he is already unidentified with the memory. If you destroy the memory nothing is really lost because he lives in his consciousness, not in his memories. You don't really have any consciousness separate from the memories, so if your memory is destroyed your consciousness is destroyed. You don't know how to function without the memories. So for the new generation, the coming world, meditation is a must because only that can protect you from political dictatorship -- nothing else. They will not put…