Is charity a part of religiousness, and what constitutes charity?

Beloved Osho, in your vision, is charity a part of religiousness? If so, what would constitute charity? Following the catholic concept, the indian legislature specifies: 1) relief for the poor, 2) education, and 3) medical relief, as being charity. What is the concept of charity in the eyes of a buddha?

If you have a little understanding, you can see the point: if you don't want orphans, then birth control should be the most charitable thing. Spread the idea of birth control, distribute the pill to as many people as possible, so there are no orphans. It is a strange thing that first you prevent people from birth control, and then they create children which they cannot raise, and you come in to become a great saint because you are doing a great, charitable act. If birth control methods are used, there will be no orphans. If medical science is not working under religious conditions and is allowed freedom from religions, many diseases will disappear. There are thirty million people in America who are in the hospitals because they eat too much; they have gathered so much weight, they cannot even move. And it is charity to take care of them,…

Considering the question of alms-giving prompts a counter question: "Who made the man a beggar--then a habitual beggar?" Of course, you, me and all those who have been taught by religion and the mouth-pieces of religion (e.g. Sadhus, preachers and such people) that to give alms is an act of goodness that it is an act of compassion, kindness. No, giving alms is not an expression of love or sympathy A society which creates and patronises beggars is worth condemnation in the severest of words! But man, interpreting religion to suit his ego, preaches alms-giving as a ladder to 'Moksha' (ultimate release from rebirth). By creating a class of beggars we are creating a class of lazy, useless and inactive people whose existence does not go beyond the 'physical'. Eat, drink and sleep (at somebody else s cost) becomes its motto.

What role should charity play in the life of a sannyasin?

THE QUESTION IS NOT FROM A SANNYASIN -- it is from Philip Martin. The first thing, Philip Martin, become a sannyasin. You should not ask questions about others; that is not gentlemanly. You should ask questions about yourself. Be a sannyasin and then ask. But the question is meaningful so I am going to answer it anyway. And I have the feeling that sooner or later Philip Martin will be a sannyasin. Even the question shows some leaning. First thing: all the religions of the world have emphasized charity -- DHAN -- too much. And the reason is that man has always felt guilty with money. Charity has been preached so much to help man feel a little less guilty. You will be surprised: in old English there is a word'gilt' -- g-i-l-t -- which means money. In German there is a word'Geld' -- g-e-l-d -- which means money. And…

Question: BELOVED OSHO, YOU OFTEN SAY, "I WOULD GIVE, BUT ONLY TO THE DESERVING." THE TREES IN YOUR ORCHARD SAY NOT SO, NOR THE FLOCKS IN YOUR PASTURE. THEY GIVE THAT THEY MAY LIVE, FOR TO WITHHOLD IS TO PERISH. SURELY HE WHO IS WORTHY TO RECEIVE HIS DAYS AND HIS NIGHTS IS WORTHY OF ALL ELSE FROM YOU. AND HE WHO HAS DESERVED TO DRINK FROM THE OCEAN OF LIFE DESERVES TO FILL HIS CUP FROM YOUR LITTLE STREAM. AND WHAT DESERT GREATER SHALL THERE BE, THAN THAT WHICH LIES IN THE COURAGE AND THE CONFIDENCE, NAY THE CHARITY, OF RECEIVING? AND WHO ARE YOU THAT MEN SHOULD REND THEIR BOSOM AND UNVEIL THEIR PRIDE, THAT YOU MAY SEE THEIR WORTH NAKED AND THEIR PRIDE UNABASHED? SEE FIRST THAT YOU YOURSELF DESERVE TO BE A GIVER, AND AN INSTRUMENT OF GIVING.

Another friend has asked: Osho, what is the relationship between the method of meditation and jati-smaran (recollection of past lives)?

But the one who becomes skilled in this—who can fully awaken any day’s memory up to the age of five—will find that the memories begin to awaken completely. And you should test it. As today passes, note down some events and lock them up. After two years, try to recall today. Most of it will have been forgotten. Then remember—and after remembering, break the lock and compare whether what you recalled matches what you had written. You will be amazed—astonished—that besides what you wrote, many more details have come back which you did not even note at the time. They will all be there in memory. Buddha called this alaya-vijnana. There is a corner of the human mind he called the storehouse of consciousness. Like a junk room in the house where we keep all the odds and ends, there is a storehouse that collects memories—where everything from birth after…