Begin many new small communities, don’t lump everything into a few big ones.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Beloved master, the commune in sweden has now closed as all the other small communes have already done. There are now only a few big ones left in three countries. Is it time to start new, fresh communes now? Or shall the centralization to the big communes continue? Please comment.
It is time to start fresh communes. I am absolutely against centralization.
Beloved Osho, rajneeshpuram was a rare experiment in the history of human consciousness where for the first time seekers of truth from the whole world gathered around a master. It was an international commune for the most intense and the fastest growth of human consciousness. The rajneeshpuram commune could not survive because of orthodox religions and international politics. Is there any hope of such a rare experiment happening again around you? Or is there any alternative experiment possible on an individual scale in the present situation? Or is it destined that such a rare opportunity for h
The commune in America was only a beginning; a beginning of many communes around the world. They will go on spreading -- because it is not only a question of orthodox religions and dirty politics, it is also a question of the future of humanity. And the future is always more important than the past. The past is heavy and long. The future is light, unknown. But the past is dead, and life belongs to the future -- and death cannot win over life. One commune can be destroyed. Thousands of other communes will arise. Of course my way of functioning will be different because the experiment in Rajneeshpuram needed me to be there, it was the first commune.... Every step had to be taken carefully. And within five years, so much was done that is not possible to do even in fifty years. But now the basic rules are…
Question: BELOVED OSHO, AM I MOVING RIGHTLY OR AM I JUST A HOPELESS NUTCASE? They are missing now because that small commune in Oregon had become suddenly more important than Washington itself. All the eyes from all over the world were concentrated on the commune: "What is happening there? Why are people so happy? Why are people so loving? Why is there no fighting? Why is there no murder? Why is there no suicide? What has happened to those people? Their jealousies, their conflicts seem to have disappeared, they have entered, it seems, into a new state of consciousness." But as far as I am concerned I have no complaint against anybody. My own feeling is it was good that they destroyed the commune. It helped my people to spread all over the world. And wherever my one sannyasin is, he will create the right atmosphere.
Beloved Osho, in your vision of a model society, would there be one large commune, or a series of communes? If there is more than one, what would be their relationship to one another? Do you envisage people of different communes being able to be interdependent, sharing ideas and skills, and without any of the attitudes that grow out of possessiveness, like nationalism and fanaticism?
A small group of people can enjoy life more easily, because to have so many friends, so many acquaintances, is a joy unto itself. Today in the big cities, you live in the same house and you don't know your neighbor. In one house one hundred thousand people may be living. A one hundred story building can contain that many people -- almost a whole city. And they are absolute strangers to each other, living in a crowd, and yet being alone. My idea of a commune is, living in small groups, which gives you enough space, and yet living in a close, loving, relationship. Your children are taken care of by the commune, your needs are taken care of by the commune, your medical care is taken care of by the commune. The commune becomes an authentic family without any diseases that families have created in the past. It…
Question: BELOVED OSHO, WHAT IS YOUR IDEA OF A MODEL COMMUNE? This is as far as human growth is concerned. One thing for the inner growth is that everybody, irrespective of whether he is a man or a woman, should be allowed to choose a method of meditation suitable to him, so that he can not only experience the joys of life, but he can also experience the joys of his spirit. Communism is missing only one thing: a spirituality. A model commune should be a spiritual gathering of seekers, of lovers, of friends, of creative people in all dimensions of life. They can produce paradise here on the earth. The time for families is over, and the time for cities is over, and the time for nations is over. The world should be one, consisting of small communes.