Is man responsible for self-ignorance?

Osho, you have said that self-ignorance is the source of violence, and yesterday you said that man himself is responsible for the tendency toward violence. Then is man also responsible for self-ignorance? Please explain why and how.

Suppose it is a dark new-moon night and someone is sitting in his cave, immersed in darkness. Whether he keeps his eyes closed or open makes no difference. With eyes closed there is darkness; with eyes open there is darkness. But when morning comes, the sun rises, its web of rays spreads across the mouth of the cave, the birds begin to sing—and even then he keeps his eyes shut—now it makes a difference. In the night’s darkness it made no difference whether the eyes were open or closed. Nor was the darkness of the night the responsibility of the man sitting in the cave. Darkness was simply the situation. But when the sun has risen and still he sits with closed eyes, then the darkness he sees is his own responsibility. If he wishes, he can open his eyes and be free of darkness. The life of the animal…

There would not be any difference if a person sitting in his cave on a dark night of the last day of the dark half of the months keeps his eyes closed or open. There will be darkness even if the eyes are closed or open. But there would be difference if that person keeps on sitting with his eyes closed when morning comes, the sun is rising, the rays the of the sun are falling on the door of the cave and birds begin to sing. There was no difference when the eyes were closed or open in the darkness of night. And the darkness of the night was not responsible for that man's condition. The situation was that there was darkness.

[NOTE: This is an unedited tape transcript of an unpublished darshan diary, which has been scanned and cleaned up. It is for reference purposes only.] (Whether man lives in the dark or enlightenment is his choice, Osho says first off tonight.) If people are miserable that is their choice and responsibility. If they really want to change they can change it instantly. They go on saying that they want to change but they still cling to misery, hence their talk remains impotent. They are simply deceiving themselves by their own words. This is the first thing a sannyasin has to understand, that we are born in freedom and we create ourselves by our acts and choices. There is no fate; we make it. Hence except for ourselves nobody is responsible. Once it is understood things become very easy.

Osho, man's partial consciousness is a stage in the grand evolution of life. What could be the significance of his volitional efforts in its growth? Please also explain the role that the buddhas, the enlightened ones, play in the expansion of human consciousness.

Of course, obviously, a Buddha knows less than you, but that doesn't mean that you are more grown-up. A Jesus knows less than you. He knows less than any Catholic priest because he was never trained, never educated. He was just a carpenter's son -- uneducated, with no information of the world; but still, you are not more evolved than him. A Mohammed is just illiterate, a Kabir is just a nobody -- but they are more evolved. But then that evolution is something else: an evolution of consciousness, not just of things. You can substitute having for being. Being is a different dimension of growth -- a vertical one; having is horizontal. Things go on and on, and you have so many things -- so much information, so much knowledge, so much wealth, so many degrees, so many honours. But this is accumulation: it is horizontal. There is no…

On man's path of evolution is it possible that at some time in the future humanity as a whole can attain enlightenment? At what point of evolution is man today?

The conscious choice to evolve is a great adventure, the only adventure there is for a human being. The path is arduous; it is bound to be so. Errors are bound to be there, failures, because nothing is certain. This situation creates tension in the mind. You do not know where you are, you do not know where you are going. Your identity is lost. The situation may even reach such a point that you become suicidal. Suicide is a human phenomenon; it comes with human choice. Animals cannot commit suicide, because to choose death consciously is impossible for them. Birth is unconscious, death is unconscious. But with man -- ignorant man, unevolved man -- one thing becomes possible: the ability to choose death. Your birth is not your choice. As far as your birth is concerned, you are in the hands of unconscious evolution. In fact, your birth is…