According to Osho, this is not a mere generalization from a few cases but an invariant truth: in an exploitative society, an individual donor cannot cease exploiting while alive. Charity or renunciation doesn’t dissolve systemic machinery; one remains a cog, often compensating by exploiting more to regain lost position. Only death escapes complicity.
Giving to charity doesn’t stop exploitation because the whole system makes people keep exploiting unless they’re no longer part of it.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, regarding the Vinoba-inspired Bhoodan movement, you said that the exploiter gives in charity, but the exploiter does not disappear. Aren’t you generalizing from a few small examples?
No, absolutely not. It is hard to find even a single instance to the contrary of what I am saying. That is, it is difficult to find even one person who, having donated land, then stopped the act of exploitation—not even one! What I am saying is: he stopped the act of exploitation. He cannot do that while alive, because the whole society is exploitative. The moment he lives here, he will continue to exploit. He is just a cog in a great machinery. Yes, within that big machine, what can he do? And suppose he renounces everything—then he will sit with a begging bowl, the Sarvodaya bowl, and the exploitation will continue. What else will he do, when the machinery of exploitation is running and you have to live within it...? Yes, there is only one way: you can avoid exploitation in this setup—by dying. Suicide? Yes, there is…
Question: WHAT CAN I DO WITH A BEGGAR? WHETHER I GIVE HIM A RUPEE OR NOT, HE WILL REMAIN A BEGGAR ALL THE SAME. The cunning mind says. "People are poor because of their karma. In the past lives they have done something wrong, that s why they are suffering. I am rich because I have done good deeds, so I am enjoying the fruit." This is also mind. And Marx sitting in the British Museum is also a mind: and thinking about what is the basic cause of poverty comes to feel that there are people who exploit. But these people will be there always. Unless cunningness disappears completely, it is not a question of changing the structure of the society. It is a question of changing the whole structure of human personality. What can you do?
Osho, There is a well-known verse: “Ashtadasha puraneshu Vyasasya vachana-dvayam: paropakara punyaya, papaya parapidanam.” In the eighteen Puranas, Vyasa’s two chief sayings are: by helping others one earns merit, and by hurting others one incurs sin. Osho, please say something about this.
Sharanananda! This sutra is certainly very worth pondering, because the whole foundation of this country’s so‑called religiosity rests upon it. It is the bedrock of the so‑called religious personality. But the kind of personality it produces is nothing but hypocrisy. This formula cannot give real religiousness to life; it gives deception. And the sutra is such that the error in it does not show up at first sight; even if you think about it, you may not see anything wrong. It looks so obvious—like two plus two makes four. Who would oppose it? “By helping others one earns merit; by hurting others one incurs sin.” But I oppose it. From where I see, the truth is exactly the reverse: “From merit arises compassion and beneficence; from sin arises the urge to hurt.” Then the question will arise: how does merit happen? Merit is the fragrance of meditation; sin is the…
Another friend has asked; he asks: Osho, why does capitalism exploit the worker?
Some notions, if they are proclaimed long enough, we simply pick them up and forget to ask whether they are true or false. Capitalism does not exploit the worker. In fact, under capitalism the price of everything is set by its demand and supply. If in a village there are ten laborers but fifteen are needed, those laborers will get higher wages—ten are available while fifteen are required. But if there are fifty laborers and only ten are needed, wages will be low, because there is an excess supply of labor in the market; the buyer will buy cheaply. Capitalism fixes the price of each thing according to its scarcity, its rarity. And there is no other sane way to set prices. God does not send price tags with things—how much wheat should cost, or what the Kohinoor diamond should be worth. There is only one Kohinoor diamond, so its…
Osho, in human life crimes range from lies to rape and murder. Since ancient times sages and saints have inspired righteous action. In this context, please explain how today’s enlightened class should resolve the disorder-born problems of human life?
Now there are two kinds of people. One: those who harm others—you call them sinners, wrongdoers. Two: those who harm themselves for the good of others—you call them saints. There is not much difference between the two. One harms others; one harms himself—both harm. I call him a saint who harms no one—neither another, nor himself. Only when such a rare event happens does a ray of religion descend. This event does not happen to the crowd—it cannot. It is asked again: “In this context, please explain how today’s ‘enlightened’ class should solve the disorder-born problems of human life?” Whom do you call enlightened? Because you got a university degree? Because you managed to publish a few articles in two-bit newspapers? Whom do you call enlightened? Because you can spout a little nonsense in a logically dressed-up way? Whom do you call enlightened? “Enlightened” is a very big word. Do…