She didn’t hurt Osho; she hurt herself—serious wrongs erase the credit of good deeds, and she must live with that.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Beloved master, I work in europe as a journalist, and everybody is asking me about sheela, "is it true that she betrayed her master?" the only answer I can give is, "I don't know." when they ask me what I feel about the recent events, I say that I feel tremendously grateful to sheela, whatever she has done. At this point, everybody thinks I'm crazy. My question is, do you? Please comment.
Yes, she did some good work -- as a facade! But behind the facade, she was doing every kind of criminal activity. Two persons she placed in Desiderata declaring that they had positive AIDS tests, for the simple reason that they were not willing to do something that she wanted them to do. This was a punishment -- you cannot find a better punishment. Their blood was either mixed with the AIDS virus, or changed, so the test came back from outside as positive. And after she left, their blood was checked again -- they have no AIDS. Do you see the criminality of the mind? Putting two people who don't have AIDS with eight other people who have AIDS is putting them in great danger. And they cannot say anything, because the report is coming from outside. But the blood that was sent must have been taken from the…
Beloved master, what is the difference between judas, the only intelligent disciple of jesus, betraying him, and siddha, the vice-chancellor of our meditation university, and other influential leaders and powerful people of the commune, like prabodhi, deeksha, shiva, makima, somendra, sushila, divya, etcetera going against you?
Sheela does not have even that conscience. And with a man like me... if she had come to me, even if she comes to me now, with her whole gang, and confesses that they had committed these things and they feel guilty, I will take all their crimes on myself -- because to me, to live tomorrow does not mean anything. I have attained whatever life is capable of attaining. I have experienced the ultimate peak of life, love, light. There is no problem, I can take the whole load of crimes, but at least I should know what the load is; otherwise, how can I take it on myself? Those twenty people have not yet known anything, so rather than sending them to prison, I would prefer myself to be hanged. And they have committed enough crimes, enough for a death sentence for one single man. That will help…
Question: BELOVED OSHO, OH MY BELOVED BELOVED, EACH TIME YOU SAY WE NEED NOT BE GRATEFUL TO YOU THERE IS AN AGONY THAT RIPS THROUGH MY HEART AND IT IS ALMOST UNBEARABLE. THE PAIN I ONLY FEEL, BUT DO NOT UNDERSTAND; IT FEELS LIKE IT IS TOO MUCH TO ASK MY HEART NOT TO BE GRATEFUL TO YOU, FOR IT KNOWS THAT WITHOUT YOUR LOVE IT WOULD NOT HAVE OPENED TO LIFE. I UNDERSTAND A LITTLE, WHEN YOU SAY TO BE GRATEFUL TO EXISTENCE, AND ALSO REALIZE I HAVE FORGOTTEN EXISTENCE MANY TIMES. YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN LIKE A WINDOW TO EXISTENCE, AND ALL IS POSSIBLE THROUGH YOU. SO PLEASE, OSHO, DO NOT ASK THIS IMPOSSIBLE TASK FROM MY HEART, FOR IT SUFFERS TOO MUCH WHEN YOU SAY THAT WE NEED NOT TO BE GRATEFUL TO YOU. The whole commune was created by Sheela.
A: Anybody would have behaved like that. Just ordinary unconscious mind finding an opportunity -- millions of dollars, thousands of people ready to do anything, so much power, so much money -- and she was just a hotel waitress when she came to me. She had never dreamt of having two hundred fifty million dollars, having one hundred twenty-six square miles land, having one million sannyasins around the earth ready to follow her. It is not Sheela. Anybody would have fallen in the trap. But the problem was that I could not give the position that Sheela had to a meditator. A meditator is basically introvert. Sheela knows nothing of meditation. She has never meditated. Neither she has any possibility in this life. This was her qualification: she is extrovert.
Beloved Osho, in the video the other night, for the second time I heard you saying that no master has been betrayed by a woman. I don't understand that. What about sheela and her gang? Didn't they betray you? So far as I'm concerned, in the moment, I can't imagine betraying you, but I can't say for sure that I would never do it. I don't know what I would do if I was in the position of sheela. Saying all this, my heart hurts, but my mind keeps on going and doesn't understand. Please comment.
Prem Samyo, a master can be betrayed if he requires your faith. You cannot betray me, because I don't require your faith. You can be with me; you can choose to go away. Being with me is your free choice. Going away is also your freedom. Nobody can betray me. I don't give you the chance to betray. I have removed the very basis, the very possibility. Thousands of people have been with me, and walked with me as long as they could manage. And when it was impossible for them -- and I am an impossible man, so it is not their fault -- then they took off on a road separate from me. But I don't have any complaint, because I was never expecting them to hang around me forever and forever. In fact, I have to work on so many people that I want a few old…