According to Osho, Krishna passed through no atheism at all; his theism is so deep it transcends the theist–atheist divide. For Krishna, 'what is, is'—call it God, nature, or godlessness; names don't matter. Deep theism and deep atheism meet in the same understanding, whereas only shallow minds quarrel. Krishna rests in direct acceptance of reality, beyond affirmation or negation.
Krishna didn’t need to deny God to find truth; he simply trusted reality as it is, beyond labels and arguments.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, through what atheism did Krishna pass to attain such profound theism?
I have heard that Mark Twain used to tell a joke. He would joke that once it was decided by all the people of the earth that if we all, together, shout loudly at the same instant, the sound could reach the moon. And if anyone were on the moon, they would hear and might answer together. Human eyes have been fixed on the moon for ages. The urge to connect with the moon is very old. A child is not even born and already begins to relate to the moon. So a special day was set for all the people of the earth, and at exactly twelve noon everyone would roar together—make a great “Hooo” sound, in unison. The sound would reach the moon; perhaps a reply might come; if anyone were there, they would hear. The day came. And at twelve, with great eagerness, people gathered on roads…
Questioner: did krishna have to pass through atheism in order to attain to the highest in theism?
I would like to close my talk with an anecdote. Mark Twain is the author of this joke. Once the people of this world decided to carry out an experiment. They hit upon the idea that if all the people of the world agree on a time to shout with one voice, the noise will reach the moon. And if there are people living on the moon, they will hear our shout. And if they make a similar effort we can hear their answering shout from the moon. Man has always been fascinated by the moon, and his desire to relate with that planet is as old as the earth. That is why every child on coming into the world begins to ask for the moon. So a decision was taken and a time appointed when all the inhabitants would speak together to the moon in one voice. They were…
Questioner: you once said that buddha and mahavira were masochistic sannyasins. But in fact they came to sannyas from very affluent families; their sannyas was a follow up to their affluence. So how can you associate them with the sannyas of sorrow?
Gandhi found himself in such a dilemma when he wanted to discuss Krishna. In fact, he was more in agreement with Arjuna than with Krishna, How can Gandhi accept it when Krishna goads Arjuna into war? He could be rid of Krishna if he were clearly bad, but his badness is not that clear, because Krishna accepts both good and bad. He is good, utterly good, and he is also utterly bad -- and paradoxically, he is both together, and simultaneously. His goodness is crystal-clear, but his badness is also there. And it is difficult for Gandhi to accept him as bad. Under the circumstances there was no other course for Gandhi but to say that the war of Mahabharat was a parable, a myth, that it did not happen in reality. He cannot acknowledge the reality of the Mahabharat, because war is violence, war is evil to him. So…
Osho, can an atheist become enlightened without becoming a theist?
So what will be the meaning of theist? There will be two meanings. One is the theism taught to children, in which we say, “God is above.” It looks as if there is a great engineer who is managing everything—or a great judge, ruling the world from there; punishing people; protecting the good, destroying the bad. Or it seems there is some dictator—the colossal figure of a Stalin or a Hitler—who does as he pleases. When He wants the leaves to tremble, He makes them tremble; when He doesn’t, they do not. The law is in His hands; He may save or He may kill. Everything is in His hands. All you can do is praise Him. This is children’s God. Children need it too. And don’t think only little children are children. Ninety percent of people remain childish until they die; their intelligence never matures. Then there is a…
The atheist counts nights and says, Between two nights there is just a little day. The theist counts days and says, Between two days there is a little night, a little rest. The nights are the same, the days are the same; but the counting differs, the arithmetic differs, the angle of vision differs. If in the beauty of nature you begin to see the image of Paramatma—if a night filled with moonlight begins to feel filled with Paramatma—then you are a theist. In the theist’s vision, matter slowly disappears and only Paramatma remains. In the atheist’s vision, Paramatma disappears and only matter remains. The atheist is foolish, because by denying Existence he is only losing his own self and gaining nothing. The atheist is worthy of compassion. Do not be angry with him. He is a beggar.