It’s like we read only the first half of Jesus’ life at 33, so the religion reflects a young, fiery phase and misses his later, calmer wisdom.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, one night you said that christianity has remained incomplete because for christians jesus died at the age of thirty-three when he was fiery, rebellious and active, with sun-like consciousness as his inner center. Does it mean that jesus could not achieve total spiritual growth, inner silence, inner peace and an inner full-moon stage of consciousness like buddha and mahavir? Please enlighten us on this point.
There is a story: Vivekananda achieved his first satori, his first glimpse of Samadhi, and Ramakrishna said, "Now I will keep this key with me; I am not going to give it to you. It will be given to you only three days before your death. Before you die, only three days before, this key will be given back to you. Now no more glimpses of Samadhi." Vivekananda began to weep and he said, "Why? I do not want anything. I do not want the whole kingdom of the world. Give me only my Samadhi. The one glimpse was so beautiful. I do not want anything more." Ramakrishna said, "The world needs you and something has to be done. And if you move into Samadhi, then you will not be able to do anything. So do not be in a hurry. Samadhi will wait for you. Move into the world;…
If jesus was still in a rebellious and active stage at the time of the crucifixion, does that mean that he had not achieved the total spiritual growth and inner silence of buddha?
When Jesus remained silent after Pilate asked him, "What is truth?" he was behaving like a Zen master. If you look at the previous life of Jesus, if you look at his whole previous life, this silence was not like Jesus at all. What happened? Why did he not speak? Why was he at a loss? He was one of the greatest orators the world has ever produced; we may even say, without hesitation, the greatest. His words were so penetrating. He was a man of words, not a man of silence. Why did he suddenly remain silent? He was moving toward the cross. Pilate asked him, "What is truth?" Jesus had spent his whole life talking about truth; he was defining only that, that is why Pilate asked him. But he remained silent. What happened in Jesus' inner world has never been reported because it is difficult to report.…
Question: BELOVED OSHO, MODERN CHRISTIANS ARE MAKING DESPERATE ATTEMPTS TO SAVE THEIR RELIGION FROM ITS PRIMITIVE, SUPERSTITIOUS PAST -- AND FROM THE FUNDAMENTALISTS! FOR EXAMPLE, A MODERNIST IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND BELIEVES, IT IS SAID, IN A GOD WHO WORKS THROUGH EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES ONLY, DOES NOT DOUBT THE EXISTENCE OF JESUS CHRIST, BUT WOULD NOT LOSE HIS FAITH IF IT WERE TO BE PROVED THAT JESUS NEVER EXISTED, AND CLAIMS TO BELIEVE IN THE SUPERNATURAL, BUT NOT IN THE MIRACULOUS. HIS JESUS DID NOT PERFORM MIRACLES AND WAS NOT BORN OF A VIRGIN. THE TOMB WAS NOT EMPTY. ETHICS ARE MORE IMPORTANT TO THE MODERNIST THAN DOCTRINE. DOWN THE SAME PATH IS TRAVELING OUR OLD FRIEND, THE BISHOP OF DURHAM, WHO GOT INTO TROUBLE FOR HIS COMMENTS LAST YEAR ABOUT THE VIRGIN BIRTH AND RESURRECTION.
Osho: suppose you had experienced only negative reactions from others and had received no love in your life, would you still be such a loving, happy man? Or does happiness require a certain resonance and response from others or from god? Even jesus christ did not die happily, as it is written in matthew, chapter 22: "at the ninth hour, jesus cried loudly, 'lord, lord, why have you left me?' "
Love is valuable only if it is in tune with freedom, but it can be in tune with freedom only if it is not given by others -- not even by God -- because if it is given by others it makes you a slave. And not only that: if it is given by others to you, you start CLINGING to others, you start expecting it, and every expectation brings a thousand and one frustrations. And that's what happened to Jesus Christ. You say: EVEN JESUS CHRIST DID NOT DIE HAPPILY, AS IT IS WRITTEN IN MATTHEW... "AT THE NINTH HOUR, JESUS CRIED LOUDLY, 'LORD, LORD, WHY HAVE YOU LEFT ME?'" According to me, up to this moment when Jesus cries to God, "Why have you forsaken me?" he is only Jesus not Christ. He became Christ only in the last moment. That's why Christianity has been a dead religion…
Osho, you say christ was the last christian. Are you the last rajneeshee? Please explain.
That is the other way of declaring superiority -- perhaps far better a way, because it is so arduous. To become a messiah all that you need is a retarded mind, stupid, stubborn -- and you can declare yourself And to declare yourself the only begotten son of God, what do you need? Just no sense of shame, that's all; otherwise such stupid things.... Any intelligent person, even if he is the only begotten son of God, will try to hide the fact: if somebody hears, what are people going to think about it? Even if he knows that he is a messenger from God he will not tell anybody. He will deliver the message and escape because it looks so foolish that you are the son of a poor carpenter, uneducated, and you have been chosen to be the messenger of God. God could not find an educated, sophisticated…