What is our duty in times of false religions?

Osho, many false religions are arising in this country, spreading irreligion. What is our duty in such times? Please guide us.

Anyone who has even a little understanding to think, who has even a small eye to see, I need not tell them what their duty is. Their duty is, first, to stop the false religions spreading in this country. Second, to make the real religion of this land blossom again like a flower. It is true that as the number of my enemies has increased, so too has the number of my friends. There is a balance in nature. And the enemies are enemies out of unintelligence, so there is no need to fear them. Friends are friends out of understanding; therefore one friend is more precious than ten enemies. We will win over those enemies, because they have nothing. Inside them there is sheer emptiness, meaninglessness. There is neither peace nor joy. Your duty is that you do not yourself forget what this country has attained over thousands of…

Osho, what is the relationship between meditation and patience?

If you sit to meditate to remove mental restlessness, you will keep looking back again and again: “Has it gone yet?” And the irony is that when you begin to meditate, restlessness will increase. Because what has been repressed will start surfacing; catharsis will begin. The rubbish you have kept hidden within and never allowed to express—meditation will break open those doors too. It will clean the house. Dust piled up for years, for births, will rise again; there will be gusts and storms. For a while even the little peace you had will be lost. Then you will panic: “I came for peace, and even what I had is gone.” Without patience, you could even become unhinged, because meditation brings such a great storm. The disease is not from a day or two; it’s from lifetimes. Meditation will break through all the layers to reach your innermost core. In…

Osho! Basically, you are a herald of religion—of the original, essential religion. You yourself seem to be religion. But the surprising thing is that right now your strongest opposition comes from the religious establishment itself! The recent statements by two Shankaracharyas are fresh examples. Would you kindly shed some light on this?

The death of his father shook Shankaracharya utterly. But the mother, already in grief, would be left alone if Shankara took sannyas. She refused. The story says: Shankara went to bathe in the river, and a crocodile caught his leg. A crowd gathered on the ghat; the mother came running. Shankara said, “The crocodile says it will let go if you allow me to take sannyas.” What could the mother do? With tears she said, “All right, then become a sannyasin—at least live. If you live, even as a sannyasin, I will see you some day.” And the story says the crocodile let go. That is just a story; crocodiles were not that wise then, nor now! If man is not so wise, what of crocodiles! I spoke of Mulla—he did marry. Fourteen-year-old girl, eighty-year-old groom. The next day friends asked, “How was the wedding night?” “Don’t ask—great joy! Only…

Osho, my family members and others say that you corrupt religion. But my heart says: O Lord of the worlds, You alone are my support; without You, in this world, we have no one. But that is only my own conviction. I have to live among those who oppose you. So please tell me, graciously, how I can protect my truth?

Here I am teaching you that you are nothing; only the Divine is. You are not—make space. Vacate the throne; you have sat there long enough. My call is only for those who are supremely audacious. Religion is ultimate courage—it is not the path of the weak. That is why the weak, even in the name of religion, do politics. Hindu, Muslim, Jain, Christian—these are all politics. The names are religious, the flags are religious—inside, politics. Churches, temples, priests, pundits—talk of religion; go a little deeper and you will find politics: the race for the world, for position, prestige, wealth, empire. Christianity wants to dominate the whole world—less zest for finding God than for covering the world. Islam wants to make the whole world Muslim—by the sword if necessary. If people must be cut for their own good, then cut them! If villages must be burned, settlements razed—still, man must…

Osho, what is the first experience of samadhi like?

You will know only when it happens. It cannot be said; at most a few hints can be given. It is as if, in the dark, a lamp is suddenly lit. Or as if a dying patient, right at the edge of death, suddenly finds a medicine that works; life’s wave, life’s thrill spreads again—so it is. As if a corpse becomes alive—such is the first experience of samadhi. It is the taste of nectar. The experience of the ultimate music. But it will be only when it happens; and only then will you understand. You will not understand by my saying it. It is as with love. How can anyone explain it? To someone who has never loved, never known love, no matter how many explanations you offer—he will hear it all and still ask, “I haven’t understood; please explain a little more.” It is like explaining light to…