According to Osho, the Christian Trinity is a patriarchal fiction; the living trinity for meditators is body, mind, and the witness. Body belongs to nature and must be cared for; mind belongs to society and must be cleansed; the witness is your genderless individuality, returning to godliness. Awakening dissolves identification with body and mind and reveals the witnessing consciousness.
Forget Father, Son and Holy Ghost; focus on your body, your mind, and the quiet watcher inside—care for the body, clear the mind, and you’ll feel the real you that touches the divine.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Beloved Osho, what is the connection between these two: the trinity of the father, the son and the holy ghost; and the body, the mind and the witness. Or is the holy ghost just another old ghost?
There is no trinity the way Christians conceive it. The father, the son, the holy ghost -- in fact, the whole idea is anti-feminine, it is against women. In the divine trinity there is no place for any woman. There is a place for a ghost, and I don't think that he is holy because this is the guy who made poor Mary pregnant, and if he is holy then every rapist is holy. This is the most unholy ghost, but there is a place for him. And what kind of family -- father, son and holy ghost? Where is the mother? No, the woman cannot be accepted as part of God. This is the conspiracy. Otherwise it would have been far better: God the father, God the mother, God the son; it would have looked more contemporary, a beautiful family, using birth control -- because centuries have passed and…
You have mentioned many times the christian trinity: the father, the son and the holy ghost. Could you tell us please, what happened to the mother?
All the religions of the world were founded by men; not a single religion has been founded by any woman. And of course the male ego, the male chauvinism, has been the root cause of all the doctrines that have been created to explain existence. It is very difficult for the male ego to think of woman as the creator. Even to give a small portion in the trinity to woman seems to be difficult. Everything has been managed by man. Man has been the manager in this world and, of course, he has created the concept of the other world. There also he goes on managing. God is man, the holy ghost is man, the son is man.... Not that it is so. If there is any god, he is bound to be both man and woman. He cannot be just male -- that is impossible, that will be…
Question: BY SKILLFUL MEANS ONE MAYA HAS GIVEN BIRTH TO THREE DISCIPLES: BRAHMA, THE CREATOR; VISHNU, THE SUSTAINER; AND SHIVA, THE DESTROYER. GOD DIRECTS THEM BY HIS WILL AND HIS ORDER. HE WATCHES THEM BUT THEY CANNOT SEE HIM; THAT IS THE WONDER OF WONDERS. IF YOU MUST BOW, BOW TO HIM. HE IS THE PRIMAL BEING, PURE WITHOUT BEGINNING OR END. HE IS THE UNSTRUCK SOUND. HE IS IMMUTABLE THROUGH ALL TIME. ALL THE WORLDS ARE HIS ABODE, AND ALL WORLDS HIS STOREHOUSE. HE HAS THEM FILLED FOR ALL TIME WITH ALL WORTH ATTAINING. THE CREATOR CREATES, AND OVERSEES IT ALL. SAYS NANAK, HE IS THE TRUE REALITY AND ALL HIS WORKS ARE TRUE. IF YOU MUST BOW, BOW TO HIM. HE IS THE PRIMAL BEING, PURE WITHOUT BEGINNING OR END. HE IS THE UNSTRUCK SOUND. HE IS IMMUTABLE THROUGH ALL TIME.
One has to go beyond the ego too. The father is a gross manifestation, but deep down is the ego. It is perfectly beautiful to be a lover but ugly to be a husband, beautiful to be a beloved, a friend, but ugly to be a wife. These beautiful experiences should not be made into legal relationships. Law is very destructive. Love can never be reduced to law, and the moment it is reduced to law it is no more love. It is perfectly beautiful to be a vehicle for children to come into existence; and the father and the mother are nothing but vehicles. The children are not their possessions; they are not produced by them, they are not manufactured by them -- they are just vehicles. The children come through them -- that is true but they are not created by them.
Each day when I leave chuang tzu auditorium, I see three white robes hanging in the laundry room. Yet I never see you wearing more than one robe. I have a suspicion that you are actually one of triplets. This would explain how you go on contradicting yourself in successive lectures, and appear in more than one place at the same time.
So, you have found it out. Now keep it a secret and don't tell it to anybody. That is true; I have to confess. When you have found out, I have to confess. That is true -- I am a trinity, the trinity I as talking about: father, mother, son. And yes, it is true. That's why it is so easy for me to contradict myself: sometimes the father is speaking, sometimes the mother, and sometimes the son. You will find three rivers meeting in me. It is a SANGAM. It is a meeting-point of three rivers, a TREVENI, a trinity, a TRIMURTI. I have three faces. That's why it is so easy for me to move through all the traditions -- because there are only three traditions in the world. Three is a very basic unit: the father, the mother, and the son. That's why it will be difficult…