According to Osho, India’s vaunted ‘spirituality’ is largely a national ego prop masking poverty and materialism; no nation is inherently spiritual—only individuals are. India has produced sages, as have all cultures. Its true significance would be to renounce chauvinism, dissolve nationalism, and embody a universal, one-world vision rather than clinging to prideful myths.
India isn’t uniquely spiritual; real spirituality is personal and for everyone, so let go of national pride and care for the whole world.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Question: OSHO, WHY DO INDIANS THINK THEY ARE MORE SPIRITUAL THAN OTHERS? In a cannibal village in the heart of Africa, the wife of the chief head-hunter went to the local butcher's shop in search of a choice rib for her husband's dinner. Inspecting the goods, she asked the butcher, "What is that one?" The butcher replied, "That is an American -- seventy cents a pound." "Well, then what about that one?" asked the woman. The butcher replied, "That is an Italian -- ninety-five cents a pound. He is a little spicy." "And," asked the woman, "what about that one there in the corner?" "He is an Indian,'' replied the butcher. "two dollars a pound." The woman gasped, "Two dollars a pound? What makes him so expensive?" "Well, lady," the butcher replied, "have you ever tried cleaning an Indian?" But that has become spirituality. Do you know?
Osho, in a recent article in the international herald tribune, william borders, a longtime observer of this country for the new york times' office in new delhi, wrote of how we are an embarrassment to "image-shy india". What is it about india that makes indians so concerned about their international image? And why cannot india be proud of you? Never has there been a religious leader in history that has received so much publicity abroad.
And if India really feels it has some claim to being spiritual, then let India disappear first. That will be proof. Let India disappear as a nation; let it become an international land. That will be proof, concrete proof. But people go on talking about non-violence in India, and go on preparing for war. They go on talking about brotherhood and the unity of all religions, and just go on doing the opposite of it. Because I am exposing things as they are, because I am functioning like an x-ray, they are angry. Nobody likes the x-ray, because it reveals your bones, your skeleton, your skull; and you have been thinking yourself so beautiful and all that comes out is just a skeleton? So this is you? You become angry, you become annoyed. Their annoyance with me is understandable. I perfectly understand it. India has lived for a thousand years…
India is such a sacred country: the heart of spiritualism. I don't understand all the crude remarks that they write in magazines about you. Why is india so ignorant in recognising you?
Lao Tzu has said: When I talk about Tao, very few are there who understand it. Those who understand -- they become silent. Many are there who feel offended -- they become angry. And the angry people there are more of. And Lao Tzu says: If people don't become angry, then what I am saying is not truth. One mystic used to stay with me. He was really a beautiful old man, very strange, very eccentric, but always to the point. He used to deliver talks all over the country. He had something to give. And whenever people applauded he would become very angry. He would say Stop! Don't applaud, because whenever you applaud, I think I must have said something wrong. If you can understand it, then it must be wrong. When you don't understand, only then is there a possibility that some truth has been said. And if…
When sri aurobindo said that india is the spiritual center of the world, the thinkers all over the west felt offended. They mocked and laughed at it. Please comment.
India has been approaching the inner continuously. If you take India as a symbol of inner search, good -- but then you should remember that it is an inner search and a symbol of inner search. Then somebody who is born in the West and is seeking God is an Indian; and somebody who is born in India and is seeking money is an American. Then there is no trouble -- then Jesus is Indian, Zarathustra is Indian, Lao Tzu is Indian, Chuang Tzu is Indian, Bokuju, Rinzai -- all are Indians. Then 'India' has a totally different meaning. I also say that India is significant, but just as a psychological symbol. Longest India has been searching. And MORE Buddhas have happened here. The very climate of spirituality, the milieu, helps. Jesus is rare, Zarathustra is rare. In India, Buddha, Mahavir, Krishna, Ram -- it seems almost a normal state…
So does it mean that the more sannyasins there are, the more hypocrites there will be among them?
For me, the soul is a vast thing, and it can manifest in many forms. If we do not let a poet be a poet, that person will never attain to his soul—because for him the path to the soul is poetry itself. If we do not let a dancer dance, we shall never allow him to reach the soul—because his path to the soul is dancing. Ravi Shankar will seek his soul through the sitar. If we make him fast and sit in a temple, he will never find his soul. His soul has its own path. Now what should I call spirituality? I call spiritual that attitude which accepts all paths and allows people to reach, by their own roads, that which they were born to be. You must become that which you were born to become—that is the attainment of your soul. Through that you will know…