What is the relationship between laziness and busyness in a commune?

Beloved Osho, I have heard you say that you are the laziest man in the world. Is this the reason why in your commune the sannyasins are so busy, far more busy than people in the outside world? Please comment.

It is true. I am the laziest man in the whole world. And to keep me lazy, my people have to work. To keep me poor, they have to give away all their fortunes. But they are enjoying it. The work they are doing is their love. Hence they have stopped calling it work; they call it worship. And my laziness is just my way of saying to you that the ultimate happens only when you are in a state of non-doing. It does not mean lazy according to your dictionaries. I am busy from six in the morning to eleven in the night. Of course, busy without business -- I don't have any business. I am lazy in my own meaning of the word; I am a non-doer. And that is my whole teaching to you, that even while you are doing something you remain a non-doer. Doing is…

Osho, on the first day you explained that “non-ability” is a precious word in Taoist vision and carries great spiritual value. In that context it seems that tamasic and lazy people already possess the quality of non-ability, yet their spiritual growth is not visible. What is your view on this?

What Lao Tzu calls “non-ability” is the name of the deepest ability. It is not laziness; it is the ultimate state of rest. Nor is it tamas; it is a most incandescent state of energy. Understand the difference clearly. The confusion is natural, because if someone is sitting inactive it appears to us that he is lazy. But all who sit inactive are not lazy. The one we call lazy does not truly sit empty; the work of the mind goes on. Perhaps the lazy man does nothing with his body, but with the mind he is fully busy. Where those who are bodily active are running, he too runs with his desires and cravings. In the mind there is no difference. He seems lazy to us because he is not running as we are. But he too is running. If laziness becomes absolute—what Lao Tzu calls non-doing—then laziness itself…

In my childhood I never liked to do anything. I would simply sit and sometimes I would be sitting just in front of my mother, and she would say, 'Nobody seems to be in the house' -- because she wanted somebody to go to the market and fetch something for her and I would be just sitting in front of my mother! (laughter) But it was almost inconceivable that I would go to the market, so they all thought, 'This man is lazy.' My grandfather used to say, 'I'm very much worried about you. Who is going to feed you? How are you going to earn a living?' And he was right... his worry was right. But I accepted that. That's perfectly okay. When you are lazy, you are lazy.

Osho, you said there is a path even through laziness. How so? I too am lazy; please shed a little light.

I used to think only Sheela was a Das Maluka. Are there others too! In fact, there must be many; Sheela must have a large family. But pay attention: if you are truly lazy, even laziness can become a path. The point to watch is—are you really lazy? This happened in Japan. An emperor was very lazy. Naturally he thought, “I am an emperor, I am lazy, nothing obstructs me; but those who are poor and lazy must be in great difficulty.” He thought, “If I weren’t an emperor, what trouble I would be in! I don’t earn, I can’t earn—I don’t even get up from my bed. Often I simply lie there with my eyes closed. I eat and then sleep; then get up, eat again, and sleep again.” So he thought, “I am an emperor, fine—but surely there must be other lazy people in this land; what must…

Beloved Osho, you took my heart and now it is too late; I am enjoying aloneness and laziness so much that sometimes I think there must be something wrong with me. I feel I am at the beginning of a new journey, and there is a question that keeps on coming up: what is the difference between being a watcher, and the feeling of "I am not that"?

Prem Anugraho, it is not true that I have taken your heart. You have given it to me. If I had taken it, it would not be too late; because you have given it to me, it is certainly too late! The master takes nothing from the disciple. The disciple gives everything, including himself. The master gives an opportunity for you to give. And it is a joy and a bliss to give your heart. Nothing can be more precious a present, and there is no other way to show your gratitude. But in any case, your heart is gone! And you are saying, "I am enjoying aloneness and laziness so much that sometimes I think there must be something wrong with me." There is. Enjoying aloneness is perfectly right, but enjoying laziness is not right. Laziness is a negative state. One should be overflowing with energy. One should be…