Arguing with a wise teacher doesn’t help; when you get very quiet inside, you understand without arguing.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Beloved Osho, you have said many times that a dialogue is not possible through debate. But shankara announced his universal victory and defeated innumerable intellectuals in a debate on the meaning of the scriptures. After the defeat they had to become shankara's disciples. Please explain what kind of debate on the scriptures this was.
Shankara agreed to debate with Bharati. But he found he could not reply to the questions asked by her, because she did not ask any question regarding Brahma or knowledge of Brahma. As he had already defeated Mandan on that topic. She had understood from the debate with Mandan that it was useless to talk to this young man about Brahma. She thought "This young-looking person is actually a very ancient being." And Mandan certainly knew more than Bharati. That is why Bharati had fallen in love with him, married him, and was looking after him. She had seen him defeated by Shankara on the subject of Brahma, so she asked Shankara questions regarding sex. Shankara was young. He was thirty years old and was unmarried. He found himself in a difficult situation. He said, "I want six months' time to reply to these questions because I am unmarried and…
There is an old tradition in some japanese zen temples that if a wandering monk can win an argument about buddhism with one of the resident monks, he can stay the night. If not, he has to move on.
THERE WAS SUCH A TEMPLE IN NORTHERN JAPAN RUN BY TWO BROTHERS. THE ELDER BROTHER WAS VERY LEARNED AND THE YOUNGER BROTHER WAS RATHER STUPID, AND HE HAD ONLY ONE EYE. ONE EVENING A WANDERING MONK CAME TO ASK FOR LODGING. THE ELDER BROTHER WAS VERY TIRED AS HE HAD BEEN STUDYING FOR MANY HOURS, SO HE TOLD THE YOUNGER BROTHER TO GO AND TAKE THE DEBATE. "REQUEST THAT THE DIALOGUE BE IN SILENCE," SAID THE ELDER BROTHER. A LITTLE LATER THE TRAVELER CAME TO THE ELDER BROTHER AND SAID, "WHAT A WONDERFUL FELLOW YOUR BROTHER IS. HE HAS WON THE DEBATE VERY CLEVERLY, SO I MUST MOVE ON. GOOD NIGHT." "BEFORE YOU GO," SAID THE ELDER BROTHER, "PLEASE RELATE THE DIALOGUE TO ME." "WELL," SAID THE TRAVELER, "FIRST I HELD UP ONE FINGER TO REPRESENT BUDDHA. THEN YOUR BROTHER HELD UP TWO FINGERS TO REPRESENT BUDDHA AND HIS TEACHING.…
Osho, you have titled this series of talks “Sahaj Yoga.” Do “sahaj” and “yoga” not seem mutually opposed?
Anand Maitreya! They don’t just seem opposed, they are opposed. But no ultimate truth of life can manifest without contradiction. Life is made of opposites—darkness and light, day and night, woman and man, negative electricity and positive electricity, birth and death. The very structure of life is woven of opposites. Hence the opposites are not only opposed; they are complementary to each other. If you have labored hard all day, you will be able to sleep deeply. Labor and rest are opposites, yet only the one who has worked can rest deeply—and the one who has not worked cannot. So the opposites are not only opposed, they complete each other. And only the one who has rested deeply at night can rise in the morning and engage in work again. One who has not rested through the night will not be able to work in the morning. Look closely at…
Shah firoz, who is remembered as the teacher of many very distinguished sufis, was often asked why he did not teach them faster.
HE SAID, 'BECAUSE EVEN THE MOST DEDICATED WILL, UNTIL A CERTAIN POINT OF UNDERSTANDING, NOT BE TEACHABLE AT ALL. HE IS HERE IN THE FLESH, BUT ABSENT IN EVERY OTHER WAY.' HE ALSO RECITED THIS TALE. THERE WAS ONCE A KING WHO WANTED TO BECOME A SUFI. THE SUFI WHOM HE APPROACHED ABOUT THE MATTER SAID, 'MAJESTY, YOU CANNOT STUDY WITH THE ELECT UNTIL YOU CAN OVERCOME HEEDLESSNESS.' 'HEEDLESSNESS!' SAID THE KING. 'AM I NOT HEEDFUL OF MY RELIGIOUS OBLIGATIONS? DO I NOT LOOK AFTER THE PEOPLE? WHOM CAN YOU FIND IN ALL MY REALM WHO HAS A COMPLAINT AGAINST ME ON THE GROUNDS OF HEEDLESSNESS?' 'THAT IS PRECISELY THE DIFFICULTY,' SAID THE SUFI. 'BECAUSE HEEDFULNESS IS SO MARKED IN SOME THINGS, PEOPLE IMAGINE THAT IT MUST BE A PART OF THEIR TEXTURE.' 'I CANNOT UNDERSTAND THAT SORT OF REMARK,' SAID THE KING, 'AND PERHAPS YOU WILL REGARD ME AS…