Being poor isn’t noble; it hurts—so stop calling it dignified and help remove the poverty and the tricks that keep it in place.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, the latest from the pope: "defending the human dignity of the poor and their hope for a human future is not a luxury for the church, nor is it a strategy of opportunism, nor a means for currying favor with the masses. It is her duty..." anything to say about this most recent statement from the bejeweled and bedecked pontiff?
For example, I am not a physicist, so if I say something wrong about physics, it's perfectly okay. There is no need to stick to it. I am not infallible. If somebody points to me that this statement is not right as far as physics is concerned, I am immediately ready to correct it because I'm not a physicist! If I had made the' statement, I was not making it as a physicist. I may have been illustrating something, but an illustration is an illustration. It does not change my argument. Just the other day somebody has written that my statement about Somnath is not historical: there were not twelve hundred priests but only five hundred. So how does it make any difference? My logic remains the same. But he is thinking that he is proving me wrong. My argument was that those priests of the Somnath were saying that,…
Osho, “Ashanaya vai patmamatiḥ.” That is, hunger is the root of all sin; it corrupts the intellect. Osho, when and why did people who understood this aphorism from the Aitareya Brahmana begin to honor poverty?
Without materialism there can be no prosperity. Without materialism, the Aitareya Brahmana’s aphorism cannot be fulfilled—poverty will remain. What Gulzarilal Nanda is saying—give him a new name: Gulzari Lal Andha, Mr. Blind. These blind people can’t even see that for centuries the same nonsense has been repeated: “We must cultivate spiritual qualities.” People are dying of hunger; there is no bread in their stomachs; and these men want to develop their spiritual qualities! These full-bellied men keep chanting Rama’s name. They think that since their bellies are full, everyone else’s must be too. In this country ninety percent are hungry; fifty percent are utterly hungry. And you want to cultivate spiritual qualities in them! The possibility that they might turn toward materialism gives Gulzari Lal Andha great pain. And why is he in pain? Because the trade is in danger. You have been cultivating spiritual qualities for ten thousand years—how…
Osho: in one of your lectures on socialism, answering sarjano's question, you indicated that the proletariat were 'the lowest'. Is this contradictory to christ's teachings on the poor as being the children of god and the rich as being 'the lowest'? During years of rural development work with poor peasants in latin america, I found them to be 'higher' spiritually than the rich landlords.
Half of the Indians eat only once a day, and the whole country is undernourished. Millions of people go to sleep with a hungry stomach. Now, do you think these people can commit suicide? They have not even been able to be alive, how can they commit suicide? First you have to be alive! Even if you want to commit suicide that much has to be fulfilled first. When all your physical needs are fulfilled, then suddenly a question arises, a new challenge: "Why am I trying to survive?" It is philosophical, psychological: one searches for the meaning of life. Then one can go mad one can commit suicide, one can start being creative. Then all the doors open, good and bad. One can be either lower than the animals or can rise higher than the angels. When all psychological needs are fulfilled -- when you have learnt the most…
Osho, in a country like India, where inequality and poverty have deep roots, don’t your teachings help maintain the status quo? Religion in the past offered no effective challenge to feudal injustice. How are you dealing with the apparatus that sustains poverty, unemployment, and corruption?
On the other hand, in my ashram, talent is coming from the West—and you won’t let them come. Scientists, engineers, doctors, physicians, professors want to come and live here, but Morarji Desai doesn’t want to let them in. All Indian embassies abroad have been instructed: if anyone wishes to come to my ashram, do not grant entry. And you know Indian “efficiency”... such foolishness that they even write such things in official letters. A famous dentist wanted to come and live in India. He wrote to apply, and the Indian embassy in America replied: if you wish to go to Shri Rajneesh Ashram, Poona, permission cannot be granted. They wrote that outright. What to say of Indian efficiency! At least keep it hidden. If you wish to go to any other ashram, permission can be granted. But he doesn’t wish to go to any other ashram. I could gather the…
Osho. Are you also the poor man's guru?
Certainly! Whenever you give me an opportunity to contradict myself I never lose it. I contain contradictions. I am vast. I never feel uneasy about contradictions; I love them. Yes, I am a poor man's guru. But if you understand me there is no contradiction. My definition of a rich man and my definition of a poor man have to be understood well. Jesus says, "Blessed are the poor because theirs is the kingdom of God." And mind you, he does not say theirs will BE the kingdom of God; he says theirs IS the kingdom of God. Let me repeat it: he says, "Blessed are the poor, because theirs is the kingdom of God." But who are the poor in Jesus' definition? -- the same people I call rich. I call a man rich who has become absolutely frustrated with the world, who has known all that it can…