What is the significance of Kachchh?

Osho, paan Kachchh halonta? (Shall we go to Kachchh?) Truly, the fortunes of Kachchh are strong! Blessed will the land be by your going there! Until now Kachchh has been the most neglected—even by Kachchhis themselves. But the moment talk began of the ashram going there, suddenly Kachchh’s well‑wishers have awakened to love of the land, security, who knows what all feelings! Most of those who are now running protests against the ashram’s entry into Kachchh were deeply moved by your discourses on Mahavira. But now…! Kindly bestow a message! (Aun Kachchhi aniya.—I am Kachchhi.)

Morarji tried to stop me and himself went away. I kept waiting; I said, fine. I took Saswad as a pretext—so it would seem I had dropped the idea of going to Kachchh. But I did not go to Saswad either. You went to do the inauguration; I did not set foot there. If I go, I will go to Kachchh—paan Kachchh halonta. Saswad is no distance—twenty‑twenty‑five miles—I did not even go to see it. You went and inaugurated it, you went and held the ceremony. But I knew that Morarji and company were not going to last long. It was like a pot breaking by a cat’s luck, the rafters giving way—pure accident that Morarji sat on the country’s chest. Otherwise there was neither merit nor purpose nor any benefit to the nation from him. How long could he sit on our chest? His going was certain. A year…

Osho, any message for kutch?

I AM coming! And I am coming with my whole world of orange people. We are going to change the whole color of Kutch -- we are going to make it orange! First ten thousand sannyasins will arrive, then more will be coming. Within five years fifty thousand sannyasins will be there and within ten years one hundred thousand sannyasins will be there. So, Navin Mehta, tell the people of Kutch: Get ready! We are certainly going to destroy many things -- many things which need to be destroyed, which should have been destroyed long ago. The whole of India is suffering from many stupidities, many superstitions. We are not going to leave a single stone unturned! We are going to destroy every nonsense, howsoever ancient and old it may be. We are going to bring a totally new vision to Kutch. I have chosen Kutch for the simple reason…

Osho, in Jainism the principles of ahimsa, aparigraha, anekantavada, co-existence, etc., have a special place. But today in a newspaper I read a statement about you by a Jain muni, Shri Bhadragupta Vijayji, and was surprised. This monk is calling people to sacrifice everything and organizing them in protest against your entry into Kutch. For those who profess aparigraha, why this attachment to the Kutch region? And within their anekantavada, why opposition to your vision of life? Does it befit a muni to incite people in this way?

What of a Jain muni’s claim on Kutch! But it makes no difference; if “my India” is possible, why not “my Kutch”? Then “my district, my tehsil, my village.” Then what trouble with “my house”? It’s the same thing. Then why such difficulty with “my wife” and “my children”? If “mine” must remain, what fault is the wife’s and the children’s that you ran away, leaving them? It’s not that the wife wasn’t from Kutch—she must have been a Kutch woman. The children too were Kutchis—they were born of two Kutchis. You left your wife—no shame at leaving a Kutch woman! You left your children—the little Kutchis—no shame! And still: “My Kutch”? But I understand. It is a flock of the blind—led by the blind. The blind lead the blind, and both fall into the well. They keep falling—day after day. But if it is “my own well,” why not…

Osho, it is surprising that among animals there is hardly any hypocrisy or deceit, and among indigenous people it is also very little, whereas in the so-called educated and civilized society it is at its peak. Has humanity’s long and arduous journey from barbarism to civilization then gone in vain? And in that case, is the tribal order preferable?

Animals are without falseness, without hypocrisy—not because they have achieved something, but because they are incapable. They cannot be hypocrites; there is no way for them to be. They have no facility for being bad, no possibility of falling. But precisely because an animal cannot fall, it also cannot ascend to divinity. One who cannot fall cannot rise. And where there is no possibility of sin, there is no possibility of the divine either. The animal is in a kind of stupor; it does as nature makes it do. Its journey is mechanical. It has no free will. Therefore an animal cannot do evil, but it cannot do good either. It simply does what nature impels. It has no individuality of its own. Hence an animal can be neither wicked nor virtuous, neither a great sinner nor a great saint. An animal remains an animal. The animal is born complete.…

Osho, you say there is no need to go to the Kaaba or to Kashi. In your view, does place have no significance at all?

Swadesh, Yes, brother—place matters? Why wouldn’t it! Chandulal was telling me, “I’m ruined—ever since I got married, I’m ruined.” I asked him, “Where did you meet your wife?” He said, “On Chowpatty beach.” I said, “Then of course you’re ‘chopat’—kaput! Place! At least think where you meet. Meeting your future wife for the first time is risky anyway—and that too on Chowpatty!” But I told him, “Your wife says something else. She goes around saying, ‘Since I married him, Chandulal has become a lakhpati.’ And you say you’re ruined.” Chandulal slapped his forehead. “She’s right too.” I said, “This is quite a riddle! You say you’re ruined, and your wife says you’ve become a lakhpati.” He said, “Yes, she’s right. Earlier I was a crorepati.” Now you ask, Swadesh, whether a place has any value or not? What mad questions! The whole earth is one. What Kaaba, what Kashi! Wherever…