What is the value of Hinduism and other religions?

And the fifth thing they said was, “Now Osho is speaking properly; he isn’t like before—he has improved a little!”

Absolutely wrong! I am getting worse. The question of improving does not arise. The more I experience all these fools, the sharper I keep my edge. Their necks have to be cut. I am driving the blade in deeper. My blow will grow deeper every day. Let no one remain in this mistake. And yet they go on explaining this to my disciples. Now this is most amusing: on the one hand they call me “Bhagwan Rajneesh,” and on the other they say I am improving! Is there anything left to improve in a Bhagwan? Does it mean that even after being God something still remains to be improved? Only “worsening” remains; there is nothing left to improve. And once you are a Bhagwan, even the fear of worsening is gone. Now, even if you send me to hell, it makes no difference. I will celebrate there too. There you…

Beloved Osho, during your first discourse on the mahagita many people were weeping streams of tears. What does this mean? Are those who were crying weak hearted or is it the power of your voice? Please throw some light on this.

Everywhere in the world it has always been like this. Politicians only have lust for power, they are not concerned with order or revolt. Yes, when they are not keeping order, when the power is not in their hands, then they say everything is wrong; then a revolution is needed. And as soon as they come to power, revolution isn't needed any more because the work of the revolution is complete. Its work was this -- to bring him to power -- the job is done. Then whoever mentions revolution is an enemy. And those that speak of revolution also have nothing to do with it. It is an amazing thing to watch -- it is happening every day, and still man does not become alert. All revolutionaries become counter-revolutionary when they come to power. And all ousted politicians become revolutionaries as soon as they step down from office. Political…

The old religions are just corpses, stinking; still they are immensely powerful, because the whole past has given them prestige, authority. And nobody wants to leave power and authority. They go on manipulating humanity, exploiting human beings; they go on keeping you retarded. They don't want you to evolve, because the moment you evolve and you become intelligent, you will be free from the bondage which is their vested interest. Anybody who is intelligent cannot be a Hindu, cannot be a Mohammedan, cannot be a Christian, -- because all these religions have done so many ugly actions in the past, they have killed millions of people, burned people alive in the name of God, in the name of love. They have been simply destructive; they have not enhanced beauty, they have not contributed to humanity in any way. They are parasites.

Beloved Osho, in the hindi incarnations of god there are a woman and a man together -- like vishnu and laxmi, shankar and parvati, krishna and radha, rama and sita, etc. On the other hand, there are other religions like jainism, buddhism, taoism, mohammedanism, christianity, et cetera, which have no place for women.

It was by the foreigners who were constantly invading India that the name was given, because every invader had to pass one of the greatest rivers of India, Sindhu. The first invaders, were the Hunas, who have disappeared from the world now -- a wild tribe. In their alphabet they had no sound for `sa', for `s'. The closest sound to `s' was `h', -- `ha'. `Sa -- ha' -- that was the closest. They could not pronounce the river Sindhu; they pronounced it, the river Hindu, and because of their language, and because of their pronunciation, the people who lived beyond this river, they started calling Hindus, the people who live beyond the river Hindu. It is beautiful sometimes to look at the history of how a word evolves, in what phases it moves, what turns it takes, what colors it takes. Because of the word `Hindu' the land…

Question: OSHO, WHAT PLACE HAS MYSTICISM IN YOUR RELIGION? When people use a language, the language starts becoming less grammatical but more alive; less mathematical but more meaningful. It becomes raw, it is no longer polished and sophisticated -- and it starts growing. Sanskrit has never grown. A dead thing cannot grow. It is exactly where it was five thousand years before -- no growth. Obviously a dead thing cannot grow. A living language used by people goes on growing. Its words become more and more rounded, just like stones slipping into the river start becoming round. The continuous flow of the river, the continuous hitting against other rocks, against other stones, gives them a roundness. This can be seen; and you can immediately describe, define which languages are dead and which languages are living.