People have always believed in holy leaders, but what matters now is not to inherit a faith at birth—choose for yourself when you’re ready.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, the other day, speaking of India, you said that this country’s fundamental problem is its superstitions and that it is about fifteen centuries behind the times. Would you kindly tell us how to distinguish between faith and superstition, and whether today’s faiths will not become tomorrow’s superstitions? Would you also graciously tell us what an individual or a community should do to be contemporary, to remain modern?
It is a fact of life worth understanding: neither the poor nor the rich revolt; the middle class does. All revolutions—of ideas, of economy, of society—arise from the middle. This land has much experience of trust—its taste, its peace. It knows that an event like Buddhahood can happen; it has that certainty. Therefore, even if there is no Buddha, “let a Buddha’s statue do”—it clings to something or other. Other countries don’t have so much superstition because they haven’t had so many occasions for trust. In America there isn’t much superstition because America has known no Buddha, no Mahavira, no Krishna. In that sense America is non-superstitious. And superstition cannot arise until trust has arisen. Where there is pleasure, there is the sense of pain; where there is wealth, the sense of poverty; where there is the taste of trust, the shadow of distrust is cast. Then fear of distrust…
A friend has asked, Osho, what should one do so that faith does not turn into blind belief?
I have heard: Saint Francis was a supremely faithful man and would trust anyone. His disciple was Leo. They were traveling. Whoever came along, Francis would take him along. Often someone would stay for a night and then steal their belongings and go. He would stay one night, and by morning their bedding, their bag—the few things they had—would be gone. Leo, his disciple, was very troubled. He said that at least some checking should be done. You take anyone along and then suffer. Give up this trust in people. So many have deceived you, and still your trust in people does not leave you. Saint Francis said, they are all testing my faith. There are two ways. A man stays the night and leaves stealing. One way is: the things are gone anyway—which are of little value—and along with them let faith also go, which is of great value.…
Osho, why has human faith in religion waned?
Then there is a further fall. This is when, around Buddha, people hear, oppose, accept. Then two-and-a-half thousand years pass. One generation hands it to the next. Those who had heard from Buddha, or at least seen him—some hint of truth must have reached their ears; some touch of Buddha’s presence must have touched them; some color of Buddha must have fallen upon their souls—however slight, it fell. Then their sons and their sons’ sons believe because the fathers believed, the forefathers believed, people have always believed—and then belief becomes blind belief. What you call religions are superstitions. They should have been bid farewell long ago. New editions of truth descend from the sky every day. A new Koran descends every day. God has not grown tired, has not exhausted Himself with Mohammed. Jesus is not God’s only son—as Christians say, the only begotten. Nor did God come to an…
Osho, just seeing sadhus and saints makes me bristle, even angry. I see nothing in them but hypocrisy. But with you—God knows what you’ve done—reverence wells up! What is the secret of your influence?
Buddha asked, “What are you doing?” They said, “This is not killing; not violence. The souls of these animals will go to heaven.” Buddha joked, “Then why not kill your parents? Send them to heaven. The door is open—why send animals? Send your parents, your wife, your children. Send everyone—and then go yourself! But don’t send these animals. They don’t want to go—they’re writhing, they want to run. They are pleading for mercy. They cannot speak—look into their eyes, they are beseeching. They are bleating: ‘Let us go.’ They don’t want heaven—and you are sending them. The yajman who is funding this sacrifice wants heaven—send him!” Clever folks have always been around. Tricks kept running; we kept bearing them. Sin and merit are difficult to determine. On one side are people along the Amazon who eat humans—and it is no sin to them. On the other side are the Quakers…
Osho, some friends affiliated with other ashrams—such as the Yug Nirman Yojana in Mathura, the Ramakrishna Ashram, etc.—wish to come to your ashram and participate in the various meditation experiments here. There are also friends for whom the renowned saint Gajanan Maharaj of Shegaon or Shirdi’s Sai Baba are objects of reverence; they too want to join the meditation camps at your ashram. But they hesitate because of the notion that if one has faith in one place, one should not go elsewhere—that it would be a sin. Osho, please be kind enough to clarify this!
Ramakrishna cannot suit everyone—otherwise variety would vanish. For someone only the Quran fits, and its words alone sprout the seeds lying in his being. For someone else, it is only the Gita that rains upon him. What is the purpose—to eat the mango or to count the pits? But people are attached to pits; they have no idea of eating mangoes; they just heap up seeds. If you have found it there, don’t take the trouble of coming here. If not, then to linger even a moment is self-destructive—who knows, death may come tomorrow! So search, run, move—go wherever there is news that the sun has risen. This is the seeker’s life: a life of quest. Where harmony happens—who knows where! With whom your heart will fall into rhythm—who knows which instrument will enchant you! Until such a place arrives, many doors must be knocked. To reach your own door,…