Why are male sannyasins called 'Swami' and female sannyasins called 'Ma'?

You have told many times why you call your male sannyasins "swami." can you explain why the women sannyasins are called "ma"?

The path of the masculine is that of awareness, and awareness brings you to a point where you become master of your own being. That is the meaning of SWAMI. The feminine path is that of love, and love brings you to an ultimate point where you can mother the whole existence. And that is the meaning of MA. A woman in her ultimate flowering becomes a mothering energy... she can mother the whole existence. She feels blessed, and she can bless the whole existence. When a man arrives at the ultimate point he does not become a father, he does not become a mother, he simply becomes a master: master of his own being. Love and awareness -- these are two paths. And when I say masculine I don't mean that all males are masculine, and when I say feminine I don't mean that all females are feminine. There…

WHY ARE THERE SO MANY FOREIGNERS IN YOUR MOVEMENT? IS IT BECAUSE OF THEIR BOREDOM WITH MATERIALISTIC ACHIEVEMENTS? There are many reasons. One is certainly their boredom. While the East is struggling for bread and butter, starving, the West has seen all that the world can give, and still the frustration remains. Now something more is needed. Just a good house, good food, good clothes, a good job, is not enough. But this becomes clear only when you have all these things, which may be necessary for living, but still they are not enough. Something more, of a higher value, is needed. Secondly, they are more educated, more intelligent. They have seen all the intellectual gymnastics from Aristotle to Bertrand Russell, and they have not got anything from them, because neither Aristotle nor Bertrand Russell is a meditator; they are just thinkers, and the people want something beyond the mind.

Osho, when I went to Rajneeshpuram in July, in your discourses you said that in India no children should be born for many years. I repeated this to many people when I came back to Hindustan. Different people had different reactions, but most women said, “The maternal feeling in a woman—how is she to satisfy it?” Some said, “A woman does not attain fulfillment until she becomes a mother.” Please say something about this, Osho.

Second, it is true that a woman’s fulfillment is in her becoming a mother. That is why, when I began giving sannyas, the traditional name for a male renunciate was “Swami.” There was no name for a woman—because in India, for thousands of years, woman has been suppressed and erased so badly that she was never given the chance to be initiated into sannyas. There wasn’t even a name. After much search I accepted “Ma” as that name, because in “Ma” lies her fulfillment. But this fulfillment as mother is proof that your love has risen so high that the whole world becomes, for you, as if they are your children—even your husband. This is the blessing of the rishis of the Upanishads. Whenever a couple came to a rishi for a blessing, there was a very unique blessing, found in no other scripture in the world. The rishi would…

Beloved Osho, is there a difference in the relationship of the master to his male disciples and his relationship to his female disciples?

All disciples are female. All masters are male. The very qualities of being a disciple are the qualities which are feminine -- receptivity, openness, trust, love, a deep surrender. It is not a coincidence that there have not been many women masters, and those that have been were almost as male in their approach as any male can be. For example, I will give you few names -- because there are only few women masters in the whole of history. They can be counted on the fingers of one hand. The most ancient is Gargi. She's reported in the VEDAS. One of the great kings -- five thousand years ago according to Christian scholars, and ninety thousand years ago according to Hindu scholars.... And I have not been able to find any fault with the Hindu scholars. Their arguments are immensely valid, and the Christian scholars have not been able…

In answering my question, you kept referring to me as 'she'. So you have found me out. Even growing a beard, I could not deceive you. Only one small request: may I keep the swami in the front of my name?

Sorry, Ma Anand Sucheta. I goofed again. Yes, it has happened. Just the other day Swami Anand Sucheta asked a question and I continued to refer to him as she. Now there are two other Suchetas, both are she. One Sucheta is he, two Suchetas are she. They have also written questions to me. But the swami who asked the question has really understood the point of it. 'Swami' was clearly there, 'swami' was written on the question -- but for two reasons I was goofing. One was that Anand Sucheta really has the heart of a woman. By growing a beard it makes no difference. There is a biological he and she and there is a psychological he and she. Sometimes when I am giving sannyas to a person I have to think twice whether to call him ma or swami. Not to create an embarrassing situation for you…