People misquote because we forget, and what matters is the living meaning now, not perfectly repeating old words.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Why do you make so many mistakes when you quote other people or refer to biblical events or to scientific discoveries? I have answered this question many times myself in various ways. Now I would like to hear your answer.
So allow me to commit a few more mistakes. First: my memory is marvellous. Mulla Nasruddin was talking to a man and he said 'My wife has a very bad memory.' And the man asked 'Do you mean she forgets everything?' Mulla Nasruddin said 'No, she remembers everything!' If Mulla Nasruddin's wife has a bad memory, I have a marvellous memory. I forget everything. And I enjoy this forgetfulness; I am not worried about it. Secondly: I am an ignorant person. I am not a scholar. I enjoy reading books, but I read the Bible. the Gita, the Koran just as one reads novels; they are ancient, beautiful stories. Krishnamurti says he never reads any scripture; he reads only detective stories. I read the scripture, but I read in the scripture just the detective story and nothing else. And I would suggest to Krishnamurti that it would be good if…
Osho, why is your memory so miraculous? By the time afternoon comes I even forget what I had for breakfast. Would you kindly share the secret of a good memory?
“So then,” I said, “my concern is with the inner stream. What have I to do with scriptures? If it appears in scripture, fine; if not, fine. I am no scriptural scholar, nor am I interested in being one.” Therefore, when I give quotations, do not assume you will surely find the exact citation. You may find it—or you may not. But the listener will certainly feel that I speak with such force that it must be so. The force is not because it is in scripture; the force is because I know from my own experience that this is the truth. Whether it is in the scriptures or not, it is so. Even if all the scriptures were destroyed, what I am saying would still be true. Even if all the scriptures were opposed, what I am saying would still be true. And even if all the scriptures were…
Osho, Dariya Sahib was not a scholar, not even educated. Then how did the dust of the scriptures settle on him, such that the Master had to blow it away?
I have heard: two small children were passing by a nudist camp—a settlement of people without clothes. They peeped through a small drainage hole in the wall. Everyone inside was naked—women and men. The boys were perhaps six or seven, schoolbags slung over their shoulders, returning from school. They were in great difficulty: which were women, which were men? They had never seen a naked woman or naked man; they knew only one distinction—if a sari is worn, it is a woman; without a sari, a man. Now they were in trouble. When they got home they said to their parents, “We passed the colony of the naked; we peeked.” The mother asked, “Who were there—men or women?” They said, “How can we tell? They were wearing no clothes!” Do you understand the children’s point? Their recognition is a recognition of clothes. But how much beyond clothes does your recognition…
Osho, if a conscious person does not make mistakes, then please tell me what is the secret behind the difference in my name in Hindi and English? In Hindi: Swami Shyamdev Saraswati, and in English: Swami Shyamdev Bharati.
The body does many things mechanically. At night you are asleep; a mosquito comes, the hand waves it off. You don’t even need to wake up for that. You’re sitting; someone tosses a pebble toward your eye—you do not have to decide to close the eye; it closes by itself. It is automatic, and it is good that it is automatic. Otherwise the pebble would hit and you would still be thinking whether to close the eye or not. Nature has not left that to you. Something as delicate as the eye cannot be left in your hands. Nature has arranged that as soon as anything approaches, the eye closes on its own. You do not blink the eye; the eye blinks. Have you ever noticed how many things the body silently goes on doing? You eat food; the body digests it—you do not digest it. You don’t even have…
Osho, a question arises in my mind. Last night you said some things about the scriptures. It seemed to me that whatever you say could also be found in the scriptures. And what you are saying is itself gradually becoming a scripture. And what you say about the scriptures will apply verbatim to what you yourself have said as well. One who can see will see it here too; one who cannot see will not see it here either. And one who can see will also see it in the ancient scriptures, while the one who cannot see will not see it there either. Then there remains no purpose in criticizing them.
If this much becomes clear to us, then you will see I am not condemning scripture; I am stating the factual situation of scripture. And what you say is right: much of what I say will be found in the scriptures—not because it is there, but because you will have understood me. If my words have been understood by you, you will find them in the scriptures, because in scripture you will find only what your understanding is. Whatever your understanding is, that is what you will find—because we project our own understanding into scripture. Ordinarily we think that understanding comes out of scripture. It does not. We put our understanding into the scripture. That is why a thousand commentaries on the Gita are possible. If understanding came out of the Gita, how could there be a thousand commentaries? And if Krishna had a thousand meanings, then Krishna’s mind must…