According to Osho, so‑called saints use difficult, archaic language to hide their ignorance. Because many equate the incomprehensible with profundity, obscurity becomes a convenient camouflage and a mutual conspiracy: they conceal not-knowing behind big words; listeners conceal not-understanding with nods. Genuine insight needs no fog—real wisdom speaks simply. Don’t be impressed by jargon; trust clarity, directness, and your own understanding.
They use big, confusing words to cover up not knowing, and people pretend to understand.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Beloved master, I have heard many spiritual saints in my life -- why do they all speak a very difficult language?
Kamla Kant, they have to, because they know nothing. If they speak simple language as I am speaking to you, the day-to-day language, they will not be able to hide their ignorance. Behind the camouflage of big words they can hide their ignorance; that is one of the trade secrets. And people are so foolish that if they can't understand what is being said to them, they think it must be something great. The incomprehensible looks to them as if it is something profound. The comprehensible seems to be superficial. Hence, down the ages your so-called saints have been using very complicated, complex, difficult language, using big words, using dead languages, so nobody understands. Latin, Sanskrit, Arabic -- that's what is being used by your so-called saints. When you hear them you can't figure it out, what it is all about, and, naturally, you cannot say, "I don't understand your…
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…
Why do the mystics speak a language of their own?
Gurdjieff used to force people who were not drinkers, he would force them to drink as much as possible. Now, that was his device. When a man is utterly drunk, he becomes very very real and honest. This is a very bad state of affairs, but this is how it is. People have become so false that to see their original face you have to wait... only when they are absolutely drunk. Then their masks slip by; they cannot hold them, they are so drunk. Everything becomes shaky and they start coming up in their true colors. So each disciple had to go through that torture. It was torture for somebody who had not been drinking too much or who was against alcohol. Just think of Morarji Desai: if he had gone to Gurdjieff...! He would force people to drink so much that they would fall on the ground, start…
Question: First question: Osho, truth cannot be spoken—then why do saints speak? Before my lamp goes out, I would like many of your lamps to be lit. And before you depart, distribute the light. You must fade; everyone must fade. But the light can keep burning—from one lamp to another; a chain can be formed. This word “silsila” is lovely. We have an almost identical word, but it has spoiled—“parampara,” tradition. It has become stale, fixed. Its real meaning is simply that which passes from one to another. One breathed a mantra into another’s ear. One gave his life-breath to another. Before the knower departs, let him awaken some, ignite some. Before departing, they will awaken others. Thus the chain continues. The chain that Buddha started—lamps still burn in it. The chain Muhammad started—lamps still burn in it. The light has not been lost.
Osho, what kind of Indian guru are you? We’ve heard you don’t even know Sanskrit!
English, therefore, is the most alive language on earth today--every year it digests eight thousand new words. No other language has such digestive power. It digests everything. You’ll be surprised: English even digested the Sanskrit word “pandit.” “Pandit” is used in English; the meaning is the same as in Hindi--a pompous pundit, hollow, stuffed with cow-dung. Digestive power is the mark of a living being. They can’t even digest “railgadi,” though it has caught on! Millions use it. The whole country understands “railgadi.” Neither Tamil nor Marathi nor Gujarati nor Punjabi nor Hindi has any difficulty with it. But he coined a word, and it didn’t fly. He tried very hard to make it fly--“lohpathgamini” (iron-path-goer)! It just doesn’t sit right; it sounds stupid. You’re going to the station, someone asks, “Where are you going?” You say, “I’m going to catch the lohpathgamini!” He’ll think your wife has run away…