Why do you criticize Gandhi?

In this connection some friends have asked: why do you say things against Gandhi?

What purpose would it serve me to speak against Gandhi? A man like Gandhi is born only after the earth has practiced austerities for thousands of years. What concern do I have in being against Gandhi? But because you have entered the race of clinging to Gandhi, I speak against Gandhi too—against Ram as well, against Buddha and Mahavira too. Not against them; even toward them I have to be stern. Because I feel a new idol is being fashioned and people have begun to cling to it. We fail to get free of the old idols and new ones are manufactured, and man’s slavery continues. The masters change; the slavery remains. Someone frees himself from Ram and then grabs hold of Buddha; if he lets go of Buddha, he clings to Christ; if he gets rid of Christ, he clings to Mohammed. First he grabs another, then he lets…

Another friend has asked: Osho, what is the relationship between the method of meditation and jati-smaran (recollection of past lives)?

But the one who becomes skilled in this—who can fully awaken any day’s memory up to the age of five—will find that the memories begin to awaken completely. And you should test it. As today passes, note down some events and lock them up. After two years, try to recall today. Most of it will have been forgotten. Then remember—and after remembering, break the lock and compare whether what you recalled matches what you had written. You will be amazed—astonished—that besides what you wrote, many more details have come back which you did not even note at the time. They will all be there in memory. Buddha called this alaya-vijnana. There is a corner of the human mind he called the storehouse of consciousness. Like a junk room in the house where we keep all the odds and ends, there is a storehouse that collects memories—where everything from birth after…

Osho, why does there seem to be so much conflict between the world and God?

It is as if someone were sleeping deeply in this garden. The cuckoo comes and sings, birds are chattering, the sun rises, breezes dance through the trees; but someone is fast asleep. The breezes touch him, the birds’ songs echo at his ears, the sun’s rays play on his face, but he knows nothing. Then someone comes and shakes him awake. His eyes open—the glory of the sun is revealed, the song of the passing breeze is heard, suddenly the cuckoo’s call, the fragrance of flowers. Do you think something new has happened? Everything was already there, just as it is. Only this man has become new—nothing else has changed. The same garden, the same sun, the same flowers, the same birds—everything the same; only a small difference: he was asleep; he is awake. The meaning of “world” is: you are asleep in God. The meaning of “God” is: you…

Osho, you say you don’t speak for the crowd, that you won’t speak merely to please them. But people are saying that whenever someone speaks against Gandhi or against the Congress, people like it, and that’s why such large crowds gather.

For all of India—more so for Gujarat, of course, but certainly for the whole of India. There isn’t much distance between us and him yet; the generation that lived close to him is still alive. And for India’s future, decisions will have to be taken in some relation to Gandhi—whether in support or in opposition. Gandhi will remain significant for the next hundred years in India—that’s my understanding—whether for or against is another matter. Therefore Gandhi should be thought about very clearly. That was one reason. Second, it seems to me that not only in India but outside India too, reflection on Gandhi has begun—sometimes it even seems that people outside India are thinking more. In this country, reflection has almost stopped. So Gandhi is just a beginning. I would say we should also try to reawaken reflection on Mahavira and the Buddha. But there is a great distance between…

Osho, but from your night discourses it seems as if you are the very first to be saying these things—as if Swami Vivekananda and others have said nothing at all. So according to you, the statues of Swami Vivekananda and Gandhi should be completely demolished...

I understand. Why am I doing this? It may be that something I say was also said by Vivekananda. But my mind is entirely different from Vivekananda’s; the context is different. And so, when I say something that Gandhi too may have said, that can happen, but my mind is wholly different and the context different. In a fragment or two there may be a point of overlap. But I cannot invoke Vivekananda’s name, because the moment I do, it will create the illusion that I am in agreement with him. I am not in agreement with Vivekananda on many counts. Not even in this matter—not very far. For example, Vivekananda speaks of “daridra-narayana,” the poor as God. I consider this sheer foolishness. To confer any kind of honor on the poor is to honor poverty. The poor do not need respect in this world; poverty needs to be eradicated,…