I won’t be a special holy man, because calling some people ‘saints’ makes others ‘sinners’; we’re one ocean, so drop labels and stay aware.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Like all other indian saints, why do you not like to be the saint of the masses?
You may be surprised to know that Jainas don't call Krishna a saint. They call him the greatest sinner ever because he persuaded Arjuna for the war. Arjuna was going to become a Jaina monk; he was saying, "I don't want all this war, all this violence. I want to renounce this world. This is not worth it," and Krishna persuaded him, "Do your duty. If God has willed so, let it be so. You simply say 'amen,' and go into it. You just become a vehicle, instrumental." Arjuna argued and argued, but finally Krishna persuaded him. So Jainas say the whole responsibility of the Mahabharat War, the great Indian war, goes to Krishna. He is responsible for the whole violence. What have they done to Krishna, do you know? They have thrown him into the seventh hell. Of course, you are free to do so because you write your…
Osho, I have worn the mala for less than a month, but I understand how feeling you is important. But these feelings are mixed up. I respect and love you, but I don't look at you as his holiness. Strange, but I look at you as a buddha. Only that, without anything added or taken away from your being. And what a buddha is I don't know. How come I love you, respect you because you are my master. But...love? Also I see that I can play with you with joy and you are so far away. Or so close? Respect, love, joy -- are they the same?
IT IS GOOD THAT YOU CANNOT THINK OF ME AS HIS Holiness, because I am neither His Holiness nor His Unholiness. It is good and beautiful that you think of me as a Buddha, because that's exactly what I am -- simply a Buddha. A Buddha means one who is awake. It has nothing to do with holiness, nothing to do with unholiness. Holiness, unholiness, both are dreams; for dreams you have to be asleep. A Buddha is awake; all dreams have disappeared. A Buddha is not a saint, is not a sinner either. A Buddha is not God and is not a devil either. All dualities are irrelevant as far as Buddha is concerned. Buddha is simply a witness of all the mystery that surrounds you within and without. Mario, it is absolutely right, you are moving in the right direction. If you start looking at me as a…
the so-called saints i don't count as sages the so-called saints live a structured life according to certain prescriptions of others they are basically slaves they are performing certain rituals but doing it efficiently hence the people who believe in those rituals will call them saints so a christian saint may not be thought of as a saint by the hindus because their rituals differ their definitions differ for example, no hindu has ever thought that saints should go and serve the poor -- that has not been part of their definition a saint has to be served he is not to be a servant a saint being a servant is sacrilege to the hindu but to the christian the saint is one who serves the poor, the down-trodden there are three hundred religions in the world and three hundred definitions of saints all those definitions are manufactured according to…
Osho, I have heard that a seeker has to pass through four stages of sadhana: tariqat, shari’at, marifat, and haqiqat. The last is haqiqat, where the seeker meets his beloved and comes face to face with Truth. Osho, please explain the first three states.
These words are from the Sufis—very significant, and very straightforward. The first is tariqat. Tariqat means: the way, the method, the discipline, the means, the yoga. Tariqat means: something has to be done; only then will you attain—without doing, you will not receive. One has to walk a path; find the way; make a footpath. One has to bring some discipline into life, give it an order. Tariqat means learning the way to become worthy of it. When you go to have an audience with an emperor, you learn the etiquette of his court. You don’t just walk in. If you do, you will not be accepted. You learn how to sit there, how to stand there, how to bow there. If you are going to meet an emperor, you must taste something of the flavor of the emperor’s way of life. If you are going to meet the Divine,…
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…