According to Osho, he favors the West because it lays the scientific, material foundation—the temple’s base—without which spirituality is impotent. He criticizes Indian culture for despising science, preaching escapism and fatalism, and dreaming of a spire with no structure, which bred weakness and slavery. His call is for synthesis: first science (body and power), then true spirituality (the pinnacle).
Build the house first (science and strength), then add the golden roof (spirituality); India skipped the building, the West started it, and both must be joined.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, why do Shankara and you, before telling us to sing the praises of Govinda, always address us as fools?
Edison said, people say I know a great deal. My condition is like that of a small child on the seashore who has gathered a few shells and conches. That is the extent of my knowledge—just a few shells in my fists—while the vast ocean lies there, unknown to me. Your little knowledge seems very big to you! You have lit a small lamp; its flickering light falls a little around you, a small area gets illuminated—and you call this knowledge! And the infinite lies there filled with darkness; you have no awareness of it! When you understand your foolishness, you will say, “Is this knowledge—the flicker of a tiny lamp!” The infinite lies ahead to journey through, to explore, to search—and I, clutching these shells in my hands, am posing as a wise man! Then you will drop even this “knowledge.” And the day you know that you are…
Osho, isn't Indian culture the greatest culture in the world?
They were students of philosophy, so they all said, “Philosophy.” He said, “Is anything left to prove? I am the head of the department of philosophy. I am the most superior person in the world.” This is the kind of reasoning: my scripture is supreme! My doctrine is supreme! My caste is supreme! My class is supreme! But why not say it straight? Say it straight, it’s better. If the disease is clear, it can be treated. When the disease comes hiding, treatment becomes difficult. When it keeps taking new shapes, diagnosis itself becomes difficult. Centuries have passed and the diagnosis is still not happening. If you say, “I am the greatest person in the world,” first you yourself will tremble: how to say it? And everyone will raise doubts. But you say, “Indian culture is supreme!” and those you say it among are also Indian; they will all nod…
Osho, someone once told me Poona is the Oxford of India—a city of culture and a representative of the country’s elite. But here, almost every night, well-dressed people ride scooters or cars around Koregaon Park and mercilessly beat sannyasins—especially sannyasinis—with sticks. And now, as if sticks were not enough, they’ve started using iron chains. Osho, what kind of people are these?
In the West you can bathe naked at the seashore—no problem. No man will pounce on you. Here the situation is the reverse. If your arm is showing, it means you lack character; you are attackable. If you were wrapped in a sari, you would be certified as a lady of a “good family.” Here people are weighed by their clothes. So Western visitors naturally face difficulties. They continue to behave as they learned from childhood. There is nothing wrong in that behavior. Among decent people, bathing naked at river or sea should be no issue. Nakedness is natural. Yes, wear clothes in office and market—but there should be some place where one can move free. Here there is none. Mulla Nasruddin went to his doctor. The doctor had hired a newly trained Western girl as an assistant. Mulla kept staring. Inside he said, “You’ve hired such a beautiful girl…
Osho, will our darkness never be dispelled? Will we remain forever sunk in foolishness? Swami Akshayanand Maharaj has also said that Osho is misleading people by calling what he teaches “Indian culture.” His teaching is not in accordance with Indian culture or the scriptures. Osho belongs to the Kali age. Would you say something about this?
When did I ever say it was? I am anti-scripture. I certainly support the truths I have experienced—not because they are in the scriptures, but because I have known them. And if the scriptures happen to support them, I pat the scriptures on the back and say, “Child, you speak well.” Beyond my own experience, I trust nothing. What I have not known, what is not my own lived truth—I will not tell you. What have I to do with scriptures? Therefore, those who listen to me do face a little inconvenience. At times I support one saying of a scripture, and at times I refute another saying of the very same scripture. Naturally, this confuses them. They think I should either support the entire scripture or oppose it entirely. No—I have no interest in wholesale support or wholesale opposition. Whatever meets the touchstone of my own truth—wherever it is,…
Question: First question: Osho, the ‘Indian Culture Parliament’ is completing twenty-five years. On this occasion, Dr. Prabhakar Machwe, addressing you as a thinker, philosopher, and sage, has invited your views for the volume ‘Indian Culture’, which he will publish at the beginning of the book and thereby feel honored. Osho, a request: please say something! Chaitanya Kirti! I am neither a brooder, nor a thinker, nor a man of intellect. We give great value to contemplation; we take thought to be a great fortune; in our view, intellectual acumen is the highest peak of life. But the truth is something else. Neither Buddha is a thinker, nor Mahavira, nor Kabir. Whoever has known is not a thinker. The one who does not know thinks. Thought is ignorance. A blind man wonders: what is light like, what is it? The one with eyes knows—he doesn’t think. So what sort of contemplation?