According to Osho, while his message is for everyone, not everyone is ready. He argues the world divides more meaningfully into a North–South cultural evolution: the South, including much of Africa, remains centered in magic and lacks the philosophical-scientific background he assumes. Hence a vast historical gap makes it difficult to understand him, so few Africans come.
He says many Africans haven’t come because, in his view, they’re at a different historical stage and not yet prepared to grasp his teachings.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Beloved Osho, why haven't people from africa come to you? Most of the people who come are white-skinned. To me, what you say is for everyone. Are the others afraid of you?
Mohammed was a poor man, illiterate; so was Jesus a poor man, illiterate. Buddha was not a poor man and illiterate. He was a prince, the only son of his father; soon he was going to be crowned. He was educated in the best possible way, he was acquainted with all the wisdom available. His intelligence was sharpened in every possible way... because in India, philosophy has developed differently than it has developed in Europe. It was developed not by writing philosophic treatises, it was developed by wandering philosophers arguing all over the country, debating, discussing, winning. And the rule of the game was that whoever wins in an argument becomes the master of the person who is defeated. And the defeated person -- not in any sadness, but with great joy -- surrenders to the master, because the question is not who is winning, the question is: What is…
Beloved Osho, I am one of your black sannyasins. My childhood was spent in africa, my family lives there. I have been with you for ten years, and I've put aside my questions about africa. Now I find that what you are saying about black people and africa makes me feel raw and shaky. I feel ashamed as well. Can you explain what is happening? I am glad that it is happening, but it hurts.
I don't ever discriminate between the black people and the white people. To me, anybody who is trying to seek, search inwards.... Inside nobody is black and nobody is white. Inside there are no colors. Inside it is luminous whiteness. Remember, white is not a color, just as black is not a color. It is strange that we say black people, white people; both are colorless, in different ways. You can see... in the rainbow you will not find white and black. These two colors you will not find in the rainbow; all other colors are there. Why is the rainbow not interested in white and black? -- because they are not colors. Black simply means that all colors have been absorbed. You have to understand a little bit of scientific fact. When you see something black, that means none of the sunrays falling on it are reflected back. It…
Beloved Osho can you say something about the fact that there are so few black sannyasins? What is keeping them especially from taking sannyas?
The black people have been treated so badly in the past that they have become afraid of getting involved in anything outside the circle of the blacks. It is just their past that is so heavy on them; -- moreover, they are poor, struggling somehow to survive. They cannot be interested in consciousness, in individuality, in the higher values of life. Their poverty prevents it; their past prevents it. I am against all kinds of missionaries, all kinds of conversions, so I cannot send my people there. I will wait. Slowly, slowly they will be coming, but it will take time. It is not only the blacks who are missing in my people. Many people from the poor countries are missing for the simple reason that they cannot think of anything other than bread; bread is all that they can think about. They don't have any question about the meaning…
Osho, I wish you would say something about the eastern indifference to what you are doing, and the western attraction.
You can see it happen everywhere. Rabindranath Tagore got the Nobel Prize. Before he got the Nobel Prize his book was already published for years -- the book on which he got the Nobel Prize, GITANJALI -- but nobody has praised it. Once he got the Nobel Prize, the whole India was praising him, and he could see. He refused the invitation of Calcutta Corporation. They wanted to honor him. He said, "I won't come. I refuse this honor, because the book has been published for many years in the original, and you have never honored me." In fact, no note was taken of his book, and it is one of the greatest books ever written. On the contrary, people were criticizing it, criticizing it because it was not according to the old pattern of Indian poetry. It has something original, and the Indian mind cannot understand anything original; it…
Osho, why are people not listening to your message?
Slowly slowly I started sorting out my people, and just to sort them out I started initiating them into sannyas so that I could recognize them and know who my people are. I started giving them names so I could remember, because it is difficult for me to remember all kinds of strange names from around the world. The real reason was simply to have names that I could remember; otherwise it would be impossible for me. Now, there are people from almost all the countries, of all languages: it is impossible to remember their names. But when I give you a name it is a totally different matter. When I give you a name, I give you a name for certain reasons, for certain qualities that I see in you, for certain possibilities that I see in you, for certain characteristics that are already there -- and all these…