According to Osho, India appears 'ignorant' not uniquely, but like all nations: people recognize only what fits their past religious images. Living masters are originals, not carbon copies, so patterned minds (Hindu/Indian identities and the 'sacred country' ego) cannot see them. Recognition requires meeting the herenow without prejudice. Since only individuals, not countries, have souls, collective pride blinds the crowd, while a few unconditioned individuals can truly recognize.
We miss real teachers because we expect them to match old pictures, and pride in our religion or country makes us blind to someone new.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
India is such a sacred country: the heart of spiritualism. I don't understand all the crude remarks that they write in magazines about you. Why is india so ignorant in recognising you?
Lao Tzu has said: When I talk about Tao, very few are there who understand it. Those who understand -- they become silent. Many are there who feel offended -- they become angry. And the angry people there are more of. And Lao Tzu says: If people don't become angry, then what I am saying is not truth. One mystic used to stay with me. He was really a beautiful old man, very strange, very eccentric, but always to the point. He used to deliver talks all over the country. He had something to give. And whenever people applauded he would become very angry. He would say Stop! Don't applaud, because whenever you applaud, I think I must have said something wrong. If you can understand it, then it must be wrong. When you don't understand, only then is there a possibility that some truth has been said. And if…
Question: OSHO, WHY DO INDIANS THINK THEY ARE MORE SPIRITUAL THAN OTHERS? In a cannibal village in the heart of Africa, the wife of the chief head-hunter went to the local butcher's shop in search of a choice rib for her husband's dinner. Inspecting the goods, she asked the butcher, "What is that one?" The butcher replied, "That is an American -- seventy cents a pound." "Well, then what about that one?" asked the woman. The butcher replied, "That is an Italian -- ninety-five cents a pound. He is a little spicy." "And," asked the woman, "what about that one there in the corner?" "He is an Indian,'' replied the butcher. "two dollars a pound." The woman gasped, "Two dollars a pound? What makes him so expensive?" "Well, lady," the butcher replied, "have you ever tried cleaning an Indian?" But that has become spirituality. Do you know?
Question: First question: Osho, on this land of India I directly see the radiance of Krishna, Buddha, Mahavira, Kabir, Nanak, and such great souls shining through you. Will India remain foremost in spirituality, or will foreign seekers take the lead? For foreign scientists, engineers, doctors, thinkers, seers are rushing to Poona as if the whole world’s treasure is this ashram. The truth, nonviolence, compassion, love, the feeling of surrender that these foreigners have learned and absorbed in your presence—through meditation and discourses—clearly shows in the ashram’s activities. Will the land of India then be deprived of your wealth? Will hypocrites like Satya Sai Baba, by producing watches and dropping ash, not reduce India itself to ash? Or will such great beings continue to incarnate on Indian soil in the future? Please be gracious and explain. I have heard: Sicily is a small island. Its ambassador went to China.
Osho, in a recent article in the international herald tribune, william borders, a longtime observer of this country for the new york times' office in new delhi, wrote of how we are an embarrassment to "image-shy india". What is it about india that makes indians so concerned about their international image? And why cannot india be proud of you? Never has there been a religious leader in history that has received so much publicity abroad.
And if India really feels it has some claim to being spiritual, then let India disappear first. That will be proof. Let India disappear as a nation; let it become an international land. That will be proof, concrete proof. But people go on talking about non-violence in India, and go on preparing for war. They go on talking about brotherhood and the unity of all religions, and just go on doing the opposite of it. Because I am exposing things as they are, because I am functioning like an x-ray, they are angry. Nobody likes the x-ray, because it reveals your bones, your skeleton, your skull; and you have been thinking yourself so beautiful and all that comes out is just a skeleton? So this is you? You become angry, you become annoyed. Their annoyance with me is understandable. I perfectly understand it. India has lived for a thousand years…
Question: Third question: Osho, isn’t India a land of the enlightened? A gentleman from the Radhasoami sect came to me and asked, “How many planes of existence do you accept? Our master accepts fourteen planes; the fourteenth is called Sach Khand!” He had even brought a chart—fourteen planes. And the chart was quite a provocation: Mohammed, Moses, etc., are in the fifth plane—stuck there. Jesus and Zarathustra a bit farther—sixth. Mahavira and Buddha a little higher—seventh. Great kindness on their part! Then Kabir, Nanak, etc., a little higher still—eighth. But only their own guru reached the fourteenth—Sach Khand! He asked me, “How many planes do you accept? What do you think of our guru? Are these planes real?” I said, “Absolutely real—because I have seen your guru stuck in the fourteenth.” He said, “What do you mean?” “I’m in the fifteenth—Mahasach Khand!” “What are you saying! Never heard of that.