People chase power and results; Lao Tzu asks you to drop everything and be still, which few want or can understand until they change inside.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, from the exposition of Lao Tzu’s nondual philosophy it is clear that he had attained supreme knowing. Then why is it that only a handful in the world have taken his vision of life as their guiding light? Is this very lack of acceptance not a harsh criticism of his standpoint? And does the wide adoption of Aristotle not prove the excellence of his science? Please throw light on this!
These statements of Lao Tzu are among the finest ever uttered by man. He stands on the last frontier where nothing more can be said—beyond is silence. On that ultimate boundary he says a few things. Only when someone reaches there can he understand; if he does not, he cannot. In that, there is no fault of Lao Tzu. And there are some things you will not know until they become part of your own experience. A small child—if you tell him things that are not part of his experience—will hear like a deaf person; he will forget. They will not even be imprinted on his memory, because only that is imprinted which matches experience. Our experience must resonate somewhere. What Lao Tzu says does not match our experience anywhere. That his book survives at all—is that not something! His words do not meet our experience anywhere. Lao Tzu says:…
Question: bhagwan sri, from lao tzu's elucidation of the original advaita mono-theist philosophy, it is clear that he had attained the supreme knowledge. Then why is it that very few people followed his philosophy and tread on the path he showed? Is not this failure to gain followers, a bitter criticism of his view-point? And if many followed aristotle, is that not the proof of the excellence of his science? Please enlighten us on this.
It is Man's bad luck that he does not live on the mountains. He lives on the plains and therefore the wisdom of the peaks get lost and forgotten. Then after a long time someone comes along and brings them back and they appear new. These sayings of Lao Tzu are a few of the supreme statements that Man has given before. They are the statements that are on the boundary-line, the very last words that can be spoken. And Lao Tzu stands tottering at the verge of this boundary-line, beyond which is the realm of No-Word. Lao Tzu speaks from this ultimate boundary-line. So he alone can understand him, who has reached this boundary whereas those who have not do not understand him. This is no fault of Lao Tzu. Then there are a few things which you will not understand until you have experienced them. If we tell…
Banish wisdom, discard knowledge, and the people shall profit a hundred fold; banish 'humanity', discard 'justice', and the people shall recover love of their kin; banish cunning, discard 'utility', and the thieves and brigands shall disappear.
If we try to measure Buddha against Einstein, his value will be less. If both are for sale, who will buy Buddha? Anybody would buy Einstein for he would be useful in making bombs. Buddha would only create confusion. No one will buy him. Buddha can only be bought when people understand the meaning of value, and not the price. Then the flowering of Buddha would have value. He is a person in whose life existence has flowered. If we set aside his utilitarian value, Einstein will appear to be an ordinary man, like any other. What Einstein could do was of value. What he is, is of no value. Hence he is a pauper. But when it came to doing, he is a king. Buddha is rich in his being; there is no question of his doing anything. He is established in non-action. Says Lao Tzu: "Because non-action is…
Lao tzu says: my teachings are very easy to understand and very easy to practise, but no one can understand them and no one can practise them. In my words there is a principle. In the affairs of men there is a system. Because they know not these, they also know me not. Since there are few that know me, therefore I am distinguished. Therefore the sage wears a coarse cloth on top and carries jade within his bosom.
Have you watched children? Have you told them stories? You tell them a story and the next day they are again asking: Tell us the same one again. You feel bored, but they are asking for the same story again. If you tell it to them, and if they are not feeling sleepy, they say: Once more! Tell us the story again! Because the number of times you tell it does not make much difference. They don't become knowledgeable. They don't gather dust. They remain clean, their mirror remains fresh. Again, some day it can happen that you are sitting with a man who is very boring. You are perfectly bored; then you.turn on the music and that same symphony starts filling the room. You have heard it many times but suddenly now again it is enchanting. It has a magic. What has happened? That boring man was creating so…
All these things sound like fables. But the event that occurred in 1959 cannot be a fable, and it has thousands of observers, witnesses. For exactly as long as it took the Dalai Lama to enter India, a mist enveloped the entire Himalayas. And a hundred planes searched, but it was not possible to see below. That mist arose the very day the Dalai Lama left the Potala; and it ended the very day the Dalai Lama entered India. And such a mist had never been seen over the Himalayas before. That was the first time. So for those who understand the esoteric intimations of religion, this was great evidence. Evidence that whatsoever is most precious in life—if it is on the verge of being destroyed—then the whole of nature also rises to protect it. Lao Tzu’s entire lineage is near extinction.