Gender

Beloved Osho, women have a better feeling for others than men do. How come there have been no great masters among them so far?

Your question is like: "Why in history has a woman never been a husband?" What can I do? A woman has to be a wife, and there is no suggestion that the husband is higher than the wife. In fact, just the opposite is the case. I have never come across any husband who is not henpecked. If you don't want to become henpecked, then be a freelance lover, then never get married. Marriage simply means you have surrendered your freedom, your individuality -- everything. Yes, when you go out of the house you go like a lion, roaring. But when you come back to the house you come like a rat, trembling. It is a strange thing. This is a factual story I am going to tell you. Akbar, a great Mogul emperor in India -- perhaps the greatest Mogul who has ruled India -- was very curious about…

Beloved Osho, is it true that women really think differently from men? Or is it just superstition?

Milarepa, it is not just superstition. And it is beautiful that it is not a superstition. The world needs the variety. Just think -- a world where only men exist or a world where only women exist ... it will be a poor world, very poor. Man and woman are polarities. It is between them that the world becomes colorful, beautiful. Yes, there are problems too. Flowers don't come alone, they come with their thorns also. Days don't come alone, they bring their nights with them. Existence believes in polarities. It functions by what Karl Marx has called the dialectic. The very process of evolution is dialectical. It is between the polarities that the whole of existence develops. The woman is more intuitive, more instinctive. If she is not a meditator, she will be only instinctive. She thinks with her body. She is more rooted in the body than man,…

Osho, are the questions of women and men different? And is there also a difference in the way they ask?

Certainly. It has to be. Because questions arise from within you. Questions bring news of you. Your question is your question; you will give it its structure, its style. Certainly women ask in one way and men in another. In my observation, first of all, women generally do not ask—that is their way. They ask with difficulty. They try more to understand, and less to ask. Men try more to ask, and less to understand. Since they ask more, the illusion arises that they must be understanding more. Since a woman asks less, the illusion arises that she must not be understanding—she doesn’t ask, does she? But the truth is exactly the opposite. Men come to me carrying a whole net of big questions. Often a man comes and I ask him, “Is there something you want to ask?” He says, “So much to ask—where should I begin? There is…

Why has there never been a single woman enlightened master?

A woman cannot be a Master -- it is not possible. When a woman arrives she becomes a Mistress, not a Master. The fulfilment of a woman is love. The flowering of a woman is love. Mastery is not the goal of the feminine mind; they don't become Masters, they become Mistresses. To be a Master is basically a male effort. Awareness is the way of man, love is the way Or woman. On the path of awareness it is possible to teach; one can become a Master. On the path of love, how can you teach love? You can flower, you can bloom in love, but how can you teach it? Yes, if somebody wants to learn from you, he will learn it, but you will not be a Master. And such women have existed: Rabiya, Meera, Mallibai, Magdalen, Teresa. Such women have existed: Sahajo, Daya, Lalla. Many women…