Authority

Question: BELOVED OSHO, HOW CAN WE AVOID BEING AUTHORITATIVE? It is very simple. The people who are authoritarian are the people who are suffering from an inferiority complex. To hide their inferiority they impose their superiority. They want to prove that they are somebody, that their word is truth, that their word is law. But deep down they are very inferior beings. This is one of the reasons that all of the politicians suffer from an inferiority complex. Anybody who does not suffer from an inferiority complex will not go into politics at all. There are so many beautiful things in the world to do -- to paint, to sing, to dance, to create literature, to make beautiful statues, to create a Khajuraho. There is so much creativity available, but that is available only to a person who does not suffer from inferiority.

Osho, why the so-called authoritative scholars, theologians and philosophers on religion are against you?

The newlywed wife was a professor of philosophy, and it always almost happens with the professors of philosophy, that she suffered from insomnia. She kept waking up her husband whenever she heard noises downstairs. Finally he said, "Go to sleep, dear, please. Burglars don't make noises!" So she started to wake him up every time she heard nothing. That is logical! That is philosophical! Before beginning a postmortem the doctor wanted to check the chest. The cadaver was wheeled into the X-ray depart-ment and placed properly in the apparatus by the pretty technician, then she put the photographic plate into the control panel. As she stuck her head out from behind it she said automatically, "Please take a deep breath and hold it!" A technician is a technician! They function automatically. Experts function very unconsciously. They know not what they are doing, they know not what they are saying. They…

That happens: if you look to me as a great authority, one day or other you will rebel against me and the no will come. Don't look to me as a great authority -- I am not! The very word 'authority' is not right for me; I am not authoritative at all! I am not giving you any commandments, I am not saying to you to do this and not do that; if you do this you will be praised, rewarded and if you do that you will be punished and thrown into hell. I'm not saying that. I'm not saying that if you do this you will be virtuous and if you don't do that you will be a sinner. I'm not condemning, I'm not judging you at all. How can I be authoritative? I accept you as you are; my acceptance is utterly total. I love you.

Osho, you said... then you will find that the devotee is God. The question arises: if one devotee prefers to be God and another wants to remain only a devotee, then which of the two is superior?

The one who wants to be God will not be able to be. And the one who wants to remain a devotee will become God. The question of superior or inferior does not arise, because only one of the two will happen. The one who does not want to be will be. The one who wants to be will be deprived. That very wanting is of the ego. But the matter is a little delicate. Sometimes humility too belongs to the ego. Beware that your humility may not be of the ego. Perhaps you are saying, “No, I don’t want to be,” because you know that those who refuse are the ones who attain. Then you are clever. Then your humility is adulterous. Your humility is not pure, not sacred, not virginal—it is like a prostitute. The one who wants to be God, whose ego says, “I must become God,”…