Bigotry

Osho, could you give the answer right now, with the same calm? Is that possible too?

There was a man against Voltaire who abused him so much and wrote so many books against him that Voltaire ought to have been angry. One day they met on the road, and the man said, “Sir, you must want my head cut off, because I speak such things against you.” Voltaire said, “What are you saying—cut off your head? No. If you ask me, you have the right to say what you are saying, and if to defend that right I have to give my life, I will give my life. You have the right to say what you say, and to protect that right, if needed, I will lay down my life. Though what you say is wrong—and I will protect my right to call it wrong—and I would wish you to be ready to give your life to protect my right as well.” You understand my point,…

Osho! Shri Girija Kumar Mathur, who has given poetry a new mode and a new dimension, is a resident of my village, Ashoknagar. He still lives there. He is interested in you—has read some books and also shows interest in your tape discourses. He says, “I do have the eagerness to meet him once, but I get nervous because his personality is controversial.” If you find it proper, kindly say something.

These are not their questions. But to show others, “Our questions are spiritual. We are not ordinary folk—we are seekers. Anger, lust—these we left behind long ago. Wealth, food—such cravings don’t beset us. In us devotion to God has arisen; we want to taste liberation.” Without annihilation there is no savor of abiding. Until you efface the ego, you will not find God. If you want God, one thing must be erased—you must erase yourself. Until you are annihilated—become a pure zero—you will not know the ecstasy of existence. Such is the paradoxical arithmetic of life: the one ready to vanish finds life; the one who clutches at life finds nothing but repeated death. Truth itself is paradoxical; therefore, how can those who have experienced it be anything but controversial? Their utterances become paradoxical. To speak truth, there is no other way but paradox. And to speak truth, compromises cannot…

Osho, what kind of justice is it that you are distributing nectar, yet people want to poison you! You want to give humankind a new life, and people are trying to snatch away your life! Does history keep repeating its mistakes?

You see this all around. The crowd has no insight of its own. No one in a crowd has their own seeing. That is precisely why they gather in a crowd. They think others will have the insight; the others think they will. No one has it. Kabir says: “The blind push the blind; both fall into the well.” The blind are shoving the blind. The blind have become leaders of the blind—and then all fall into the well. And you can see that every person has fallen into a well. In whose eyes is there a ray of joy? In whose being are the songs of love? Upon whose lips is the taste of nectar? Who has recognized God? Who has had a glimpse of the eternal life? Whose feet are ankleted with the eternal—whose life is a dance, a song, a celebration? All are sad—utterly sad. Everyone’s life…

Osho, the scientific relationship of yoga, meditation, and spirituality—hearing your sweet words and beholding your presence, I consider myself truly blessed. Still, why do some religious and political people oppose such a beloved Master? I don’t like this opposition; what should I do?

You know the story of the two cats who brought their food to a monkey to divide. The monkey took a scale and began to weigh. If one side was heavier, he would take a bite from it; then the other became lighter, so he added a bit—nibbling again and again until he had eaten the whole thing. The cats watched helplessly. If you keep fighting, someone will exploit you. An intelligent society will be free of politics, free of priests, free of politicians. The days of organized religion are over, and of politics too—and those were ill days. I also say: your body is as beautiful as your soul. I do not want to create a split, a duality between body and soul. All your so-called religions are body-negative, life-negative. Their rule has been: the more enmity you have with life, the closer you come to God. I counsel:…