Gunas

Osho, the creation that runs on the three gunas was made by God. God has placed the tamas guna in human nature—what purpose does God have behind it?

Have you ever watched a tightrope walker? He is never still. You might say, “Why doesn’t he stand still?” If he stood still, he would immediately fall and die. Why doesn’t the acrobat stay steady? Because he is continuously balancing. When you see him lean to the left, don’t be mistaken: he leans left only when there is a danger of falling to the right. He leans right when there is a danger of falling to the left. He is balancing all the time. When the fear of falling to the right arises, he shifts his weight to the left so balance is restored. When he has saved himself from the right and the danger arises on the left, he shifts to the other side to save himself. And nature is working below. If the acrobat doesn’t balance, he falls to the ground, bones break. He cannot then complain to…

Osho, yesterday you said that jealousy is included in respect. I have immense respect for you, but the jealousy inherent in it keeps poisoning it, and I feel guilt and pain. Does reverence transcend this poison-laced respect?

It needs a little explaining—it's a delicate point. Whenever you respect someone, you do so because you see in that person something you do not have. You respect because you glimpse in the other something you would also like to possess. A beggar respects an emperor because he, too, longs to be an emperor. So on the one hand he respects, and inside he also envies. Because he is not yet an emperor but wants to be. You have attained what he wants to attain. He respects you as skillful, successful: “I stand far back in the line; you have gone ahead to where I should have been.” So you are powerful, clever, intelligent, strong—he respects you. But inside a fire of jealousy also burns—if he gets the chance, he would like to be in your place and push you aside. And if the beggar gets that chance, he will…

Tamas means inertia. Tamas means stopping. Tamas means to be held. Tamas is the binding force. Without tamas, things would keep moving and never stop. You throw a stone; if there were no tamas in the world, no restraining force, no obstruction, the stone would go on, on—how would it stop? Tamas is the obstructing energy. When you throw the stone, you give it the force of rajas. Hence your arm aches; energy left your hand. You lost something in throwing. And to the extent you gave energy, to that extent the stone goes far. As the energy ends, tamas pulls it down. What Newton called gravitation is a local application, a form of tamas. Tamas has many forms; gravitation is one. Tamas is the force that draws downward. By which you fall into hell—that is tamas. When you steal, tamas; when you lie, tamas.

Osho, which guna-dominant seeker do you call a sannyasin? Does the predominance of any one guna begin as soon as one takes sannyas?

Sannyas has nothing to do with the gunas. Sannyas is related to nirguna, the quality-less. Sannyas is an inner state of feeling. It is the art of non-grasping. You do not cling to anything. You remain without holding on. Grasping is what makes a householder. You will build houses all around; you will cling to something. You will not be able to live without supports. You will need some prop, some security for the future, some wealth—be it the wealth of merit, of good deeds, of sattva. A sannyasin means: I will build no inner house; I will not hoard any inner wealth; I will gather no possessions; I will not think of the future. I will live in this very moment—and live as consciousness. And I will know only this much: I am a witness; an observer; a seer. Sannyas is a state beyond the gunas. Until that arises,…