Idol Worship

What my friend has asked is: Osho, if God is in everyone, then He must also be in an idol. So if we worship an idol, what objection do you have?

I object very much. My objection is strong. And the objection is precisely this: as long as you cling to the idol, He will not be seen in all. And once He is seen in all, then He will be in the idol too. But what need will there be for worship then? Who will worship? Whom will one worship—when He is seen in everyone? Eknath was returning from Kashi with all his friends. They were carrying water to offer at Rameshwaram. In between there was a desert, and a thirsty donkey lay there. Could God possibly be in a donkey? Never—how could God be in a donkey? In earlier primers for children, for the letter “ga” they used to write, “ga for Ganesh.” In some books people wrote, “ga for gadha (donkey).” The religious folk protested mightily: “This is very wrong. It should be ‘ga for Ganesh’—how can it…

A friend has asked: Osho, if God is everywhere, then why would he not be in an idol?

Of course he will be. But the one who insists that he is only in the idol will never find him everywhere. And for the one who does not find him everywhere, he cannot be in the idol either. God is everywhere—certainly he is also in the idol. But the person who says, “He is only in the idol,” for that person he is not everywhere; and for the one for whom he is not everywhere, he cannot be in the idol either. And the one who says, “He is everywhere,” will not go searching for an idol; whatever he encounters will be God. He will not go searching for a temple, because all is his temple. Then he will not say, “This is my idol; I will worship it.” Whom to worship then? When all is that. Every breath is that, every particle is that—so whom to worship? I…

Osho, my wife practices idol worship, but I tell her to meditate and say that idol worship is futile. My wife replies that Meera too worshiped idols. I have no answer to that. Please tell me how true this is, and how I should explain it to my wife?

A kind of madness always rides on man: what I believe, the other should also believe; what I believe alone is right; what the other believes is wrong. This is nothing but the proclamation of the ego. Mahavira has said: the other is also right. To think “only I am right” is unintelligent. If your wife finds joy in idol worship, who are you to interfere? What’s your purpose—simply because you are the husband? The uneasiness you feel is that you don’t have total possession over your wife. “I meditate, my wife worships idols!” If you have a taste for meditation, meditate. If your wife has a taste for idol worship, let her worship. Rasa is the essential thing. Raso vai sah—That Supreme is rasa itself. How the rasa comes is secondary. Are we to eat mangoes or count their pits? But people sit with piles of pits and call…

Today I would request Osho to guide us on idol worship.

A Japanese seeker from Soto Zen told me of a practice: twenty-four hours a day the disciple intones “Muuuu… muuu…” After days, the sound storms inside; thoughts drop. By three weeks, the roaring “Muuuu!” possesses him. Food, sleep fall away; guards must watch him. At the final climax, a last thunderous roar—and suddenly all is still. For days he lies in deep quiet. When he returns, the old man is dead; a new man stands—continuity with the past broken. Om is such a sound; every religion has its own. As worship deepens, sound transforms consciousness. Repetition is crucial. If you sing one hymn one day, another the next, there will be no results. Continuous blows on one point drive the nail. But beware of mechanical repetition—then it is wasted labor. If the sound becomes your very life, every cell, bone, blood crying it—then sound can open the door. And all…