Inspiration

Osho, your words do not inspire any reverence in us, and all your words seem false. Yet why is it that we do not feel like leaving this place? This has been asked by Anand Saraswati.

My very words are such that faith cannot settle. Because I am not speaking of the world in which you have faith, and in which faith would easily settle for you. What I am saying goes over your head. You will have to raise your head a little. There are only two ways. Either I lower what I am saying; then I become pointless, with nothing of substance left. The other way is that you lift your head a little—rise a little higher. Everyone imagines that he already has faith, it only needs to be seated. You do not have faith yet. If it were there, it would have settled. In those who have it, it has settled. If there is no faith at all, how will it sit? Your situation is like this: I have heard that Mulla Nasruddin went to the eye doctor and said, “My eyes are…

Osho, you have said that stealing faces, trying to become like another, becoming a disciple and a follower is subtle theft. Then is taking inspiration from others, learning practices, going to the experienced and awakened—are all these also thefts? If these are thefts, then what would right education look like? Please explain.

Go to those who know, but do not take what they know on faith! Investigate it. Do not turn what they know into belief; turn it into inquiry. Do not clench your fists around it blindly; open your eyes to it, probe it. Inspiration does not mean accepting the other. Inspiration means accepting the other’s challenge. If you go to Mahavira, inspiration does not mean you set about becoming like Mahavira. Going to Mahavira, the meaning of inspiration is: if this light could blossom within Mahavira, why can it not blossom within me? That is the challenge! In English there is the word “inspiration.” It is a very precious word. One must pay attention to the “in” in inspiration. But we always take inspiration from the other; then the word is quite wrong. Inspiration means inner-spiration. The other can serve as a catalyst, but not as a foundation. The other…

Question: BELOVED OSHO, YOU ARE MY INSPIRATION. I HAVE HEARD YOU SAY YOU NEVER HAD A MASTER; BUT WAS THERE ANY SOURCE OF INSPIRATION FOR YOU WHEN YOU BEGAN YOUR JOURNEY? His wife said, "Come to your senses!" -- because he spoke in the same way, in an accent one hundred years old. His wife said, "Don't stretch the joke too much. Just become your real self and come home." He said, "I am my real self, I am Abraham Lincoln." For one year continuously he had lived as Abraham Lincoln, he died thousands of deaths as Abraham Lincoln; he had completely forgotten that he was ever anybody else. He was brought to a doctor. The doctor talked to him, but he was still in his dramatic role. The doctor said, "Just forget that drama." The man said, "What drama?

Instead of only worshipping Mahavira and Buddha, if we contemplated upon their great achievement we would perhaps be able to stop distorting their true images. But are busy performing pujas. Pujas cause distortions. We not only kill what we worship but we cover it up with our own images and ideas, weave our own stories around them. The original thing slowly turns into ashes and loses all its individuality. This is all very unfortunate and we are helpless with our long established habits. Almost everybody in the world has got 'Moses' flute' with him, but no tune is corning out of it. Buddha used to tell the people, 'Don't worship me.' Mahavira says 'You yourself are God'. The man who is telling others, 'You yourself are God,' is emphasising the fact 'Don't worship me.' That man says 'you yourself are that whom you worship.