Intellectualism

Osho, why has human faith in religion waned?

Then there is a further fall. This is when, around Buddha, people hear, oppose, accept. Then two-and-a-half thousand years pass. One generation hands it to the next. Those who had heard from Buddha, or at least seen him—some hint of truth must have reached their ears; some touch of Buddha’s presence must have touched them; some color of Buddha must have fallen upon their souls—however slight, it fell. Then their sons and their sons’ sons believe because the fathers believed, the forefathers believed, people have always believed—and then belief becomes blind belief. What you call religions are superstitions. They should have been bid farewell long ago. New editions of truth descend from the sky every day. A new Koran descends every day. God has not grown tired, has not exhausted Himself with Mohammed. Jesus is not God’s only son—as Christians say, the only begotten. Nor did God come to an…

Mind, intellect, and the formed contents of that mind are it, so too are the world and all that seems from it to differ,

ALL THINGS THAT CAN BE SENSED, AND THE PERCEIVER, ALSO DULLNESS, AVERSION, DESIRE, AND ENLIGHTENMENT. LIKE A LAMP THAT SHINES IN THE DARKNESS OF SPIRITUAL UNKNOWING, IT REMOVES OBSCURATIONS OF A MIND AS FAR AS THE FRAGMENTATIONS OF INTELLECT OBTAIN. WHO CAN IMAGINE THE SELF-BEING OF DESIRELESSNESS? THERE'S NOTHING TO BE NEGATED, NOTHING TO BE AFFIRMED OR GRASPED; FOR IT CAN NEVER BE CONCEIVED. BY THE FRAGMENTATIONS OF THE INTELLECT ARE THE DELUDED FETTERED; UNDIVIDED AND PURE REMAINS SPONTANEITY. IF YOU QUESTION ULTIMACY WITH THE POSTULATES OF THE MANY AND THE ONE, ONENESS IS NOT GIVEN, FOR BY (TRANSCENDING) KNOWLEDGE ARE SENTIENT BEINGS FREED. THE RADIANT IS POTENCY LATENT IN THE INTELLECT, AND THIS IS SHOWN TO BE MEDITATION; UNSWERVING MIND IS OUR TRUE ESSENCE. I told her that it seemed she had not heard that Zen people in Japan will first purchase a cup from the supermarket, bring it…

Osho! I feel that in your ideas, in your vision, there is the power to liberate this country from its ancient stagnation and orthodoxy and set it upon the path of progress. But the difficulty is that the intellectuals and journalists here treat you as untouchable and dismiss your ideas as useless raving. It is deeply disheartening. Kindly guide me.

Shvetaketu came back stiff with pride. He was young and returned with a mountain of scriptures on his head. He had earned gold medals in every subject, came home laden with honors. His father, Uddalaka, saw him from afar at the gate—saw his swagger and pride. The father felt great pain, because this was not why he had sent him to the gurukul. He had sent him to become wise. Instead he was returning utterly ignorant—stuffed with information. He was bringing back mountains of information. But no one becomes wise through information! Information is counterfeit coin—borrowed, stale, not one’s own, someone else’s. The father grew anxious; tears rolled from his eyes. Shvetaketu bowed at his feet, but only his body bowed; the father could see that his life had not bowed, because in his mind he knew he was now more knowledgeable than his father. Uddalaka asked, “Son, why this…

Beloved Osho, can the intellect be a door to enlightenment, or is enlightenment only achieved through surrender?

And then there are great insights. A man who wants to be really awake, wants to be really a Buddha, has to live each moment in such intensity -- as you live only rarely, rarely, in some danger. The first meaning is opposite to sleep. And naturally, you can see reality only when you are not asleep. You can face it, you can look into the eyes of truth -- or call it God -- only when you are awake. Do you understand the point of intensity, the point of being on fire? Utterly awake, there is insight. That insight brings freedom, that insight brings truth. The second meaning of budh is to recognize -- as to become aware of, acquainted with, to notice, give heed to. And so a Buddha is one who has recognized the false as the false, and has his eyes opened to the true as…