Justice

Question: BELOVED MASTER, WHAT IS JUSTICE FOR A REBELLIOUS MAN? Raso, it is one of the most significant questions to be asked -- for the simple reason that man has never tried to remove the causes of injustice. On the contrary, in the name of justice, he has been taking revenge on the individuals who were not obedient to the social order, to the establishment, to the vested interests. They were condemned as criminals, punished -- and it was thought that justice had been restored. In fact, the people who had been punished were really the victims. Justice was not restored. In fact, the people who were the root causes of injustice in the world had taken their revenge. Their revenge was fulfilled, and people were made afraid to go against the social order in any way. It is very strange that such a long history...

Do you support the death penalty?

No. I don't support the death penalty for the simple reason that if somebody murders a man and you kill that man as a penalty... He has committed a crime, and now the society is committing the same crime as a penalty. By your penalty the man who has been murdered is not going to come alive. By your penalty, whereas there was only one man murdered now there are two men murdered. This is sheer nonsense. The person who has murdered... You are not being fair; you are simply taking revenge. If you were fair, you would send the murderer to a psychiatric home to be taken care of. Something is wrong in his mind, something is wrong in his psychology for which he is not responsible. He can be treated. Not only am I against the death penalty, I am against all kinds of punishment, because punishment does…

Beloved master, a priest sets himself up as a mediator between man and god. The lawyer's job is to mediate between man and justice. Aren't these professions essentially the same? Why do we need lawyers?

We do not need them. The priest is not needed. You are part of existence, you are already in it; there is no question of any mediation. Any mediator between you and existence will be a barrier, will not be a bridge. The bridge is already there. You cannot exist without the bridge. Your breath, your heartbeat, your very being is continuously nourished by existence in every possible way. The priest is absolutely not only unnecessary, but harmful, poisonous. He creates the division between you and the whole, and then he exploits you. His strategy is simple. He exploits, because he knows how he can help you to be bridged with existence, with the cosmos. You do not know, and he knows; naturally, you become spiritually enslaved to him. The priests are serving the devil, and all the churches and all the synagogues, all the mosques, all the temples are…

Beloved Osho, would you please tell us more about what the sufis call "adab"? Is it a "tariqa"... A method that extends beyond the physical presence of the master, becoming part of the innermost being of the disciple and reflecting, in every action of his daily?

Radha Mohammed, yes, adab is a tariqa, a method. It is the beginning of something very immense, of something utterly incomprehensible to the intellect. It is the first step of a great eternal pilgrimage. To be with the Master is simply a lesson in how to be with God. That's why down the ages the Master has been called "God". It is very symbolic, it is a metaphor. The word "metaphor" is beautiful. Meta means beyond, phor means going: that which takes you beyond. The Master is a metaphor -- he takes you beyond himself. He is just a beginning, a jumping-board. To be with the Master is nothing but a discipline in how to be with God. God is not visible, the Master is visible; it is easier to learn from the visible and then move to the invisible. Have you looked into children's books? We have to make…