Kirtan

A friend has asked, Osho, why should we be religious when neither the beginning nor the end is known, and there is no trace of God or soul? The enlightened ones speak of truth—if that truth is real, why can’t they make everyone experience it?

No one is telling you to be religious—at least Lao Tzu would not. The so-called religious people have created so much disturbance that it is better you do not become one of them. Lao Tzu does not say, “Be religious.” He simply says: be what you are. You may ask, why should I be what I am? Because that is the only thing you can be. There is no way to be anything else. Yes, you can try to be something else—and in that trying your life can be wasted. You may then say, why not waste life? No one can stop you. And precisely for this reason even the enlightened ones are defeated and cannot give you the knowledge of truth—because you say, why should we know the truth? What can the enlightened do? They can speak. They can try to awaken in you the thirst for the joy…

A friend has asked: Osho, regarding the pyramids of Egypt you have said that their civilization and culture were at a peak. But those people placed human corpses inside the pyramids—kept mummies—and put food and drink, clothes, jewelry, and such things, so that these might be useful on the journey after death. Please explain: if those people were so highly evolved, did they not know that none of this is of any use after death?

When Ramakrishna died, by custom his wife, Sarada, should have broken her bangles. Neighbors gathered and told her to break them. As she started to do so, she suddenly burst out laughing. People thought she had gone mad. And she refused to break the bangles. She said, “As I reached for my bangles, Ramakrishna’s words came to me—‘I shall never die.’ So his body may have been shed, but he has not died; therefore I cannot be a widow.” This is the first such moment in the entire history of India when a widow refused to be a widow upon her husband’s death. “If his soul is, then I am not a widow; I will wear these bangles.” And Sarada continued to wear the clothes of a married woman. Every day, at the time she used to go to Ramakrishna’s room, she would say to him, “Come, the meal is…

Another friend has asked: During the night experiment, when we keep our attention on your eyes, you turn your face here and there, you look at different people, and it becomes a hindrance for us.

I did not tell you to keep your attention on my eyes. I said: keep your attention on me. Do not keep your attention on my eyes; keep it on me. Forget about my eyes. In the focus of your gaze, the whole of me should be there. Do not worry about the eyes.

Question: Third question: Osho, please explain a little about kirtan-meditation. Kirtan has many moods. Sometimes the devotee dances in separation; then his kirtan has a great poignancy—tears flow, there is pain and longing. Sometimes he dances in rejoicing; then his mood is bright, it is spring, flowers everywhere. See his intoxication then—rays of joy dance all around him. Sometimes he dances in thirst; sometimes in fulfillment. The devotee has great seasons, and kirtan has many expressions. Kirtan is a rich happening—every depth of life is included in it, and every height. At first the devotee hides his love within. It is intrinsic to love that we do not wish to tell anyone—love is no spectacle, no exhibition. He hides it, ties it in the corner of his garment like a diamond. Kabir says, “I have found the diamond and knotted it tight.