Leadership

Do you feel, Osho, that all leaders—whether political or religious—are caught in the same dilemma?

If someone were to ask Buddha, “Is there God?” Buddha would say, “There may be.” And if someone were to ask, “Is there no God?” he would say, “There may not be.” How can such a person assume leadership? Buddha is so perfectly in the middle. It is like this: in a room a glass is kept half-filled with water. One man comes out and says the glass is half empty; another says it is half full. These two can argue; two parties can form. A third man, utterly in the middle, having seen the whole, returns and says, “The glass is both half empty and half full.” He will say, “You are right, and you are right—and you are wrong, and you are wrong. It both is and is not half. It is half empty and also not; half full and also not.” Such a man makes such a…

Beloved Osho, history shows that when a great master appears on the earth, other, lesser leaders recognize him and bring their followers with them. Do you see this happening here?

Except this Nicodemus, no rabbi ever approached Jesus -- and Nicodemus approached him in the night. It would have been better that he also had not approached Jesus, because he shows the cowardliness of your so-called religious people and who crucified Jesus? The high priest and the supreme command of rabbis who overruled the whole community of Jews -- they decided that he should be crucified. There were many attempts made on Buddha's life by religious people, and I have always suspected -- although it is impossible now after twenty-five centuries to find out whether my suspicion is right or wrong, but there is a ninety-nine percent possibility that it is right .... It has to be right because some fundamental principles are involved. Buddha died of food poisoning. I suspect he was given poison, that it was not a coincidence. There were many attempts on the life of Mahavira.…

Beloved Osho, how come you speak about political leaders and religious leaders in the same tone -- is there no difference between them?

Just look at past history. All politicians have been promising people things which have not materialized in thousands of years. Thousands of political leaders have been promising the same things. How blind humanity must be! The promises have not changed -- that means certainly nothing has been achieved. The same promises are being given to you and you go on following, hoping. Hope is the greatest drug that man has invented. Strange, that religious people are against drugs; politicians are also against drugs. Politicians make laws against drugs, religious people create hell and punishment against drugs. Why are they so afraid of drugs? It needs a deep search, investigation. They are afraid of drugs because drugs are competitors to them. LSD can give you hallucinations of heaven. That's the trouble. No religion can afford to allow people to use LSD. LSD is not dangerous; taken in the right proportions, under…

Why does humanity always need leaders? Why isn't it possible for so many human beings to just relax when they are together, and to be aware so that no leaders are necessary?

There have been people of great intelligence, like Albert Einstein -- but he was not a man of memory. He would go into his bathroom and tell his wife, "I am just coming in ten minutes" -- and six hours would pass and the man was still in his bathtub! One of my friends, Dr. Rammanohar Melia was visiting. Albert Einstein's wife was a little embarrassed; she said, "Forgive me. I have to interrupt him, this is too much. He said ten minutes and now six hours... and you have been waiting for six hours." She knocked on the door, and Einstein said, "Has ten minutes passed? Why have you disturbed me? I was playing with soap bubbles in my bathtub." Playing with soap bubbles in his bathtub he had discovered many great theories about stars, because that was the most relaxed moment. And when you are most relaxed, intelligence…