Left-Hand Path

Osho, there are demonstrations against you and posters have been put up—even in Amritsar. The charge against you is that you propagate the left-hand path, that you are a communist, an atheist. Is there any truth in this? In their allegations, to what extent is there something true or not? And if it is wrong, what is your position? We simply want to understand.

On this point I agree with the left-hand path. And I hold that on this matter the left-hand path is right. Those things we think are opposites—for example, forgiveness: the left-hand path says forgiveness is the transformation of anger. The person who cannot be angry cannot forgive. In truth, anger, transformed, becomes forgiveness. Therefore the left-hand path will say: we have no quarrel with anger. We do not say, “Drop anger.” We say, “Transform anger.” This is also my statement. I too say: in life nothing is to be discarded; everything is to be changed. In life nothing is to be negated or cut off; everything is to be transformed and raised higher. The very mud, raised high, becomes the lotus. Whatever is bad in life can become auspicious. So someone may call me left-hand. But I have nothing to do with the left-hand path. I have nothing to do…

Osho, why do Shankara and you, before telling us to sing the praises of Govinda, always address us as fools?

Edison said, people say I know a great deal. My condition is like that of a small child on the seashore who has gathered a few shells and conches. That is the extent of my knowledge—just a few shells in my fists—while the vast ocean lies there, unknown to me. Your little knowledge seems very big to you! You have lit a small lamp; its flickering light falls a little around you, a small area gets illuminated—and you call this knowledge! And the infinite lies there filled with darkness; you have no awareness of it! When you understand your foolishness, you will say, “Is this knowledge—the flicker of a tiny lamp!” The infinite lies ahead to journey through, to explore, to search—and I, clutching these shells in my hands, am posing as a wise man! Then you will drop even this “knowledge.” And the day you know that you are…

Why are people afraid of such names as tantra, vanmarg, aghorpanth, and nathpanth? Is there no possibility that through correct analysis and right practice of these paths, people could understand them in a new perspective and not condemn them and remain opposed to them?

Even your acceptance of Krishna is incomplete. You want to select and cut many things. You are always ready to make revisions of Krishna. People believe in Krishna according to their own understanding. They believe as much as they can believe, rejecting the rest. What is the problem? The problem is, that it is clear to you that Mahavira appears to be moving opposite from you. You can respect him because you know your greed, your lust, your anger, your ardent desire, and he has renounced all of this. He is special, now there is no need for proof, but Krishna? He is standing right in the same world where you are! To recognize Krishna one needs eyes of great depth. To recognize Mahavira is within the powers of even a blind man, there is no problem. A blind man too can recognize, yes, Mahavira has renounced everything. But until…

These friends have asked: “If Tantra is only for a few, it would have been better if you hadn’t discussed it. It can be dangerous.”

Whatever is dangerous should be discussed properly. The only way to be safe from danger is to know it; there is no other way. But when I say Tantra is for very few, don’t imagine that Yoga is for the many. Only a very few ever take the leap—whether through Yoga or through Tantra. Most people remain lukewarm their whole lives—never boiling, never cold. This great mediocre middle, the crowd that stays in-between, neither leaps nor can it. Leaps happen from the extremes. Only a few reach the edges. To reach an edge means: something has to be renounced. Remember, whatever the edge, something must be given up. If you move toward Tantra, much has to be relinquished. If you move toward Yoga, much has to be relinquished. The things you relinquish are different, but relinquishment is inevitable. To arrive at an edge is to drop the comfort of the…