Monasticism

Would you not say: become a monk first, before being a shravak?

No, no—no one can do that. There is simply no way to become it. There is simply no way to become it. One has to pass through the discipline of being a shravak. Then either one becomes a sadhu while remaining a shravak, or one becomes what we conventionally call a sadhu—there is no obstacle in that. There is no obstacle in that.

Mahavira used a very lovely term. He said there are four fords, by which a person crosses from this shore to the other. The first ford: shravaka; the second: shravika—two only because of male and female, otherwise it is one. Shravaka–shravika one ford; and sadhu–sadhvi, the second. Through the centuries sadhus and sadhvis have tried to explain that the shravaka–shravika are lower, the sadhus–sadhvis higher. Basically this is wrong. If you understand Mahavira, another secret opens. Shravaka means one who has heard. Heard what? The anahata nada. One who has heard the Shabd—who has heard that inner resonance—and by hearing became free, crossed over; that very resonance became the boat, that very Word became the boat. Those who are simple, guileless, will reach the other shore as shravakas—just by hearing they will cross. In whom there is naturalness and trust, for them hearing is enough.

Osho, what is the difference between surrender and blind imitation?

So be careful: the freedom you allow yourself, allow the other too. You have no right to judge another as blindly credulous or as a surrendered being. Drop that concern. You cannot judge anyway—how will you enter another’s heart? How will you know? Think only about yourself. See within whether, up to now, you have lived by blind belief or by surrender. Decide only there; leave worrying about others. Otherwise, all your judgments will be wrong. Jesus said: Judge not; do not set yourself up as a judge in relation to another. To the friend who has asked: if you are asking for yourself, good. Drop worrying about others. Look within and see: whatever I have been clinging to till now—have I ever staked my life to hold it? Have I meditated for it? Have I loved for it? Or am I just clutching what culture, society, civilization handed me?…

Such maturity at such a young age! Surely Shankara’s mental age cannot be measured at thirty or thirty-three. At thirty-three you find people in taverns and brothels. Sannyas! At thirty-three you find men engaged in all kinds of foolishness—almost unhinged. Understanding sannyas? Buddha’s sutra says what Alfred Binet discovered at the dawn of this century: people’s mental age and physical age are different. Do not be deceived by your physical age—it has no intrinsic relation to your wisdom. Oxen also grow like that. Understand this a little. An ox’s physical and mental age are always the same. A buffalo’s physical and mental age are the same. Only in man can there be a gap between the two. You will be surprised when you consider your own mental age.