Poverty

Osho, “Ashanaya vai patmamatiḥ.” That is, hunger is the root of all sin; it corrupts the intellect. Osho, when and why did people who understood this aphorism from the Aitareya Brahmana begin to honor poverty?

Without materialism there can be no prosperity. Without materialism, the Aitareya Brahmana’s aphorism cannot be fulfilled—poverty will remain. What Gulzarilal Nanda is saying—give him a new name: Gulzari Lal Andha, Mr. Blind. These blind people can’t even see that for centuries the same nonsense has been repeated: “We must cultivate spiritual qualities.” People are dying of hunger; there is no bread in their stomachs; and these men want to develop their spiritual qualities! These full-bellied men keep chanting Rama’s name. They think that since their bellies are full, everyone else’s must be too. In this country ninety percent are hungry; fifty percent are utterly hungry. And you want to cultivate spiritual qualities in them! The possibility that they might turn toward materialism gives Gulzari Lal Andha great pain. And why is he in pain? Because the trade is in danger. You have been cultivating spiritual qualities for ten thousand years—how…

Why is india so poor?

The so-called saints are responsible. Down the ages, India has lived with a wrong philosophy -- a philosophy that teaches other-worldliness, a philosophy that teaches that the world is illusion and only the other world is true. You have not seen the other world, the true world; you have to believe. And the world that you have seen, and see every day and experience every day, is illusory, is maya. This foolish philosophy is the root cause of India's poverty. If the world is illusory then why care about science, why care about technology? What is the point? If the world is illusory, poverty is also an illusion, the beggar on the street is also an illusion, the starving person is also an illusion. The West has lived with the idea that only this world is real. Hence it has become rich, at least outwardly rich. The West has denied…

Beloved Osho, what are the causes of poverty in india, and the downfall of the economic condition? How can india come out of this mess and create richness?

Don't harm anybody, but don't let anybody harm you. Then only can a nonviolent person survive in the world, and not become a coward. Jesus says, "If somebody hits one of your cheeks, give him the other cheek too." Christians are hypocrites, they have never followed it. They have been killing, they have been murdering, they have been burning living people. They have been doing everything which goes against Jesus -- and still they go on preaching Jesus in the churches. And no Christian raises the question: "Our lifestyle for two thousand years is absolutely against the teachings of Jesus." The West has made an arrangement: a teaching is a teaching; it is good, pay respect to it. The Bible is holy -- but your religion is Sunday religion, only on a holiday. You go to the church and that's all. Six days do everything wrong that you can do;…

You said the other day that you desire that all people should be rich and have lotuses in their garden ponds. Why then do many people not own houses and gardens and lakes and lotuses? The question is: why is there so much poverty in this country?

And because of this nonsense type of thinking, Indian leaders and politicians go on consoling you. Some politician reduces his pay; he says, "I will take only half," and all the Indians are happy and say, "Look -- this is a mahatma.'Mahatma' Morarji Desai." Just because he has reduced his pay to half, do you think India's problem is solved? What problem is solved? And from the front door he reduces his wealth to half; from the back door his son Kanti Desai brings in millions of rupees. That's okay. Indians have become very much accustomed to living double lives. That's okay. Or Morarji Desai starts flying in Air India's aeroplanes, not using the special plane for the prime minister, and all, the whole country, is agog with joy. So your poverty is solved. In fact, he creates more trouble. It would have been better and less costly to use…