Scripture

Osho, why do you liken devotion to love? Is there no other apt analogy?

I know why this question has arisen in you. For centuries your so‑called religious people have condemned love—called it base, impure, a sin. Hence you feel, “Wouldn’t some other analogy be better?” Somewhere within you there is condemnation of love—rejection, fear. I understand you—and I understand your so‑called saints as well. But the one who fears love has not understood love; the fear has arisen out of ignorance. The one who is afraid of the courtyard has not understood it. The courtyard had walls—and it had the sky; he focused on the walls and forgot the sky. I want you to focus on the sky and forget the walls. The walls are there and will remain. Man is encased in the wall of body; as long as you have a body, there will be walls. How will they disappear? You cannot get rid of even your own wall—how will you…

Osho, you said that what the knowers have said is scripture, and the ignorant ought to follow it. But the problem is that scriptures are many and their utterances endless, and the ignorant is, after all, ignorant—then how is he to decide what is worthy for him to follow?

You are already overburdened by your own household; don’t take on the burden of this vast household. Whether someone made the world or not—is that the question of your life? What have you to do with that? And even if you learn that someone made it, how will that solve the questions of your life? And if no one made it, what difference will it make? You will remain you. These are futile questions. A meaningful question is always real. You ask, “Why am I restless?” You ask, “What is the way to be at peace?” You ask, “I am filled with sorrow; I have not known even a ray of bliss—how am I to know it? How to open a window? How to open the eyes? How to come out of the dark? I grope for the lamp, I find it—but how to light it? How to kindle the…

Osho, you have extolled the glory of scriptural recitation. But I have met people who have the Gita or the Ramayana by heart and who recite them almost daily, yet there is no fragrance of the Gita or the Ramayana in their lives. So is there a difference between recitation and recitation? And how should one recite rightly?

They are fine instruments—remember, instruments. The real work is awakening. On the one side, let the lips repeat the Gita, the Veda, the Quran, the Bible; on the other, let the witness stay awake behind, watching. Do not drown, do not go unconscious; otherwise you will end up able to recite without even opening the book—yet no revolution will happen in your life. There is certainly a difference between recitation and recitation. Whatever passes in unconsciousness strengthens unconsciousness. Whatever passes in awareness strengthens awareness. Therefore, the more moments that pass in awareness, the better. Eat with awareness. That is why Kabir says: “Whether I rise or sit, it is circumambulation; whatever I eat or drink, that is service.” No need to go to the temple for circumambulations. Rising and sitting are enough. No need to perform worship or offer food in a temple; even when I eat and drink, that…

Why, Osho, isn't knowledge of the scriptures helpful in finding the truth?

Maneeshi, KNOWLEDGE IS NOT YOURS, THAT'S WHY. It is borrowed. And can you borrow truth? Truth is untransferable; nobody can give it to you. Not even an alive Master can transmit it to you. You can learn, but it cannot be taught. So what to say about dead scriptures, howsoever holy they may be? They must have come from some original source; some Master, someone awakened must have been at the very source of them -- but now they are only words. They are only words about truth, information about truth. To be with Krishna is a totally different matter from reading the Bhagavad Gita. To be with Mohammed, attuned, in deep harmony, overlapping with his being, allowing his being to stir and move your heart, is one thing. And just to read the Koran is a far, faraway cry; it is an echo in the mountains. It is not…