Scriptures

Question: OSHO, ARE THE HOLY SCRIPTURES JUST USELESS? AND ARE THEY HOLY OR NOT? THE holy scriptures are not just useless, they are absolutely harmful. If they were just useless there would be no need to be concerned with them. They are positively harmful. They are preventing people from becoming religious because they make people knowledgeable, and people start thinking that knowledgeability is wisdom, it is enlightenment. Because they know about great words, theological doctrines, dogmas, philosophies, naturally they think, What else is there to know? You have crammed the whole BIBLE or GITA or KORAN; then what else is there? And by cramming the KORAN, the GITA, or the BIBLE, you have not gained anything. So the holy scriptures are not just useless. If they were useless there would be no harm: they could be preserved in libraries where many other useless books are preserved.

Osho, is there really no benefit at all from the scriptures?

And then a unique thing happens—not only the Gita will bear witness, the Quran too will bear witness to you, and the Bible as well. For one who has understood the truth of life through meditation, all scriptures become witnesses together; then there is no contradiction among them. Then there is no difference of Hindu and Muslim, Christian and the rest. But if you have not heard the inner truth, have not seen it, have not read your inner book—the real book, whose pages lie yet unturned—and you read the Gita, you will become a Hindu, not religious; read the Quran, and you will become a Muslim, not religious. And to be religious is a far greater thing than to be a Muslim. We need freedom from Muslims, from Hindus, from Jains and Buddhists. If there were no Christians and Parsis in the world, the world would be better. The…

Beloved Osho, what is the difference between the emptiness of the child before the formation of the ego and the awakened childlikeness of a buddha?

Whether you are for it or against it doesn't matter -- your concern shows where your ego is hanging. And I will include the capitalist in it also: his whole concern is how to gather money, hoard money -- because money has power over matter. You can purchase any material thing through money. You cannot purchase anything spiritual, you cannot purchase anything that has any intrinsic value; you can purchase only things. If you want to purchase love, you cannot purchase; but you can purchase sex. Sex is the material part of love. Through money, matter can be purchased, possessed. Now you will be surprised: I include the communist and the capitalist both in the same category, and they are enemies, just as I include Charvaka and Mahatma Gandhi in the same category, and they are enemies. They are enemies, but their concern is the same. The capitalist is trying…

Osho, I have been entangled in the scriptures all along; and you say scriptures are futile. What should I do now?

In the hands of one who knows, not only scriptures but the smallest happenings of life take on deep and grave meaning. Tattooed words, but trenches of meaning being dug— Sir is busy tattooing, tattooing and tattooing! “Malpua” scrawled across the belly, “house” written on the brow; “dhoti–kurta” written on the body— the devils laugh! On the back, “mountain ranges” inscribed, on the chest, “cremation ground”; tears labeled “pearls,” and read out as “charity”! On the ears, “sweet jaggery-balls” written, on the hands, “favor”; on the cheeks, “Ganga–Yamuna” written— and they keep taking a bath. Write “favor” on the hand—will it become favor? Write “meditation” on the forehead—will it become meditation? On the cheeks, “Ganga–Yamuna” written— and they keep taking a bath. Tattooed words, but trenches of meaning being dug— Sir is busy tattooing, tattooing and tattooing! The pundit goes on tattooing and re-tattooing. The pundit’s world is profoundly false.…