Virtue

Osho, one should believe in the good and in virtues, shouldn’t one?

If, in this direction, we can drop belief, then that which we call good, that which we call significant, will arise within you. But if you cling to belief, it will never arise. Virtue cannot be born in you without knowing. And that is why your belief is one thing and your conduct another. You say that stealing is bad—and you steal. Why is there a gap between belief and conduct? Because the belief is false, and it has been fabricated first, without knowing and understanding conduct. Therefore conduct never fits it. It is like a tailor who makes your clothes without taking your measurements, and then tries to fit those clothes onto you. Then the cutting and trimming will have to be done on you, not on the clothes—your hands and feet would have to be cut.

Osho, yesterday you explained that punya means that which gives joy and liberates. Then what does the statement mean that one must be free from sin, and also free from virtue?

Certainly, one has to be free from sin. I said: sin is that which takes you outward. I said: virtue is that which brings you inward. But one must be free of the outer—and free of the inner as well. First be free of the outer; then, immediately, you will find that what we had called “inner” was only inner in comparison to the outer. The moment you are free of the outer, you will discover that what had seemed inner now also appears outer—because in relation to you, that too is outside. You are where there is neither outside nor inside—you are the pure witness. One has to be free from sorrow, and free from happiness too. Sorrow binds, and happiness also binds. That is why only in our land there are three words that exist nowhere else in the world—because nowhere has the inquiry gone so deep: heaven,…

Beloved Osho, nietzsche's maxim: "one is punished most for one's virtues" I see the truth of most clearly in you. But even a man who is virtuous by society's standards is subtly punished too, isn't he? -- punished by jealousy and criticism. It is as if one is only meant to strive towards; to attain is an altogether different matter. Is this so?

For a man of love, nationality is nothing but a beautiful name for hatred. Religious organizations are nothing but sophisticated ways of hating others who don't belong to your organization, to your herd, to your crowd. Friedrich Nietzsche is right; his whole life's experience is condensed in that small statement. He suffered for his virtues. The Italian priest was preaching about sex and morality to his congregation. "Sex is-a dirty", he shouted. "I wanna see only good-a girls today. I wanna every virgin in-a church to-a stand up." Not a soul moved. Then after a long pause a sexy looking blond holding an infant in her arms got to her feet. "Virgins is-a what I want," said the outraged priest. "Hey father," she asked, "you expect a two month old baby to stand by herself?" I was in Greece and one of my sannyasins, Amrito, who was my hostess, told…

Question: BELOVED OSHO, CAN YOU SAY SOMETHING ABOUT VIRTUE? Out of awareness whatever you do is virtue according to me. And out of unawareness whatever you do is sin according to me. And according to me, your sins are not going to take you to hell. Your sins immediately give you hell -- here, just now. And your virtues are not going to give you an eternity of paradise. Your virtues give you joy, blissfulness, the moment you act with full awareness. The punishment and the reward is immediate: the reward follows your action. But it depends where your action will lead you. It can be unconscious action, then hell herenow. It has nothing to do with geography; it is something to do with your psychology. Acting consciously, you are in paradise wherever you are. Once you have learned, you will not ask, "What is virtue?