From Darkness to Light - 30

Does a flower need religion?

Question 1:

BELOVED OSHO,

DOES A PAGAN LIVING A NATURAL LIFE NEED RELIGION?

It is one of the most basic questions that can be asked. The first thing to understand is, who is a pagan? It is not what Christians go on calling a pagan. The pagan is a natural man - sincere, not a hypocrite, living life naturally without an domination of the mind.

The pagan is part of existence.

He is not trying to go in some other direction but is always in a let-go and moving with existence wherever it leads.

There is no goal in the life of a pagan.

There is no question of any meaning in the life of a pagan. Life in itself is so beautiful that to ask the question of the meaning of life is simply nonsense. It has to be remembered - we ask about meaning only when something goes wrong.

If you have a headache, you certainly inquire why; you go to the doctor to find out the cause. But when you don't have any headache, what to say about headache? - you even forget about the head. Without the headache is there any head? There is no need even to remember it. When you

From Darkness to Light - 29

History repeats itself, unfortunately

Question 1:

BELOVED OSHO,

AMERICA HAS BEEN LIKENED TO ROME PRIOR TO ITS FALL. IS IT APPROPRIATE TO SEE THE FALL OF THESE TWO POWERS AS BEING CONNECTED TO THE PREDOMINANCE OF CHRISTIANITY AT THE TIME?

History has moved, up to now, in circles. That is what is meant when it is said that history repeats itself. It need not be so, it should not be so, but unfortunately it has been so up to now.

There is a certain law behind this phenomenon of history moving in circles. I call it the law of mediocrity, because anybody who has any intelligence could have seen that we have been making the same kind of mistakes again and again and again. The mistakes are the same, the situations are the same. It is unbelievable how mediocre the human mind is.

First let me explain to you the law of mediocrity. I have said to you that religion comes into existence only when a society reaches the peaks of luxury.

Religion is the ultimate expression of all luxuries.

From Darkness to Light - 28

Either politicians remain or humanity remains

Question 1:

BELOVED OSHO,

DO POLITICIANS HAVE BRAINS?

I am sorry, but I doubt it. If one has brains there are so many beautiful things in life to do; it is impossible for such a man to be interested in politics at all. Politics is for the lowest category of intellect. You can see it all over the world.

I am reminded of one of my friends who was a national figure in politics. His whole life he devoted to two things: one, which was his priority, that cow slaughter should be stopped; and the second was, that Hindi should become the national language.

I once asked him, "You go on calling the cow 'the holy mother'; then who is the bull - the holy father?"

He became angry. I said, "It is a simple thing. If the cow is your mother, then the bull has to be your father."

He said, "You always confuse me."

Another time I asked him, "What about Charles Darwin's theory that man is evolved out of monkeys?"

From Darkness to Light - 27

This time it can be one earth

Question 1:

BELOVED OSHO,

WHY HAS IT HAPPENED THAT IN THE EAST, RELIGION CAME TO ITS HIGHEST FLOWERING, AND IN THE WEST THE SAME HAS HAPPENED TO SCIENCE? IS THERE SOME DIFFERENCE

OF CONSCIOUSNESS BETWEEN THE EASTERN MAN AND THE WESTERN MAN?

Consciousness is one and can only be one.

It is just like the light. East and West make no difference at all. Geography has no effect as far as consciousness is concerned.

But it is true that in the East religion blossomed, reached to the highest peaks. The same was not the case with science in the East. It began its journey but it never reached to the peaks the same way as religion reached.

Just the opposite has happened in the West. Religion is still primitive, just the beginnings, while science has taken a tremendous flight. Naturally the question is very relevant, but it has nothing to do with any difference between Eastern and Western man and his consciousness. It has to do with some other factors.

From Darkness to Light - 26

The enlightened and the endarkened

Question 1:

BELOVED OSHO,

HISTORY SHOWS THAT WHEN A GREAT MASTER APPEARS ON THE EARTH, OTHER, LESSER LEADERS RECOGNIZE HIM AND BRING THEIR FOLLOWERS WITH THEM. DO YOU SEE THIS HAPPENING HERE?

It has never happened, and it cannot ever happen either. There is a fundamental reason why it cannot happen. The lesser cannot recognize the higher, the lower cannot recognize the higher. The higher can recognize the lower. So it is existentially impossible. What history are you talking about?

History cannot go against existence and its principles.

The first thing to be remembered - which is very simple - is, the man who has eyes can recognize the man who has no eyes; he can see that this man is blind. But do you think the blind can recognize that this man has eyes? That is sheer impossibility. And this is about the physical eyes ....

When you think of the inner eye, the third eye, then it becomes absolutely impossible. Those who live on higher planes of consciousness are simply beyond your grasp. You cannot see them, you cannot understand them. Your intelligence is not capable of understanding planes of silence, meditation, experience of bliss.

From Darkness to Light - 25

The bell always tolls for somebody else

Question 1:

BELOVED OSHO,

I KNOW IT IS CERTAIN THAT ONE DAY I AM GOING TO DIE, BUT I DON'T FEEL ANY FEAR - WHY?

It is not something exceptional, it is almost the rule. Nobody is afraid of death; otherwise living will become impossible. There is a natural safety measure, and that is something of a very basic nature to be understood.

You know that it is always the other who dies, never you. It is always somebody else, but never you.

That gives an unconscious foundation for the hope that perhaps you are the exception, everybody dies except you.

That's why you don't feel fear. Nature does not want you to feel fear of death for the simple reason that if fear of death becomes overwhelming, you will not be able to live. Life can be lived only if somehow you can go on believing that you are going to be here forever. Things will change, people will die, but you will remain outside all this change. And it is based on your experience.

From Darkness to Light - 24

The third alternative: the whole man

Question 1:

BELOVED OSHO,

I HAVE HEARD YOU SAY THAT TRIBES WHICH ARE NOT SEX-REPRESSIVE REMAIN POOR, AND SOCIETIES WHICH ARE SEX-REPRESSIVE BECOME RICH AND CREATIVE. 

OSHO,

YOUR COMMUNES ARE NOT SEX-REPRESSIVE AND YET THEY ARE RICH AND CREATIVE.

CAN YOU COMMENT?

It is one of the most sensitive areas of life because it is concerned with the very life force - sex.

The word has become too condemned. The reason sex became condemned was because all the religions had to be against everything that man can enjoy. It was their vested interest to keep man miserable, to destroy every possibility of his finding some kind of peace, solace, a moment of oasis in the desert. This was absolutely necessary for religions, that man be made completely devoid of any possibility, of any potentiality for rejoicing.