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Part VII : Ethnic Jokes
Osho teases sannyasins, and makes jokes about ethnic origins
You ask: Are there great differences between the different races
of mankind?
Essentially there are no differences at all. Essentially there
cannot be any differences. The whole of mankind is one species
of being. But different races have evolved different qualities.
They have lived in different climates, they have encountered different
situations, they have passed through different histories; naturally
they have learned to behave in different ways….
So there are great differences on the surface—and the
surface is all that comes in contact with others. Intrinsically
no two human beings are different; in their innermost core all
human beings are just human beings.
So we have to understand both things. Essentially, all human
beings are one, but accidentally they are not one. And it is not
bad that they are not one. Variety is beautiful, it enriches the
world, it makes the world more beautiful. It will be an ugly world
where only Hindus live, where only Jews live, or where only Negroes
live. It will lose all charm, it will lose all beauty.
It is such a beautiful mess…. Italians and Polacks and
the Germans and the French, and they all have their own ways,
their own understandings, and they have all developed different
styles.
So although everybody, every human being belongs to one species,
still we have been able to create a variety—different flowerings
on the same bush. It makes the world really rich. I would not
like to destroy these differences, I would like to enhance them—still
with this understanding that human beings are human beings. Nobody
is higher and nobody is lower; we should drop the idea of hierarchy,
but variety is good. dh1208
I love Italians—as much as I love others—but naturally
many people are feeling jealous of Italians, for the simple reason
that I am telling so many jokes about Italians. But the reason
is not that I love Italians more than the Dutch or the Australians;
the reason is simply that my librarian happens to be Lalita, an
Italian, so she goes on finding Italian jokes for me! So rather
than you desiring to be an Italian, just desire that I may get
one assistant for Lalita from every country. In the new commune,
I am thinking Lalita must have at least a dozen assistants! But
beware of having this desire….
Just the other day all the orange Italians and all the orange
Polacks gathered together to decide who is really the greatest.
Of course, there was no question of intellectual discussion…it
had to be something existential! So they decided to go to the
football ground by the side of the railway station and play football—whoever
wins….
For two hours everything happened—except football. Karate
chops were flying and yoga was done and boxing and wrestling and
Dynamic Meditation and Kundalini Meditation. And they had forgotten
completely that they needed a few referees as well; there were
no referees at all.
After two hours even the football lying by the side started
laughing! "What is happening?" Then a train passed by
and hearing the whistle of the train the Italians thought the
game was over, so they left the ground, thinking, "We are
equal and the game is over."
But the Polacks were bent upon winning, and now, because the
sun was going down, the game became even more fierce. And finally
after one hour's effort the Polacks were able to score one goal—without
the Italians, but that doesn't matter! dh1206
Pope John Paul has stated recently that if a man looked lustfully
even at the woman who is his wife he could likewise commit adultery
in his heart. What do you say about it?
What can be said about it? A Polack is a Polack is a Polack! Pope
or no pope, a Polack remains a Polack. Now this is the ultimate
in stupidity, one cannot surpass it: even to look at your own
wife with desire is adultery! Then why in the first place one
should get married? Just to commit adultery?
In a way he has made a very difficult thing simple. One of Milan's
newspapers seems to be far more wiser. The newspaper writes: "Life
is hard for the adulterer—an endless round of cover-ups,
tricks, juggling of the daily calendar and the need to buy useless
and expensive presents for two women at once. Now the Pope has
removed all these vows, because you can have infidelity in your
own house!" This seems to be far more intelligent. It is
really beautiful and juicy to have adultery with your own wife.
A great idea!
But these repressed people are bound to do such things.
I have come to know that for the whole year, the whole past year,
in his every weekly sermon he has been talking about sex—for
the whole year condemning, condemning…Now why he should
be so much concerned about sex, for one year continuously condemning?
There must be something inside him, some wound which has not healed.
ithat16
You have sussed me out. Now is the time to tell my dreaded secret!
I am one of Your Polacks. What to do?
Prem Veechi, that's the most beautiful thing about Polacks I love
and like. You are not the first Polack who has declared it. Asha
wrote a note saying that, "Beloved Master, I am also a Polack."
Anupama wrote a note saying that her lover, Amitabh, is a Polack.
And many others. This is beautiful!
And see what the British are doing. One British lady, Prem Lisa,
has written saying, "We are superior so what can we do?"
Veechi, it is beautiful to be a Polack. It is beautiful to be
a little foolish, not so superior as the British. dh1202
So many questions have come from British ladies and British gentlemen
saying, "The British lady is just a myth and you should not
be so interested in a myth. It is not a reality—the British
lady exists nowhere." But these same people believe that
the Polack exists, the Italian exists, the Jew exists. They are
not myths, because when I am joking about Jews or Italians or
Polacks, no British lady or gentleman writes to me that these
are myths—they are realities.
Now, no Jew, no Italian, no Polack is writing to me that the
British lady is a myth. Why are only the British writing to me
about it? Can't you see the point? And if it is a myth—and
I know it is a myth!—why not enjoy it? Why become so much
worried about it? Somewhere deep down you believe it is not a
myth, otherwise why? Have a good laugh and it is finished!
But your concern to make me aware of the fact that the British
lady does not exist…I know it! I am surrounded by British
ladies! I have more British ladies around me than I have Jews
or Polacks or Italians. I know it is a myth—but a beautiful
myth! dh1203
Nobody here wants to be forgotten. I am being reminded every
day. The Australians are writing every day, "Have you forgotten
us?" Norwegians, Swedish, Swiss, they are all writing letters,
"Beloved Master, when is our turn coming?" dh1204
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