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Part VII : Discourses: on Hassids and Jews
In October 1975 Osho introduces Hassidism in a discourse series
You ask me: When you speak of religions, you usually mention Christians,
Mohammedans and Hindus, but not Jews. Is there a reason for it?
There is a reason: I am the only Jew in India!…
…In fact, there have been only two source religions in
the world: Hinduism and Judaism. Both are dead. Jainism and Buddhism
are offshoots of Hinduism but because the root is dead the branches
are dead too. And Christianity and Islam are branches of Judaism,
and because the root is dead the branches are dead too. These
are dead phenomena. I am not much concerned with the past.
Yes, something beautiful has happened in Judaism, too, and that
is Hassidism—and I have talked about it a lot. Just as I
love Zen people in the tradition of the Buddha, I love Hassids
in the tradition of Moses and I love Sufis in the tradition of
Mohammed. These three are still alive in some small way because
these three have never become established religions; they have
always been anti-establishment, they have always been alternatives
to the established religion, they have always been rebellious.
Hassidism is worth talking about, not Judaism—and I have
talked about Hassidism. I have been approaching Hassidism with
my own experience. I have been bringing Hassidism up to date,
trying to make it part of the twentieth century. Hassidism is
the essence of Judaism, the very fragrance of it.
And I have something of the Hassids in me, that's why I sometimes
call myself a Jew. The Hassids love life, they are life-affirmative.
They don't believe in renunciation, they believe in rejoicing.
They believe in dancing, singing, celebrating—and that's
exactly my approach too.
My religion is something of a meeting of Zen, Sufism and Hassidism—and
something more thrown in. inzen03
I am very happy that fifty per cent—more than fifty per
cent—of my *sannyasins are Jews. What I am saying can have
appeal only to very intelligent people. Stupids won't have any
attraction to me—only very intelligent people can understand
what I am saying.
But they have been hated, that is true. That hatred can be dropped
only when Jews start changing.
There are a few things that they can do. One is that they accept
Jesus back home. If they can welcome Jesus back home almost ninety
per cent of the hatred will disappear. And Jesus is theirs—more
theirs than the Christians'. Jesus was born a Jew, died a Jew.
He was the greatest Jew ever. He was not a Christian. If Jews
can accept Jesus back home, that will change the whole climate
in the world. And if Jews can put their energies—as they
have put them into money—if they can put their energies
into meditation, they will become the greatest meditators on the
earth. They can herald a new era! isay208
In fact, I have never tried to convert anybody, but there are
a few rabbi sannyasins. That is strange! And not ordinary rabbis,
famous rabbis. And I have not been in any way trying to convert
anybody because I don't have any doubt. Why should I bother about
converting anybody? I don't have to convince myself that I am
right. I am! misery06
I have been looking through the Talmud, and it is so tiring
that anybody who suffers from sleeplessness, I suggest the Talmud—you
can just manage two or three pages! It is so much nonsense, and
on that nonsense rabbis go on interpreting, interpretations upon
interpretations. And the original is basic rubbish. I have always
suspected because the name `rabbi' seems to be so close to `rubbish'
that there must have been some past connection between rubbish
and rabbi! invita21
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