| 
Part V : Osho's interaction with Christians
In Jabalpur, where I lived for twenty years, there is a big theological
college where they train Christian missionaries for Asian countries;
it is the biggest in Asia. I used to go there. I had a few friends
there, but the principal informed those friends that I should
not be entertained inside the campus "because you are making
that man known to the students and to other professors. Now small
meetings have started happening in your houses and he will corrupt
you."
My friend told me, "This is what the principal has said,
and he wants you not to be entertained anymore in the campus.
And we are poor professors, we cannot antagonize him."
I said, "You don't be worried. I will go and see him myself."
I went to Principal Mackwan, who was the chief of Leonard Theological
College, and I told him, "You prepare missionaries for the
whole of Asia—and you are afraid of me, a single person,
coming into the campus of all those missionaries who are going
to convert Asians to Christianity! You don't trust your professors,
you don't trust your Christianity, you don't trust your missionaries.
You don't trust your students who are going to be missionaries.
Your whole campus—there are ten thousand people on the campus—I
can corrupt them, and those ten thousand people cannot corrupt
me? And you are included in those ten thousand people.
"I am here and I am going to come every day—not in
the campus anymore, to your office, just to be corrupted by you."
He looked shocked. He said, "To be corrupted by me?"
I said, "Yes, you corrupt me, or I will corrupt you. It is
an open challenge. You are the head of this institute. Ten thousand
people follow you, they think you are some great sage. Corrupt
me, make me a Christian; I am ready to be converted. But if you
fail, then be ready to be converted to my way, which has no name."
He said, "I don't want to create any conflict, any controversy."
I said, "There is no controversy, no conflict. I will simply
sit here silently; you corrupt me. Or, you sit silently, I will
corrupt you. Nobody will ever even hear what is going on."
He said, "Let me think about it."
The next day I was there again. I said, "Principal Mackwan,
have you thought about it? Have you asked your wife?"
He said, "What do you mean?"
I said, "That's what thinking means. When a husband says,
`I will think about it,' it means he will consult his wife."
He said, "You are something because actually—that's
what I did."
And I said, "That shows that you are not even man enough—how
can you be a Christian?" Just behind him was Jesus, a wooden
sculpture on a cross. I said, "Give that cross and Jesus
to me because it does not belong in your office. You are not man
enough; you asked your wife. Do you think Jesus asked anybody,
`What do you think—is it okay to be crucified, or escape?'"
That man became a friend—and of course became corrupted
slowly slowly. His house became my meeting place. He said, "You
are irresistible. You say things which are certainly against our
scriptures, our tradition, but not against our reason."
And when I left Jabalpur, among the people who had come to give
me a send-off was this old Principal Mackwan, with tears in his
eyes. He said, "I will miss you. You became a reality in
my life, far more real than Jesus Christ has ever been. Jesus
Christ has been just a belief. I am not courageous enough to drop
that, but you know it has dropped. I cannot say to the world,
`I am no longer a Christian,' but I have come to say it to you
because perhaps we may not meet again. I am old, and I know you—once
you leave a place you never look back."
And I have never gone back to Jabalpur. Perhaps he is dead now.
But on the station he confessed to me that he is no longer a Christian;
he has started enquiring, although it is too late. But he is happy;
even though it is late, and the evening of his life has come,
"Perhaps there is not time enough to enquire, but I am immensely
satisfied only with this, that at least I am not dying with false
beliefs, insincere, inauthentic, not my own. I don't have any
truth yet, but at least I can die with this contentment, that
I have started the journey. And if there is a beginning perhaps
one day there will be an end to it too."
Every being is in search of truth, but small fears go on preventing
you. dark15
If a sudra becomes a follower of Buddha, immediately he is no
longer untouchable. If a sudra becomes a Christian he is no longer
untouchable. This is a very strange world.
I had a friend who was the principal of a theological college
in Jabalpur, Principal Mackwan. I was saying to him, "Why
are you Christians interested only in the poor?"
He said, "Please come to my house." I was sitting in
his office. He said, "My house is just behind the college;
come to my house; I want to show you something."
He showed me an old man and woman's picture. They were certainly
beggars, in rags, dirty; you could even see it in their faces—so
hungry. You could see that all their lives they had suffered;
it was written in the lines on their forehead. He said, "Can
you recognize who these are?"
I said, "How can I recognize them?—I have never seen
these people, but they look like beggars."
He said, "They were beggars. He is my father, she is my mother.
And not only were they beggars, they were sudras, untouchables.
They became converted, in their old age, to Christianity because
they were so old, tired of begging; and now they were concerned
about their children—particularly this boy who is now principal
of Leonard Theological College. What would happen to him if they
died? He would also become a beggar."
Because they were sick they entered a Christian hospital, because
no other hospital will take poor people and give them free medicine,
food, care, doctors. So they entered, they had to enter, a Christian
hospital. And there the whole methodology is: with the medicine
to go on giving as much of The Bible as possible; with each injection
a little Bible. With food, the doctor talks about it, the nurse
talks about it; the priest comes every day to inquire about their
health, how they are.
For the first time they felt that they were human beings. Nobody
had ever asked them about their health. They were treated like
dogs, not like human beings. And had they remained Hindus they
would have died like dogs, dying on the street corner. You don't
know, because that is not the way in the West….
Professor Mackwan told me, "This is my father and mother.
They would have died like dogs and the municipal truck would have
thrown them out of the city with all the garbage that it carries
every day, because there is nobody to carry a beggar to the funeral
pyre. Who bothers about a beggar? Beggars are not men, not human
beings."
And then he took me to another picture of his daughter and his
son-in-law. I was looking at three generations: the father and
mother, almost below human beings; Mackwan, who has gained status
and is now in a very respectable post, highly salaried. Now brahmins
come and shake hands with him, not knowing at all that he is the
son of two beggars who were sudras. I know his daughter, one of
the most beautiful women I have seen; she is married to an American.
Looking at the three generations…such a change. You cannot
connect the daughter with the grandmother and how can you connect
the son-in-law with her grandfather? There seems to be no bridge.
The son-in-law is a well-known scholar, professor—six months
teaching in India, six months teaching in America. Saroj, the
daughter herself is a professor. They are all well-educated; the
son is a principal. They have moved in a completely different
direction by being converted to Christianity. I could not object.
I said, "Your father and mother did well." misery06
One day, as I was going along a road, a woman came and gave me
a pamphlet in which was shown a picture of a beautiful building
with a garden full of flowers and a stream. On it was written,
"Are you in search of a nice bungalow?"
Out of curiosity I turned it over and found that the bungalow
was not of this earth, it was some propaganda from the Christian
missionaries. That beautiful bungalow with the garden and the
stream is in heaven! It was written in that pamphlet that if you
want such a building in heaven then nobody can take you there
except Jesus.
Even if you desire for heaven it is you who will desire. It is
the extension of your mind—it will be in your language and
in your colors. greatt10
Once I was taken to a Christian college, one of the biggest in
India, where they create missionaries, ministers, priests, etcetera.
I was a little puzzled: how can you create priests, ministers,
missionaries in a college? That is impossible. The principal was
very much interested in me; he invited me. He said, "Come
and see!"
It was a six-year course, and I looked around the college, a big
campus—seven hundred people were getting ready to become
priests, preachers, teachers—I looked around, went into
many classes, and what I saw was really hilarious. It was so ridiculous.
In one class the teacher was telling the students, "When
you give this sermon, this is how you have to stand, and when
you come to this point, this is how you have to raise your hand,
these are the gestures you make, this is how you have to close
you eyes—as if you have gone into a deep deep meditation…."
As if, don't forget the 'as if.' They were learning like actors….
Taking leave of the principal I told him one story:
"I have heard—it must have happened in some college
like yours—the teacher was telling the students, 'When you
talk about paradise, heaven, smile a heavenly smile, your eyes
full of joy and light, and look upwards towards heaven. And for
a moment become silent and just let people see how joyous, full
of light and joy you are.'
"A student raised his hand and he said, 'That's right, but
when we are talking about hell, what to do?'
"The teacher said, 'Then just as you are will do—just
stand as you are. You need not do anything else, just be yourself,
that's all, and that will show them what hell is.'"
Teaching people to become masters is such an absurdity. Jesus
did not learn in any college. It is fortunate that such colleges
did not exist in those days; otherwise they might have destroyed
Jesus. Buddha never went to any religious institution to learn.
Religion has to be lived, because that is the only way to learn
it. dh0505
One great Christian theologian used to come to India often. His
name was Stanley Jones. Generally he was the guest of the principal
of a Christian college. The principal was my friend; that's how
I came to be acquainted with Stanley Jones. He had written many
beautiful books, very beautiful. He was a man of tremendous scholarship.
He used to give sermons, and he would keep fifteen or twenty postcard-sized
cards; on each card everything that he was going to say was written
in shorthand, so nobody would even know what was written on them.
And he always used to speak standing, so the people could not
see those cards either. He would speak; when the card was finished
he would change the card to number two, to number three.
One day, before he was going to speak, he had arranged his cards
and had gone just to get ready in the bathroom. I mixed the numbers—the
fifth was first, the first was fifth, the third was tenth, the
tenth was the third. I just mixed them and put them back. He came
out, took the cards—I also went with him.
He started speaking. Looking at the card he could not understand,
"What is happening?"—because the card said something
which it was not supposed to say—"Where is the introduction?"
He was almost in a nervous breakdown. And in front of a crowd
of almost two thousand people, he started looking for the card
with the introduction. He could not find it so he tried to start
on his own, but he had never started on his own in his whole life.
People were very much puzzled: they had never seen such a third-rate
sermon from such a first-rate theologian—and they had all
heard him before. He was perspiring, and it was winter. Somehow
he finished. Neither did he know what he was saying, nor did the
people understand what he was doing, what was going on. It was
all irrelevant, inconsistent, unrelated, upside down, the beginning
coming in the end…. Finally the introduction came: "Brothers
and sisters…. "
He was very angry. Back in the principal's home he said, "I
feel like killing you!"
I said, "You should feel like that. But I wanted to do it
for a specific reason: do you think Jesus used to have these cards
with him? You are more articulate than Jesus. Jesus was uneducated,
he did not even know Hebrew. He only knew the local dialect, Aramaic,
which only the laborers and poor people spoke. The learned and
the cultured and the rich used to speak Hebrew; Aramaic was not
for the cultured and the educated. Jesus had no way of carrying
these cards because he could not write, but his words have a fire.
And your words are the same, but there is no fire, there is no
warmth. They are not coming from your heart, they are coming from
a dead corpse. And you are functioning only like a computer—you
are not a theologian, just a machine." upan27
But I know many Quakers. They sit in silence also in their congregations.
I have been to their congregations, and I have asked them, "If
you are really truthful, tell me: What were you doing in your
silence?" And they have always said, "We were thinking,
thinking of silence, trying to be silent, making efforts to be
silent." Yes, it is true they are not speaking. If you mean
just by not speaking you are silent, then you are just a fool.
Silence is such a deep experience, where thoughts, emotions, everything
disappears. If you have attained to that silence you will not
even call yourself a Quaker. You will not subscribe to any theology.
You don't need one; you have found the very source of truth within
yourself. false31
Once a Quaker Christian stayed with me…and Jainas think
that they are the most vegetarian people in the whole world; they
should forget all about it. I also used to think before that the
Jainas are the most vegetarian people. I asked the Quaker—he
was a Quaker missionary—what he would like: milk, coffee,
tea?
He said, "Milk? A man like you drinks milk?!" He looked
so puzzled, I could not believe my eyes.
"What is wrong with milk?" I asked him, "What is
the matter with you? Is there something wrong with milk?"
He said, "Of course! It is an animal product. We Quakers
don't use any animal product. It is just like non-vegetarian food.
Whether you drink blood or you drink milk, it is the same, both
come from the body."
And there is some reason in it, some logic in it. Now, in India,
all the vegetarians think that milk is the purest, the most sattvic
food, the purest, the most spiritual food. There are people, saints,
only famous for the simple reason that they drink only milk and
nothing else; they don't eat anything. And they are worshipped
for that reason, because their sacrifice is great. Now, according
to the Quakers they are sinners and they will go to hell. special10
There was one church, specially for British people, which had
been closed for many years, because when the British rule ended
in India, all the foreigners moved out. The archbishop of England—thousands
of miles away—was the owner of that church in Jabalpur.
I had a few Christian friends. I said to them "This beautiful
church always remains closed." They said, "The congregation
of that church is no more here, the nearest authority is in the
capital, Nagpur. The bishop of Nagpur is the nearest authority
who has the keys. But the real authority is with the archbishop
of England."
I said, "You are just fools. Break the lock—it is
already falling apart since ten years. Clean the church. This
is your church. Use it."
They became excited, the idea was good. The church was a beautiful
building with a very big garden around it, but it had become a
jungle, nobody was taking any care. They broke the lock. They
asked me to inaugurate the opening. I said, "I am perfectly
ready" and so I inaugurated their church.
It took a few days for the bishop of Nagpur to understand what
was happening there. Then he inquired of the archbishop of England
what to do, "because a few Christians have broken the lock,
entered the property, and are worshipping every Sunday there."
Of course the archbishop was angry and he told him, "Take
legal action against them."
The legal action was taken against them. That's why I was also
found guilty. I inaugurated it, I inspired those people to enter
into the church, so I was the most responsible person. I said
to the judge, "A church, a temple, a mosque, a synagogue
belongs to those who worship there. It is no ordinary property.
For ten years the church has remained without a single worshipper.
The archbishop of England is guilty for that, the bishop of Nagpur
is guilty for that. Who are they to lock a church and prevent
worshippers?
"I am not a Christian, but I can see that a beautiful place
which was meant for worshipping, for prayer, is lying empty. Jesus
Christ is still hanging on the cross and nobody comes. He must
be getting bored."
I said, "Yes, I inspired these people to make that church
again alive. It is dying. And to make any church alive is not
a crime. To keep it locked…locked against whom? In fact,
churches and temples should not have doors, so that they are available
twenty-four hours for anybody to meditate there. It is a place
of silence."
My advocate was getting to the point of nervous breakdown when
I said that the archbishop of England should be given an arrest
warrant…and these people were going to continue worshipping
in the church. The judge said, "Whatever you are saying is
absolutely right, but it is not legal. The church is a property
owned by the Church of England. Entering into somebody else's
property, taking possession of it, using it, is trespass."
I said, "Then I am ready to be punished, to be jailed.
But remember, you are doing something absolutely wrong. You are
not making any difference between a place of worship and an ordinary
house. A place of worship cannot be owned by anybody, cannot be
possessed by anybody. It belongs to those who are ready to worship
there. Tell the archbishops of Nagpur and England that either
they should come here and bring their congregation, so the church
becomes alive, or…why are they worried? They were happy
for ten years. The church was gathering dust, it was going to
become a ruin.
"And I am not a Christian at all. I have no concern with
that church, just a human concern, a compassion. These people
I know, and I told them, 'If you are ready to worship, the church
is yours.' And I take the whole responsibility on myself, these
people are not in any way responsible. They simply got inspired
by me."
There was silence. The advocate sent by the bishop of Nagpur
could not figure out what to say. The judge told me that it was
legally wrong, but spiritually right: "I cannot give any
punishment to you. But please don't do anything like that again."
I said, "That I cannot agree with. I will continue my whole
life doing things like that, because I don't care about man-made
laws. My concern is with the existential, with the spiritual,
with the real. Man-made laws go on changing."
But those Christians who had agreed and opened the church became
afraid. The bishop of Nagpur put another big lock. I lived in
Jabalpur for twenty years, and by the time I left Jabalpur the
church was in ruins, the roof had fallen. This is according to
the law.
Why should I be afraid or guilty? And I am ready to accept any
consequences of my actions. I have been moving for thirty years
in the country facing hostile masses—sometimes fifty thousand
people, all hostile. But I have never felt any guilt, because
whatever I was doing, I was doing with my totality. And whatever
I was doing, I was doing with full consciousness. And seeing me,
listening to me, although they had come with aggressive prejudices,
I could see slowly, slowly a calmness was descending on them.
And by the end, when I left, many were in tears. last106
Every year, the Catholic pope declares a black list of books
that Catholics are not supposed to read. Reading them means a
certainty of your going to hell. I was talking to a bishop in
Nagpur, because a few of my books had been listed by the Catholic
pope as not to be read by any Catholics; whoever reads them is
paving his path towards hell. And this is not new, this is an
almost eighteen-hundred-year-old tradition in the Catholic Church.
Before this century, they used to burn and destroy any book
they decided was dangerous for Catholics. Now they cannot do that,
but at least they can prevent the Catholics—who are a great
majority in the world, seven hundred million people.
I simply said to the bishop of Nagpur, "At least somebody
must have been reading my books; otherwise how do they decide?
Either the pope himself must be reading, or some associate cardinals
in the Vatican must be reading—without reading, you cannot
decide that a book is dangerous to the Catholic belief."
He was in a dilemma: he could not say yes, he could not say
no. Because if he says 'Yes, somebody reads it,' that means that
person is bound to fall into hell. And if that person is not going
to fall into hell, then the whole idea is ridiculous; then nobody
is going to fall into hell. It is just to keep people's eyes closed:
no facts should be allowed to be known to them that go against
their belief. splend13
|
