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And ask questions! Challenge, question—question all Buddhas, question me, because if there is truth, truth will not be afraid of your questions. If the Buddhas are true, they are true; you don't need to believe in them. Keep doubting them... If you doubt and continue to doubt until the very end, until the very logical end, sooner or later you will stumble upon the truth… ©Osho
To doubt is to grope in the dark, but the door exists. If Buddha could go through the door, if Jesus could reach it, if I could reach it, why can't you? Everyone is capable of finding the door—but you are afraid to grope, so you sit in a dark corner and believe in someone who found the door. You haven't seen this someone, you've heard about them from others, and so on, and so forth.
Buddha did not tell people: "Believe in me." That is why his teaching disappeared from India—people want to believe. People do not want truth, they want belief.
Belief is cheap, truth is dangerous, heavy, difficult—a person must pay for it. A person must seek and investigate, and there is no guarantee that it will be found, no guarantee that there is any truth at all. It might not exist at all.
People want belief—and Buddha said, his last message to the people was: "Be a light unto yourself." His disciples wept, ten thousand sadhus surrounded him... of course, they were sad, and tears fell; their master was leaving. And Buddha told them:
- Do not weep. Why do you weep? One of his disciples, Ananda, replied:
- Because you are leaving us, because you were our only hope, because we hoped, and hoped for so long, that through you we would reach the truth.
And then, in response to Ananda, Buddha said:
- Do not worry about this. I cannot give you the truth; no one else can give it to you, it is untransferable. But you can achieve it yourself. Be a light unto yourself.
My approach is the same. You don't need to believe in me. I don't want believers here, I want seekers, and a seeker is a completely different phenomenon. A believer is not a seeker. A believer does not want to seek, and that is exactly why they believe. A believer wants to avoid the search, that is why they believe. A believer wants to be delivered, saved; they need a savior. They are always in search of a messiah—someone who can eat for them, chew for them, digest for them. But if I eat, it will not satisfy your hunger. No one can save you except yourself.
Jesus says: "Come, follow Me." Not only Jesus says this, Krishna says it too. All the old religions of the world are based on this statement. But this statement is the psychological exploitation of a human being.
I cannot say: "Come and follow me."
First of all, those who said this crippled humanity, they made humanity helpless.
They, of course, satisfied a certain human need. People do not want to be themselves. They lack the courage to blaze their own trail, to go and forge it. They want to be led.
But they do not know that if a person is led, then slowly, slowly, even if they have eyes, they will lose them. They will see through the eyes of Jesus, Krishna, Muhammad. Their own eyes will not be needed; in fact, their eyes will only cause them discomfort.
The leader wants you to give him your eyes and see with his eyes; give him your feet and walk with his feet; not believe in yourself, but believe in him.
From my point of view, this is a crime; it cripples, paralyzes, and destroys you. And this can be observed all over the world.
All of humanity is being destroyed by such statements and such people.
I tell you: "Come, and I will share with you," — but I do not say: "Follow me." Who am I that you should follow me?
And you also need to understand that every individual is so unique that if you start following someone, you will automatically imitate. You will lose your individuality. You will start turning into a deceiver, a hypocrite. You will not be yourself, you will be someone else. You will begin to split.
I need seekers here, researchers, not believers. Believers are the most mediocre people in the world, people of the lowest intellect in the world. Therefore, forget about belief; you are creating difficulties for yourself. Start believing in me, and disbelief will appear—it will inevitably appear, because I am not here to meet your expectations.
Think, seek, and look, and if as a result of your own experience you feel that there is some truth in my words, if through your own search, through looking into the window of your own mind, you feel that there is some truth in this, then that truth will become your own. Then it will not remain only mine. Then it will not be my understanding—it will become your own understanding. Then everything you do in your life will lead you toward wisdom and awakening. Doing something based on faith, you sink deeper into darkness and unconsciousness. It is useful to think carefully about this point as well…
Osho
To doubt is to grope in the dark, but the door exists. If Buddha could go through the door, if Jesus could reach it, if I could reach it, why can't you? Everyone is capable of finding the door—but you are afraid to grope, so you sit in a dark corner and believe in someone who found the door. You haven't seen this someone, you've heard about them from others, and so on, and so forth.
Buddha did not tell people: "Believe in me." That is why his teaching disappeared from India—people want to believe. People do not want truth, they want belief.
Belief is cheap, truth is dangerous, heavy, difficult—a person must pay for it. A person must seek and investigate, and there is no guarantee that it will be found, no guarantee that there is any truth at all. It might not exist at all.
People want belief—and Buddha said, his last message to the people was: "Be a light unto yourself." His disciples wept, ten thousand sadhus surrounded him... of course, they were sad, and tears fell; their master was leaving. And Buddha told them:
- Do not weep. Why do you weep? One of his disciples, Ananda, replied:
- Because you are leaving us, because you were our only hope, because we hoped, and hoped for so long, that through you we would reach the truth.
And then, in response to Ananda, Buddha said:
- Do not worry about this. I cannot give you the truth; no one else can give it to you, it is untransferable. But you can achieve it yourself. Be a light unto yourself.
My approach is the same. You don't need to believe in me. I don't want believers here, I want seekers, and a seeker is a completely different phenomenon. A believer is not a seeker. A believer does not want to seek, and that is exactly why they believe. A believer wants to avoid the search, that is why they believe. A believer wants to be delivered, saved; they need a savior. They are always in search of a messiah—someone who can eat for them, chew for them, digest for them. But if I eat, it will not satisfy your hunger. No one can save you except yourself.
Jesus says: "Come, follow Me." Not only Jesus says this, Krishna says it too. All the old religions of the world are based on this statement. But this statement is the psychological exploitation of a human being.
I cannot say: "Come and follow me."
First of all, those who said this crippled humanity, they made humanity helpless.
They, of course, satisfied a certain human need. People do not want to be themselves. They lack the courage to blaze their own trail, to go and forge it. They want to be led.
But they do not know that if a person is led, then slowly, slowly, even if they have eyes, they will lose them. They will see through the eyes of Jesus, Krishna, Muhammad. Their own eyes will not be needed; in fact, their eyes will only cause them discomfort.
The leader wants you to give him your eyes and see with his eyes; give him your feet and walk with his feet; not believe in yourself, but believe in him.
From my point of view, this is a crime; it cripples, paralyzes, and destroys you. And this can be observed all over the world.
All of humanity is being destroyed by such statements and such people.
I tell you: "Come, and I will share with you," — but I do not say: "Follow me." Who am I that you should follow me?
And you also need to understand that every individual is so unique that if you start following someone, you will automatically imitate. You will lose your individuality. You will start turning into a deceiver, a hypocrite. You will not be yourself, you will be someone else. You will begin to split.
I need seekers here, researchers, not believers. Believers are the most mediocre people in the world, people of the lowest intellect in the world. Therefore, forget about belief; you are creating difficulties for yourself. Start believing in me, and disbelief will appear—it will inevitably appear, because I am not here to meet your expectations.
Think, seek, and look, and if as a result of your own experience you feel that there is some truth in my words, if through your own search, through looking into the window of your own mind, you feel that there is some truth in this, then that truth will become your own. Then it will not remain only mine. Then it will not be my understanding—it will become your own understanding. Then everything you do in your life will lead you toward wisdom and awakening. Doing something based on faith, you sink deeper into darkness and unconsciousness. It is useful to think carefully about this point as well…
Osho