Religion is the Opium of the People
Lokesh points out a major Contradiction
Osho referred to Karl Marx’s famous statement many times. ‘Communism means removing all fictions from the human mind, giving it a good cleaning of all the past that has filled it with rubbish.
Marx’s vision never reached beyond that, but my understanding and my vision is far more perfect. To me, communism is only the first stage – not the last. And as communism succeeds, people will drop the inferiority complex – which is needed by the priests, which is needed by the people who are driving humanity into different kinds of slavery. And when there is no God, there is no guilt – without guilt no organized religion can live. It is guilt that takes people to the churches, because they become afraid: they have committed sins, now they will suffer hellfire for eternity. So something has to be done to remove the guilt. All religions provide fictions.’
I find this particular statement from Osho to be very concise and bang on target…he is speaking the truth. And in another discourse he condenses the truth down to this simple statement: ‘Religion is freedom from all fears.’
So far, so good. The thing is, if my memory serves me well, fear was present in the commune when I lived in it during the seventies and I daresay, observed from a distance, it continued to be present in the commune right up until Osho’s death. Fear is a great tool for manipulating people, and people allowed themselves to be manipulated by fear in the commune. This took many forms: fear of loosing your food pass because you were not surrendered enough, fear of having your mala confiscated if caught blowing a joint, or…if you were in the front line at discourses and darshan…fear of loosing your coveted cushion space, and also… ultimately committing serious criminal offences out of fear of falling out of favour in the commune hierarchy etc. There is no denying it, although I can’t help but notice that many still do deny this.
Osho must have been aware of this and yet, as he stated above, ‘my vision is far more perfect’. Why then did he allow fear to manipulate his commune sannyasins when it completely contradicted everything he said on the matter? Was it perhaps a case of things turning into an organized religion centering around him, and as he said, ‘without guilt no organized religion can live’?
maybe the whole idea of detroying all fictions is itself a fiction…..
and that`s the fiction that needs to be got over…?
Lockesh writes “The thing is, if my memory serves me well, fear was present in the commune when I lived in it during the seventies and I daresay, observed from a distance, it continued to be present in the commune right up until Osho’s death. Fear is a great tool for manipulating people, and people allowed themselves to be manipulated by fear in the commune.” Why then did he allow fear to manipulate his commune sannyasins when it completely contradicted everything he said on the matter?”
I am sure you are right about the fear Lockesh. Although I never lived in a commune I could feel the fear.
You write : “Why then did he allow fear to manipulate his commune sannyasins when it completely contradicted everything he said on the matter?”
But what could he do? Hundreds of westerners come, many of them poor.
If they are willing to submit out of fear to the Moms, what could he do? Chuck em out for being cowards? Tell the moms to behave differently? Would they have listened?
only an enlighted person can be fearless
is sitting on a podium having people bowing at your feet,(and if they dont bow,group pressure will put them right) an effective strategy for dealing with the “inferiority complexes” that religion has implanted in them ?
it seems unlikely,other than on the principle of
“if the fool would persist in his folly,he would become wise”…
There was a tight organization around Osho. The robes, the malas, the Sanskrit names, one’s level of “surrender”, all constituted the elements of membership in the organization. Where there is organization, there is hierarchy, and where there is hierarchy, there will be the application of power. And where there is the application of power, there will always be fear.
The alternative is no organization at all, or a bare semblance of organization, such as that that surrounded gurus like Nisargadatta or Neem Karoli. But Osho was too big, too attractive to large numbers of people, so organization could not be avoided. He was bound to end up contradicting himself in that regard, and I think he recognized such an inconsistency as unavoidable.
The usage of the mala itself, all rationales for it aside, was surprisingly similar to the essential basis of the Christian Nicene creed, i.e., that Jesus is God and that personal gnosis is therefore unnecessary — just follow Jesus, and all will be well. By wearing the mala, we were, in essence, declaring something very similar — just follow this man, identify with him deeply, and all will be well (efforts at meditation, or group therapy participation, notwithstanding). Remove the mala — the dreaded “dropping sannyas” — and you are consigned to a cold purgatory (or worse), much like the fate of a Christian renouncing the Nicene creed and declaring Jesus to be just another wise man, no different from others.
Of course, Osho’s argument was that our egos are very tricky, and we usually use this ideal of independence to hide our egos — “I do not need to follow any guru, to become a disciple of any guru, because the truth is already within me.” And unquestionably it is true that many “independent” seekers hide their egos in their so-called independence. But it seems to be almost impossible to prevent the toxic elements of organized religion from seeping in to any organized spirituality, even in a loose organization like the one around Osho. And where there is organization, there will be hierarchy and therefore, fear.
That said, seems to me that we always end up in the same place: needing to take responsibility for our own inner process, including our fear.
ran out of crystal meth, so here it goes… The “my vision is more perfect”, statement coming from osho, if said by any other person, say the pope, everyone in their mother would be all over his case for being narcissistic but if said by osho, it gets a pass, particularly from sannyasins.. so the “Church of Rajneeshism” was born. Was he high like a kite when he said that? high on nitrous that is. That discourse if heard with at least some objectivity by anyone other than a sannyasin would see the hypocrisy, the double talk. Ostriches are not the only creatures with ability to stick their heads deep in the sand. If there is disease with the human mind, sannyasins take the golden prize for making denial and stupidity the top two mental illnesses we as humans can suffer from. Lokesh’s is spot on with the fear that afflicted the ashram and the Ranch, and i think it was at it’s height at the Ranch. The number one fear was being kicked off the ranch or as we used to say- “being asked to leave”. But life on the ranch, for me anyway, was a blast- for the most part, an experience not found anywhere else on the planet- but as they say, humans will fuck up a free lunch and we certainly did.
it was once said Osho told Sheela, when Sheela came to him for advice about problems with certain other sannyasins, that she should- “Delegate and isolate”, strange coming from such an open person as Osho. Lokesh asks: “Why then did he allow fear to manipulate…. said on the matter”. My thoughts are, maybe he was a master sneak, look how well he hid his nitrous addiction, no one except a select few knew, even after Shiva’s book came out, the effort to suppress that knowledge was amazing. Iwas there at a meeting at the ranch where Sheela declared Shiva an outcast and was banned from all centers and ashrams and anyone welcoming him would lose their mala. Osho masterfully manipulated others, to direct attention away from himself for any “indiscretions” that may have occurred. I think he really didn’t care for the average sannyasin, only if you had money or if you showed a lot of joy and gratitude while in his presence or had an open heart to his being. He could very well be one of the most self centered, selfish bastards that ever lived or at least that I knew. There is too much proof to support my statements and lokesh’s… “Religion is the opium of the people” and the funny thing is Osho the religious leader, was probably high on opium too.
Very good comments from everyone concerned. As the song goes….’Let’s get it started!’
i wouldn`t say that osho just let it all happen,nor that any organisation would neccesarily have needed the same kind of quasi-feudal authoritarian nutters…
he clearly instigated it,from gurdjieffian bitches in the kitchen to investing so much into a pyramid like power structure…
it could have been that osho tried to use alan watts` idea touched on in a previous thread,namely putting the disciple as in a zen koan,into a real-life “double bind” in order to get her to the point where there is no way out then an awakening ,liberation or transcendence of the problem happens spontaneously……
saying be free,be spontaneous,destroy all fictions,yet creating an authoritarian unfree situation created just that sort of double bind.
its an impossible situation…
so……..enlightenment or bust….
of couse on the other hand the “double bind” idea was used by gregory bateson and rd laing as an explanation of how family groups create schizophrenia by sending conflicting messages to the children…
“you must love your mother”
“you must” conflicts with the spontanaiety of love.
these impossible injunctions leave the victim no option but to retreat into a delusional fantasy world….
“drop your ego”
“transcend the mind”
“be free,enlightened”
“drop all fear”
“surrender to spontenaiety”
etc etc…
will have the same effect.
so if you are one of the lucky ones who got into this double-bind and then blasted through it and got enlightened,well done matey…
if not,to avoid moving like the schizoid kid into delusional fantasies and denials …in our case, spiritual fantasies and denials what is needed is a clear recognition of the problem.
getting what happened into a new context…..
My inner landscape has been transformed, beyond all recognition; by my relationship with Osho,the sannyas world. Meditation. Seems to me that has happened because of all that’s gone on, and I mean all, not despite.
Arpana: you could have experienced what you did even if you chose to worship and follow Santa Claus. it’s all in your head/heart NOT the person you chose to surrender to. As they say:
“It’s all a head trip, baby”. Talk about fear, the fear of living is the greatest fear, cause you fear you might die if you you do. This fear afflicts all humans. Osho just baited you with his “mystical” powers, with the “sex” trip, with the ashram trip, with his smooth talking discourses and his “energy” darshans”. The average dopey human needs to be baited with something, what better things to offer, and his arrival on the hippie- free love scene was impeccable timing, mostly to his good fortune. And before Pune 1 and even Bombay- Osho never asked anyone to wear a mala with his picture or wear orange/red clothing. Frank’s right, Osho did plan the whole Ashram trip- mala, clothing, meditations, groups and all. though the American trip I’m not so sure. a grand experiment indeed, nothing like it ever!!
Have long held the view I had to go to the ashram to meet Osho to find out I didn’t need to go to the Ashram to meet Osho. Lots of stuff in life isn’t necessary. Didn’t need to listen to Franks Dylan track last night, but in a small way the quality of my life was raised a notch because I did.
when are you going to throw away those “crutches”?
interestingly,sheela described that osho said to her in their meetings,when she asked him for advice about running the ranch:
“you know what you have to do”
a classic double-bind.
and now,she appears strongly to be living in a delusional world…
proclaiming her love yet denying huge chunks of the reality…
she`s gone the schizo kid way,rather than the zen satori way,it seems…
and what about the rest of us?
frank- it figures sheela would chose to operate an old age home… everyone’s too physically weak to offer any resistance, and if someone does complain- out the door and dumped from their wheelchair onto the street. Guess she needed to establish her dominance somewhere. Old people are the perfect targets.
Tyranny of the Structurelessness.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tyranny_of_Structurelessness
Unintended Consequences.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unintended_consequences
Least Bad Options
I have never been there, but would like to share my opinion:
Why then did he allow fear to manipulate his commune sannyasins when it completely contradicted everything he said on the matter?-I think it is exactly because of freedom. He said the truth, chewed it for us and put in our mouth but then it is up to us. Right? He always said he is not a man of violence and will not impose anything on us.
The word “allow” is exactly indicative of freedom. Can you imagine Osho having conference calls to discuss HR issues and control the “control situations”, fears? Sounds absurd. The guy rarely left his room…no wonder people like Sheela had a full ride.
Another point I have with regards to what was described as fear. As far as I understand fear will not go anywhere before spiritual transformation, whether we like it or not. Fear of death is the basic one and other things get impacted as a result. So it is a natural feeling.
Going back to an example when a druggy is scared to loose his mala, I think it has nothing to do with Osho and his commune. What do you want Osho to do here? To call the guy into the office and console him: “yes, please become more unconscious it is ok. You are in the right place”. So the point I am trying to make, that fear is our own responsibility, and rules of the commune Osho’s. It was his place and he wanted things his way, for our transformation. If you don’t want to follow them, find another Guru.
The problem for me though is the control functions that were created in “doing Osho’s work”. Don’t we all enjoy telling other’s what to do? And if not, threaten them by being banned, confiscating their food passes etc.
Chetna- have to disagree. Osho ventured out enough to know what was going on. and his meetings with Laxmi and Sheela, were to get him updated on things. I posted a piece on my being at a meeting at the ranch with Sheela and most of the residents, where she stated flat out, that osho was completely aware what was going on and where and when and what work each sannyasin was doing. So— there it is, and i hope you’re not one of the many who are still in denial, even after these many years… Too much truth from too many people who lived at pune and the ranch. there is still much more… Last year an exsannyasin posted a memo here, he was osho’s mother’s care taker- someone who i would give lots of credence to. If you can find his post, read it. It would be great to here more from those who were in the inner circle- time to deflate this “guru” knows everything syndrome that’s been plaguing humans for eons. His post was very scary with regards to what osho knew and his direct involvement in the operations both at the ranch and pune.
St. Paul. You remind me of St . Paul. Finally got it. He was violently agasint Jesus apparently. Preached angrily against Jesus. Worked hard to dissuade the followers.Then he got it apparently on the road to Tarsus, or something like that. He got some one who didn’t exist though.
I gracefully withdraw this remark Swam or Swams.
It’s a bit of a mix would you not say Lokesh?
Being in a Buddhafield had one incredible advantage over the normal lives most of us had lived, and now still live in my case. I still work professionally though old now, and at least 20 times a day I interact with people, who maybe be well intentioned, or authentically in difficulties, but none of them are seekers, or really want to know what it is all about. So the alchemy of daily life is sometimes missing what it had back then unless I am mixing with fellow sannyasins or seekers.
Jay often says that life at the Ranch was a blast, not because of the organisation as I understand it, but in spite of it. You yourself are on record as saying that your Poona one period was amongst the best days of your life?
Terrtha, the one who posts here, mentions teachers who discourage organisation. One such was Barry Long. But I always felt that somehow his stuff needed to lighten up. In the Osho communes – 12 hugs before breakfast, and a couple of great laughs – personally I thought that Osho jokes were pretty good (- in any case he got them from his researchers from around the world, they weren’t his!) certainly left me in a different space every day.
So I have no real answer to your conundrum, but to say I am glad that Osho started neo sannyas. And here is a joke to brighten your day
ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death.
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS: Take a guess.
The shared, the collective submersion in the so called ordinary, immediate everyday life. \(^o\) (/o^)/
Jay wrote : “I posted a piece on my being at a meeting at the ranch with Sheela and most of the residents, where she stated flat out, that osho was completely aware what was going on and where and when and what work each sannyasin was doing.”
Come on, there were hundreds of permanent residents at the Ranch. He could not have known where and when and what work each sannyasin was doing. What, Sheela told him every morning “Sw X moved from construction to the kitchen, Sw Y from PR to construction, etc etc?”
I do not think so. Why do you take Sheela to be a reliable source? She is a convicted criminal.
I think Chetna has got it about right. Maybe the second generation of sannyasins has got some brains. You can’t say that about many first generation sannyasins, can you?
Well said Swam.
Often wonder about the impact upon us individually, and collectively, of all that Osho doesn’t say. Seems to me a huge part of what he is about is allowing. The sixties generation came from such proscriptive backgrounds by and large. (He didn’t tell us of in the way we had been for squabbling. Ha Ha.)\(^o\) (/o^)/
Quite contrare Alok, When you got accepted onto the ranch, the old man knew who you were and where you came from. Same with work assignments, osho knew where you were posted, and what general tasks you had to perform; NOBODY and i mean nobody got to live on the ranch without his knowledge and blessing. Just as your sannyas name came directly from osho not sheela, teertha, or arup. The whole sannyas application process ended up in Osho’s hands. It may be difficult for you to accept but that was how things operated. One exception on the ranch- no one could control “visitors” who drove on the public road to rajneeshpuram. the downtown square was public domain as well as the public road that ran through the ranch, anyone could venture there if they so wanted to. That more than anythin, i think annoyed Sheela and her thugs more than anything, the inability to control who paid visits to rajneeshpuram and antelope.
You say sheela is a convicted criminal- so was Osho!!! And he caught a break- BIG TIME!!!
The second generation sannyasins are even bigger failures than the first- for instance, has anything gotten better since the first gen of sannyasins- in a worldly perspective of course. answer- No!! things has gotten worse and even in an accelerated way. All of these meditations the “second geners” are doing- where’s the result? If it were working it definitely would have rubbed off on the general population, even by now. Yeah we screwed things up but at least we got as far a building these damn communes and ashrams and gave it a good effort, but without using common sense it ends as failure regardless, something most current clowns in red still lack.. just reading Arupana’s ridiculous statements proves my point. Still blinded by the “walking on water” characters. the “holier than thou” pretenders. a very delusional and dangerous path to take.
another angle on the “i`m glad for the good old days”scenario is…
…one of the great things about being part of neosannyas was that you knew who your enemies were…
polack pope
mother theresa
pisspot desai
ronald rayguns and his monkey
the unconscious masses
oregonians
and a host of other “idiots” and “retarded” “pygmies”
etc
being in a big gang,it all meant that you had the freedom to diss them,laugh at them,ridicule them to your hearts content,shout at them in dynamic,direct your neg feelings,anger etc towards them….
you could be “negative” in good faith….
didn`t that feel good?
back in the world by yourself you just cant get away with it so easy….
so don`t forget to thank those enemies too,for also playing their part in allowing you to feel good…….
That is so perceptive Frank. The elitist aspect of sannyas.
yes,it was certainly a way to deal with the “inferiority complex” instilled by religion…
by replacing it with a feeling of superiority over all those religious idiots,retards etc…
it worked for me…..
i loved feeling part of the chosen few who were getting it right for the first time in history….
it was a blow to lose that….
i have to make up my own egotrips as i go along,now…
its hard work,i can tell you…..
Nice one Frank. Great to be shameless. Oh yeah!
that trip still exists with sannyasins- the “elitist”, “I’m better than nonsannyasins”, Then again every group, or tribe feels that way towards other people outside their group- Osho just created another tribe, another club. This attitude is inherit to the human”tribe”- blame mother earth or the great cosmos, but then again if the tibetan buddhist view of exist holds true, we have no one to blame but ourselves, for we supposedly chose our incarnations… now this is one dumb way of existing– now who started this game anyway?
Frank- don’t you reward yourself at the end of each day for your “hard” work? doesn’t trashing other people for their “inferiority” suffice? You should start a gossip circle, you can then feed each others egos, kinda like what sannyasins did/do.
Ah, yes, the chosen few, that was a good one and right out of the How to be a Successful Guru Handbook. And we all fell for it, although I never could quite agree that Mother Theresa was one of the bad guys. Still don´t.
Lokesh: it really got out of hand when osho announced at the ranch, in late 1984, during a taped discourse, there was this group called “the chosen few”. What a commotion that created, mostly with the insecure Ma’s… The main complaint from these spoiled cry babies was, “Why am I not on that list”?, also, “Who are the chosen few”? Bunch of self centered 10 year old girls! Well, lo and behold not too many months later, Osho decided enough was enough and said that all of us were the chosen few!!! I believe he even mentioned the whining from so many sannyasins, who thought they should be on that list. Man, most people, even spiritual seekers just can’t think for themselves.
Well, JC, that comes as a great relief to hear that. I must confess I was worried shitless that I might have been excluded from the chosen few. Now that I really know that I am one I can sleep in peace. His blessings…
nighty night and pleasant dreams