A little bit off the track

Question 1:

Anando, you are a rare intelligence but it often happens that the people who are intelligent don't have a good memory. And people who are intelligent, if they are not a little eccentric, are very flat and boring. You are not flat and boring. You are a born cuckoo. And you can hear from the very morning ... the cuckoo is going sane. I have been listening for almost half an hour.

A man who has intelligence is bound to be thought by many to be a little bit off the track. And in fact he is. Certainly he is not one of the crowd. To the crowd he is an outsider, a stranger. He dreams dreams which are not common, he hopes against hope, which looks absurd to commonsense people. He perceives faraway things, imagines utopias. He is the very salt of the earth.

And particularly being a woman you are even more rare, because man has not allowed women to be intelligent. Man has always kept them in an inferior position. Even the greatest men who are known to be compassionate have completely forgotten their compassion as far as woman is concerned.

Perhaps there was a certain fear going against their whole manhood or perhaps they are not even aware what man has been doing to woman.

Even a man like Jesus treats women as if they are not human beings. For twenty years continuously Gautam Buddha did not allow any woman to be initiated into sannyas, because he was worried about the future of his religion. To be frank, the worry was not about religion, the worry was about the monks who had repressed sexual energy. To bring the woman in was dangerous. Perhaps Buddha could have managed while he was alive, but how long he could be alive? After him things would take their natural course.

Mahavira was afraid ... He is thought to be one of the most courageous men that have walked on the earth; hence the name Mahavira. It is not the name given by his parents, it is an appreciation by the people; his name was Vardhamana. Mahavira means the courageous one. But even this courageous one was not courageous enough to declare that a woman is as capable of becoming enlightened as a man.

To me, these things hurt deeply. I appreciate these people - Jesus, Buddha, Mahavira - but I cannot totally appreciate them. Something is missing, and that something is about women. Mahavira was absolutely adamant that no woman can enter into enlightenment through the body of a woman. And these are the statements of a man who is saying every day that "You are not the body, you are not the mind, you are pure consciousness." And he is unable to see the contradiction: If consciousness is not the body, then it does not matter whether consciousness is in the body of a woman or in the body of a man. Consciousness itself is neither male nor female.

And this is true of all religions. They have committed a crime for which they are going to pay, and pay highly. They have destroyed half of humanity and its intelligence and its possibility of growth.

Anando is an intelligent woman. Somehow she has escaped from the trap, and all intelligent people are so individualistic that the crowd thinks that something is wrong with them, particularly about a woman.

In the first place, she is not expected to be intelligent; in the second place, she is not allowed to be a cuckoo, and Anando is both! And I love cuckoos, because cuckoos will reach enlightenment before anybody else. And a man or woman who does not have something eccentric in them is not interesting. They are too flat, too boring. A small eccentricity makes people more juicy.

So Anando, there is no need to be worried. There is no leak, and it is not just a temporary lapse either - you are a permanent cuckoo. But this is not going to hinder anything. It is going to help your growth immensely.

This communion is of outsiders. This is not a gathering of commonsense people. All commonsense people are against me. To be with me you need some uncommon sense, only then you can understand me.

Memory one day has to go completely. If it is disappearing, it is a good sign. To be clean of memory means to be clean of past, and to be clean of past is to be absolutely open and available to the future. Memory is not of the future, memory is of the past; it is always a graveyard. And the future belongs to life, to intelligence, to silence, to meditativeness. It does not belong to memory.

Once a man becomes enlightened he does not function out of memory, he functions spontaneously.

And even on the path toward enlightenment, slowly slowly spontaneity goes on replacing memory.

Memory is the way of the unintelligent man. One who cannot respond to reality immediately, needs a memory system so that he can remember old answers, old situations - what he has done before.

But then his response is no longer a response, it becomes a reaction. And all reactions fall short of the situation that is ahead of you, because the situation is continuously changing and the answers in your memory don't change. They are just dead commodities, they remain the same.

That"s why, as a person grows old, he finds himself getting out of touch with the new generation that is growing. The fault is not of the new generation, the fault is of the old man who has nothing but memory, and memory belongs to the past and the past is no longer there. The new generation is more responsive to the present - that creates the gap. The old generation always wants old answers, old scriptures, old saints; the older they are the more true.

Every religion tries to prove that their scriptures are the oldest. It is strange that they want to prove that. And they glorify in their ancientness. In fact, the more ancient they are, the more useless they are, because they have lost touch with reality completely. The man of consciousness and wisdom, alive, actually responds to the situation. Otherwise all answers fall short and life becomes more and more a mess.

So there is no need to be worried about it, if you are losing your memory and you see that you don't feel any parallel upsurge of intelligence. You will not feel it. Intelligence is so subtle that you will not hear the sound of its footsteps. But slowly, slowly it will transform your whole being and then suddenly, when the work is complete, you will awake from a deep sleep and you will see yourself as a new being, reborn.

So as far as I see, everything is going perfectly well. And I am watching you every day - because Anando is one of my secretaries, so I see her every day. She is growing, becoming more and more silent, joyous, humorous, sharp. But man has energy ... If you start becoming more sharp, more intelligent, from where will you get the energy? The energy that is involved and invested in memories has to be taken out, and there is no harm in it. In the ordinary marketplace, perhaps, not to have a good memory can be dangerous. But if you look at the geniuses of the world, you will be surprised that one of the most common points amongst all those geniuses is their lapse of memory.

Edison is going for a lecture tour to a few universities. He is saying goodbye to his wife and the maidservant is also standing there. He kisses the maidservant, thinking that she is his wife and waves to his wife, thinking that she is the maidservant. The driver of the car who was taking him cannot believe what is happening.

He said, "Sir, you have forgotten, you have got mixed up. The woman whom you are waving to is your wife and the other woman is your servant."

He said, "My God. There is no harm, I can get out of the car and put things right." He kissed his wife, waved to the maidservant and he said, "It often happens that I forget very essential things." He had discovered more inventions than anybody else before or after him - one thousand inventions.

Such a genius ... but while he was working on a certain invention, his wife had to remember and take notes, because in the middle of working on the invention he would forget what he was doing. At first he used to keep notes on paper, loose papers. Then it became a problem because thousands of loose papers in his study ... and he was rushing like mad, looking for the loose papers, "Where are those notes?" The wife said, "It is better you write down your notes in a diary. I don't understand science, how can I help you?"

So he started writing in a diary. Then he started forgetting those diaries; where has he put the diary?

Where has he left it? Finally, his wife started learning something about science and started taking notes, so that whenever he was in trouble, she could give him the notes. She had a good memory, but no intelligence. But it was fortunate that she was with Edison. Once he forgot his own name, which is a rare, very rare phenomenon. I don't think it has happened ever, or it will happen again.

To forget one"s own name, that seems to be getting to the rock bottom of forgetfulness. You cannot forget anything more - nothing is left.

In the first world war, when ration cards were introduced for the first time, everybody had to go to register his name and get his ration card. Edison also went and he was standing in a long queue.

Slowly, slowly, the queue was becoming smaller and he finally got to the front and the clerk shouted loudly, "Thomas Alva Edison!" He looked all around, "Who is Thomas Alva Edison?" He asked the man behind him, "Do you know this fellow?"

The clerk said, "It is strange, where is this man, Thomas Alva Edison?" Somebody far back in the queue recognized that he was a world famous scientist. He had seen his pictures in the newspapers.

He shouted from the back of the queue, "You are Thomas Alva Edison, I can guarantee it."

He said, "If you can guarantee it, I will accept it. But as far as I am concerned, I have completely forgotten what my name is, because almost for fifty years nobody has used my name. My students, out of respect, just call me professor. My colleagues, out of respect, just call me professor. And my parents died very early on, when I was very young, so there is nobody who uses my name. Slowly, slowly, I have become accustomed to hear my name as "the professor". But I think you are right. Far, far back I remember, as if in a dream, I have heard Thomas Alva Edison, perhaps that is my name.

And anyway nobody else is claiming it."

The clerk said, "You seem to be insane." He said, "That"s true."

The world is full of sane people and those sane people do nothing at all; it is only the insane who have helped man"s evolution. And this is true not only about Edison, but about many scientists, about many painters, about many poets.

Once, George Bernard Shaw was traveling in a train. The ticket checker came and Bernard Shaw looked all over, he almost felt like he was having a nervous breakdown because the ticket could not be found. The ticket checker said, "Don't be worried, Sir. I know you, the whole world knows you.

The ticket must be somewhere in your luggage and I will be coming in the next round, you can show me - and even if you don't show me there is no need to worry." He was not ready to listen to what Bernard Shaw said to him: "You shut up. You don't understand my problem. Who cares about you?

The problem is if I don't find my ticket, then I don't know where I am going. It is written on the ticket.

So are you going to decide for me? I am in such trouble, the ticket has to be found."

The ticket checker must have been taken aback, that this was a strange situation. Shaw was not worried about being caught without a ticket, his worry was far far deeper. Now the question was, where was he going? And because he could not find the ticket he had to go back home on the next train. He could not bring to his memory the place he was going to.

But all educational systems of the world have emphasized memory too much. And their emphasis on memory is a great conspiracy against humanity, because the whole energy has been focused on memory: Memorize more and more so that you can be successful in your examinations. And you can see what kind of success happens in the universities. The people who get first class, the people who get the top first class, the people who top the whole university - gold medalists, they are all lost in the world. You will never hear of them again, because the world needs intelligence, not memory.

Each moment intelligence is needed, not memory. My own understanding is that if we want to make humanity more conscious, more alert, more enlightened, then the emphasis has to be taken away from memory; the emphasis has to be put on intelligence.

But for universities, for professors, for pedagogues, emphasis on memory is simple. You just ask five questions and if the person can memorize the books, he can answer them.

My own professor was very much worried - because he loved me so much - because I never bothered about the prescribed books. And he was so concerned that, "Unless you answer exactly what is written in the books, it will be a great shock to all of us. You have the capacity to top the whole university, but the way you are behaving you cannot even pass."

I said, "Don't be worried," but he was so concerned that he used to come early in the morning to pick me up from the hostel and take me to the examination hall. He was not certain whether I would go or not, whether I would remember to go or not. And he would stand there until I had gone in and he would tell every examiner, "Keep an eye on this student, don't let him get out of the hall before the three hours are over, because he may answer within one hour and be gone. Force him, whether he has answered or not, to be here for three hours."

I said, "This is strange," but the examiners listened to him because he was also the dean of the Faculty of Arts. They were all under him; it was just a coincidence. And that"s why I say life is so full of mysteries. All my professors, my vice-chancellors, everybody was so surprised when I topped the university and got the gold medal. Nobody was expecting that.

But a coincidence - one of the most famous professors of Allahabad University, Professor Ranade ... It was well known that in his life he had given only two persons first class. Those two were the bare minimum. Otherwise it was very difficult even to get pass marks from him. And he was thought to be not only a professor, but a sage. He had written great books with great insight; there was no doubt about his intellectual acumen.

Just by coincidence my papers reached his hands. And he wrote a note which the vice-chancellor showed to me, because he had written in the notes, "This note should be shown to the student: you are the only person in my life who has fulfilled my desire. I always hated memorized answers; your answers are so fresh and so short, to the point. You are not a man of memory. I wanted to give you a hundred percent marks, but that may look a little suspicious - perhaps I am favoring you - that"s why I am giving you ninety-nine percent.

"But if you happen to come to Allahabad any time, I would love to meet you. In my whole life- long career as a professor, I have been waiting perhaps for you. I wanted these kind of answers. I wanted this courage - that rather than answering the question, you questioned the question and you demolished the question completely. You have not answered it because there is nothing to answer; the question is absurd. And when you answer a question, you answer to the point. I don't want to read long answers, which are all repetitive. Everybody else is writing them, nobody is using his intelligence."

He was aware of the fact that memory is only mechanical; intelligence is your real treasure. And now it has become an absolute fact. In the future, memory will not be used at all, because you can carry a small computer in a pocket with all the answers for all the questions that can be asked. Even absurd questions ... for example, on what day Socrates was married. Or, who was the first man to use the bow and arrow. Everything can be ready-made. You can get any answer from the computer.

And computers can be so small that you can keep them in your pocket. They can be so small that you can make just a wristwatch out of them. On the surface it will look like a wristwatch, but deep down it is carrying all the answers that you need. Just ask the question and the answer is there.

It has happened in different areas before. Before the fountain-pen came into existence, people"s handwriting was very beautiful, because there was great emphasis on handwriting. As the fountain- pen came into existence, those days of great handwriting disappeared.

Before calculators came into existence, everybody was able to calculate. Now, even the greatest mathematician never does any calculation without a calculator. Without a calculator he is at a loss.

He may have even forgotten that two plus two is four. The calculator has demolished the great memory system about figures.

And now computers have come into existence. You may have a small computer but it can be connected with a big computer in your town, in your state or in your country, from where every kind of knowledge is available immediately. You just ask the question and the answer will appear on the screen of the computer.

Just the other day, Anando brought the news - man is such a strange animal - that in America there is now so much use of computers that a few criminals have started a new crime. That is, erasing people"s computers" memory. And they have found such a beautiful system that you will never know what you are doing.

They simply advertise a certain puzzle or a certain game that can be played with the computer - between you and the computer. And those games are so interesting that people start playing them on their computer. For a few moments, everything goes right. Those games are made in such a way that when the game is over and you are absolutely satisfied with it, the game that you have fed into the computer will start demolishing all memory that is in the computer. It will erase it all, blank. Next time when you ask anything, no answer will come.

Now there is a great fear; these people are very dangerous. And they are not getting anything out of it. Perhaps they are agents of the computer agencies which sell computers, because if one program is completely erased, you are bound to go and get another. So the computer market will go on always having more demand than they can supply. Otherwise I don't see the point of why somebody should start such a thing. He is not gaining anything unless he is being paid by the computer agencies.

It seems that as man becomes more and more intelligent, his crimes also become more and more intelligent; his criminal mind is far ahead of his effort to become enlightened.

But, Anando, you don't have to be worried about your memory. What is essential is intelligence.

And the whole energy should move towards intelligence. It will make you feel very light. And as far as memory is concerned, just use a notebook. Anything essential, fundamental, just note it down.

Soon we will have computers, but before that you can use a diary. And there is no leakage. Leakage as such never happens.

Paddy, Sean and Mick were out hunting one day when they came upon some tracks. After looking at them closely, Paddy said, "Those are bear tracks."

"No, no," said Sean, "those are deer tracks."

"Hey Mick," they both asked, "what do you think they are?"

But before he could answer, all three were hit by a train.

Intelligence is going to be the savior, not memory.

A factory had a football game between the Polacks and the Italians. They played all afternoon, but neither team was able to score. Suddenly it was five o"clock, the factory whistle blew and the Italian team walked off the field. Twenty minutes later the Polacks scored a goal.

Little Eddy said to his mother, "Mom, I want to be early at school this afternoon so that I can sit in the front row. We are going to have a lesson on sex." When he returned home later that day, his mother noticed that he looked very sad and disappointed. "What is the matter, Eddy, didn"t you enjoy the lesson?" she asked.

"Phooey," replied Eddy, "it was all theory."

Question 2:

Tamar, you have put everything upside down. I have been telling you, accept everybody as he is. Don't make demands that he should fulfill some ideal of your conditioning, that he should be according to your fancy. This is not the way of love, and this is not even the way to behave humanly.

Love accepts the person as he is. Certainly, the acceptance of the person as he is brings tremendous changes in the person. But they are not demanded. They happen on their own accord.

But you have put the whole story in an absolutely wrong way. Rather than accepting others as they are, you want them to accept you as you are.

Your question is really funny. And it shows how you go on listening to me and making up things which I have never said. I have never said such a thing in my whole life. What I said was just the contrary.

You are saying "I find more and more that the most essential thing for me in relationship, as well as my strongest wish, is to be loved and accepted completely, exactly the way I am. Is this just another way of being needy and demanding?"

It is simply the way of being stupid.

I have heard about a man who remained celibate to his very last breath. When he was dying - and he was very old, ninety-years old ... and he was not a religious man either; why he remained celibate was a mystery. Many times people asked him, but he simply smiled and never answered.

His friends had gathered and they said, "At least now, before you leave the body, solve the puzzle; otherwise it will torture our minds and the curiosity will remain lingering, and nobody will be able to find the answer. Only you can tell us why you remained celibate."

The man said, "I can say it now. I remained celibate because I was in search of a perfect woman."

The people around him said, "Couldn"t you get a perfect woman in a lifetime"s search of ninety years?"

He said, "That is the most sad thing. Once I came across a perfect woman, but she was looking for a perfect man."

Now, it is not in your hands or in your power that the other should accept you as you are, and you should be loved and accepted completely. You cannot enforce this kind of idea on anybody. Yes, you can love somebody as he is or she is, without making any demands. But you have put everything upside down. Rather than becoming accepting of people, you have got a new idea - a very original idea - that you should be accepted as you are and loved totally and perfectly. Then you will never be loved and you will never be accepted. You will remain always empty, hollow, and you will live a life of despair.

You have put the bullock behind the cart. Now there can be no movement. Just bring a little intelligence and see what you are doing. This is not possible. And never ask for the impossible, unless you are ready for a great frustration.

Paddy telephoned the police in a terrible state. "Officer," he cried, "come over at once. The steering wheel, the gear-stick, the clutch, the brake and the accelerator have all been stolen from my car." A few minutes later Paddy called back and said, "I am sorry, officer, no need to bother. I just realized I got in the back seat by mistake."

Tamar, you are in the back seat.

The woman was watching the next door neighbors embracing on their front door step one morning.

She commented to her husband, "That"s the most devoted couple I have ever met. Every time he goes out he kisses her. Why don't you do that?"

"Why should I?" nodded her husband, reading his newspaper, "I hardly know the woman."

When I am speaking, please try to understand what I am saying. Don't continue to read your newspaper.

Sally came home from her first date looking very pleased with herself. "How did it go with John?"

asked her mother. "Ah, it was alright until after dinner," Sally replied, "But on the way home he stopped the car in a lonely lane and started kissing me to distract my attention. He then started feeling around inside my clothes but I fooled him - I had hidden my money in my shoes."

Okay, Maneesha?

Yes, Osho.