Just by celebrating

Question 1:

The enlightened man is beyond taking any decisions, so the first thing to be understood is that he does not decide. Decision is part of the ego. In essence, it is a fight: to do this or to do that. And the ego thinks it is wiser than existence. Once the ego is gone, decision making is also gone.

The enlightened man simply lives without any decision, without any goal, without any longing. He has come to the point from where any decision will be against existence. Only a nondecisive let-go can be the way of the existential man. So it is not a question of decision. Thousands of people have become enlightened, but only very few have become masters. So naturally the mind thinks, who decides that a few should become masters and that the remaining should simply disappear into the universe? Nobody decides.

The way things work is totally different from decision making. There have been masters and there have been enlightened people, and there have been other dimensions to enlightenment also: there have been poets, there have been painters, there have been sculptors, there have been singers, dancers. The difference happens because of unique individualities.

You come to enlightenment without any ego, without a personality but not without an individuality.

In fact, once personality and ego are no longer there, only pure, unique individuality is left. Your uniqueness is left. So everyone who becomes enlightened brings to enlightenment his unique individuality.

If his unique individuality has developed the capacity to be a painter, if he has found his potential in being a painter, then he brings that contribution to his enlightenment. After enlightenment he will paint; of course his paintings will be different. Before enlightenment and after enlightenment the paintings will be totally different.

I have told you many times the story of five blind men who have come to see an elephant. It is one of the ancientmost stories. Each one looks at the elephant from a different side, touches the elephant... somebody the leg, somebody the ear, and so on and so forth. And they all argue. When the person who is touching the leg of the elephant declares that an elephant is like a pillar you find in the temples he is not being untrue. What he is experiencing, he is saying. But it looks absolutely untrue to anybody who has seen the whole elephant.

Something essential has to be understood: whenever you try to make the part the whole, you will be in the same blind situation. The blind man is simply touching a part of the elephant and making that part the whole elephant. Naturally he is going to be in conflict.

The man who is touching the ear says, "What you are saying is absolute nonsense." In India before electricity came, the rich people used to have big fans, and two servants would stand by their side continuously fanning them. That fan looks like the ear of the elephant, so the first man says, "It is impossible. An elephant is like a fan! Your statement is so far away and so farfetched that it is not worth even considering."

But the third has touched some other part, and all five are in a deep philosophical discussion. This is a five-thousand-year-old story - it is about philosophers. It is not about the blind men and not about the elephant; it is about philosophers. They are also blind, but whatsoever they stumble upon in their blindness, they make into a whole system, which has no relevance to the real whole. To their own mind it seems to be perfect, and they cannot believe how people are arguing against a perfect system.

Throughout all these centuries philosophers have been arguing and coming to no conclusion. They cannot come to any conclusion because their premises are different, and on their premises their whole structure depends. Those five blind men have not yet come to any conclusion; they are still arguing. And they will never come to any conclusion. Generation after generation those five blind people will go to see the elephant and will fight and argue, but no conclusion is possible.

The enlightened man sees the whole. Before he was enlightened he knew only fragments and he was painting those fragments. Now he paints something that can become an indication of the whole.

Nobody has decided - neither existence nor the person. It is just that the individuality that he has developed before enlightenment becomes the vehicle through which existence paints.

Somebody has developed the art of composing music; his old music will be nothing compared to what he is doing now, because it was the blind man's vision. Now he sees the whole reality, and he sees that the whole reality can, in some way, be reflected by his music. Listening to his music you will be transported from your constantly thinking mind to a state of no-mind.

And a poet is not deciding to remain a poet; neither is existence choosing him to be a poet. He comes with that articulateness. The same is true about a master.

You can see it. You can go to a university and you can see: there are so many teachers, but some teachers are just there because they could not get any other source of income - and a teacher in the university does not get much. They are not born teachers. It is the circumstances that have forced them to be teachers; otherwise they would have liked to be collectors, police officers, in the army, in the navy, politicians. But they could not manage what they wanted, and this was available.

I have been in the universities and almost ninety-nine percent of teachers are not there willingly, so teaching is just a burden. I have seen teachers who have been carrying their notes for thirty years.

Thirty years they have been a teacher in the university, and these are their own notes from when they were studying! The same notes they have been repeating year after year to students... no joy in teaching, no enquiry about what has happened in thirty years, no interest. It is not their thing; accidentally they have fallen into it.

Perhaps only one percent can be said to be born teachers. They enjoy it, they relish teaching. They try to find out as much as possible about the subject. They are open to all questions, and if they don't know they have the guts to say, "I don't know, but I will find out. You also try to find out." You can see from their very approach that teaching to them is just like breathing; it is spontaneous, they are not carrying notes. It is their love.

If this one percent somehow gets enlightened they will be the masters. Nobody will be deciding - neither existence nor the master himself. He has a certain individuality which he offers to existence.

If his individuality has the potential, the articulateness, of being a master, existence will use him as the master.

You don't know thousands of enlightened people who have lived and died because they had no special talents so that they became visible to the ordinary man. They may have had something unique; for example they may have had the immense quality of being silent, but that would not be noticed much.

I knew an enlightened man who was in Bombay when I was in Bombay and his only talent was to make beautiful statues out of sand. I have never seen such beautiful statues. The whole day he would make them on the beach, and thousands of people would see them and would be amazed.

And they had seen Gautam Buddha's statues, Krishna's, Mahavira's, but there was no comparison.

And he was not working in marble, just with the sea sand. People would be throwing rupee notes; he was not at all bothered. I have seen others taking the notes away; he was not concerned about that either. He was so absorbed in making those statues. But those statues didn't last. Just an ocean wave would come and the Buddha was gone.

Before his enlightenment he was earning that way, moving from one city to another city and making sand statues. And they were so beautiful that it was impossible not to give something to him. He earned much, enough for one man.

Now he had become enlightened but he had only one talent: to make sand statues. Of course he will not make sand statues that don't indicate towards enlightenment - but that is the only offering he can give. Existence will use that. His statues are more meditative. Just sitting by the side of his sand statues you could feel that he has given a proportion to the statue, a certain shape, a certain face that creates something within you.

I asked him, "Why do you go on making Gautam Buddha and Mahavira? You can earn more - because this country is not Buddhist and Jainas are very few. You can make Rama, you can make Krishna."

But he said, "They will not serve the purpose; they do not point to the moon. They will be beautiful statues - I have made all those statues before - but now I can make only that which is a teaching, even though it will be invisible to millions of people, almost to all."

Whenever I used to come to Bombay... When I came permanently he had died, but before that whenever I used to come I made it a point to go and visit him. He worked on Juhu beach at that time. It is silent there the whole day. People only came in the evening and by that time his statue was ready. The whole day, no disturbance.

I told him, "You can make statues. Why don't you work in marble? They will remain forever."

He said, "Nothing is permanent" - that is a quotation of Buddha - "and these statues represent Gautam Buddha better than any marble statue. A marble statue has a certain permanence and these statues are momentary: just a strong wind and they are gone, an ocean wave and they are gone. A child comes running and stumbles on the statue, and it is gone."

I said, "Don't you feel bad when you have been working the whole day, and the statue was just going to be complete, and then something happens and the whole day's work is gone?"

He said, "No. All of existence is momentary; there is no question of frustration. I enjoyed making it, and if an ocean wave enjoys unmaking it, then two persons enjoyed! I enjoyed making it, the wave enjoyed unmaking it. So in existence there has been a double quantity of joy - why should I be frustrated? The wave has as much power on the sand as I have; perhaps it has more."

When I was talking to him he said, "You are a little strange because nobody talks to me. People simply throw rupees. They enjoy the statue, but nobody enjoys me. But when you come I feel so blissful that there is somebody who enjoys me, who is not concerned only with the statue but with its inner meaning, with why I am making it. I cannot do anything else. My whole life I have been making statues; that is the only art I know. And now I am surrendered to existence; now existence can use me."

These people will remain unrecognized. A dancer may be a buddha, a singer may be a buddha, but these people will not be recognized, for the simple reason that their way of doing things cannot become a teaching. It cannot help people really to come out of their sleep. But they are doing their best; whatever they can do, they are doing.

The very few people who become masters are those who have earned in their many lives a certain articulateness, a certain insight into words, language, the sound of words, the symmetry and the poetry of language. It is a totally different thing. It is not a question of linguistics or grammar, it is more a question of finding in ordinary language some extraordinary music, of creating the quality of great poetry in ordinary prose. They know how to play with words so that you can be helped to go beyond words.

It is not that they have chosen to be masters, and it is not that existence has chosen them to be masters. It is just a coincidence: before enlightenment they had been great teachers and they became masters because of enlightenment. Now they can change their teaching into mastery - and certainly that is the most difficult part.

Those who remain silent and disappear peacefully with nobody knowing them have an easy way, but a man like me cannot have an easy way. It was not easy when I was a teacher - how can it be easy when I am a master? It is going to be difficult.

And the greater your insight is, the greater is the danger, because the enemy is more afraid... and by enemy I mean all the vested interests. They will do everything to prevent me, to cripple me, to destroy me. But that does not matter because as far as I am concerned there is no death.

They cannot harm me. They may think they are harming me; that is their illusion. By creating all the troubles they are emphasizing every word that I am saying. Their paranoia is enough proof: they have the majority, but they don't have the truth. I don't have the majority, but I have the truth. And the truth is far more weighty than any majority.

They can kill me, but they cannot kill the truth.

In fact by killing me they will make my truth more significant. More and more people will feel in sympathy with it. More and more people will start looking... there must have been something.

Otherwise why did so many powers around the world who differ with each other - communist Russia, capitalist America, some socialist government, different religions who are in disagreement on everything - all agree that I am dangerous?

It seems that whatever I am saying is cutting their very roots. So I am not worried about it. I would have been worried if they had been able to ignore me, but they have not been able to ignore me.

And because they cannot ignore me, they have accepted deep down the truth of what I am saying.

And they will slowly follow it; it doesn't matter whether they mention my name or not.

You can see it happening already: whatever precautions we were taking against AIDS in the commune in America... Nobody had sophistication enough, culture enough, to appreciate it because we were the pioneers. Nowhere in the world were those precautions being taken. Now they have destroyed the commune. And now all over America in different states they are passing laws which are exactly the same as what we were trying to do in our small commune.

Nowhere will my name be mentioned, but that is not the point at all. They have also started worrying in other countries, and they will have to take the same measures. In France they are passing the same measures in the parliament but when we were doing it not a single voice around the world said, "We are with you." And I say to you that the whole world will follow the same measures - they will have to. And the same is going to happen about other things.

Whatever I have been talking about - sterilization, birth control - every country will have to do it.

They will not recognize it. They will condemn me for it. Their leaders and their religious leaders will condemn me, but they know that that is the only way: the population has to be cut. It does not matter whether they say it.

We have initiated certain programs. If the programs are followed, that's enough. And about other things it will take a little time. Whatever I am saying about psychoanalysis... The psychoanalysts all over the world feel something is missing, but they don't know what is missing. I am the only person who is saying exactly what is missing. Sooner or later they will have to recognize it; there is no way to avoid it.

Truth has its own way of prevailing.

From the outside the master's job looks very difficult because he is fighting against an oceanic darkness; the task seems almost impossible. But from the inside of the master's own being, nothing is impossible. Darkness has no existence. We just have to bring more and more people to light and the darkness will disappear by itself. It cannot even resist.

One thing great about truth is it needs no argument.

Lies need so many arguments in order to prove them, and even then there is a loophole. And anybody who is aware of logic can find the loophole and the whole edifice collapses.

So anybody who makes an edifice, a system, a religion, a theology - anything based on a lie - is bound to be constantly in paranoia that some truth can destroy everything that they have made in centuries. So it is natural that they will try to protect themselves in every possible way. But they don't understand the inner logic of existence: the more you are protective, the more you are saying that there is something that needs to be protected; otherwise you will be exposed.

The more you are preventing me from reaching people, the more you are giving me power - unknowingly. Unknowingly, you are proving yourself weak. Unknowingly, you are proving yourself incapable of encountering me; otherwise it would have been a simple thing: if I am speaking against the pope, then the pope can invite me. I wanted to go to Italy but he is preventing me from entering Italy, and he has created enemies in Italy because of his prevention.

Now sixty-five eminent people from different sections of life, international figures, have protested to the government that I should be allowed in; there is no reason why I should be prevented. They all know it is the pope who is trying to prevent me because nobody else in Italy wants to prevent me, so by preventing me he is not creating friends, he is losing friends of major importance. And how long can he do that?

If he was certain about his truths the easy thing would have been for him to invite me himself to the Vatican amongst his people, so he has all the support and I am alone. Just a simple, human discussion and let the people decide whether the pope lives in the Vatican or he leaves and I live there! It is not much of a problem: the people can just raise their hands. We can give him time to pack his luggage to go to Poland! Respectfully, we will give him a good farewell.

But the fear is great and it is spreading like a contagious disease. Even in countries whose names I have never heard, their parliaments are deciding that they will not allow me in. But who is asking you? Even if you pass a resolution to invite me, I will not come there. But they are afraid. Seeing that big countries like America, Germany, Greece, Spain, Holland, Italy, and England are so afraid - the man must be dangerous - the small countries are preparing to prevent me from coming there.

But this has been a good, a far more exciting, world trip than Columbus had, because he had only natural difficulties - nothing much. Now there are human forces all around. He was fighting only with the ocean; I have to fight with all the human masses. But there is no problem. Not for a single moment have I felt that there is any difficulty; this is how things should be. Nature, existence, is using me. Existence is also preparing these idiots on the other side. It is the same existence.

And they are falling into the fallacy which people have always fallen into. For unconscious people history just goes on repeating. They know perfectly well that they cannot prevent me. Even by murdering me they cannot prevent me, because they don't have the truth as the foundation of their religion, of their ideology. I have just to show to people that they don't have any foundations, and they will start falling into parts without any difficulty.

I have been seeing reports from all over the world. One journalist has written an editorial saying that this is very strange: the world is facing a third world war and all the parliaments are discussing me - as if I am more dangerous than the third world war! And he is right, but the parliaments who are discussing me are also right. They know that the third world war may be postponed; I cannot be postponed! The third world war may happen, may not happen - I have happened!

I have been receiving many reports. People who have been writing against me are giving an apology in their writings saying that they were wrong. The actions of their governments are so much against freedom of speech that the people who were writing against me are protesting to their governments.

"We may agree, we may not agree, but one thing is certain: the man has to be allowed in; you cannot prevent him. And what is the fear? Why are you so afraid?" Fear always shows your hollowness, emptiness, hypocrisy.

So it is rare that a master exists, but he is always faced with these kinds of circumstances. Perhaps I am faced with them more because the world has become small, and I have made the whole world my arena. But I am enjoying it tremendously. And it has to be seen how, against a single man, the whole world loses its face - it will just take a little time. We will be able to establish it against all odds, because basically it is existence's own work.

So my sleep is not disturbed even for a single moment. You have been taking me from one country to another country, and I have been simply sleeping! And while you are working in one country, I am always hoping that soon we will be moving - the world tour has to be complete! Only after the world tour has been completed can we settle somewhere. Or if, in the middle, we can find a place to settle, we can settle - but still we will have to complete the world tour. Not much is left!

And it has been really a joyful journey! Seeing a humanity that is not worth being proud of, it makes one feel ashamed. At whatever cost it has to be civilized... and if it needs our sacrifice we are ready - if that can make it civilized so no other master in the future has to face this kind of stupid behavior.

And that will be our joy - that we stopped forever this uncivilized and inhuman and primitive behavior.

Question 2:

It is not a question of courage. Courage was needed to be with me, and that you have shown. Now it is only a question of enjoying a great entertainment - of seeing behind human faces all kinds of animals who are behaving so stupidly that you cannot believe it!

In Holland there has been such a great protest from the intelligentsia about why I have been prohibited, and the answer they have given is so stupid: that I can overturn the whole government just sitting here. They said, "Because I have spoken against Holland." Asked what I have said against Holland, they said I have spoken against the pope. I don't see why speaking against the pope should be against Holland. The pope is not Holland's property. They said I have spoken against Mother Teresa, I have spoken against the Catholic religion, and they said the most important thing is that I have spoken against homosexuality.

Now that makes all of Holland a homosexual land! If Holland has any intelligence then this government should be out immediately. It has insulted all of Holland... as if homosexuality is its religion! To speak against homosexuality is to speak against Holland, so Holland is a supporter of homosexuality or it is the land of the homosexuals. So those who are not homosexuals should raise their voices that an immediate emergency poll is needed to find out whether Holland is a homosexual land or not. And if the people vote in the majority that it is not a homosexual land, this government should resign immediately - it has no right to be there.

It seems the whole cabinet is homosexual. These homosexuals should not be allowed to rule a country. Now they will give away their own loopholes this way - nobody was asking them about homosexuality. But there is a certain logic in it.

Homosexuality was born in Catholic monasteries so it is part of Catholicism - of course, a secret part. There is an inner link. The pope is the head of the Catholic religion. So if homosexuality was born in Catholic monasteries, and most of the monks are homosexuals and most of the popes have been homosexuals, then perhaps there are some inner secret orders - one order of homosexuality headed by the pope, one order of homosexual lesbians headed by Mother Teresa! It seems they are connected.

And the answer has homosexuality as the last reason, but it is the most important. And one thing is certain: in this cabinet, the president or the prime minister - whoever is there is a homosexual.

These people need treatment. It is against the pride of the whole country of Holland to let these people continue in the government. They should be in psychoanalytical institutions; they should be put right. Unless they are heterosexual, their voting rights should be taken away, because homosexuality is a perversion and no perverted person should have the right to vote!

They should allow me in. I can come to Holland. They have their whole government and all their power but let me speak to the people in the country and I will overturn this government; there is no problem in it. This whole cabinet - the president, the prime minister - all have to be medically checked to find out whether they are homosexuals or not. They themselves have given the key.

But you cannot expect anything other than what they are saying from unconscious people. So whatever is going on is perfectly good. As a master, I may be the last to fight this ugly world. And I may be the first to have a totally new world where masters are listened to.

If you feel for masters, if something is triggered in your heart, good; otherwise, they are not forcing anything on you. Why should they be crucified, and why should they be poisoned and killed? It simply seems to be irrelevant.

If you agree with me, good; if you don't agree with me, it is perfectly right. I am no one to force anything on you.

But these people are afraid because they know they don't have anything that they can place in competition to me. Their pope is a dodo; their bishops and their cardinals and their archbishops are themselves starting to have strange ideas... Some cardinal says that to be a Christian it is not necessary to believe in the virgin birth; up to now it has been necessary. Another one says that to be a Christian it is not necessary to believe in God. The third one says that to be a Christian it is not necessary to believe in the idea of the creation of the world - it is just a story.

Then what is necessary to be a Christian? Just the label "Christian"? And the container has nothing in it? They are in a kind of earthquake; they don't know what to do. They are ready to drop anything - but remain Christian.

I have told you the story about the four rabbis who were talking and bragging that their synagogues are the most modern, ultra-modern. The first one said, "In my synagogue people can smoke cigarettes; even joints are allowed."

The second one said, "That's nothing! You are out of date. In my synagogue people can make love while I am giving the sermon... just individual freedom, no inhibition."

The third one said, "These things are nothing; they are happening in almost every synagogue. My synagogue is the most modern because it is always closed on Jewish holidays."

The fourth rabbi said, "Just one thing I want to ask: What is a synagogue? I can understand everything that is going on in the synagogue, but what is a synagogue? Never heard of it before!"

So they are afraid because they cannot prove the virgin birth. It looks stupid, against science, so drop it. They cannot prove resurrection; it looks against scientific truth: drop it. They cannot prove God scientifically: drop it. They cannot prove heaven and hell: drop it. There is no need. But just be a Christian. For what?

The old is withering away by itself. Our work is very simple. It looks hard because the old, before dying, will give its last fight. But you need not be worried. You need not have any courage. All the courage you had you have used in joining me; now there is no need of any courage! We will manage without any fight to destroy these nonsense ideologies by laughing, by dancing, by singing.

So don't think that when I said "to the last breath," don't think in the old ways... that you have to fight to the last drop of your blood - that is not the point. There is going to be no fight. There is no need for any fight: just by celebrating we can dispel this whole darkness. Just being a light unto ourselves we can destroy this whole darkness. It may be vast but just a small candle destroys so much darkness... because darkness does not have any content in it. It is empty, like Christianity.

Everything that Christianity stood for, fought for, killed millions of people for, is being dropped by its own people... and they call it "liberation theology"! Strange idiots. If you are liberated then why carry on theology? Then just be liberated! Liberation theology looks like liberated imprisonment...

just painted white with more colorful flags on it. But it remains the same prison; just it is now called liberated imprisonment.

What is the point of theology if there is liberation? Liberation will destroy everything that theology has stood for. Theo is the Greek word for "God," and logy means "logic." Now what liberated logic can there be for God? Either God can exist and you will not be liberated - you will be only slaves of God - or there is no God and you are liberated. But there is no need for any theology - just a linguistic play...

And that's why they are so much afraid of me. They cannot deceive me by their linguistic display.

They cannot deceive me by their logic; it is phony. It appeals only to those who already believe in it; it does not appeal to anybody else. You can see it.

You may not have thought about it. Hindus think they have the best religion, but nobody besides Hindus is impressed by it. Strange. Christians think they have the best religion, but nobody is interested except Christians. The same is true about the Jews. And it is the same with Jainas, Buddhists - everybody thinks he has the best logic, but it appeals only to those who already believe in it.

The best logic is one which changes those who DON'T believe in it. That is simply the definition of the best logic: it changes a person who does not believe in it but has to believe because your logic is far superior to what he can manage. But if your logic only convinces those who are already convinced, you are unnecessarily wasting time.

All the religions think they have the best things in the world, but only their believers accept it. The reality is that none of them have anything.

And soon what Christian theologians are doing other theologians will start doing. They will have to; otherwise you have to prove things. It is better to drop the idea of resurrection than to prove it, because proving it is very difficult, almost impossible.

The other way to prove it is to crucify the pope and let him be resurrected - a simple, scientific experiment. I am certain the Polack cannot be resurrected. But he will not even be ready to go to the cross, because he knows nobody has ever been resurrected. He will cry and weep and do everything - "Don't do this to me! Can't you find somebody else for the experiment?"

It is better, they think, to drop the idea; otherwise sooner or later you have to give the proof. There are theologians who are dropping all the miracles of Jesus, saying that they never happened, but saying, "We still believe in Jesus." But then why do you believe in Jesus? - you can believe in anybody. Up to now, that was the only point of belief - that he performed miracles. But to give proof is difficult, so you should perform miracles.

In two thousand years no Christian has been able to perform any of Jesus' miracles. At least the pope should be able to: he is the representative. And to represent means that some of the qualities of the person you are representing must be there.

It is better to drop it. It is out of fear that everything has to be dropped. And they all go on saying they are still Christians! Now, this will be the last thing that we have to help them to drop. Just we have to show them: "The box is empty; now don't carry it. Just because Christianity is written on the box does not mean that it has anything in it. Just open the box and see: no resurrection, no virgin birth, no miracles, no God, no heaven, no hell - liberation theology. So just drop this box and go home!"

The same is the situation of other religions. You need not be courageous. They have to be courageous to face you. You have simply to be silent, peaceful, meditative - and out of that you will be able to be authentic and truthful. You have to be part of truth.

They need courage to face you. They are trembling, they are having nervous breakdowns - you don't have to worry about it at all - otherwise there was no need to prevent me from entering any country.

It is a free world. Up to now they have been saying that the communist world is not a free world. But now what should they say? Is their world a free world? Where I cannot be allowed even an overnight stay at the airport?

Nobody is free - just there are different kinds of slavery with different labels. It makes our fight very easy, because we have simply to expose their hypocrisy. They are trying somehow to protect themselves by dropping all these things, but dropping all these things is not going to help. Their hypocrisy will be exposed sooner. With these things it would have taken a little time to argue about everything. Now there is nothing to argue about - just open the box and see: there is nothing.

I have looked at all the scriptures of the world religions: there is nothing. And that is our strength - that there is nothing, they are empty. Just you be full of light.