Corruption: a play of greed and power

 
Amrit Sadhana

The report released by Transparency International ranks India as one of the most corrupt nations. No Indian is surprised. Because it doesn't need an international agency to show us the mirror of our own reality. We are living with this pain.

It is said that one of the biggest causes of corruption is greed and power. It normally thrives in societies where ethical and moral standards are weak and where punishment is lenient, because even the punishing authorities play an important role in perpetuating corruption. We can't get rid of this monster because we don't have a clear vision. We are only treating the symptoms without going to its causes. Poverty may be one of the causes but not the only cause. What compels the rich people to amass money by foul means?

You can go down the history and come across stories of corruption at the highest level of power. Basically corruption is an ingredient of the unevolved human mind.

Can corruption be eradicated? Yes, if the mind is more evolved, more mature than it is right now.

Look deeply into this phenomenon: in every dishonest deal there are two parties involved –– the giver and the receiver.Who is more punishable?

If we ask the enlightened masters, they have a different take on it. Osho cites a story of the Chinese master Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism

Lao Tzu was made the chief justice of the Supreme Court of China. He pleaded with the emperor that he is not the right man. But the emperor knew that LaoTzu was the wisest man alive, so he wanted to benefit from his consciousness.

Lao Tzu said, " My judgement will come from my wisdom. And your judgements cannot be adjusted to my judgements." But the emperor was stubborn.

The first case came: a thief was caught red-handed in the richest man's house. Lao Tzu listened to both the sides, pondered for a moment and gave his verdict, "Both of you, you and the man whose house you have been stealing from, are criminals. The rich man has collected so much money, that almost fifty percent of the wealth of the city is in his possession. This situation creates the possibility of stealing. This thief is a victim; in fact you are the criminal. But I will be very equal: six months of jail for both."

The emperor said, "This is a very strange judgement."

Lao Tzu said, "It is not. If people were living in harmony with nature, if people were compassionate to each other, if they felt a certain brotherhood with each other, how could there be rich people and poor people? There should only be people."

One Less, One More

Robbie Vorhaus is a favorite blogger of a popular American newspaper The Huffington Post. While working with his clients he found that everyone is stressed in todays world. He has floated a new idea to de-stress his clients which can become a lifestyle. It is : One less, one more. It means, one less worry, one more happiness. Osho often jokes about it. "What is your worry?" he asks, " Your worry is, what has happened should not happen, and what is not happening should happen."
This is exactly what everyone is doing. They don't count their blessings, they just go on complaining about things they could not get. If you implement the proposal of 'one less, one more' it will add to your happiness and subtract unhappiness. For example, when you wake up in the morning and start preparing for the day, decide to have one less complaint, and try to have one more gratitude. If the road is jammed with vehicles, don't start swearing or complaining, be grateful that inspite of this jam you reach safely to your office. There may be lots of problems at work or at home, but decide to have one less frown on your forehead, have one more smile on your lips.
An Osho tip could help you change your gestalt: do not call problem a 'problem,' call it a situation. Every problem is a situation, isn't it? If you agree with thi, immediately your attitude will change. Your mind will not be closed to it, on the contray it will be open to look at it and resolve it.
And it is not that you have to do it all at once, things change bit by bit. Add more drops of the positive and less drops of the negative, and soon your cup will overflow with joy, and peace.
Osho suggests very simple steps to achieve this : "Nothing is to be done, just a simple feeling -- allow nature. In the beginning it will be difficult because you have always been jumping in the way, always interfering. For just three weeks allow nature. When you feel hungry, eat; when you feel sleepy, go to sleep. When you don't feel hungry, don't eat. Allow your inner being, give it a chance. Just allow nature."
Excerpted from A Bird On The Wing

Possessed by the devil? Blame the Christian god, says Osho

The New York Times reports that the American bishops held a conference recently to prepare more priests and bishops to respond to the demand of exorcism. They say, "They are overwhelmed with requests from people who fear they are possessed by the Devil."
It's hard to believe that in the twenty first century people from an advanced country like America feel that they are possessed by the devil. Who is this devil, by the way? And why does he possess people? Isn't it another of those trappings being pulled out of the past? Just to prove that they are special, they deal with the supernatural.

Here is Osho's take on this.

" The devil is nothing but the other side of god. The religions have been praising god and condemning the devil, and the devil is the other side of god. The word 'devil' is beautiful; it comes from a Sanskrit root which means divine. 'Divine' and 'devil' both come from the same root, dev. The devil and the divine, both are the same -- but if you repress one part of god, one aspect of his being, sooner or later it is going to assert itself.

For centuries they have been repressing god's aspects. You cannot repress anything forever; sooner or later it will assert itself.

The Christian concept of god as creator makes it a very limited one. Then whose responsibility is it to destroy things? -- because there is destruction too, and no creation is possible without destruction. god gives life -- and who gives death? Somebody has to be responsible for death too, but god cannot be responsible for death.

Christians are so afraid; their god is partial

The devil aspect of god has been completely denied. Now after twenty centuries of repression it has become very strong, it has gathered too much energy -- it is exploding all over the place. It is certainly becoming more and more attractive. God seems to be poor compared to the devil.

Christians, particularly the priests, have been talking so much about god that they have made the word almost sickening, nauseating. They have talked so much about god and their god is so sweet, their god has no salt; it is pure white sugar, which is another name for poison. So the Christian god has created a kind of diabetes all over the world. It is false because it is partial, and the other part will take revenge.

God has to be accepted in its totality. This whole existence is divine: don't reject anything. Salt is needed as much as sweetness. Even bitterness has its own place, its own joy, its own taste. The thorn on the rosebush has its own function; it is a bodyguard to the rose, it protects the rose. Don't deny it, don't prune all the thorns, otherwise the roses will die.

The West will have to change its idea of god. And the Western idea is no longer Western -- it has spread all over the world. Christian missionaries have done such mischief; they have drowned all other kinds of religion; almost half the earth they have changed into Christianity. They have destroyed all variety. They have given a very singular, one-dimensional idea of god to humanity. And their idea of god is very juvenile, it is not even mature. And their idea of god is anthropocentric, it is made in the image of man. And they have been trying hard to make god a great saint. Their whole effort has created this situation: the denied part is ready now to explode. Denial is always dangerous; repression is dangerous. We have to pay tremendously for it.

Accept both the polarities. The negative and the positive are both needed for the electricity to happen; the good and bad are both needed for the world to go on; they are like the two wheels of a bullock cart. The sinner and the saint are both needed. That's my approach .



Excerpted from Be Still And Know, # 6, Q 6

Osho: To Give Birth To A Child Now Is Almost A Crime

When experts talk about the environmental crisis the issue that is a major threat to it is rarely mentioned. As if everybody is embarrassed to touch the subject namely the absurd growth of population. The human population is far higher than any other primate at any time in history.

"This is a topic that has gone to and fro in the last few decades, and appears to be moving back up the political agenda now," Nobel laureate Sir John Sulston told BBC News.

"So it seems a good moment for the Royal Society of UK to launch a study that looks objectively at the scientific basis for changes in population, for the different regional and cultural factors that may affect that, and at the effects that population changes will have on our future in term of sustainable development."

The society acknowledges it is delving into a hugely controversial area, but it has to be dealt with firmly. The birth of children is considered one of the basic human rights so everybody, for different reasons, was afraid to deal with it but now it is no more a personal decision to produce children, the survival of the planet depends on it.

Osho has always been a fiery crusader of the birth control. Here is an excerpt from one of his books:

"No religion wants to use methods of birth control for the simple reason that that reduces their numbers. Catholics are against it, Mohammedans are against it, Hindus are against it. Everybody is against birth control for the simple reason that it will reduce their numbers -- and numbers are power. The more people follow your church, the more powerful you are. This is part of politics, power politics. They are not concerned about the future of humanity, they are not concerned with the misery of people, they are not concerned with poverty.

"To give birth to a child now is almost a crime, because the world is already overpopulated. Half of humanity is starving, and by the end of this century the starvation is going to be so acute, so intolerable, that the earth is going to become a mad planet. Either suicide or murder will be the only possible ways for people to exist, and both are wrong.

"And the Catholic pope and the Hindu shankaracharya and the Hindu priests, these will be the responsible persons, because they are all against birth control. They talk beautifully, they rationalize beautifully, that they are against birth control because birth control is against nature. If birth control is against nature then the pope of the Vatican should be against medicine, because that too is against nature. If a person is dying of cancer, let him die, don't give him medicine. On that point the pope is absolutely silent.

"If birth is natural, then death is natural. If you have disturbed the balance by preventing people from dying, then you have to accept the other part of it also. Allow people to die naturally; then let them give birth to as many children as they can. Then there will be no imbalance; nature balances itself."

The Dhammapada : The Way of the Buddha Vol 6

Osho On Human Sex Life

While browsing Osho's wonderful book The Dhammapada : The Way of the Buddha, Vol 6, I came across this remarkable joke. Thought of sharing it with you.

Osho says:
" It seems that when the creator was making the world, he called man aside and bestowed upon him twenty years of normal sex life. Man was horrified: "Only twenty years?" But the creator did not budge. That was all he would give him.
Then he called the monkey and gave him twenty years.

"But I don't need twenty years," the monkey protested. "Ten is plenty!"

Man spoke up and said, "Can I have the other ten years?"
The monkey graciously agreed.

Then he called the lion and gave him twenty years. The lion too needed only ten. Again man said, "Can I have the other ten years?"
The lion roared, "Of course."

Then came the donkey. He was given twenty years, but like the others, ten years was enough for him. Man asked for the spare ten years and got them.

This explains why man has twenty years of normal sex life, ten years monkeying around, ten years of lion about it, and ten years of making an ass of himself."
After telling this joke Osho extracts the essense of it :

"Man seems to be the most stupid animal out of all of these. They say, "Ten is more than enough." Man seems to be the most in the grip of desire: more and more.... Whatsoever he has is not enough, is never enough. This creates his sorrow, this makes him a slave. The "more" is your master.

To be aware of the trap that is created by this constant desire for more is to take a very necessary step towards self-mastery."

Courtesy Osho International Foundation/www.osho.com

OSHO Monsoon Festival: August 11-15 , 2010

Announcing the OSHO Monsoon Festival and a Grand Opening of the NEW Basho "Club Meditation" facilities.

Nothing ever stopped Osho, and the same energy still rolls on at the OSHO International Meditation Resort.

A timely arrival of the magical monsoon in Pune has bathed the green around the newly renovated Basho area, which now houses a state-of-the-art sauna, jacuzzi and gym area. Amidst a starkly beautiful garden setting, this new facility is your instant doorway to Zorba bliss.

To celebrate the new and the changes, A Monsoon Festival is being organized for August 11―15th, 2010. This is a great opportunity for visitors around the world to gather in Pune and participate in the intense energy-field created by the presence of so many meditators.

Some of the star attractions:

* A bouquet of revolutionary Osho meditation techniques and self-development programs of the OSHO Multiversity during the daytime.

* Many exciting night events filled with music, dance, painting, Karaoke and Variety Show.

*An International food festival to tingle your taste buds.

* Some specially designed Multiversity courses and unique meditations for daily life in Chuang Tzu hall.

 * A morning music concert is surely a "don't miss."

  * Osho Art Exhibition silent walk through.

   *  Fashion Show during lunch.

Allow yourself the luxury of being yourself.

Osho Speaks On The Politics Of Population

The eco friendly environment of OSHO International Meditation Resort, Pune, India

Is producing children everybody's birthright? The answer would be a blind, "Yes!" Or maybe a shocked, " Of course!" But think again, give a break to the age-old conditioning of automatically producing children. Looking at this planet, the world that we have created, is it worth adding few more humans to already existing seven billion people here? What do we have to offer the new generation?

We spend most of our lives with unfulfilled desires, and the occasional satisfactions that most of us can achieve are insufficient to outweigh the prolonged negative feelings of depression, meaninglessness and so on. And still do we want to bring a child in this life?

It is time every conscious, intelligent man and woman asks this question to himself/herself. And mind you, the politicians or the religious leaders are not going to support this radical thinking. They certainly want the earth to be more and more populated. They definitely want the poverty and misery to continue so that they can control humanity.

Peter Singer, the Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University has raised a thought - provoking question in his recent article in The New York Times: " Why don’t we make ourselves the last generation on earth? If we would all agree to have ourselves sterilized then no sacrifices would be required — we could party our way into extinction! If there were to be no future generations, there would be much less for us to feel guilty about."

Osho says that producing children should not be left to the men and women. A benevolent body of experts should decide about it.
"It is not your birthright to go on giving birth to as many children as you want, because those children are going to live on this earth, and they will do something or other.

"Only a medical board should decide about a couple. Unless you have a clearance from the medical board, you cannot produce a child. And since the pill it is so simple. Nobody is preventing you from making love; make love as much as you want, or as much as you can manage! But as far as children are concerned, you are doing something to the whole world. Making love you are not doing anything to anybody -- just a little fun between two individuals; the world is not involved in it.

"Children should be born only if a couple gets permission from the medical board. Still, that is not the best way to do it, because while he is making love a man releases millions of living beings, millions of living cells; and it is just a chance in that race who will reach the female egg first. You cannot decide it, you cannot even know it. So this is not the best way. The medical board may feel that the woman is healthy, the man is healthy; they can look at your heritage -- three, four generations back -- and they can allow you. "
God is Dead, Now Zen is the Only Living Truth #1


Moreover Osho gives tremendous importance to meditation because he says in his book (Bodhidharma : The Greatest Zen master # 11) "A man of meditation functions with awareness. If he sees that the world is overpopulated, he cannot produce children. Nobody has to tell him. Why should he bring his children into a world which is going down every day towards a disaster? Who wants his children to go through a third world war? Who wants his children to die hungry and starving on the streets? "