... a game, and they have learned it. And it pays in respectability, in money, in power -- in every way. So everybody tries, and the mind becomes filled with many words, many thoughts. And you can turn any computer on or off -- but you cannot turn the mind off. The switch does not exist. There is no reference about it, that when God made the world, when he made man, he made a switch for the mind so...

...; now go to sleep. I am awake, don't be worried." Use the mind when it is needed, and then it is fresh, young, full of energy and juice. Then whatever you say is not just dry bones; it is full of life, full of authority, full of truth, sincerity, and has tremendous meaning. You may be using the same words, but now the mind has collected so much power by resting, that each word it uses becomes...

... afire, becomes power. What is known in the world as charisma is nothing... it is simply a mind which knows how to relax and let energy collect, so when it speaks it is poetry, when it speaks it is gospel, when it speaks, it need not give any evidence or any logic -- just its own energy is enough to influence people. And people have always known that there is something... although they have never been...

... able to exactly pinpoint what it is that they have called charisma. Perhaps for the first time I am telling you what charisma is, because I know it by my own experience. A mind that is working day and night is bound to become weak, dull, unimpressive, somehow dragging. At the most it is utilitarian; you go to purchase vegetables -- it is helpful. But more than that it has no power. So millions of...

... people who could have been charismatic remain poor, unimpressive, without any authority and without any power. If this is possible -- and this is possible -- to put the mind to silence and only use it when it is needed, then it comes with a rushing force. It has gathered so much energy that each word uttered goes directly to your heart. People think that these minds of charismatic personalities are...

... the very heart. Then mind is a good servant of immense power in the hands of silence. Then the being is the master, and the master can use the mind whenever it is needed and can switch it off whenever it is not needed. Question 3: BELOVED OSHO, I REMEMBER YOU ONCE EXPLAINING THAT TANTRA MEANS EXPANSION. MY MOMENTS OF GREATEST JOY AND MY MOMENTS OF GREATEST SILENCE ARE INVARIABLY ACCOMPANIED BY AN...

... history of only three hundred years. This background has to be understood; only then can the problem be seen in the right perspective. These three hundred years, science has had to fight inch by inch against the deeply rooted religions, which were vast empires of power, vested interest. On the smallest things science was in difficulty: if it went against religions, then science was so young that it was...

... to have its own military, its own defenses, its own weapons, and there is competition as to who has more destructive power. But once there is one world government there is no need of any armies, air forces or navies; all these can be transformed into services dedicated to life, to the whole of humanity. And the World Academy of Sciences will be the first step, because if we can take scientists from...

... all over the world slowly out of the grip of the politicians, all the power of the politicians will be finished. They are not powerful; the scientist is the power behind them. And the scientist is in a difficulty, because there is no institute in the world which will give the scientist enough of the materials, instruments, machines that he needs to work with. The days are long gone when Galileo...

..., science is for man. But science can be of tremendous help if all the scientists of the world who are creating destructive power are removed. They want to move, but they have no place to move to. We have to create a place for them. They are all feeling guilty.... Albert Einstein died feeling utterly guilty because he had helped to create atomic bombs and surrendered those bombs to President Roosevelt of...

... world the idea that misery is unnatural, that sadness is sickness, that the lust for power needs psychiatric treatment, that a man who goes on gathering money is mad. And once we make the whole of humanity aware of the dangers of our past ways of life and where the whole past is leading us - to a global suicide - it will not be difficult to convince the intelligent, the young, to drop the past and to...

... way of the ego is very simple: always throw responsibility on somebody else. It is always the other who is hell. One never looks at oneself. The other cannot be hell for me, unless I in some way support the other to create the hell for me. It must be somewhere in the unconscious, my own need. Just today I came to know, that all over the world man wastes enough energy, money, technological power and...

... catastrophe - that is, the insanity of humanity - are the people who are in power. They want more and more power. The desire for more and more is unending, and everybody is competing without thinking of the whole humanity - that all this competition for destructiveness is suicidal. The rocket that was carrying seven passengers was not a big catastrophe, but this earth which is carrying six billion people is...

... science has brought us to a point where everybody can be given equal opportunity to grow, to express his talents, the idiots who are in power are not allowing scientific progress to help humanity to reach to a higher status of evolution, but are trying to divert all scientific progress towards a global suicide - and in the name of beautiful words: democracy, communism, freedom, individuality. And there...

..., without guilt, enjoying like an innocent child. Question 2: BELOVED OSHO, YOU WERE SPEAKING LAST NIGHT ABOUT GURDJIEFF'S WORK, AND THE INDIVIDUAL'S CHIEF CHARACTERISTIC. HOW DOES ONE FIND OUT WHAT ONE'S CHIEF CHARACTERISTIC IS? It is very simple. Just watch your mind for a few days and see what is the thing that takes most of your energy: jealousy? lust for power? ego? Just watch whatever takes most of...

... he would have been at a loss, or he would have had to force his interpretation even on them. The same dream you take to Adler, and it is always will-for-power. Go to Jung, and it is always some ancient mythology being repeated in your dream - the same dream. Gurdjieff was the greatest psychoanalyst of this century. Just within three, four days, forcing people to drink wine, making them as...

... should not be government owned, that the radio should not be government owned. They should be public enterprises. Then the press can fight for individuals who have no power, but the press can give them great power. I was myself once an editor, and I resigned from the post because everything has to be pro-government. Truth is not the criterion. The poor individual is not to be protected. Government is...

... cause today may turn out to be a popular cause tomorrow. In Marx' day, communism was an unpopular cause. Today half the world is communist. The media should give facilities, without any prejudice; and particularly Indian journalism is lacking far behind. In America I felt the power of news media. (Tape side B begins) Even the government was afraid. They could have killed me, they could have tortured...

... said, "They are not interested in me, they are interested in your illegalities. And they will expose it to the world, and how long you can keep me in? Once I am out, one word to the press and it will go around the world. You have all the powers, I have no power. But the news media is more powerful than your nuclear weapons. Why you are afraid of these people. If you want to kill me, kill. If you...

... the needs of the poor country, giving them entertainment, fulfilling their sensations. And, on the other hand, polishing the boots of the bureaucracy. It has to be more human and more for the individual, because the state has enough energy, enough power; the individual is powerless. But Indian journalism is still not compassionate. It is far below than the Western world. It has to raise its...

... we will be able to make everything on our own. But for forty years after independence, nothing has been done. The politician is interested only in his power. The rich is interested in only in getting more richer. And between the two, the poor is crushed and goes on becoming poorer and poorer. So my suggestion is very simple. One, nobody should be allowed in the country, pope or Mother Teresa or...

... case not only in this country; in every country of the world, all kinds of information has been monopolized. Lord Acton was right when he said that power is the reason why people have tried to monopolize knowledge. Because knowledge is power. Perhaps it was not such a great power in the past, but today science has become the greatest power. And the word 'science' simply means knowledge. Only a man of...

... in their nightmares, and within a few seconds they all disappeared. One hundred thousand people in Hiroshima disappeared within five minutes. They were people just like you. You can disappear within five minutes. The politicians have the power to destroy the earth. For the first time in human history the politician is immensely powerful, tremendously powerful. The politician has always been...

... dangerous. Avoid him. Then he is not a Master. Then he has need of followers but he is not a Master. Then through followers he is fulfilling his own ego. He feels good because he has so many followers. His feeling good has nothing to do with enlightenment, his feeling good is almost as political as any politician's when he is in power. It gives a kind of power when you know that you have so many disciples...

..., many followers - thousands of followers. It gives power. It is a power trip. But if somebody is on a power trip he will not help you to go into your innermost core. He will be the last person to help you. He will hinder you. He will create all kinds of barriers so that you cannot reach into your own core, because if you reach into your own core you will be free of that so-called guru. There will be...

... has ever had before or since. He had all the power that a man can have and all the riches and all the beautiful women. He had all the greatest physicians of the world to take care of him and he was not very old, but he was dying. And the physicians said, 'Now we are helpless. ' He wanted to be alive at least twenty-four hours more, just twenty-four hours, because he wanted to see his mother. He had...

... promised his mother that he would come back. He had to go and conquer the world, but when he was leaving he promised his mother that he would come back. And the distance was very little but at least twenty-four hours were needed to reach there, or for the mother to be brought to him. and he only wanted to live for twenty-four hours more - with all the wealth of the world and all the power of the world...

... a woman and a man understand the whole structure of this polarity very deeply; unless they become meditators; unless they meditate on their own innermost desires, power trips, egos; unless they understand how their minds function; unless they understand how their minds function mechanically - it is not possible to remain in silence and peace. Conflict will continue. Man and woman are intimate...

... on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. Question 2: IF I CAN TRULY EXPERIENCE THE MUSIC OF THE FLUTEPLAYER, CAN THAT BE ON THE SAME LEVEL AS THE EXPERIENCE YOU WISH TO...

... times more energy than you ordinarily have. In anger, in rage, you can throw a rock, a big rock. Ordinarily, if somebody tells you to, you cannot even push it, you cannot even move it. When you are angry, you have much power. When you are loving, all power disappears. Can you find a more humble man than Jesus, more powerless than Jesus crucified? Just think of him. The people had gathered, the crowd...

... showed his love; and people had come to see his anger, people had come to see power. He will destroy everything; he will take over all power; he will become the high priest of the temple, or he will become the ruler of the country. He will become the King. They had come to see power, and what they saw was just simple humbleness - a humble man, a poor man, crucified - just praying. But that was the...

... at war, how powerful they become when they are at war? Everybody is vibrant with power. When countries are at peace, the power disappears. When two persons love each other, the egos disappear; there is no power. Two persons in deep love are blessed, but they are meek, delicate. Love is fragile like a flower. Hatred is powerful like a sword. So whenever you are negative, you feel powerful. And if...

... something wrong in their constant quarreling with each other. That shows that the so-called religions have lost their religious quality, they have become political; that these so-called religions no longer have alive masters in them but only dead, dull, mediocre priests. They go on quarreling, they go on trying to convert, because numbers create power. If there are more Christians then Christianity has...

... more power and the pope in the Vatican becomes more powerful. If Hindus are more in number, of course they are more in power. Numbers give power. So Christianity wants everybody to be a Christian, and Mohammedans would like everybody to be a Mohammedan, Their ways and means may differ, but the effort and the desire is the same, a very deep political desire - it is power politics. Then naturally...

..., but we should not try to convert the other, to force the other into our fold. Yes, share by all means, because sharing shows your love. If you have found a source, share! But the sharing should be out of love, not for power politics. It is not to convince the other and to drag him into your fold. Religions have been doing such ugly things. People have been converted at the point of the bayonet...

... each other. The politician can help the priest because he has temporal power, and the priest can help the politician because people listen to him, worship him, take his word as divine. Do you know, Buddhism did not become a great religion because of Buddha; it became a great religion because of the emperor Ashoka. It was not because of Buddha that millions of people became Buddhists, no. While Buddha...

... joined hands with the emperor Ashoka, then the religion became a world religion. The whole of Asia was converted. Now the priests would help Ashoka to retain his power, and Ashoka would help the priests become more and more powerful. Christianity became a world religion not because of Jesus. Jesus was very alone - only a few disciples, twelve disciples, and a few hundred sympathizers, that's all. And...

... him as much as you are - in fact, we are more against him than you are." The enemies were not spitting on him but the friends. Jesus became a world force not because of himself but only when the Roman emperors and Christian priests joined hands. Now, this is an irony. Jesus was crucified by a Roman emperor - see how history moves! Pontius Pilate was just a representative of the Roman power, of...

..., expectations. All those combined together make you clever but not clear. They make you cunning but not intelligent. They may help you to succeed in the world but in your innermost being you will be a failure. And all the success of the world means nothing compared to the failure that finally you are going to face, because ultimately only your inner self remains with you. All is lost: your glory, your power...

... obstruct. This has been the desire of all the kings, to become a chakravartin. Certainly it needs more power than Alexander the Great had. Just to send your chariot ... it needs tremendous power to support it. It needs the absolute certainty that if the chariot is obstructed there is going to be a mass slaughter. It means the man is recognized already, that if he wants to conquer anybody there is no way...

... this too I have been hearing from my grandfathers - that chakravartins come, and seeing the whole story, just turn back; they don't write their names. You are not new: anybody having a little intelligence would do the same." In this whole world what can you gain? What can you take away with you? Your name, your prestige, your respectability? Your money, your power - what? Your scholarship? You...

... cannot take anything. Everything will have to be dropped here. And in that moment you will understand that all that you possessed was not yours; the very idea of possession was wrong. And because of that possession you were corrupted. To increase that possession - to have more money, to have more power, to conquer more lands - you were doing things which even you cannot say were right. You were lying...

... you? You don't know. You are your name, you are your fame, you are your prestige, your power. But other than these, who are you? So this whole possessiveness becomes your identity. It gives you a false sense of being. That's the ego. Ego is not something mysterious, it is a very simple phenomenon. You don't know who you are, and to live without knowing who you are is impossible. If I don't know who...

... sannyas carried on by tradition. Otherwise sannyasins disappeared at least two thousand years ago in India - they don't exist. My effort was the first after two thousand years to bring the sannyasin back in his true color. That became a conflict because the old sannyasin is dead, but he holds the power of tradition, of the past; my sannyasin is alive, but he has no power of the past, no power of...

... you know it -- because I am not talking about some speculative systems of thought, I am talking simply about your psychology, your state of being. Atisha is right. He says: DON'T SEEK SORROW FOR SPURIOUS COMFORTS. How much suffering you have created -- for what? Somebody wanted a little bigger house, a little bigger bank balance, a little more fame, a little more name, more power. Somebody wanted to...

.... The second thing is: why in the first place do you run after spurious pleasures? This woman, that man... why do you run after spurious pleasures? What is the rationale behind it? The rationale is that you are already in sorrow. You want somehow to forget all about it; you want to drown yourself in alcohol, in sex, in money, in power politics -- you want somewhere to drown yourself. Politicians can...

... easily say that prohibition is needed, because they have a far more dangerous intoxicant available to them. Morarji Desai can insist for prohibition, because he is drinking out of his power politics; he is drowning himself in a very subtle kind of intoxicant. In fact, no alcohol is more dangerous than politics. If anything has to be prohibited from the world, it is not alcohol, it is politics. And how...

.... The child is in a tantrum and wants a toy immediately -- this is politics. Politics means an effort to dominate the other. And it is very intoxicating; it is the worst kind of alcohol available in the world. A few people drown in power politics, a few seek shelter in sexuality, a few go to the pub, but many more simply go on searching spurious comforts, go from one comfort to another. When they have...

... knows nothing else to keep himself occupied. His barking is nothing but politicking -- his politics, power politics. That's why dogs are very much against uniforms. The policeman, the postman, the sannyasin -- and the dogs are very angry. They don't tolerate uniforms. How dare you walk in uniform, trying to dominate them? They are angry against policemen and people like that. He was not aware of you...

... someone whom you can trust and to whom you can surrender, you are bound to go astray. The mind creates so many temptations -- so alluring they are, so magnetic is their power -- that unless you are in the power-field of someone whose magnetism is far more powerful than any other kind of temptation, it is impossible to reach. That is the meaning of disciplehood. BUDDHAM SHARANAM GACHCHHAMI: I surrender...

... buddha does not belong to the past; in fact, the future belongs to the buddha. He is always before his time, he is a new birth of God. All these things are enough for the society of the blind, mad, power-hungry, ambitious egoists, all kinds of neurotics, psychotics -- it is enough for them to be together and to destroy any possibility of there being a buddha. And they are also against the sangha...

... over the country from one corner to the other corner almost three weeks every month on the train, on the plane, continuously traveling, and there was not much problem. The day I started sannyas the society became alert. Why? -- because to create a buddhafield, to create a sangha, means now you are creating an alternate society; you are no more a single individual, you are gathering power, you can do...