From Ignorance to Innocence - Osho - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 15. THEY SAY BELIEVE; I SAY EXPLORE
He said, ”That I have never thought of. Perhaps the question will not arise, because in hundreds
of meetings and conferences, I have been sitting on the high pedestal, but the question has never
arisen.”
I said, ”That makes it clear that it is not a question of why Acharya Tulsi is sitting higher than you.
The question is why you are sitting lower than Acharya Tulsi. Change the question to why are you
sitting lower than Acharya Tulsi – this is what you should have asked. It would have been more
authentic. You are projecting your sickness on somebody else.
”But perhaps that somebody else is also as sick as you, because if I was in his place... in the first
place, I would not have sat there – if I was the host and you were my guests. Secondly, if by chance,
by some coincidence, I was sitting there, the moment you asked the question I would have come
down. That would have been enough of an answer:’There is no problem; it is just our convention
and I forgot that you are my guests, because only once a year do I meet guests, but every day I
meet my disciples. So just forgive me and let us start our conversation for which we have gathered.’
”But he did not come down. He has no guts. He is sitting there almost dead, he cannot even breathe
he is so afraid. And he has no answer – he asked his secretary to answer you. And the question that
you have raised about which he is also silent, is that he has been proclaiming himself a revolutionary
saint. He is neither a revolutionary, nor a saint, so what answer can he give to you? But my basic
concern is not him, my basic concern is you. This is the political mind who is always thinking in
terms of lower and higher, in terms of power.”
Of course he was angry, and is still angry, and has remained angry for all these twenty-four, twentyfive
years. And he has been in positions from where he could have harmed me, but he has no guts
either. He was deputy prime minister and then became prime minister. Before he became prime
minister, he had even asked my help. He had called me, unaware – later on he came to know that
to call me was absolutely absurd. He was Indira Gandhi’s deputy prime minister; the post is not in
the constitution itself
The first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, had a clash with another disciple of Gandhi’s,
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The clash was such that if voting was allowed then Vallabhbhai Patel
would have won. He was a real politician. He was just like Joseph Stalin.
Joseph Stalin was the secretary of the communist party when the revolution happened. He was not
a great leader or anything. His function was in the office – he was the head clerk of the communist
party to put it exactly. But because he was the secretary, he knew everything, everything passed
through his hands. Every person had to be acquainted with him, and he had a tremendous grip on
people.
The same was the situation with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He was a man, very strong, I told you,
just like Joseph Stalin. Stalin is not his real name, it was just given to him because it means in
Russian, ”man of steel”. Strangely, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was called in India lauha purush, that
also means ”man of steel”. It is exactly the translation of ”stalin”.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had a grip on the organization, an inside grip. He was not an impressive
person like Jawaharlal in public. If the whole of India was going to vote, Jawaharlal would have won,
From Ignorance to Innocence 200 Osho