From Ignorance to Innocence - Osho - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 2. THE OTHER CHEEK: THE MASOCHIST’S SLAP-UP FEAST
Non-violence simply says don’t kill others. Do you think that is enough? It is only a negative
statement: don’t kill others, don’t harm others. Is that enough?
Reverence for life says share, give your joy, your love, your peace, your bliss. Whatsoever you can
share, share.
If you are reverent towards life then it becomes a worship.
Then everywhere you feel God alive.
Then watching a tree becomes worship. Then feeding a guest becomes worship.
And you are not obliging anybody, you are not doing a service; you are simply enjoying yourself.
The same way those people are enjoying torturing, you are enjoying sharing.
So I want it to be remembered by you once and for all that reverence for life is my approach.
Non-violence comes automatically, there is no need to bother about it. And when it comes of its own
accord it is never ugly.
And you ask me: What do I say about the Christian philosophy, the Christian attitude of turning the
other cheek? Jesus has learned that idea from India. There was no other way for him to learn
it, because Jewish scriptures have no ideas about non-violence. Even the Jewish God is not nonviolent.
He clearly declares, ”I am an angry God. And those who are not with me are against me. I
am not nice,” he says, ”I am not your uncle.”
Certainly he is your father, not your uncle. With an uncle you can have some nice relationship,
friendship. Mostly uncles are nice. But father... so he makes it clear, ”Don’t try to make me your
uncle. I am not your uncle.” Actually declaring this: ”I am not your uncle, remember it, and I am not
nice; I am a very angry and jealous God....” When Adolf Hitler said, ”Those who are not with me are
against me,” perhaps he was not aware that he was being very Jewish! That is the attitude of the
Jewish God.
Somewhere Jesus got the idea of non-violence. It had never existed anywhere except India. And
particularly at the time when Jesus moved from Egypt to India, it was very much in the air because
Mahavira had just passed away five hundred years before, Buddha had just passed away five
hundred years before. Sanjay Viletthiputta who was a very significant Master, Ajit Keshkambal
who was also a very charismatic figure, Makhkhali Gosal – all these people had turned the whole
climate of India into non-violence. Everybody was talking about non-violence.
Brahmins became ashamed of their scriptures; they started changing the commentaries on their
scriptures. They started changing their rituals. You will be surprised. Now if you go in a Hindu
temple, you are supposed to offer a coconut. This coconut was originally not a coconut but the head
of a man. But a coconut resembles the head of a man: it has two eyes, beard, skull. They started
interpreting their scriptures to say that it was not actually a man’s head, it was only a coconut you
had to offer. You will see in India the statues of Hanumana covered with a red color. Once it was
blood, but they had to change it, otherwise they would look very foolish.
From Ignorance to Innocence 24 Osho