From Ignorance to Innocence - Osho - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 20. SURRENDER: THE EGO UPSIDE DOWN
stuck there, not to move from there. And the reason he was giving was absolutely meaningless. The
reason was that at that time people were happy, people were moral, people were religious, people
were spiritual. Now, all these things are wrong.
In Mesopotamia they have found a stone – the whole civilization of Mesopotamia has disappeared –
it is a six thousand year-old stone with writing on it. If you read it you will think it is from somewhere
in today’s newspaper’s editorial. It says, ”Young people are getting lost” – the generation gap, six
thousand years ago – ”the young people are disobedient and don’t listen to their fathers and mothers
and elders. This is the age of degradation” – six thousand years ago!
And it was the age of degradation. Mahavira, Buddha, Krishna, all were teaching people continually
– Mahavira for forty years, Buddha for forty-two years – and what were they teaching? ”Don’t steal,
don’t lie, don’t lust after other people’s women.” Now if people were not doing these things then
Mahavira and Buddha were both insane, completely insane. When people are not stealing, what is
the point of teaching for forty years continually, ”Don’t steal”?
I was in Bhopal sitting in my host’s bedroom, and I saw on the wall a small notice: ”Please don’t spit
on the floor.” Strange.... I said, ”People do?”
He said, ”Yes, in Bhopal this is the trouble. Only in Bhopal is this the trouble: people chew the betel
leaves and spit them out wherever.” He said, ”You are surprised? You will find this kind of notice in
every nice house.” But this notice is enough proof that people are spitting. Otherwise I have never
seen that notice anywhere in India.
In my university, one day I saw one of the professors spitting the betel leaf on the floor – the pan
that Indians go on chewing. Taru is an expert in it. I saw him spitting there, just in front of me. I was
sitting alone and he was sitting in another corner and he just spat by the side of the chair. I went
over and asked him, ”Are you from Bhopal?”
He said, ”Yes, I have just been transferred from Bhopal.”
I said, ”That explains it.” He said, ”What?”
I said, ”We will now have to keep a small notice here that says,’Please don’t spit on the floor.”’
He said, ”Strange, but it is true that only in Bhopal people spit, and this is general. And nobody
cares about those notices. Notices are there – in fact they remind you to spit. You may be chewing
your pan joyfully and suddenly you see that board, and the desire to spit arises. They don’t prevent
anybody.”
If Gandhi says everything was moral three thousand years ago, then to whom was morality being
taught? If everything was spiritual, then what was the need of so many spiritual leaders? If
everything was good then why do you go on remembering only a few good names? – Buddha,
Mahavira, Krishna – that can be counted on your fingers.
If everybody was good, Buddha and Mahavira would have been lost in the crowd because the whole
crowd was good. Just because you remember these few names shows that they rose above the
From Ignorance to Innocence 285 Osho