From Ignorance to Innocence - Osho - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 26. MEDITATION: WATCHFULNESS, AWARENESS, ALERTNESS – THE REAL TRINITY
It is not just a coincidence that all the religions have preached that their monks remain celibate,
because once they are celibate then their whole energy starts moving towards an imaginary God –
then God becomes their sexual object.
And you can see it in the songs of the devotees. They talk of God almost as if they are talking of
a beloved or of a lover. Meera, one of the most famous mystics in India, must have been studied
by Sigmund Freud. If he did not study her, he will have to be born again, because those two have
to meet and come to an understanding. Freud never heard about Meera, otherwise he would have
found all the great explanations that he needed and searched and looked for – and was unable to
find.
Meera talks of Krishna almost in sexual terms. She sleeps with the statue of Krishna. She calls
Krishna ”my husband”. And the words she uses are exactly those romantic words which lovers use
for each other. The same is true about the Sufi mystics who think of God as a beloved, a woman.
And you have to see their description of the beauty of God, the youthfulness of God.
When Fitzgerald, a very talented poet, translated Omar Khayyam, a Sufi mystic, he did something
almost impossible, because Omar Khayyam, in the original, does not seem to be so impressive as
he becomes in the translation of Fitzgerald. And the reason is, Fitzgerald had no idea that Omar
Khayyam was talking about God, not about a woman.
The Sufis call God saki. Saki is the woman in the pub who pours wine for the customers. Particularly
in the Arabic and Persian nations, the sakis are chosen just as in the West you choose Miss World,
Miss universe, Miss America. The saki is chosen just like that. The most beautiful girl in the city will
become the saki. The most beautiful women move into the profession of being the saki. And Sufis
call God ”saki”.
Fitzgerald had no idea that saki means, to a Sufi, God. He simply translated literally that saki is
a woman, and when Omar Khayyam says, ”Saki, fill my cup full,” he thinks he is asking a woman
to fill his cup full. And when Omar Khayyam says, ”Even the wine is not so sweet as your kiss,”
he is thinking of a woman; hence, his poetry becomes more romantic, more colorful. One who
understands the Sufi terminology will not find much in Omar Khayyam.
You will be surprised that in Persia, Omar Khayyam is not known as a great poet. But in the whole
world, Omar Khayyam is Persia’s most important poet, and this miracle has happened because of
Fitzgerald. And you would not have enjoyed Omar Khayyam. He was a mathematician; that was the
first mistake that Fitzgerald made: he did not realize that Omar Khayyam was a mathematician.
Now, a mathematician writing poetry – you understand, it cannot be juicy. From where can a
mathematician get juice? Then over and above that, he is a Sufi, a seeker of God. There is no
place for any woman in his life; he lived a celibate life.
Fitzgerald never bothered about the man’s life. Before he translated his poetry he should at least
have looked to see whether this man was capable of writing poetry about women. He was a celibate
mathematician! A Sufi! But Sufis remaining celibate think of God as a woman, dream of God as a
woman, the most beautiful woman of course – there can be no comparison with God. So they pour
all their sexuality on the image of God, the beloved. He is not a man.
From Ignorance to Innocence 379 Osho