From Ignorance to Innocence - Osho - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 29. POSITIVE THINKING: PHILOSOPHY FOR PHONIES
But the man was a politician, he was a prime minister. He simply escaped from his kingdom to
another kingdom and entered the other kingdom as a saint. Now, nobody can doubt a saint. The
nose was certainly missing, but to doubt a saint is to commit a sin. But some curious people asked
him, ”What happened to your nose?”
And the saint smiled; he said, ”That’s a secret. It is a certain technique to attain to the ultimate truth.
But you have to lose your nose: the nose represents the ego.” He is on the right lines: he is creating
a philosophy – people’s egos are written on their noses. The crowd thought that what he was saying
was significant. The nose represents the ego, and the ego is the only barrier between God and man.
There must be some technique that if you remove the nose, the ego is removed and you meet the
ultimate truth, you realize it.
One idiot immediately was ready. The politician-turned-saint called him in the night, alone, because
it was an absolutely private matter. Before he cut off the nose of the man he said, ”When I cut off
your nose you keep your eyes closed. When the nose is removed I will say, ’Open your eyes,’ and
you will see God standing before you.” The nose was cut off, and the saint said, ”Now you can open
your eyes: God is standing before you.”
The man opened his eyes – there was nobody. He said, ”But I don’t see anybody.”
The saint said, ”Now it is your problem. If you don’t see God, people will think you are an idiot. Do
you think I see Him? I don’t see Him either, but now try positive thinking. What is the gain in being
proved an idiot? Say that you have got it.”
Werner Erhard may think that he has created the philosophy of EST. That is not so. It was created
thousands of years before by this politician who cut off the nose of that idiot. That was the first EST
graduate.
The idiot thought it over and he said, ”That seems to be the right thing; yes, I see it.”
The saint said, ”You have also become a saint. From tomorrow you start spreading the philosophy
by word of mouth. It was just as Werner Erhard has been doing: no need to advertise in the
newspapers and the magazines; no need – just by word of mouth. It is more impressive, more alive:
there is an eyewitness. An advertisement in a newspaper may be just not true, but the man with the
nose missing, smiling, radiant with the realization of the ultimate truth....
The next day people saw there were two saints now. And the number started increasing by the
same strategy. First your nose is cut off, then the alternative: either you prove yourself an idiot, or
you become a saint. Now who is going to choose to be an idiot? Even an idiot cannot be that idiotic
– when he can become a saint so easily. And now there is nothing left, he has to become a saint. It
seems to be perfectly right – people are respectful, and the crowd around the saints is increasing,
and the saints are increasing....
Even the king of that kingdom became interested. He asked his prime minister... the prime minister
said, ”You wait a little, because I know this man – he was the prime minister of the neighboring
kingdom. I don’t think that he has attained ultimate truth, he has simply lost his nose.” Politicians
understand the language of politicians easily. He said, ”You wait. Let me enquire of the other king,
From Ignorance to Innocence 425 Osho