From Ignorance to Innocence - Osho - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 5. ECSTASY IS NOW – WHY WAIT?
priests telling you that you will suffer for your karmas. You enjoy yourself in every possible way. Don’t
miss enjoyment. This is the only world.”
This is the meaning given by the enemies, but in one enemy scripture – it must have been a very
liberal person who wrote it – it says that this is the meaning given by the enemies, by us. But
Charvakas themselves have a different meaning of their name. It means one who has a sweet
philosophy – that meaning is possible from the same word – one who speaks words of honey. And
certainly they do speak words of honey. But they also are trapped in the same logic.
The religious people say, ”Renounce this world if you want to enjoy that world.” And Charvakas
say, ”Renounce that world if you want to rejoice in this one.” But the logic is the same. They have
taken it from different angles, but both are asking you to renounce one for the other. Charvakas say
renounce the other world; there is no God, no nirvana, no paradise – renounce it. This is all there is
– so enjoy it.
Epicurus in Greece had the same philosophy and got caught up in the same logic. Even Karl Marx
is caught up in the same logic: there is no other world. The first effort is to deny the other world,
only then can you enjoy this world. So first demolish the other world: there is no God, no paradise,
no heaven, nothing. There is no soul to survive; with your body everything dies. You are nothing
but your body, your chemistry, your biology, your physiology, all together – a byproduct of all these
things. It is just like the clock goes on working – it does not mean there is a soul which is moving
the hands. Just take the pieces apart and you won’t find any soul, just a certain arrangement of the
parts. Arrange it again, and it starts ticking.
Karl Marx says, ”Consciousness is only a byproduct, it has no independent existence.” So when the
body dies, consciousness disappears. Why this insistence on denying the other world? – for the
simple reason that unless you deny the other, you will not be able to enjoy this.
But please see my point of view which is totally different from all these people – the religious, the
anti-religious, the theist, the atheist. I don’t belong to any of them.
I say to you that life continues to exist, but there is no need to call it the other world. It is the same
world, the same continuity.
The Ganges comes out of the Himalayas; it is just a small rivulet. As it descends, other waterfalls,
other rivulets go on joining it; it goes on becoming bigger and bigger and bigger. When it comes
out of the Himalayas it is a vast river. You cannot conceive that it is the same river. You can see
from where it arises. Because Hindus love the cow as the mother, they have made the origin of the
Ganges a stone cow’s face. The Ganges falls through the face; it is so small, so tiny.
By the time the Ganges reaches Benares, you cannot believe its size. And when it reaches near
Calcutta to meet the ocean, it becomes almost oceanic itself. Standing there, you cannot decide
which is the ocean; it is so vast. It falls into the ocean, then too it remains. Where can it go? Yes, it
is no more a river – perhaps some water may evaporate into the clouds, some water may become
ice and move towards the arctic – but it will remain, nothing is lost.
So I don’t say that you have to renounce anything: this world for that, or that world for this. You have
not to renounce at all. You have to live!
From Ignorance to Innocence 65 Osho