Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy - Osho - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 7. MAKE WORK A CELEBRATION
I don’t think that even today women like men with shaved faces; they look feminine to them. The
beard and mustache are symbols of masculinity for women. Just think how you would react to a
woman who appears before you with a beard and mustache on her face; she will be repelling. In
the same way a man without a beard and mustache should repel a woman. Whether she says so
or not is another thing, because women don’t have even this much freedom. that they can express
their likes and dislikes. Even their ways of thinking are determined by men; they cannot assert their
own preferences.
Remember, whenever and wherever masculine beauty manifests itself in its full grandeur, beards
and mustaches return to men’s faces. It has always been that masculine beauty gains its peak with
the return of the beard and mustache. But when man begins to imitate women, he shaves his beard
and thus loses a part of his masculinity.
It is ironic that women are out to imitate men on a very large scale. This craze has become almost
worldwide. Women now want to dress in jeans like men, because their concept of beauty is based
on their appreciation of the male look. They like to wear watches on their wrists exactly as men
do. They are taking to men’s professions for the same reason. They think that man is the picture of
beauty and strength. Their whole lib movement is moving in the direction of imitating man. And if
someday they win – there is every likelihood that they will win, because men have dominated long,
and they must now quit so that women take center stage – it will not be surprising to see women
wearing beards and mustaches. Today we cannot even think of it; it seems quite unthinkable. But
they have already started wearing beards and mus taches in subtler ways; they are doing their very
best to imitate men in every way. They want to look like men; they are out to become carbon copies.
But whether men imitate women or women imitate men, it is ugly and absurd. It is utterly stupid.
Imitation itself is stupid.
Painters and sculptors who portrayed Krishna, Rama and Buddha, were men, admirers of feminine
beauty, and for this very reason none of these portraits can be said to be authentic. If you see
the statues of the twenty four Jaina tirthankaras you will be surprised to find that they are all alike,
that there is not the least difference between one and another. If you remove the different signs
engraved at the bottom of their statues, you cannot tell one from the other; they are exactly the
same. Similarly, there is no difference between the statues of Mahavira and Buddha other than of
clothes. While Mahavira is naked, Buddha is in clothes. Do you think all of them really looked alike?
No, it is impossible they all looked alike. It rarely happens that two persons have exactly the same
face, not even twins. But the painters and sculptors have achieved the miracle. How? The painter
engaged in portraying Buddha is doing his best to make his portrait the most beautiful even. The
sculptor of Mahavira’s statue works with the same objective in mind. And the net result of this effort
of theirs to achieve perfection in beauty is that their images turn out alike.
Question 6
QUESTIONER: YOU SAY THAT ONE SHOULD WORK ONLY ENOUGH TO LIVE, NOT MORE
THAN THAT. IF THIS ATTITUDE TOWARDS WORK BECOMES PREVALENT, MEERA WILL
CEASE TO HAVE A TANPOORA, AN INSTRUMENT IN HER HANDS AND WE WILL NOT BE
ABLE TO RECORD YOUR DISCOURSES. THE TANPOORA AND THE TAPE RECORDER ARE
Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy 133 Osho