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

CHAPTER 1. THE FUTURE BELONGS TO KRISHNA
Now it is very strange logic that equality has to be had for freedom to come, and that freedom has to
be sacrificed for equality to come. The truth is, once freedom is lost it will be impossible to restore
it. Who will restore it?
You all are here listening to me. I tell you that in order to make you all equal it is necessary to put
you in shackles first. I tell you that without putting you in fetters it will not be possible to equalize
you. Maybe someone has a bigger head than others, another has larger arms and a third one has
longer legs – they all will have to be cut to equal size. And this painful operation will not be possible
without first depriving you of your freedom. And it sounds very logical.
But people forget that the person who will make them all equal will himself remain tree and unequal;
he will remain outside them all. He will have no fetters on his feet and, besides, he will have a gun
in his hand. Now you can well envision a situation, a society where most people are in shackles,
maimed and crippled, and a handful of people are free and powerful with all the modern instruments
of suppression and oppression at their disposal. What can you do in a situation like this?
Marx held the view that in order to achieve equality in society it would, in the first place, be necessary
to suppress political freedom, destroy individual liberty and establish a dictatorship. And he thought
that after the achievement of equality, freedom would be restored to the people. But do you think
people with such enormous power in their hands that they can equalize everyone will ever give you
back your freedom? We don’t see any sign of it in the countries where such experiments have been
conducted. In fact, as the power of the rulers grows, and as the people, the ruled, ate systematically
suppressed and debilitated, the hope for freedom becomes increasingly dim. Then it is difficult even
to raise the question of freedom. Nobody dares ask a question, speak his thoughts, much less
dissent and rebel against the established tyranny.
In the name of equality, and under the cover of equality, freedom is going to be destroyed. And once
it is destroyed it will be neatly impossible to win it back – because those who destroy freedom will
see to it that the chances of its being revived in the future are also destroyed.
Secondly, you should know that while freedom is an absolutely natural phenomenon, which everyone
must have as his right, equality is not. Equality is neither natural nor possible. The concept of
equality is unpsychological; all people cannot be equal. They are not equal; they are basically
unequal. But freedom is a must. Everyone should be free to be what he is and what he can be.
Everyone should have full freedom and opportunity to be himself.
In my view, Krishna is on the side of freedom; he cannot be on the side of equality. If there is
freedom it is possible that inequality will diminish. I don’t say equality will come with freedom, I only
say in equality will gradually be reduced. But if equality is forced on people then their freedom is
bound to diminish and disappear. Anything imposed with force is synonymous with slavery.
So basically it is a choice of values. And in my vision the individual is the highest value. So freedom
of the individual is of the highest.
The camp of evil has always been against the individual and in favor of the group, the collective, The
individual has no value whatsoever in the eyes of evil, and there is good reason for it. The individual
is rebellious; he is the seed of rebellion. You will be surprised to know that if you want some evil act
to be done you will find it easier through a group than through an individual.
Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy 18 Osho