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

CHAPTER 20. BASE YOUR RULE ON THE RULE
from the bondage of desiring. So Buddha says over and over, ”Don’t choose, don’t seek, don’t run,
don’t make something into a goal, because there is nothing like a goal, a destination. Everything is
now and here.”
Jesus has a goal, a destination. This is why, while he talks of holy indifference toward the world, he
cannot be indifferent to God. Indifference to God cannot be holy in the eyes of Jesus, he will call it
unholy indifference.
Buddha is indifferent to everything; his indifference is complete. If you ask him how it is that there is
nothing to find – neither the world, nor God, nor soul, he will say, ”What we see before our eyes is not
real, it is only a collage, an assemblage, something put together. It is something like a chariot which
is nothing but a collection of four wheels and back seats, rods and ropes, and a horse that carries it.
If you remove all the parts one by one and put them aside, the chariot will simply disappear.
”Like the chariot you are a collage, the whole world is a collage, a collection, a composition of things,
sights and sounds. And when the collage falls apart, then all that remains in its place is nothingness,
emptiness. This nothingness, this emptiness is the reality, the truth which is worth attaining.” Buddha
calls it nirvana – the ultimate state of extinction, nothingness, which cannot be put into words. So
Buddha does not say it in words, he says it with his being, his interiority, his silence.
For this reason only men and women of deep intelligence and understanding can walk with Buddha.
Those who are greedy and goal-oriented, who are out to achieve something – either gold or God –
will simply run away from him. They will say, ”This man Buddha is no good, he has nothing to give
but peace. And what use is peace? We want heaven, we seek God, we yearn for MOKSHA.” And
Buddha will simply laugh at them, because he knows that what they call God or soul or moksha is
attained only in the immensity of peace, of silence.
So one cannot make God into a goal. That is why Buddha consistently denies God, because if
he accepts, you will immediately turn this into a goal, into an object of desire. And one who runs
after a goal cannot be peaceful, he cannot be silent. So you can understand why Buddha insists on
indifference, it is only indifference that can lead you into peace, into the silence where all journeying
ends.
Mahavira’s transcendence of attachment ac. cords with Buddha’s indifference to some extent,
because he too stands for indifference toward the world. In the same way Mahavira agrees with
Jesus to an extent because he, like Jesus, stands for liberation. Mahavira is not choiceless in
regard to the goal of freedom. Mahavira will argue that without liberation, peace is irrelevant; without
freedom there is no difference between peace and lack of peace. Then restless ness is as good as
peace and silence.
Mahavira says that someone gives up a thing so he can gain something else in its place. If there
is nothing to be gained the question of renunciation does not arise. So Mahavira is not indifferent
to moksha, or freedom. His transcendence of attachment is a means to help you go beyond the
contradictions and conflicts of the world; so it is only an instrument of achievement.
Buddha’s indifference is total. It has no goals to achieve, it is not goal oriented. Or you can say
Buddha’s indifference is a means to non-achievement, where you lose and go on losing till there is
Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy 378 Osho