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

CHAPTER 20. BASE YOUR RULE ON THE RULE
intense pleadings and pressure from the women that Buddha yields to their demand to be initiated
into his fold. It is understandable why Buddha long remains unyielding to their numerous entreaties
for being initiated. He knows that ninety-nine women out of a hundred will come to him not for
Buddhahood but for Buddha himself. It is so obvious, that Buddha goes on resisting till a woman
comes and finally disarms him. This woman is rare, as rare as Buddha, and the story is beautiful.
One morning a woman named Krisha Gautami comes to Buddha and says to him, ”Why are we
women being deprived of Buddhahood? You are not coming to this world once again to redeem
us. What is our crime? Is it a crime to be born as women? And remember, all the guilt, all the
responsibility for depriving women of this gift of Buddhahood will lie singly at your door.” This Krisha
Gautami is the hundredth woman – the one who comes for Buddhahood, not for Buddha. And so
Buddha has to yield to Krisha Gautami. She leaves Buddha defenseless.
She says to him in very clear words, ”I come to you, not for you, but for the rarest gift of Buddhahood
that you bring to this earth. It happens once in millennia. Why should it be the sole preservation
of men alone? Why should women be deprived of this blessing just because they are women?
This is the most unkind and harshest of punishments that you can inflict on them; in a way you are
punishing womanhood. And it seems you too are partial, you too pick and choose; it seems not
even a Buddha is choiceless.”
Buddha yields to Krisha Gautami; he initiates her as his first woman disciple. And then the gate is
thrown wide open for women. And the story of Mahavira repeats itself: women disciples come to
predominate over men disciples in the same ratio of three to one.
Even today more women visit temples and buddha-viharas and gurudwaras than men do. Unless
statues of women Buddhas and incarnations and tirthankaras adorn these temples, men will
continue to keep away from them, because ninety-nine always go for natural reasons; only the
hundredth goes there for the trans-natural reason.
With Krishna the matter of men and women is as simple as two and two make four. Krishna has
no difficulty whatsoever with women; he accepts them as naturally as anything. Krishna takes life
and everything about life playfully and in its totality. He accepts a woman being a woman just as
he accepts himself being a man. The truth is that Krishna has never said a word of disrespect for
woman, even inadvertently.
Jesus can be found guilty of being disrespectful to women; so can Mahavira and Buddha, because
they are trying to eliminate their male nature and go beyond it. They have nothing to do with
women. Mahavira, Buddha, and Jesus want to wipe out the sexual part, the biological part of
their beings, and so they are aware if they allow women to be around them the women will come
in their way. Surrounded by women, their male nature will begin to assert itself, because women
provide nourishment to manhood.
Curiously enough, women gather round Mahavira, Buddha and Jesus, who are not favorably inclined
to them. Jesus is withdrawn and sad and is said to have never laughed. But those who take down
his dead body from the cross are all women, not men. The most beautiful woman of her times, Mary
Magdalene, is one of them. All his male disciples have escaped. Only three women are there to
take care of his dead body. And Jesus never said a word of respect for women.
Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy 393 Osho