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

CHAPTER 20. BASE YOUR RULE ON THE RULE
And Mahavira says that woman cannot achieve moksha or liberation unless she is reborn as a man.
Buddha refuses to initiate them into his religion. And when Krishna Gautami persuades him to
admit them in his sangha he makes a strange statement. He says, ”My religion was going to last
five thousand years, but now that women have entered it will last only five hundred years.”
Question 5
QUESTIONER: THERE IS TRUTH IN THIS STATEMENT.
This is not the question. This is not the question at all. There is a relative truth in this statement;
it is true from the side of Buddha. It is true from his side, because his path – or for that matter,
Mahavira’s path – is not meant for women. Women don’t have much scope on Buddha’s path, which
is male-oriented. Nonetheless women rush to them because they are so charismatic. So Buddha’s
statement is relatively true in the context of his path, but it is not an absolute truth.
There is no difficulty for women in achieving moksha; they can achieve it as much as men can, but
certainly their path will be different. They cannot make it on the path of the Jaina tirthankara. It is
like there are two pathways for going to a mountain, one of which is straight, steep and short with
a sign on the entrance: Not For Women. And another is long, circular and flat with a sign at the
beginning: For Women. This much is the difference.
So the statement that women cannot achieve liberation is true in the context of Mahavira’s path or
Buddha’s for that matter. If some woman insists on treading these male-oriented paths, she will
surely have to wait for another incarnation as a man.
Mahavira’s path is particularly steep and precipitous and hard, and there are good reasons for it.
One important reason is that you have to go it alone, there is neither God nor any companion to
lean on in times of difficulty. And the psychological make-up of a woman is such that she needs
someone’s shoulder – even a false shoulder – to lean on when in difficulty. She has a sense of
assurance when a shoulder is available to lean on, a hand to hold. This is the way she is.
But man’s way is different; he loves to be on his own. Dependence on others is alien to his nature;
it fills him with self-pity. When a woman puts her hand in the hand of a man she feels assurance,
strength, and dignity. Left alone she pities herself and feels forlorn and miserable.
Question 6
QUESTIONER: GANDHI USED TO WALK LEANING ON TWO WOMEN – ONE ON EACH SIDE.
It is a different thing altogether, and I would like to discuss it later. This particular aspect of Gandhi,
walking with feminine support, deserves special consideration. He is perhaps the first man to do so.
No man in the past had walked leaning on the shoulders of women.
Question 7
QUESTIONER: WAS IT BECAUSE HE WAS OLD?
Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy 394 Osho