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

CHAPTER 3. WHERE BUDDHA ENDS KRISHNA BEGINS
yours. When you say ”I” it means the one imprisoned inside your body, but when Krishna says it he
means that which permeates the whole cosmos. Hence he has the courage to tell Arjuna, ”Give up
everything else and come to my feet.” If it were the same ”I” as yours – a prisoner of the body – it
would be impossible for him to say a thing like this. And Arjuna would have been hurt if Krishna’s
”I” were as petty ss yours. Arjuna would have immediately retorted, ”What are you saying? Why on
earth should I surrender to you?” Arjuna would have really been hurt, but he was not.
Whenever someone speaks to another in the language of the ego, it creates an instant reaction
in the ego of the other. When you say something in the words of the ”I” of the ego, the other
immediately begins to speak the same language. We are skilled in knowing the undertones of each
other’s words, and we react sharply.
But Krishna’s ”I” is absolutely free of all traces of egoism, and for this reason he could call upon
Arjuna to make a clean surrender to him. Here, ”Surrender to me” really means ”Surrender to the
whole. Surrender to the primordial and mysterious energy that permeates the cosmos.”
Egolessness comes to Buddha and Mahavira too, but it comes to them after long, hard struggle and
toil. But it may not come to most of their followers, because on their paths it is the very last thing to
come. So the followers may come to it or they may not. But egolessness comes first with Krishna;
he begins where Buddha and Mahavira end. So one who chooses to go with Krishna has to have it
at the very beginning. If he fails, there is no question of his going with Krishna.
You can walk a long way in the company of Mahavira with your ”I” intact, but with Krishna you have
to drop your ”I” with the first step; otherwise you are not going to go with him. Your ”I” can find
some accommodation with Mahavira, but none with Krishna. For Krishna the first step is the last;
for Mahavira and Buddha the last step is the first. And it is important for you to bear this difference
in mind, because it is a big difference, and a basic difference at that.
What sadhana can you do with Krishna? You can dance with him, you can sing with him, you can
celebrate with him, and you can merge with him. Or if you call this sadhana, then it is a different
matter. Therefore Krishna has no expectations from you. What is there to expect when the journey
begins with egolessness? If you go to Buddha or Mahavira to say you are an egoist and want to be
free of it, he will give you some method, he will tell you to first give up this and give up that and then
the problem of the ego will be taken care of. But if you go to Krishna with the same question, he will
not prescribe any methods, he will say the ego has to go in the first instance, that you have to begin
with its cessation. Krishna will say that methods and techniques are ways of postponement. That is
why no community of seekers could grow around him it was not in the very nature of things.
As far as a seeker is concerned, he very much likes to play with methods. He will say it is very
difficult to part with the ego, but he can part with his money if it is going to help. But Krishna is not
going to oblige you. He will say parting with money won’t do, because your disease will continue to
afflict you even if you give up all your wealth. If a man suffering from cancer says he cannot give
up his cancer, but he can get his head shaved, what will you say? Shaving his head will make no
difference whatsoever to his disease, the cancer will continue to torment him. There is no connection
between cancer and shaving; cancer will continue to be a problem even if you shave your head a
hundred times. If the seeker says to begin with, he is prepared to give up his clothes, Krishna will
say clothes have nothing to do with cancer.
Krishna: The Man and His Philosophy 51 Osho