Ageh Bharti remembers…
Osho gave a speech at the Theological College in Jabalpur. After the speech there were 15 minutes for questions and answers.
Mr. Bhaskar Rao, director of the Ethiopia Radio Station in Jabalpur, stood up and asked, “When God is everywhere, why do you talk about leaving the shore and jumping into the ocean and drowning? Is God not on the shore?”
Osho replied, “When my eyes are closed, it’s dark. When I open my eyes, there is light. When my eyes are closed, the light is there but it I cannot see it. Certainly, God is everywhere, but he cannot be seen without drowning. Only once you drown and come to know him, you realize he is also present on the shore. So the question is not if light exists. The question is whether your eyes are open or closed. When your eyes are open, there is light. There is no difference between the shore and the ocean, but this is only revealed by drowning in the ocean first. And samadhi is that ocean. It is not emptiness, it is the ocean.”
Once a Sarva Dharma Sammelan, an All Religions Conference, was organised. Representatives of all religions were joining in it.
After listening to Osho, they thought they had understood what he had said. They even started claiming that all the religions are one. A Jain said that every religion is the same as the Jain religion. A Hindu said that it’s the same as the Hindu religion. A Muslim said it’s the same as the Muslim religion. The truth is, I would say, that as long as someone is Hindu, Jain, or Christian, they cannot be truly religious.
And once I asked Osho, “What is the difference between ego and self-respect?”
Osho replied, “Ego is aggressive; it finds pleasure in causing pain to others. Self-respect is defensive. But the problem is everyone believes that they have self-respect, and that the other has ego. Therefore, a true seeker must go even beyond self-respect.”
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