DEMOCRACY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN POLITICS

On the circumference people are different, and they should be different, and everybody should maintain his individuality on the circumference. One should never compromise for any reason. Then only can we create a really democratic world. Real democracy means that the mob, the crowd, is no more in control of the individual life.

DEMOCRACY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN POLITICS Democracy is less a political phenomenon than a religious phenomenon; it is far more important than politics. Democracy is a totally new vision of life. It has not yet happened anywhere. Democracy means each individual has the right to live according to his light; he should not be prevented. Unless he becomes a disturbance or a nuisance to others he should be allowed every freedom in all the aspects of life. That's my vision of a really democratic world.

DON'T INTERFERE WITH ANYBODY'S LIFE That is how I would like meditators to function: no interference in anybody's life. A great respect has to be given to the other. But at the centre, everybody is the same. When you meditate you move towards the centre. You are universal there, not individual. And you have to be both: individual and universal. And you have to be very flexible and fluid between these two. A person should be capable of living on the circumference and at the centre easily. He should be able to move from the marketplace to the meditative space and vice versa — playfully, easily, spontaneously.

YOU ARE STRANGER TO YOURSELF >From the very childhood, in every sphere of your life you are told not to come in conflict — be polite. In other words, always manage some compromise. But when there are so many compromises — politically, socially — you become a stranger to yourself. You have so many masks, you lose contact with your original face. And a mask cannot enjoy, it is dead. It cannot laugh, it cannot love. Only the original face is capable of understanding the language of the universe. Love is the language. Dance is the expression of your gratitude.

BE EASY, NOT LAZY My whole teaching is: take everything with absolute relaxation, with ease. Whether you are doing something or not, you must be overflowing with energy even when you are not doing anything. These trees are not doing anything, but they are overflowing with energy. You can see that in their flowers, in their colours, in their greenery, in their freshness, in their absolute naked beauty in the sunlight, in the dark night under the stars.

Courtesy Osho International Foundation/ www.osho.com