The last question:

Question 3

OSHO, WILL YOU RECOGNIZE ME AT THE FINAL JUDGEMENT DAY?

Suresh,

IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOU: remember to be in orange and with the mala, because it is going to be difficult to recognize you. Just think of all the men and all the women that have existed... they will all be there. There is going to be much difficulty in recognizing people, so just you remember that thing.

A timid, conservative, unmarried shopkeeper suddenly came into a small fortune. Overnight, this mild-mannered, mincing little man had all the money he could possibly use.

Bravely he snapped his fingers, clicked his heels, and decided to become a swinger. He bought expensive, mod clothes, had his hair styled, rented a lavish beach villa in Florida, and got a dark, virile tan.

Driving home from the Rolls Royce dealer in his new car, wearing his flashiest sports clothes and swingiest sunglasses, he was suddenly struck dead by a lightning bolt. Right there in the Florida sun -- a fatal lightning bolt.

Up at the Pearly Gates, the shopkeeper angrily faced Saint Peter. "Why would you pick on me like that? I have been a good man all my life. The Lord has always watched over me."

"He was trying to watch over you," explained Saint Peter. "He just didn't recognize you."

So, Suresh, please remember it, don't forget: be in orange and with the mala so that I can recognize you.

But why are you worried about the Last Judgement Day? I teach you about the immediate and you ask about the Last Judgement Day! I teach you the immediate is the ultimate and you ask about the Last Judgement Day. In reality there can be no day which can be the last. The world never begins, never ends -- it is a continuum.

Secondly, the very word 'judgement' is ugly. God is not a judge, God is a lover -- and the lover cannot be a judge. Jesus said to his disciples: Judge ye not! Why? Because the moment you judge you start destroying the other. Who are you to judge? The moment you judge you start comparing, and who are you to compare?

Each individual is unique, and each individual brings variety to existence. The world will not be better if there are only saints and saints and saints. It will be one of the most boring worlds if there are only saints and saints and saints. The sinners also contribute something: they make it a little salty, they bring a little taste to life.

God is not a Judge, god is a lover, and how can love judge? Be assured that in the eyes of God there is no sinner, no saint -- in the eyes of God all are alike. And when his sun rises, it rises for the sinners too, as much as for the saints. And when his roses bloom, they give fragrance to the saints as much as to the sinners. No distinction is ever made. Just simple observation will show to you that existence makes no distinctions. All right and wrong, all good and bad, are human creations, are man-made concepts and ideas.

And each society has created its own ideas of good and bad, and they go on changing. They are utilitarian, remember. One thing can be a sin in one society and may not be a sin in another society. The same thing can be a great virtue in One society, and may be thought just the opposite in another society.

If a person beats his own body so that blood oozes out, what will you call him? Will you call him a saint or a sinner? It depends... because there has been a Christian sect that believes in beating your body so that blood comes out, and the more blood you can bring out of your body, the greater a saint you are.

In Russia, before Communism, there was a sect, a great sect of Christians, who used to cut their genital organs. Women used to cut their breasts -- and they were thought to be great saints. What do you think about them? You will think them pathological, mentally ill, deranged.

There are ideas and ideas, but all ideas are human. Don't be worried. There are people who are worried about small things -- they have been MADE to worry. Somebody smokes and he is afraid that he is going to be thrown into hell. If you have smoked tao much, one thing is certain, that you will not be sent to hell because there is too much smoke there, and you have already done it to yourself.

Smoking may be bad for your health but is not a sin; you cannot be thrown into hell for smoking. But there are people who think even drinking tea... in Mahatma Gandhi's ashram drinking tea was a sin. If you were caught drinking tea, there was a great fuss about it. Mahatma Gandhi might have gone for a three-day fast to purify his soul and his disciples' souls because people are drinking tea.

And Buddhist monks down the ages have been drinking tea. Tea is part of their meditation -- and there seems to be something in it, because tea has some chemicals which can keep you awake more easily. It can be a help in meditation. If you are trying to be alert, tea can be a help.

In fact, tea was discovered by Buddhist monks; it is their discovery, because it was discovered in a monastery in China called Ta, that's why it is called tea. That 'ta' can be pronounced also as 'cha'; that's why in Marathi it is called 'cha' and in Hindi it is called 'chai'. But it is from the monastery of Ta.

And the man who is reputed to have grown the first tea plants was nobody else but Bodhidharma, the great Bodhidharma. The story is beautiful:

He was meditating, and such a meditator happens only once in a while. For nine years he sat facing the wall -- just the wall and for nine years looking at the wall and doing nothing else. And sometimes he used to fall asleep -- naturally, if you look at the wall that long, what else is there to do? And he did not want to go to sleep.

So he tore out his eyelids and his eyelashes and threw them so that now there was no way to close his eyes. And the story is that out of those eyelids, those pieces of skin, and the eye-lashes, the first teaplant grew.

This is a beautiful story: it simply says one thing, that tea can keep you awake. It will not allow you and your eyes to close.

Buddhists drink tea with religious ritual. In Japan, they have tea ceremonies. Tea is not an ordinary thing for them, because it keeps you awake, it gives you energy to remain

more alert. They have made a very prayerful, graceful ritual out of it: the tea ceremony. In each Zen monastery there is a separate tea temple, the most beautiful place -- maybe surrounded by a lake, rocks, sand, trees. And when you go into the temple, you have to go in a certain manner, in a certain posture you have to sit there, and it takes hours.

The tea will be prepared, the samovar will start humming, and all will be sitting in silence listening to the humming of the samovar. And slowly the flavour of the tea will reach your nostrils, and you have to drink that too. And then the tea is served -- with great grace, with great beauty, art. And the tea is served in beautiful cups, hand-made with great love and care. And then everybody starts sipping the tea. And it is done very prayerfully and everybody remains silent, no gossiping, no chattering -- as if there is nobody. Then they bow down to each other with great respect, and disperse without saying a word.

In one country, tea is so religious, so spiritual, and in Mahatma Gandhi's ashram it was a sin. It depends. These are all human ideas. You should not be worried about these things.