The third question:

Question 3

OSHO, I LAUGHED LIKE EVERYONE ELSE WHEN YOU HUMOROUSLY REPLIED TO THE QUESTION, "IF I SEE YOU WALKING ALONG THE ROAD, SHOULD I KILL YOU?" YET, MY HEART EXPERIENCED FLUTTERS OF FEAR BECAUSE I PERCEIVED FANATICS IN THIS TOWN AND ALL OVER THE WORLD WHO WOULD LIKE TO KILL YOU. I SEE SO MANY ANGRY PEOPLE WHO DRINK THE HEMLOCK OF HATE AND SCOFF AT THE NECTAR OF LOVE. ARE THESE FEELINGS OF FANTASY, REALITY OR PARANOIA?

Deva Curtis,

THE feelings that arose in your heart are not of fantasy, are not of paranoia; they are real. There are fanatics, the world is full of them. They would like to kill me. They killed Jesus, they killed Socrates, they killed Al Hillaj Mansoor. Those same fanatics are still there, but there is no need to be afraid of them because in a way, unknowingly, they help the work.

Just think, if Jesus had not been killed, there would have been no Christianity at all. It is the murderers who helped to create Christianity. In fact, George Gurdjieff used to say humorously that it was Jesus' own plan -- that he managed that they kill him, that he wanted to be killed so that his message could spread. George Gurdjieff used to say that Judas was not the enemy of Jesus; he did not betray, he simply followed his orders. He was the most close disciple, and the most intelligent of all Jesus' disciples, the most educated, the most sophisticated. Gurdjieff used to say that Jesus ORDERED Judas: "If you really love me, and if your surrender is total, then now go and hand me over to the enemies."

This is a beautiful story that Gurdjieff invented; it has some truth in it. The truth is that the people who murdered Jesus played into his hands. He may not have planned it, but it worked out perfectly well in his favor.

Just think: there have been many Sufi mystics of the same caliber as Mansoor, but the world knows only Mansoor's name, nobody else's. Bahauddin is not known so much, Junaid is not known so much, Hassan is not known so much, Junon is not known so much. And they were of the same height and the same quality, the same enlightenment. But Mansoor has become the greatest name; without Mansoor there would be no Sufism at all. Mansoor has become the central focus for a simple reason: he was killed.

There were many great philosophers of the same calibre as Socrates, but because he was poisoned his name cannot be effaced. As long as humanity exists, as long as there will be any intelligence available anywhere, he will be remembered. Now to look back, retrospectively, it does not seem a bad thing that he was poisoned and killed. Anyway, he was going to die, he was an old man; he could have lived one year, two years, four years at the most.

The court had asked Socrates, "If you leave Athens you can save your life, we can leave you free. But then you will not be entitled to enter back into Athens."

Socrates said, "No, I will not compromise just for life's sake -- because sooner or later I am going to die, so why compromise for something which is going to happen anyway? So how does it make any difference? It is better to be killed than for it to be known later on that I compromised, that I was a coward."

The court proposed another thing; the court said, "Then one thing more -- we would like to help you in every possible way. The pressure is much, so we have to kill you, but we can give you one more option: you can live in Athens if you insist on living in Athens, but then stop talking about truth."

He said, "That is impossible. That's my business! If I live, I will talk about truth. Life and spreading truth are synonymous to me. What is the point of living if I cannot even talk about truth? If I cannot commune, if I cannot initiate people into the world of truth, what is the point of living at all? You please kill me and be finished with the whole thing! I am not going to compromise."

And he did well. If he had compromised nobody would have ever heard about him. It would have been more calculating to compromise, he could have saved himself, but he was ready to die. He chose death. Why? -- because in a very mysterious way death becomes a seal.

So don't be worried, Curtis, about those fanatics. If they kill me they will be helping my work.

Death is bound to come one day, and the best way is not to die in the bed. Almost ninety-nine percent of people do that. And people like me have been known to find better ways of dying.

A Zen Master was dying. In the last moment he opened his eyes and asked his disciples who had gathered -- thousands of disciples; he was a great Master -- he asked, "Can somebody suggest how to die? Because people just go on dying on the bed. I would like to try something new!"

They were shocked! What kind of question was he asking? Who had ever heard of people enquiring about how to die? People don't even ask how to live! People go on living without asking how to live, and here is a man who cannot even die without asking how to die. He wants to make it a little celebration, something special.

Seeing that the disciples were silent, he himself suggested, "Have you ever heard about anybody dying in a sitting posture, Buddha -- like, in PADMASAN?"

One man said, "Yes, I know of a Zen Master who died sitting in the lotus posture."

Then the old man said, "That won't do! If somebody has already done it, it is not worth repeating. Have you heard of anybody dying standing, like Mahavira?" Mahavira used to stand while meditating. That is unique, very unique; people don't ordinarily meditate standing. That's why you will find thousands of Mahavira's statues in India standing. Of Buddha, you will never find a single statue standing; he is always sitting. The sitting posture has always been used as a meditation posture, but Mahavira was of his own type.

Somebody said, "Yes, we have heard -- we have not seen but we have heard: in ancient days one Zen Master had died standing."

The old man said, "Then that won't do. Find out something soon, because death is coming close by! Have you ever heard," he asked, "of somebody dying standing on his head?"

Now nobody had ever heard, nobody had ever even dreamt of anybody dying standing on his head, in SHIRSHASAN, the headstand. They said, "No, we have not heard, we have not even thought of it!"

The old man said, "Then that's perfectly right!" He stood on his head.

Now it was a problem to decide whether he had died or not. And the disciples were afraid also to disturb him now that he was standing on his head. They tried..."breathing seems to have almost disappeared. But how can a man go on standing on his head if he is dead? He will fall! What to do now? And there is no precedent!" Otherwise you know what to do when a man dies, what has to be done. But nobody had ever heard of anybody dying standing on his head, so there was no precedent: "Now what has to be done?"

Somebody remembered that he had an old sister who was a nun; she lived in a monastery closeby; she was older than him. So they ran and they asked the old nun. She said. "I am coming. That old fool! Is this the way to die? I will teach him a lesson! And he has always been a nuisance, I tell you." The old woman said, "Even in his life he was doing eccentric things. Now is this a way to die?"

She was not worried about death! She came and shouted at the old man, "This is not right! And doing such a stupid thing, and creating trouble for your disciples! Is it right for you? Get up and be normal!"

So the old man laughed, got up, lay down on the bed and he said, "Okay, then I will die in a normal way" -- and died!

Don't take death too seriously! Nothing is serious, neither life nor death, because nothing matters in the ultimate sense. Life and death are just episodes in the eternity of time, just soap bubbles -- life and death both.

So Curtis, I can understand your apprehension, your love for me, but don't be worried. Neither life nor death have any significance.

The only thing that is significant is: while I am here if I can impart some truth to you, if I can impart something that I have seen, if I can impart my perspective to you, if I can help you to see a little bit of reality through my eyes. If I can help you just a few steps into the unknown, then you will be able to go on your own. Everything else is irrelevant.