You say, "I am certain that I am going to die one day." How can you be certain? You have not seen death yet, you have seen only symptoms, outward symptoms. You have never seen any life dying.

You have seen only a dead body stop functioning; it was always dead, it is nothing new for it. It was a mechanism functioning for a certain period, programmed to function for a certain period. When the period is over the mechanism stops.

You wind your watch, and for twenty-four hours it goes on ticking; after twenty-four hours it stops.

That does not mean that something has died. But if you believe that there was a life inside the watch which has died, because now the hands are no longer moving, then you are believing in a fallacy.

So the first thing I would like to say to you is, don't be so certain. Never be certain about anything that you have not experienced. You have not seen anybody really dying. And even if you can see somebody dying then too you cannot be certain - unless you see yourself dying - because these things are so intimate.

-Rajneesh

My people have to keep the innocence of the Zorbas, of the children, of the aboriginals. They have to be as innocent as Adam was when he was turned out of the garden of Eden.

And yet they have to learn methods of expanding the seed of consciousness in them to such a luxurious growth, that as far as you can see, you can see only yourself flowering. You can feel your fragrance twenty-four hours a day; and not only can you feel it, you cannot help it: you will have to share it. Whether you want to or not, that does not matter.

When a roseflower opens, the fragrance starts spreading. It does not ask the permission of the roseflower, there is no need. The very opening of the roseflower is the permission for the fragrance to spread to all the directions, to all the winds.

The moment your consciousness flowers in meditation there is a tremendous explosion.

-Rajneesh

So on one hand are the aboriginals - alive but not overflowingly alive. They don't know that life energy can shrink, can expand. You can use it as it is available from nature - and you can be contented - but you will remain poor in many ways. You will not know flights of music. You will not know flights of painting and sculpture; you will not know flights of meditation. You will live almost like animals - contented.

All animals are contented. Have you seen any animals discontented, bothering you, saying, "My life is just a misery - can you help me? What am I supposed to do with my wife? And the children are growing up ...." No, there are no problems for them. They are living, and living far better than your civilized man, because your civilized man has ceased living. He sacrificed himself for civilization, culture, technology.

I cannot choose between these two.

I would like you to rise higher than the animals; and the only way to rise higher than the animals is to find ways to expand your energy.

And that's what I call religion: The science of expanding energy, so that you have so much energy that you can be a Zorba and yet so much is left that you can be a Buddha too, together, simultaneously.

-Rajneesh

Energy has to move. It can take a religious way; then the priests are happy. It can become academic; then the academicians are happy. It can become scientific; then the scientists are happy. It has to become something - that's why sex-repressive societies have developed in so many directions. Yes, they have become very cultured, polished, civilized, educated, scientific, technological. But at what cost?

They have lost all joy. They have lost all peace. They have lost all silence. They have lost all love.

You can project your love towards an imaginary object but it is not going to give you fulfillment.

You can go on writing poetry about Krishna or Christ, but that poetry is not going to give you the experience of love. You will remain starved. So the society has become really rich in every possible way - but the individual has died. And what is the point of the society becoming cultured, civilized, educated, technological? For whom?

The individual is dead.

-Rajneesh

It is one of the most sensitive areas of life because it is concerned with the very life force - sex.

The word has become too condemned. The reason sex became condemned was because all the religions had to be against everything that man can enjoy. It was their vested interest to keep man miserable, to destroy every possibility of his finding some kind of peace, solace, a moment of oasis in the desert. This was absolutely necessary for religions, that man be made completely devoid of any possibility, of any potentiality for rejoicing.

Why was it so important for them? It was important because they wanted to shift you, your mind, somewhere else - towards the other world. If you are really happy here, why should you be bothered about the other world? Your misery is absolutely needed for the other world to exist. It does not exist in itself; it exists in your misery, in your suffering, in your anguish.

All the religions have been doing that harm to you. They are creating more misery, more suffering, more wounds, more hatred, anger - and all in the name of God, all in the name of beautiful words.

They talk about love and they destroy every possibility of your ever being in love.

They talk about peace and create every situation for war.

The strategy is very simple - go on talking about beautiful things, keep people engaged in words, ideologies; and while they are engaged in words and ideologies, philosophies, go on cutting their roots from the soil, from the life energy.

And your life energy is rooted in your sex.

-Rajneesh