Osho did succeed to some extent and he shattered most of the established beliefs but the governments of the world were against him because he was trying to raise common men to a state whence they could not be brought back to Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, or the other prevailing religions of the time.

The religions of the world create distinctions but nature has not given us anything which could be called distinct in one and indistinct in another. When Osho began to spread the message of love and joy, the traditionalists got against him He was destroying their whole ‘holier than you’ attitude. Osho had chosen the orange colour particularly to destroy that attitude of ‘holier than you’.

I don’t want you to go for any particular colour because I don’t want to fight against any existing religion. I am not Osho and I don’t want that you should disrespect the feelings of other, mostly those others who are blindly involved in their blind rituals. I would not choose any colour for your robe and I would not ridicule their ‘holier than you’ attitude.

Osho used to say that one day all will be attired in orange robes and then he would free them from their orange robes. But I say that I am in no mood of taking such a long course because I see the similarity even if you are attired in different coloured dresses. I am not bothered about your dress, what you eat, what you do, how you pray, who your idol is, or which religion you belong to.

I would like you to raise yourself above all that is manmade, still living in this world. You are a part of the crowd but still you are away from the crowd. You must have awareness of live, love for life, a respect for life, a reverence for life. Nothing else is needed to enjoy the small moments of bliss in this beautiful life.

For thousands of years, religious beliefs have dominated us and it is not easy for anyone to easily change his or her lifestyle. First of all I ask you a question: Why do you need a religion?

You can’t answer on your own because all that will come out of your mouths will be the data put in by your elders, your religious teachers, or the books which you were given to read. I tell you God and godliness have nothing to do with religion.

You will ask, “Are millions of people in this world stupid, ignorant?”

I answer, “Yes, but if their ancestors had been equipped with the developed power of mind which you have now, they would have definitely not blindly adhered to any religion.”

You will ask, “Now, what should we do?”

I answer, “Be what you are and don’t ever think of changing externally. If you have to change, you must change internally. You should learn to live moment to moment, adopting all that is good in life, discarding all that takes you away from the goodness in life. You will see that you will be automatically going away from the ignorance and problems of life and the nectar of the bliss of life will be beginning to flow into you.”

A friend of mine was ambling along a road in a crowded city. He was not paying any attention to anything which people were getting attracted to. At one place he stopped because he had already walked for more than two hours. He sat at a bench in front of a department store.

The person next to him was dressed in an orange robe, perhaps, a religious guru. He was waiting for his car. He turned to my friend and said, “What do you do? “

My friend replied,” I work as a gardener.”

The guru said, “What is your religious discipline?”

My friend said, “I live an ordinary life. That is my discipline. When I am hungry, I eat, and when I feel sleepy I sleep.”

The guru began to feel uneasy and it was visible on his face. He had not expected such an answer. He said, “But I don’t see anything special in it.”

My friend said, “Why should there be anything special? Isn’t it enough that I lead a happy life?”

I am sure that the guru must have felt a jolt to his ego there.

The guru was still confused and puzzled and he said, “But this is what everybody else is doing – when hungry they eat, when feeling sleepy they sleep.”

My friend laughed and said, “No, it is not so. There is a great difference. When you eat, you do a thousand and one things also. You think, you dream, you imagine, you remember. You are not there just eating. When I eat, I simply eat. Then there is only eating and nothing else. It is pure. When you sleep you do a thousand and one things – you dream, fight, have nightmares. When I sleep I simply sleep, there is nothing else. When sleep is there, there is only sleep. Not even I exist. When eating is there, there is only eating.. When there is walking, there is only walking . There is walking, simply walking.”

The guru was obviously disturbed because my friend had shattered his beliefs and his ego with superiority. The guru suddenly got up and began to walk away from my friend. I can understand that he did not have the courage to face my friend with his very simple but very beautiful answers.