Question 1:

You said last night that modern man has become inauthentic in expressing anger, violence, sex, etc.

You say that in india students and the younger generation are less violent in their emotional expressions than are western youth. does this mean that western youth are becoming more authentic in their expressions? is permissiveness in the expression of sex and anger a growth toward being authentic in emotional expressions?

 

 

Many things have to be considered. One, to be authentic means to be totally factual. Ideologies, theories, isms, they distort you and they give you a false persona. You cultivate faces, then whatsoever you show you are not. The reality is missed and you are suddenly acting and acting.

 

Your life becomes less alive and more a game in which you are enacting something - not your real soul, but the culture, the education, the society, the civilization. Man can be cultivated - and the more you are cultivated, the less real you are.

 

The reality is your uncultivated self, untouched by society. But that is dangerous. A child, if left to himself, will be just an animal. He will be authentic, but he will be an animal; he will not become a man. So that is not possible, that alternative is closed. We cannot leave a child to himself. We have to do something, and whatsoever we do will disturb the real self. It will give clothings, it will give faces and masks to the child. He will become a man, but then he will become an actor; he will not be real. If you leave him to himself he will be like an animal - authentic, real, but not a man. So it is a necessary evil that we have to teach him, we have to cultivate and condition him. Then he becomes a man, but unreal.

 

The third possibility opens with these techniques of meditation. All techniques of meditation are really "unconditionings." Whatsoever society has given to you can be taken away again, and then you will not be an animal. Then you will be something more than man. You will be a superman - real, but not an animal.

 

How does it happen? A child has to be given culture, education. There is no possibility of leaving him to himself. If you leave him to himself, he will never become a man; he will remain an animal.

 

He will be real, but he will miss the world, the dimension of consciousness which opens with man.

 

So we have to make him a man, and he becomes unreal.

 

Why does he become unreal? Because this man is just imposed from without. Inside he remains the animal. From outside we impose humanity on him. He is divided; he is split in two. Now the animal goes on living within, and the man without. That is why whatsoever you do and say is a double bind.

 

You have to maintain a face which has been given to you, and you continuously have to satisfy your animal also. That creates problems, and everyone becomes dishonest. The more you are idealistic, the more you will have to be dishonest, because the ideal will say, "Do this," and the animal will be quite the contrary. He would like to do something else that is quite the opposite.

 

Then what can one do? One can deceive others and oneself; one can maintain a face, a false face, and go on living the life of the animal. That is what is happening. You live a life of sex, but you never talk about it. You talk about BRAMACHARYA - celibacy. Your sex life is just pushed into the dark - not only from society, not only from your family, but even from your own conscious mind. You push it into the dark as if it is not a part of your being. You go on doing things which you are against because your biology cannot change just by education.

 

Remember, your inheritance - your biological cells, your structure - cannot be changed just by ideological education. No school, no ideology can change your inner animal. Only a scientific technique can change the inner being. Just moral teachings will not help unless you have a scientific technique to change your total inner consciousness. Only then will you not be double: you will become single.

 

The animal is single, unitary; the saint too is single and unitary. Man is double because man is just between the two, the animal and the saint - or, you can say between God and dog. Man is just in between. Inside he remains the dog; outside he pretends to be God. That creates a tension, anguish, and everything becomes false. You could fall down and become an animal; then you would be more authentic than man. But then you would miss much - you would miss the possibility to become God.

 

The animal cannot become God because the animal has no problems to transcend. Remember, the animal cannot become God because there is nothing to be transformed. The animal is at ease with himself; there is no problem, no struggle, no need for transcendence. The animal is not even conscious, he is simply unconsciously authentic. But the animal IS authentic, although the authenticity is unconscious. No animal can lie; that is impossible. But it is not because animals maintain a morality, they cannot lie because they are not aware of the possibility that one can be false.

 

They are bound to be true, but that truth is not their choice, it is their slavery. An animal is bound to be true, not because he has chosen to be true, but because he cannot choose the other alternative.

 

There is no alternative for him; he can only be himself. There is no possibility to be false because he is unconscious of possibilities.

 

Man is conscious of possibilities. Only man can be untrue. That is a growth! That is evolution! Man can be untrue and that is why he can be true. Man can choose. Animals are bound to be true; that is their slavery, not their freedom. If you are true, that is an achievement because you could always be untrue. The possibility is open, but you have not chosen it, you have chosen the other. It is a conscious choice.

 

Of course, then man is always in difficulties. Choosing is always difficult, and the mind wants to choose something which is easy to do. The mind wants to have the thing with the least RESISTANCE. To lie is easy; to be false is easy. To appear loving is easy; to BE loving is very difficult. To create a facade is easy; to create a being is difficult. So man chooses the simple, the easy, which can be done without any effort and without any sacrifice.

 

With man freedom comes into existence. Animals are just slaves. With man, freedom comes into existence, choice comes into existence - then difficulties and anxieties. With man, the untrue, the false, enters. You can deceive. Up to this point it is a necessary evil.

 

Man cannot be simple and pure in the same way as animals, but he can be more simple and pure, and he can be more impure and more complex. He can be more simple and more pure and more innocent, but he cannot be simple and pure and innocent just like animals. That innocence is unconscious, and man has become conscious. Now he can do two things: he may go on with his falsities, with his falseness, and constantly remain a divided being in conflict with himself. Or he may become conscious of the whole phenomenon of what has happened and what is happening to him, and he may decide not to be false. He may leave all that is false. He may sacrifice, he may choose to sacrifice whatsoever can be gained by being false. Then he becomes again authentic.

 

But this authenticity is different, qualitatively different from the authenticity of an animal. The animal is unconscious. He cannot do anything - he is forced by nature to be authentic. When a man decides to be authentic, no one is forcing him; on the contrary, everything is forcing him to be inauthentic - the society, the culture, all that exists around him is forcing him to be inauthentic. He DECIDES to be authentic. This decision makes you a self, and this decision gives you a freedom which no animal can attain and no false man can attain.

 

Remember, whenever you lie, deceive, are dishonest, you are forced to do that. That is not your choice, not a real choice. Why do you lie? Because of the consequences, because of the society:

 

you will suffer if you say the truth. You lie and you escape suffering.

 

Really, the society has forced you to lie; it was not your choice. If you say the truth, it is your choice, no one is forcing you to say the truth. Everything is forcing you to say a lie, to be dishonest. That is more convenient, safe, secure. Now you are entering danger, insecurity, but this is your choice.

 

With this choice, for the first time you attain a self.

 

So animal authenticity is one thing, and man's authenticity is qualitatively different - it is a conscious choice. So a buddha is one again. He is like an animal, with only one difference: he is simple, pure, innocent like an animal, but unlike an animal because he is conscious. Now everything is a conscious choice. He is alert, aware.

 

The question is, DOES THIS MEAN THAT WESTERN YOUTH IS BECOMING MORE AUTHENTIC?

 

In a sense, yes. It is becoming more authentic because it is falling toward the animal. It is not a choice. Rather, again, it is the easiest course - to fall down. Western youth is more authentic than Eastern youth in the sense that they are now falling deeper down toward the animal. Eastern youth is false. Their behavior looks like a facade - not real, but phony. But these two are not really the only alternatives.

 

Eastern youth is false, cultured, cultivated, forced to be something which is not real. Western youth has revolted against this, revolted toward the authenticity of the animal. That is why sex and violence have taken more and more of a grip on the Western youth. In a way they are more authentic, but in a way the greater possibility is lost.

 

A buddha is in revolt and a hippie is also in revolt, but the revolts are different; the quality differs. A buddha is also revolting against the conditioning, but he is going beyond it - toward a unity which is higher than man and higher than the animal. You can revolt and go down toward the animal. Then you are also going toward a unity, but that is going down, below man.

 

But in a way, revolt is good - because once revolt comes into the mind, the day is not far off when you will come to understand that this revolt is just going backwards. A revolt is needed which must go forward. So Western youth may come to understand sooner or later that their revolt is good, but the direction is wrong. Then it will become possible in the West for a new humanity to be born.

 

In this sense, the Eastern phoniness is not worth anything. It is better to be authentic, to be revolting, because a revolting mind will not take much time to see that the direction is wrong. But a phony youth may continue for millennia, may not be even aware that there is a possibility to revolt and to go beyond. But between the two neither is worth choosing; the third alternative is the way.

 

Man must revolt against conditioning and go beyond. If you fall below then you may have the pleasure of revolting, but the revolt has become destructive - it is not creative. Religion is the deepest revolt, but you may not have thought about it in that way. We take religion as the most orthodox thing - the traditional, the conventional. It is not. Religion is the most revolutionary thing in human consciousness, because it can lead you toward the unity which is higher than animal, higher than man. These techniques are concerned with that revolution.

 

So when Shiva says be authentic, he means do not be phony, do not continue to be phony. Be aware about your false persona, about your clothings, dresses, masks - and then be authentic. Whatsoever you are, realize it.

 

The real problem is that one becomes deceived by one's own deceptions. You talk about compassion... In India we talk so much about compassion, nonviolence, everyone thinks that he is nonviolent, but if you look at a person's acts, at his relationships, at his gestures, he is violent. But he is not aware that he is violent. He may be violent even in his nonviolence. If he is trying to force others to be nonviolent, that is violence. If he is forcing himself to be nonviolent, that is violence. To be authentic means he must understand and realize what is his real state of mind - not ideas, not principles, but the state of mind. What is his state of mind? Is he violent? Is he angry?

 

This is what is meant by Shiva when he says, be authentic. Know what is the real, your fact, because only a fact can be changed.If you want to transform yourself, you must know your facticity.

 

You cannot change a fiction. You are violent and you think that you are nonviolent - then there is no possibility of any transformation. That nonviolence is nowhere, so you cannot change. And the violence is there, but you are not aware of it, so how can you change it?

 

First know the facts as they are. How to know the facts? Encounter them without your interpretations.

 

That is what yesterday's sutra said: CONSIDER. Your servant has come - consider how you look at your servant. Your boss has come into the room - consider how you look at your boss. Is the look the same when you look at your servant as when you look at your boss? Are your eyes the same, or is there any difference? If there is any difference you are a violent man.

 

You do not look personally at the man, at the human being, your look is an interpretation. If he is rich you look in a certain way; if he is poor you look in a different way. Your look becomes economical.

 

You are not looking at the man right before you, you are looking at some bank balance. And if the man is poor, your look has a subtle violence in it, a degrading, insulting look. If the man is rich you have a subtle appreciation, a welcome. A deep concern is there always, whatsoever you are doing.

 

Look at your concern. You are angry at your son or at your daughter, and you say you are angry for his or her sake, for his or her good. Go deep down; consider whether it is true. Your son has been disobedient and you are angry. You say you want to change him because it is for his own good.

 

Look within and consider the fact. Is the fact that you are thinking about his good, or do you simply feel insulted because he has disobeyed you? You feel hurt because he has disobeyed you. Your ego is hurt because he has disobeyed you.

 

If your ego is hurt, this is the fact, and you go on pretending that that is not the thing - that you are just thinking about his good, and that is why you are angry. You are angry just for him; you are not really angry. How can you be angry? You are a loving father, so you are not angry at all. How can you be angry? You love him so much, but because he is going on a wrong path, because of your love, you want to change him, and that is why you are angry. You are just pretending to be angry to help him.

 

But is this the fact? Are you just pretending, or do you feel hurt because he has disobeyed you?

 

And are you so sure that whatsoever you say is right for him? Go deep down within yourself, look at the fact, consider it - and be authentic. If you are really offended by his disobedience, then know it well that you are offended and you feel hurt, and that is why you are angry. This is being authentic.

 

Then you can do much for a change in you because facts can be changed; fictions cannot be changed. With everything that you are doing or you are thinking, go deep down. Dig out the facts, and do not allow interpretations and words to color it.

 

If this consideration is there, by and by you will become authentic. And this authenticity will not be like that of an animal. This authenticity will be like that of a saint, because the more you know how ugly you are, the more you know how violent you are, the more you penetrate inside your facts and become aware of the nonsense that you are doing, the more this awareness will help you. And by and by your ugliness will drop away, will wither away, because if you are aware of your ugliness it cannot continue.

 

If you want it to continue, do not be aware of it and create a facade of beauty around it. Then you will see the beauty, and the ugliness will remain behind, never to be seen directly. Everyone else will see it - that is the problem. The son will see that the father is not angry for his good. He will see that the father is angry because he has been disobeyed and he feels hurt; the son will know it.

 

You cannot hide your ugliness from others. You can hide it only from yourself. Your look will reveal to everyone that there is violence.You can only deceive yourself that there was compassion.

 

That is why everyone thinks of himself as a very superior being, and no one else agrees with him.

 

Your wife doesn't agree with you that you are a superior being. Your children are not in agreement with you that you are a superior being. Your friends do not agree, no one agrees with you, that you are a superior being.

 

They have a popular saying in Russia that if everyone says their mind totally, exactly as it is, there will not be four friends in the whole world. Impossible! Whatsoever your friend thinks about you, he never says to you. That is why friendship continues. But he is always saying things behind you, and you are saying what you think about your friend behind him. No one says honestly what he thinks because then there will be no possibility of any friendship. Why? No one agrees with you, and the reason is only this: you can only deceive yourself; you cannot deceive anyone else. Only self-deception is possible.

 

And when you think you are deceiving others you are simply deceiving yourself. It may be that others pretend to you that they have been deceived by you, because there are moments when it is convenient to play the role of being deceived. It may be beneficial for the person. You talk to someone about your greatness... Everyone is talking directly or indirectly about his greatness, his superiority. Someone may agree with you. If it is beneficial to him he will pretend to you that he is being deceived by you, but he knows inside who you are.

 

You cannot deceive anyone unless someone is ready to be deceived; that is another thing. By authenticity I mean: remember your facticity. Always sort it out from your interpretations. Throw away your interpretations and look at the fact of what you are. And do not be afraid - much ugliness is there. If you are afraid, then you will never be able to change it. If it is there, accept that it is there; consider it.

 

This is what consideration means: consider it, look at it in its total nakedness. Move around it, go to its roots, analyze it. See why it is there, how you help it to be there, how you feed it, how you protect it, how it has grown to be such a big tree. See your ugliness, your violence, your hatred, your anger, how you have protected it, how you have helped it to grow up to now. Look at the roots; look at the whole phenomenon.

 

And Shiva says That if you consider it totally you can drop it immediately, this very moment, because it is you who have been protecting it. It is you who have been helping it to become rooted in you. It is your creation. You can drop it immediately - just now. You can leave it, and then there is no need to look again toward it. But before you can do this, you will have to know it - what it is, the whole mechanism, the whole complexity of it, how you help it every moment.

 

If someone says something insulting to you, how do you react? Have you ever thought about it - that he may be right? Then look! He may be right. There is every possibility of him being more right than you are about yourself, because he is aloof, far away; he can observe.

 

So do not react. Wait! Tell him, "I will consider what you have said. You have insulted me, and I will consider the fact. You may be right. If you are right, then I will give you my thanks. Let me consider it. And if I find that you are wrong I will inform you." But do not react. Reaction is different.

 

If you insult me, I say to you, instead of reacting, "Wait. Come back after seven days. I will consider whatsoever you have said - you may be right. I will put myself in your place and will observe myself; I will create a distance. You may be right, so let me look at the fact. It is very kind of you to have pointed it out, so I will look at it. If I feel that you are right, I will thank you; if I feel that you are wrong, I will inform you that you are wrong." But what is the need of reaction?

 

You insult me - then what do I do? I insult you immediately then and there. I escape consideration:

 

I have reacted. You insulted me, so I have insulted you.

 

And remember, reaction can never be right. It can NEVER be right! If you insult me, you create the possibility of my being angry. And when I am angry I am not conscious, I will say something which I have never thought about you. This very moment, because of your insults I react in a violent way. A moment later I may repent.

 

Do not react - consider the facts. And if your consideration is total, you can drop anything. It is in your hands. Because you are clinging to it, it is there. But you can drop it immediately, and there will be no suppression - remember. When you have considered a fact, there will never be any suppression. Either you like it and you continue it, or you do not like it and you drop it.

 

-Osho, “The Book of Secrets. #18, Q1”