SEX IS STUPID, IT KEEPS YOU ENGAGED IN THE OTHER, AVOIDING YOURSELF

Osho, After listening to you the other day and hearing SEX IS STUPID, we tried it right away. We don' t understand! What do you find stupid?

Ritmo and Deva Mastanando, I have been telling you of other things. Have you ever tried them right away? I AM TELLING YOU ABOUT MEDITATION EVERY DAY AND YOU GO ON POSTPONING IT! And sex you tried right away! You did me a great favor -- you did not try it HERE! That shows its stupidity.

SEX IS NOT STUPID, YOU ARE STUPID! It is because of you that poor sex also becomes stupid. And you will never know unless you rise a little higher. UNLESS YOU BECOME A LITTLE MORE ALERT, YOU WILL NOT SEE THE STUPIDITY. You can't see it by remaining on the same level -- nobody can see it.

Go to the madhouse, ask any madman, "Are you mad?" He will be mad at you! BUT NO MADMAN WILL ACCEPT THAT HE IS MAD. He will say, "What are you talking about? The whole world is mad, except me, I am perfectly sane." NO MADMAN ACCEPTS HE IS MAD. If a madman accepts he is mad, that is a sure sign that he is getting out of his madness, he is becoming sane.

YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SEE THE STUPIDITY OF IT UNLESS YOU LEARN A LITTLE MORE MEDITATIVENESS so that you can observe, so that you can remain detached, so that you can see from a vantage point, so that you can have a little perspective. Right now you don't have any perspective; you are too close. Just stand very close to the mirror, your nose touching the mirror, and you will not be able to see your own face. That is not the fault of the mirror. You have to give it a little space, then the mirror can reflect you. YOU ARE TOO CLOSE.

SEX SEEMS TO BE THE GREATEST OBSESSION. The priests have to be given all credit for it. For centuries they have been condemning sex as sin, and they have made it an obsession.

I DON'T CALL SEX A SIN, I SIMPLY CALL IT STUPID. I am not saying that you will suffer Hell -- what more Hell do you need to suffer? You are already suffering in it. And what it goes on giving to you? JUST IT KEEPS YOU ENGAGED -- ENGAGED INTO THE OTHER SO THAT YOU CAN AVOID YOURSELF.

That is its basic stupidity. It keeps you ignorant because IT KEEPS YOU IGNORING YOURSELF. The man is interested in the woman, the woman is interested in the man. Everybody is interested in the other. IT SEEMS AS IF THE OTHER HAS ALL THAT YOU NEED, AND THE OTHER IS ALSO THINKING THAT YOU HAVE ALL THAT HE OR SHE NEEDS. Both are beggars -- believing that the other has the kingdom.

SOONER OR LATER YOU FEEL FRUSTRATED, BUT YOUR FRUSTRATION NEVER TEACHES YOU ANYTHING. It is very. difficult to learn anything. If one woman has failed you, you start looking to other women. If one man has not been up to your standards -- and no man can be, no woman can be. because that is not possible, that is not in the nature of things -- then you start looking to other men.

OSHOWalking in Zen, Sitting in ZenCh #1: The Breath of the Soulam in Buddha Hall[part 1 of 2]