“Except man, nobody lies. A rosebush cannot lie. It has to produce roses; it cannot produce marigolds — it cannot deceive. It is not possible for it to be otherwise than it is. Except man the whole existence lives in truth. Truth is the religion of the whole existence — except man. And the moment a man also decides to become part of existence, truth becomes his religion.” OSHO
Quite a hard piece to interpret I find. I’ve taken it to imagine the general point is that we accept the constants in our lives are all around, except man. As soon as we accept ourselves as a constant in itself, then you ingratiate into the religion of life.
Nice article. Regards, Mike.
I’m not sure what you mean by the word ‘constant,’ Mike. Do you mean constant, as in ‘non-changing’? Perhaps you could elaborate on that a bit.
Yes, it is a hard piece to interpret. Simple on the surface, but the deeper you go into it, the more elusive the meaning seems to become, especially the last sentence.
The meaning I get out of it is that existence is not deceptive, it is open and honest, and it is what it is. There is no guile, no cunning, no repressions, no “shadow,” no thousand and one lies to both ourselves and others, etc.
And Osho is taking some poetic liberty when he refers to truth as “the religion” of existence. He is, in a sense, personifying existence by attributing a religion to it. After all, how can existence have a religion when it has no choice? It is not possible for it to be anything other than what it is — “the truth.” Humanity is, of course, a very different story. Yes, the word “religion” is a poetic analogy, but in this case, that analogy expresses a beautiful and profound truth.
Thank you for your comments, Mike.
By constant, I mean a personal truth that is constant. If you believe something to be true, such as a stone being hard, then I mean it in the sense that it’s a constant in your perception of life.
From the piece, I took it as man finds it hard to accept man as a ‘constant’, as man lies and deceives. Though life itself isn’t deceptive at all, exactly as you wrote.
I actually agree with the sentiment though from Osho. I believe each persons interpretation of life actually is their own religion. Once you accept yourself as a truth of the world around you, then you ingratiate yourself into life itself.
It is an excellent analogy. Thank-you for your comments as well, very insightful.
All the best, Mike.
VERY GOOD STATEMENT
ABSOLUTELY TRUE