Osho on Lalbahadur Shastri, Osho on Indian Prime Minister Lal bahadur Shastri

Osho on Indian Prime Minister Lalbahadur Shastri

Question - Bhagwan, in the past, monarchs, statesmen and politicians always looked toward the wise enlightened men for their advice in affairs of state. Would it be a boon to mankind If Ronald Reagan sought your advice? What would you say to him?

Osho : In the first place, the politicians of today are not so wise as some emperors in the past have been. The emperor was born, so sometimes there were idiots who became emperors, mad, crazy people who became emperors. Once in a while, there was a person who was wise enough and yet became an emperor. Augustus in Rome and Ashoka in India were such emperors. They went to seek advice. They knew there were people who knew much more; they knew there were people whose word is truth.
But today's presidents and prime ministers are going to be just third-rate cunning politicians. It is impossible for a wise man to become the president of a country, for the simple reason that he is wise. He cannot lie, he cannot give you promises which he knows can never be fulfilled.

He will tell you things which will hurt you. Just think of me: in the first place I cannot run for the presidency of a country, because I don't like running. I can drive in my Rolls Royce, so my campaign for the presidency will not be running for president, but driving for president.

My whole life I have been practicing a certain art: how to influence people and create enemies. This is not a way to become a president or a prime minister. No wise man can even think of it, because he cannot fulfill the basic conditions of a politician.
And you are asking me that if a president -- for example, Ronald Reagan -- came here for my advice, would I give it to him? Of course. If I can give advice to you all, why can't I give advice to Ronald Reagan? But he will have to come not as a president, but as a disciple, because unless you come to learn, I cannot teach you.

If he comes as a president, he cannot get an appointment from Sheela; but if he comes just as a human being he is welcome. Any politician from any country is welcome, but he should come just as a human being; otherwise it is useless, wasting my time and wasting his time.

So from my side, I am clear. But your question is only "if" -- you should not forget. No president is going to come. No president has the guts to come. It is my whole life's experience, I am not just saying something without any support from my experience.
I knew Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, personally. He was a man of great aesthetic, poetic qualities, but still he had not the guts to accept my advice.

He said, "You are right, but you don't know this dirty politics. If I start doing things the way you are suggesting, I will simply lose my premiership. I will not be able to do what you are saying -- I will just lose my power, my prestige. I will look crazy. And I say to you that what you are saying is right."

Osho on Lalbahadur Shastri

Lalbahadur Shastri

His successor, Lalbahadur Shastri, was immensely interested in me. He died with one of my books on his chest. He was reading it and must have fallen asleep, had a heart attack, and died. He was in Tashkent, Russia, for a summit meeting -- the American and Russian presidents, the Pakistani president, and he. These four were there to settle matters about Kashmir, because a part of Kashmir was occupied by Pakistan.

Pakistan's army had been standing ready there for almost forty years. The Indian army was ready -- confronting Pakistan's army for forty years. And the UNO's representative army was just standing in between at the cease-fire line. Now, how long is it going to be there, this cease-fire line? Forty years is too long a time. They had gone to settle it, but Shastri died.

He lived just to be the prime minister for one year. He was very simple in a way, and it was by chance that he was chosen prime minister. No one could have thought that he could win the race, but in the political game it sometimes happens. He was the most unexpected candidate.

The commanding, ruling party of the country was very much afraid of Morarji Desai because he was the most stubborn type of person. Once he became the prime minister, he would not care a bit about the committee who had chosen him. The committee was afraid to choose him for the simple reason that they knew that man. Once he had power in his hands, he wouldn't care even about those who had given him power.

So on the one side was Morarji Desai, on the other side was Indira Gandhi. They were afraid to choose Indira Gandhi because in the whole political atmosphere there was the idea that India is not a democracy, but a monarchy. Jawaharlal was the first prime minister; now his daughter will be the second prime minister. They wanted to avoid Indira, because turning it into a family affair would bring condemnation to all of them and would make the opposite parties more powerful. And certainly it has turned into a family affair. After Indira, her son became the prime minister. For forty years one family has been ruling, except for that one year when Lalbahadur was chosen.

He was chosen because he was a very simple and weak person. The committee knew perfectly well that even if he were the prime minister, they would remain the masters, the kingmakers. He would be only a puppet. Whatever they wanted, he would do.
Morarji Desai could not be chosen. He wanted to be chosen; he was forcing the committee -- "I am the most experienced, the most senior person, why are you not choosing me?" Against him was standing Indira Gandhi. She had her reasons: she had lived with her father, she had seen the whole freedom struggle, its problems. She had seen the beginnings of the independence of India, its complexities, its problems. She knew every in and out of all the politicians of the country. Nobody else had such knowledge.

She claimed that Morarji Desai might be senior, but that he knew nothing about all the chief ministers of the states, all the governors. He knew nothing. She had all the files of her father and his whole experience, and she had been living with him. She knew everybody -- who was dependable, who was not, who was reliable, who was not, who was certain to betray the country.

Both had their claims, but the committee persuaded Lalbahadur. He was a very small-sized man, and he was very afraid: "Forgive me, I cannot manage, I am a simple man...." He had never been in the public eye, he was not a national figure. Just because Jawaharlal loved him for his sincerity, truthfulness, reliability, he was in the supreme commanding committee of the ruling party. Jawaharlal had put him there.

The committee unanimously chose Lalbahadur. It sometimes happens.... He was very available to me, but even he was not courageous enough to come to see me. He managed a lunch, in a political way, in the house of one of his cabinet ministers. This man, Karan Singh, was interested in me -- he was the king of Kashmir, and because Kashmir became dissolved into India, he was immediately taken into the cabinet. Naturally he had to be given something; he was the first to join India and give his whole country to the union. He was very much interested in me, so Lalbahadur said, "This would be good. You call him and me for lunch, so just casually we meet and discuss. My going to him will be dangerous to my career." And he confessed it to me that this is how diplomacy works. Nobody knows -- just a casual, accidental meeting. And before lunch, after lunch, for almost three hours he was listening to me about every problem that he was facing.

But I told him it would be good if he came to my place and lived a few days with me. Everything could be cleared. He said, "That is impossible. If people come to know that I have gone to you for advice, I am finished. You have so many enemies in the country, in my party, in my cabinet, that I cannot take that risk. And I am simply a weak manI have been chosen for my weakness." But he was sincere.

Indira, the third prime minister of India, was very much interested in me, but not courageous enough to come to Poona. She was continuously telling Laxmi, "I want to see Bhagwan, I want to come. And next time when I come to Bombay or anywhere nearby, I am going to come to the ashram.

And she came twice to Poona itself, but she never could gather courage to come to the ashram. Political fear.... Just to be associated with a man like me needs courage, because all those who are my enemies will become your enemies. And all those who are your friends may stop being your friends just because you are associated with me.

The last time she came to Poona, she told Laxmi, "This time, whatsoever happens I am going to manage and come." But when Laxmi went to see her, she said, "There are so many engagements, I cannot find time."

And this was a lie -- because she went to Kohlapur, four hours driving, to meet the shankaracharya, the head of the Hindus, like the pope is the head of the Catholics. She found time to go to the shankaracharya -- four hours going, four hours coming, and just two minutes to touch the feet of the shankaracharya. But that was politically helpful. Thousands of Hindus had gathered for the shankaracharya. He was an old man from the south, very much respected by the Hindus because he was absolutely fulfilling all their demands of how a religious person should be. He was an ascetic, a masochist -- those were the qualities that Hindus were asking. Intelligence has never been asked. Scholarship, yes -- he could recite Hindu scriptures without reading; he knew them by rote. He was very much respected and he was very old, eighty or eighty-five.

Now Indira lied that she had no time; but the reality is that she had no courage -- even to meet the person who was the only one who supported her when she was defeated and lost her premiership. The whole country was against her, it was a tremendous defeat, and when she stood in a by-election, I was the only man to bless her. No shankaracharya blessed her, not even Vinoba Bhave, who was her political guru, blessed her. Now they were afraid that to bless her means to lose many friends.

She went to the shankaracharya again to get his blessings. He did not speak a word. She was told that he had taken silence for the day. This was simple diplomacy: if he has taken silence, good; when she touches his feet he can bless her with the hand -- that is not breaking your silence. But no, he remained sitting just like a statue -- because it was a problem for him too. If he blessed Indira, then all the Hindus who were against Indira would be against him. It is a simple rule. The enemy of your enemy is your friend.

So I would like to say to you that your question is only if. Ronald Reagan cannot come, cannot have the courage. But from my side I have no ifs, no buts. If he wants to come, he is welcome; but he has to remember that here he is not the president, that he has come here to seek advice, to learn something. He has to be here like a disciple. If that much humbleness is there, then certainly my advice can reach to his heart. Otherwise, it is meaningless.

Source- Osho Book "The Last Testament, Vol 1"

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