CHAPTER 2.

NO MISSION, NO MESSAGE

based on hatred: hatred of others, hatred of those who are not in our fold, of those who are not under
our flag, of those who are not convinced of our message. Hatred is such a great force, it organizes.
It is so poisonous, and a single individual is not able to be so poisonous, a single individual cannot
be as dangerous as hatred requires one to be. So one needs organizations, others, a crowd – one
cannot be alone.

But love is such a silent force, that to be alone is enough. Love doesn’t know how to work, it works
itself. There is no question of method – I have never been concerned with method.

I am a man with no method – absolutely no plan, no method, no organization. My only hope is

this, that love works spontaneously. It needs no method. It needs no previous rehearsal. It works!
And if it works it is alright, and if it doesn’t work then too it is alright. If love is not enough, then no
organization can be much more.

And love has never been methodological. Hatred has always been methodological. When You hate,
you hate with a plan, you hate with a disciplined mind. You have to be conscious of the enemy, of
the fear, of the planning of the opposite party. You cannot be spontaneous. With an enemy you are
always to be prepared. You cannot be unprepared. But when there is no question of hatred, when
there is no one to be thought of as an enemy, when there is only love to work and to live with, there
is no question of tomorrow, there is no question of the future – it is spontaneous, it works. And the
very spontaneity is its force. If you don’t plan your hatred, you will be defeated; but if you plan your
love, you will also be defeated.

So, I have no plans for the future – today is enough. This very moment passing, the present moment
is enough. What I am doing, I am doing without any method. If it is something, if it is to be of any
use for others, it will spread like fire without any method.

SECOND QUESTIONER: WHEN YOU SAY THAT KNOWLEDGE IS A HINDRANCE TO THE

AWAKENING OF MAN, THEN WHAT TYPE OF KNOWLEDGE ARE YOU AWAKENING IN HIM?
DO YOU WANT MAN TO BE ILLITERATE?

A: No, not illiterate. I am not saying that man should be illiterate, I am saying that man should always
be ready: open, not closed. The knowledge that one has gained through the past must not become
a hindrance to the future.

SECOND QUESTIONER: THAT IS KNOWLEDGE ABOUT RELIGIOUS THINGS ONLY?

A: Of course, of course. When I say knowledge, I always mean religious, because, really there
is no such thing as knowledge which is not religious. Scientific knowledge only means scientific
information. There is no scientific knowledge. It is only information – so, it can be imparted. There
is no such thing as scientific knowledge.

SECOND QUESTIONER: BUT IS THERE KNOWLEDGE ALSO IMPARTED BY SOMEBODY?

A: No. If it is imparted then it is not religious. Neither is it religious, nor is it knowledge. One has to
know oneself. When it comes through others, it becomes dead. Then it becomes simply information,
it is not religion. ”Religious” means that which has been experienced, that which is existential, that

Early Talks 5 Osho