Every child has to disobey the father, that is part of growth

CHRISTIANS SAY ADAM AND EVE COMMITTED THE ORIGINAL SIN, and the whole of humanity is suffering. It is so patently foolish!

    Now, scientists say that humanity has existed for millions of years... Millions of years before, a couple, Adam and Eve, committed a sin AND WE ARE SUFFERING FOR IT. Can you think of a more ridiculous thing? -- that you are imprisoned because millions of years before somebody committed a crime. YOU DID NOT COMMIT IT, HOW CAN YOU SUFFER FOR IT? And what original sin they are talking about? It is neither original nor sin! What Adam did is a simple phenomenon: he disobeyed the father.

    EVERY CHILD HAS TO DISOBEY THE FATHER. Unless a child disobeys the father, he never becomes mature. It is nothing original, it is very simple and natural. It is very psychological. There comes an age when every child has to say NO to the parents. If he does not say no to the parents, he will never have a spine -- he will be spineless. IF HE CANNOT SAY NO TO THE PARENTS, HIS WHOLE LIFE HE WILL BE A SLAVE -- he will never attain to individuality.

    ADAM AND EVE DID NOT COMMIT ANY SIN, they simply became mature. They said no, they disobeyed.

    When your child goes behind the house and starts smoking, don't be worried too much; HE IS SIMPLY DISOBEYING YOU, THAT IS PART OF GROWTH. If he never disobeys you, be worried. Take him to the psychoanalyst -- something is wrong with him. If he ALWAYS obeys you then he has no soul, he is abnormal, he is not normal.

    BE HAPPY WHEN YOUR CHILD DISOBEYS YOU. Thank God that now he has started moving towards becoming an individual. It is only by disobeying, rebelling, that a child attains authentic individuality. If parents are wise, they will be happy.

    AND I THINK GOD CANNOT BE SO FOOLISH AS CHRISTIAN PRIESTS ARE. God must have been happy the day Adam and Eve disobeyed, he must have rejoiced. He must have sung a song that, "Now my children are becoming mature." I CAN'T see him being annoyed. I can't conceive a God who cannot understand such a simple psychological phenomenon.

    You have to give your God a little more intelligence than Sigmund Freud! It is such a simple fact of life that EACH CHILD HAS TO DISOBEY. It is not sin. DISOBEDIENCE IS NOT SIN. And what is original about it? IT IS NOTHING UNIQUE. And it did not only happen millions of years before, it happens each time a child starts growing. You will see it in your child happening. Somewhere near the age of three or four, the child starts asserting his freedom.

    That's why if you want to remember your life, you can remember only back to the age of four or at the most three -- beyond that all is dark. Why? YOU HAD NO INDIVIDUALITY, HENCE NO MEMORY. You attained your first individuality when you were three or four. Girls attain at nearabout three, boys attain at nearabout four -- they are always lagging behind. And this is going to be their whole life pattern. Apparently the husband may be walking ahead, but deep down he is always behind the wife....

    Nearabout the age of three or four... That's why I say this parable of Adam and Eve has so many aspects, I am never tired of talking about it from different angles. IT IS EVE WHO WAS THE FIRST TO DISOBEY -- that means one year ahead. Adam came to his senses a little later. In fact, he was persuaded by Eve.

    IF THE WORLD IS REALLY LEFT FREE, THEN WOMEN WILL SEDUCE MEN -- not men, women. That will be the natural course. And in fact, that's exactly what happens right now, but in a very subtle way. The woman seduces the man, but seduces in such a subtle way that the gross male mind cannot understand it. The gross male mind thinks, "I am taking all the initiative," and the woman goes on laughing deep down -- she knows who is pulling the strings. SHE NEVER TAKES A SINGLE STEP ON HER OWN VISIBLY, you cannot see it. She always allows the man to approach her, she can wait. She trusts her own capacity to pull the man. She does not want to wag her tail. She always manages, persuades the man to wag his tail.

    That's what happened: Eve ate the fruit first, disobeyed God, and then Adam followed. THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED ONCE, IT HAPPENS ALWAYS. It happens to every child, and it is good that it happens. It is nearabout four that the child starts feeling a kind of individuality of his own; he starts defining himself.

    Lanahan, an Irish political prisoner, escaped from jail by digging a tunnel that opened into a school playground. As he emerged in the open air, Lanahan could not help shouting at a small girl, "I am free, I am free!"
"That's nothing," said the girl, "I am four."

    THERE IS A TIME WHEN THE CHILD WANTS TO DECLARE TO THE WORLD THAT, "I am here!" that I am!" He wants to define himself, and the only way to define himself is by disobedience. So there is nothing original about it and nothing like sin; IT IS A SIMPLE PROCESS OF GROWTH. And because Christianity has been denying it as a simple process of growth, it has not helped humanity to become mature.

    ALL THE RELIGIONS HAVE BEEN TRYING TO KEEP HUMANITY IMMATURE, juvenile, childish. They are all afraid that once humanity becomes mature, then they will not be of any value, they will lose all luster. They will not be able to exploit a mature humanity, they can exploit only children.

OSHO
Be Still and Know
Ch #2: No sin, no virtue
am in Buddha Hall