It has a tremendous potential to replace all the religions of the world, but it is not going to become a religion itself. Its function is to destroy all that religions have done to man.
It is a very suicidal work. Once you have destroyed all that religions have done to man, and man is healthy and whole, therapy is needed no more. But it has to be done. It is just like a medicine. You are sick, you need a medicine, and when you are healthy, you throw the bottle out of the window.
Therapy has to do something very great, but if it succeeds, that will mean the end of therapy too. And therapists should be proud of the phenomenon that they are not replacing any parasites, they are simply deprogramming humanity. Their work that of a cleaner who has cleaned the place and now his work is finished. There is no need.
Humanity can be absolutely spiritually, psychologically healthy. Just we have to destroy all the hindrances that are preventing man to be healthy and whole. So therapy has a great future in the sense that it can destroy all the religions. It can deprogram people. But it has also to remember that there is a temptation always of reprogramming people. That has not to be done.
If people are reprogrammed, then some other therapy will be needed. Then you have replaced the priests; you have not changed the course of human evolution. You have not brought a revolution in the world, but just a small change. Now the priest is replaced by the therapist.
I don't want my therapists to replace these ugly monsters who, for millions of years, have destroyed all joy, all life, all love, that every human being is born with. Cut the roots. Make man free. And feel blessed that you are not getting tempted to take their place.
So my therapists particularly have to remember that. Other therapists are going to take the place of the priests; they have already taken it. The psychoanalyst is the new priest, and he is safeguarding the vested interests. He is already doing that. And he can do it better than any priest because he is more aware of the workings of mind.
But my therapists' work is really great and dangerous. Great, because we have to destroy all. We have to undo everything that religions have done to humanity. And then, your work done, you feel contented, relaxed. You can become a gardener, you can become a farmer, you can become a woodcutter.
If my therapists succeed around the world, then soon there will be no religion, and then there will be no need of any therapy.
The Last Testament, Vol 2, # 16
OSHO EXCERPTS REFERENCE LIST
Seeds of Wisdom, # 13 (I used to ask myself “Who am I?”)
Blessed Are the Ignorant, Ch # 8 (The question of “Who am I?”)
The Search, #4 (You have to know yourself directly)
(Ordinarily you follow the crowd)
(Get out of the mind)
The Secret, # 70 (Why does man go on thinking)
The Secret, # 7 (The only right question: “Who am I?”)
The Search, # 6 (The decision should be total)
From Darkness to Light, # 7 (To be conscious is to go through a deep surgery)
The Transmission of the Lamp, # 6, Q3 (Live each emotion)
Tao: The Three Treasures, Vol 2, # 4 (Acceptance)
The Search, # 10 (You can be only yourself)
The Great Pilgrimage, # 14, Q 1 (The role of a therapist)
The Great Pilgrimage, # 27, Q 3 (Am I really a good therapist?)
The Last Testament, Vol 2, # 16 (Your vision of therapy in the future?)
A Bit of Singing and Dancing
The Author
Susan Hill was born in Scarborough in 1942. She is a novelist, playwright, and critic, who has also written several radio plays and broadcasts frequently. Some of her novels are I'm the King of the Castle, Strange Meeting, The Bird of Night. The Albatross and A Bit of Singing and Dancing are both collections of short stories. Most of her novels and short stories are about difficult emotional relationships, but she writes with delicacy and compassion.
The Story
Tyranny can take many forms: the tyranny of rulers over people, the tyranny of one individual over another, the tyranny of unjust imprisonment, military force, psychological or emotional domination. Most people want to escape from tyranny of any kind – to be free, free to make their own choices, their own decisions. But when you are not used to it, freedom can be difficult to live with. 'Liberty is a different kind of pain from prison,' wrote T.S. Eliot in his play The Family Reunion.
Esme Fanshaw has suddenly been released into longed-for liberty by the death of her tyrannical mother. Now she can do, say, think what she likes. She can please herself about everything and anything; the choices are endless – and bewildering. It is not easy to shake off fifty years of domination …