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Discourse 19
Journalism: Making Saints Out of Criminals
Journalism: Making Saints Out of Criminals
Question 1
Osho,
You are the greatest marketing person of a product that gratifies
the soul. We are in the business of selling a product that gratifies
the mind; there are others who sell products that gratify the body.
What lessons can we learn from you to effectively market mind and
body products?
Sameer, I am reminded by your question of an anecdote. H.G.
Wells had completed his great work on the history of the world….
And he has made tremendously important statements in his rare
book. For example, he has said about Gautam Buddha that “He
was the most godless, yet the most godly man that has ever walked
on the earth.”
His book was the talk of all the intellectuals around the world, and
one intellectual journalist interviewed him about the book. His first
question was, “What do you think about civilization?” And the
answer that H.G. Wells gave is of such depth that it has not to be
forgotten; it is still fresh and new. He said, “The idea of civilization is
good, but somebody must do something about it, because it is still
an idea. Civilization has not happened. Researching for my book
on world history, I have come to know that man is still uncivilized.”
And one of the reasons man is still uncivilized is the division
between mind, body, and soul....
Question 2
Osho,
When a person enters a temple, one feels a sense of sensory
appeasement – music, chanting, incense, prasad, the visual beauty
of the architecture, etc. Can corporate houses, the temples of the
modern age, have anything to learn from this?
Sameer, not only the corporate houses but every place where man
dwells has much to learn from the temples. First, you are always
moving on holy ground. Not only in the temple are you in a holy
place, but even in the marketplace you are moving on the same
holy ground.
You are not to be just prayerful in the temple, in the mosque, in the
church. Your prayerfulness has to become just your breathing. You
have not to create only in your temple a beautiful world of incense,
of flowers, of music, of chanting, of beautiful architecture, of
sculptures – the temple should simply be the model for every
house. Not only corporate houses, every house should be a
temple, because every body is a temple.
God dwells in you, and wherever you are, you should create the
aroma, the fragrance of godliness....
Question 3
Osho,
For a commercial organization, marketing is the ultimate life
source; however, some marketing professionals suffer from an
element of contradiction in their personal lives. Vis-à-vis
professional objectives, are we selling things to people that they
don’t need?
Sameer, the question is a little complex – complex because in a way
you are selling people what they need…but whether their need is
sick or healthy is a totally different matter.
You are fulfilling people’s sick needs. And that should be felt as a
responsibility. Needs have to be fulfilled, but you have to learn a
great discrimination: what are the sick needs, and what are the
healthy needs?
For example, pornography is a need. And millions of people are
providing pornographic literature, photography, all kinds of
pornographic films, blue films. They certainly are fulfilling a need –
people have been so repressed sexually for centuries that they are
hungry to see the naked woman. Certainly your business prospers,
but you are depending on a very ugly exploitation of people.
The responsibility of the journalist is great: he has to make people
aware – why do they need pornography? In an aboriginal tribe,
nobody is interested in pornographic literature because people are
almost naked; they don’t have any clothes. From the very
childhood, the boys and the girls become aware of each other’s
bodies, it is a natural acquaintance. They never become peeping
Toms. And they will not be interested in magazines like Playboy.
But in our so-called civilized society, people are hiding Playboys in
the Shrimad Bhagavadgita, in the Holy Bible, because that is the
safest place to hide anything; nobody opens it. Who bothers to look
into the Holy Bible, or the Shrimad Bhagavadgita? ....
Question 4
Osho,
In our journalism training course, the growth of being, the spiritual
dimension, is totally ignored, while other psychosomatic subjects
are all very much highlighted. Osho, could you please explain: why
is it significant to include the spiritual dimension in the teaching of
journalism?
Nandita, this country has been under slavery for two thousand
years. That has created a psychological slavery in people.
Although politically we are free, psychologically we are still slaves.
Journalism is a product of the West, and we are imitating whatever
is being done there; it is not our creation. The West does not
believe in any spirituality, and it is suffering great anguish and
great anxiety because of it....
Question 5
Osho,
What is healthy journalism? Can journalism survive on positive
news? Please explain your vision on the responsibility of the media.
Nandita, by healthy journalism, I mean journalism which nourishes
the whole personality of man – his body, his mind, his soul –
journalism whose whole concern is to create a better humanity, not
just to report what is happening. Journalism should not be just a
news medium, it should also be great literature – then it is healthy.
Even yesterday’s newspaper should remain of some worth, so that
even today it can be read. It should not be so momentary. But if
you are only a news medium then naturally, once the day has
passed, the news is old. You should make something that never
becomes old, and always remains new....
Question 6
Osho,
What is your trade secret? Please make your trade secret an open
secret.
Nandita, I don’t have any secret – but if you want to call it an open
secret, then it can be described simply: I have been bringing the
truth as I see it, without any fear of any vested interest. Whatever
the consequences for me were, I have always accepted those
consequences as rewards. And I have no regrets about life; I have
lived it according to myself. Even if the whole world was against me
I have never bothered to compromise.
You can call this my secret: I am a non-compromising man. Either I
am true or I am wrong, and I fight for my truth, tooth and nail....
Osho,
You are the greatest marketing person of a product that gratifies
the soul. We are in the business of selling a product that gratifies
the mind; there are others who sell products that gratify the body.
What lessons can we learn from you to effectively market mind and
body products?
Sameer, I am reminded by your question of an anecdote. H.G.
Wells had completed his great work on the history of the world….
And he has made tremendously important statements in his rare
book. For example, he has said about Gautam Buddha that “He
was the most godless, yet the most godly man that has ever walked
on the earth.”
His book was the talk of all the intellectuals around the world, and
one intellectual journalist interviewed him about the book. His first
question was, “What do you think about civilization?” And the
answer that H.G. Wells gave is of such depth that it has not to be
forgotten; it is still fresh and new. He said, “The idea of civilization is
good, but somebody must do something about it, because it is still
an idea. Civilization has not happened. Researching for my book
on world history, I have come to know that man is still uncivilized.”
And one of the reasons man is still uncivilized is the division
between mind, body, and soul....
Question 2
Osho,
When a person enters a temple, one feels a sense of sensory
appeasement – music, chanting, incense, prasad, the visual beauty
of the architecture, etc. Can corporate houses, the temples of the
modern age, have anything to learn from this?
Sameer, not only the corporate houses but every place where man
dwells has much to learn from the temples. First, you are always
moving on holy ground. Not only in the temple are you in a holy
place, but even in the marketplace you are moving on the same
holy ground.
You are not to be just prayerful in the temple, in the mosque, in the
church. Your prayerfulness has to become just your breathing. You
have not to create only in your temple a beautiful world of incense,
of flowers, of music, of chanting, of beautiful architecture, of
sculptures – the temple should simply be the model for every
house. Not only corporate houses, every house should be a
temple, because every body is a temple.
God dwells in you, and wherever you are, you should create the
aroma, the fragrance of godliness....
Question 3
Osho,
For a commercial organization, marketing is the ultimate life
source; however, some marketing professionals suffer from an
element of contradiction in their personal lives. Vis-à-vis
professional objectives, are we selling things to people that they
don’t need?
Sameer, the question is a little complex – complex because in a way
you are selling people what they need…but whether their need is
sick or healthy is a totally different matter.
You are fulfilling people’s sick needs. And that should be felt as a
responsibility. Needs have to be fulfilled, but you have to learn a
great discrimination: what are the sick needs, and what are the
healthy needs?
For example, pornography is a need. And millions of people are
providing pornographic literature, photography, all kinds of
pornographic films, blue films. They certainly are fulfilling a need –
people have been so repressed sexually for centuries that they are
hungry to see the naked woman. Certainly your business prospers,
but you are depending on a very ugly exploitation of people.
The responsibility of the journalist is great: he has to make people
aware – why do they need pornography? In an aboriginal tribe,
nobody is interested in pornographic literature because people are
almost naked; they don’t have any clothes. From the very
childhood, the boys and the girls become aware of each other’s
bodies, it is a natural acquaintance. They never become peeping
Toms. And they will not be interested in magazines like Playboy.
But in our so-called civilized society, people are hiding Playboys in
the Shrimad Bhagavadgita, in the Holy Bible, because that is the
safest place to hide anything; nobody opens it. Who bothers to look
into the Holy Bible, or the Shrimad Bhagavadgita? ....
Question 4
Osho,
In our journalism training course, the growth of being, the spiritual
dimension, is totally ignored, while other psychosomatic subjects
are all very much highlighted. Osho, could you please explain: why
is it significant to include the spiritual dimension in the teaching of
journalism?
Nandita, this country has been under slavery for two thousand
years. That has created a psychological slavery in people.
Although politically we are free, psychologically we are still slaves.
Journalism is a product of the West, and we are imitating whatever
is being done there; it is not our creation. The West does not
believe in any spirituality, and it is suffering great anguish and
great anxiety because of it....
Question 5
Osho,
What is healthy journalism? Can journalism survive on positive
news? Please explain your vision on the responsibility of the media.
Nandita, by healthy journalism, I mean journalism which nourishes
the whole personality of man – his body, his mind, his soul –
journalism whose whole concern is to create a better humanity, not
just to report what is happening. Journalism should not be just a
news medium, it should also be great literature – then it is healthy.
Even yesterday’s newspaper should remain of some worth, so that
even today it can be read. It should not be so momentary. But if
you are only a news medium then naturally, once the day has
passed, the news is old. You should make something that never
becomes old, and always remains new....
Question 6
Osho,
What is your trade secret? Please make your trade secret an open
secret.
Nandita, I don’t have any secret – but if you want to call it an open
secret, then it can be described simply: I have been bringing the
truth as I see it, without any fear of any vested interest. Whatever
the consequences for me were, I have always accepted those
consequences as rewards. And I have no regrets about life; I have
lived it according to myself. Even if the whole world was against me
I have never bothered to compromise.
You can call this my secret: I am a non-compromising man. Either I
am true or I am wrong, and I fight for my truth, tooth and nail....