Roerich--People in Osho's Talks

One very great painter not much known in the West,
although he was a Western man – he lived in the
Himalayas. He was a Russian, Nicholas Roerich, and
he belonged to the czar's family. So while the revolution
was happening and nineteen members of the czar's
family were slaughtered, even a six-month-old child –
sometimes these revolutions can be so ugly – Nicholas
Roerich escaped; he was just a boy at that time.

He lived in the Himalayas. He was a painter, but not a
painter for art galleries and marketplaces. He never
sold any of his paintings – not because people were not
ready to purchase, but because he was not willing to
sell. He said, "It is not a commodity, it is me spread on
the canvas. How can I sell it?" He died with all his
paintings in his house.

I have been to his house – he was very old at that time
– and seeing that he was vegetarian, I asked, "You are
a Russian, why should you be vegetarian?"

He said, "Because of my paintings. I cannot even
destroy a painting, which is not alive. How can I destroy
a living being for my food? And if I can destroy a lion or
a tiger, then why not destroy a man?"...

--Osho
From Personality to Individuality, ch. 9

oshobob The Living Workshop

People in Osho's Talks