Philosophia Perennis (Talks on Pythagoras, the Philosopher and Mystic)

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From the Jacket

“When man becomes powerful he does not known what to do with that power. When the power is too much and the understanding is too little, power has always proved dangerous. Atlantis was not drowned in the ocean by any natural calamity. It was actually the same thing that is happening today, it was man’s own power over nature. Humanity is facing that same danger again.”

Osho is a revolution that helps the birth of each individual: “I am trying in every possible way to drop all those things, which in the past have been barriers for the revolution to continue and grow.

I don’t want anybody to stand between the individual and existence. No prayer, no priest - you alone are enough to face the sunrise. You don’t need somebody to interpret for you what a beautiful sunrise it is.”

Preface

Pythagoras is one of the most important people that Greece has given to the world. But strangely enough, nothing much is talked about all the best geniuses that Greece has given to the world. Pythagoras, Socrates, Heraclitus, Epicurus - these are the ones who should be talked about. But instead of them, in the universities Plato is studied, Aristotle is studied.

Plato is simply a record-keeper - he has not a single idea of his own! He is a devoted lover of Socrates, and whatever Socrates says, he goes on recording it, writing it. Socrates has not written anything - just as no great master has ever written anything. And Plato is certainly a great writer; perhaps Socrates may not have been able to write so beautifully. Plato has made Socrates’ teachings as beautiful as possible, but he himself is no one. Now the same work can be done by a tape recorder. And Aristotle is merely an intellectual, with no understanding of being, or even a desire to search for it. These people are taught in the universities.

I was constantly in a fight with my professors. When they started teaching Plato, I said, “This is absolute nonsense, because Plato has nothing to say of his own. It is better to teach about Socrates. Plato can be referred to - he has compiled it all. But Socrates’ name has become almost a fiction, and Plato has become the reality - just the way I was saying to you last night that Ouspensky has become the master, because he has written the books, beautiful books. One day Gurdjueff will be forgotten - he is already forgotten - and Ouspensky will be remembered for centuries. And sooner or later what he has written will be thought to be his own ideas. None of it is his own ideas.

Pythagoras is not at all bothered about any university in the world, for the simple reason that he is not a routine scholar; he is an original seeker, and he is ready to go anywhere. He traveled all his life to find people who may have had a little glimpse and may be able to impart something to him. He was collecting pieces, and he managed beautifully.

But Greeks don’t talk about him because he is not talking about Greek philosophy; he is bringing foreign ideas, strange ideas from Alexandria, from Nalanda, from Takshila - he is almost not a Greek. They are not interested in what he is bringing, although what he is bringing has noting to do with Greeks or Indians or Egyptians. But he is ignored - one of the most significant men, utterly ignored.

The same has happened to Diogenes. He is ignored because he looks embarrassing to the Greeks. And he is very original - not only in thoughts but in life. In everything that he does he is original and very sincere-a man of tremendous courage, who could say to Alexander the Great, “You are behaving like a fool. The very idea of conquering the world is nonsense. For what do you want to conquer the world? What will you do after it?”

He said, “After it? I am going to relax and enjoy.” And Diogenes looked at his dog - they were friends, they used to live together - and he told the dog, “Did you hear? He is planning to relax and enjoy after conquering the world, and we are enjoying right now, without conquering anything! Why take so much trouble?” A naked man who can say to Alexander, “You are behaving like a fool,” must have guts - and Alexander had to recognize it. And he was a man of tremendous power himself, of great intelligence. He had to recognize it - that he has never met a man of the quality of Diogenes.

But Greeks go on avoiding, the same way they have done with Epicurus. It is very strange, but perhaps this is the way of humanity to behave with its own greatest sons - to ignore them not to take any note of them.

But amongst all these, Pythagoras has created a complete system to create a Buddha. He himself became an enlightened man - it was not only theoretical. When he came back to Greece, he was not the same Pythagoras who had left; he was a new man. And that was one of the greatest difficulties - his own country could not recognize him. In fact they had no category of enlightenment, awakening, buddhahood, so where to put Pythagoras? The category just does not exist in their mind, so he remains uncategorized, and for two thousand years nobody has commented upon him.

I am the first man to have commented on the great genius and realization of this unique individual. He has a more perfect way of presentation than you will find in Indian scriptures, because Indian scriptures are more poetic, and he is, after all, a Greek! He is very logical and very scientific.

Back of the Book

“Pythagoras is almost an archetype: the seeker for truth par excellence, a person who devoted his whole life to finding Philosophia Perennis, the perennial philosophy of life. The possibility exists in everybody; it has to be actualized.”

Many of us know Pythagoras’ famous theorem in geometry but few of us are aware that he also traveled extensively in search of truth, learning from many mystery schools. Being both mathematician and mystic, he was the first enlightened person to experiment with creating a synthesis between science and mysticism. So Pythagoras is a man close to Osho’s heart, with this understanding that materialism and spirituality - East and West, body and soul - exist together, as complementary parts of a harmonious whole.

All that remains of Pythagoras’ mystical teachings are these Golden Verses of Pythagoras, on which Osho expands, giving us insights into Pythagoras’ profound understanding of the mysteries of existence, and his commonsense approach to life.

Osho also responds to seekers’ questions. Speaking with authority, clarity, sharpness and humor, his insights address both the timeless and timely concerns that tend to escape our notice in the clamor and overload of daily life.

About the Author

Osho defies categorization, reflecting everything from the individual quest for meaning to the most urgent social and political issues facing society today. His books are not written but are transcribed from recordings of extemporaneous talks given over a period of thirty-five years. Osho has been described by The Sunday Times in London as one of the “1000 Makers of the 20th Century” and by Sunday Mid-Day in India as one of the ten people - along with Gandhi, Nehru and Buddha - who have changed the destiny of India.

Osho has a stated aim of helping to create the conditions for the birth of a new kind of human being, characterized as “Zorba the Buddha” - one whose feet are firmly on the ground, yet whose hands can touch the stars. Running like a thread through all aspects of Osho’s talks and meditations is a vision that encompasses both the timeless wisdom of the East and the highest potential of Western science and technology.

He is synonymous with a revolutionary contribution to the science of inner transformation and an approach to meditation which specifically address the accelerated pace of contemporary life. The unique OSHO Active Meditations are designed to allow the release of accumulated stress in the body and mind so that it is easier to be still and experience the thought-free state of meditation.