Osho Quotes on Homosexuality, Osho on Homosexuality

Osho Quotes on Homosexuality

1. Mankind has become too overcrowded; that is creating homosexuality. The earth has become like a zoo. Nobody has space, which is an absolute necessity for growth, for natural growth. So everybody is becoming a little crazy. Homosexuality is not a good sign. It simply shows something has remained retarded in you.
2. Unless sex disappears on its own accord, it is very dangerous to drop it, to force it, because then you will create all kinds of perversions. And all the religions of the world have created perverted human beings: homosexuality, lesbianism, sodomy …and people go on inventing strange, perverted expressions for their sexual energy because their religion condemns sex.
3. There is nothing wrong in being homosexual. You need not feel guilty about it. One certainly has to go beyond sex, but that is as much applicable to heterosexuality as it is applicable to homosexuality. Heterosexuality or homosexuality are just styles of the same stupidity! You need not feel guilty. In fact, looking at the population of the world, homosexuality should be supported. At least you will not be increasing the population of the world, you will not be loading the earth more. It is already loaded too much. Homosexuality should be valued, respected — it is pure fun! Heterosexuality is dangerous. And what is wrong? If two persons are enjoying each other’s bodies, nothing is wrong. It should be their concern; nobody else’s business to interfere.
4. When I say I have nothing against homosexuality I am not supporting it, remember. I am not saying, “Be homosexual.” I don’t have anything against heterosexuality either, but I am not supporting heterosexuality. I am not supporting anything. These are all mind games — and you have to go beyond all the games.
5. My effort here is to help you to go beyond it, so if you are homosexual you have to go beyond homosexuality, if you are heterosexual you have to go beyond heterosexuality. And there are other people also who are neither, who are autoerotic, autosexual. They have to go beyond their autoeroticism. Man has to transcend sex, whatsoever kind of sex it is, because unless you go beyond your biology you will never know your soul. But meanwhile — before you go beyond — it is your freedom to be whatsoever you want to be.
6. Homosexuality is not a way out; it is just a slight change, because homosexuals start becoming as jealous, as possessive, and destroy the other as much as heterosexuals.
7. As a homosexual you are not even a human being, what to say about a second-class citizen? You have fallen from dignity. I have great love for you, but that does not mean that I will support your perversion. You love me, but your love is meaningless if you cannot understand what I am saying. Be heterosexual. Homosexuality is just a habit that you have got, an ugly habit. Drop it. It is simply a question of dropping it, because it is not natural. Wild animals in the jungle are never homosexual; but in zoos, where females are not available, they turn into homosexuals. All your monasteries are zoos! Why are you becoming part of a zoo? Gather courage: Why are you afraid of a woman? My love is for you. That’s why I am condemning homosexuality continually — because I want you to become natural again.
8. If you are interested in spiritual growth then you have to grow from homosexuality towards heterosexuality. If you are not interested in spiritual growth then there is nothing wrong. You can remain — heterosexual or homosexual, it is all the same. I think I have made it clear. If you are not interested in spiritual growth, then there is no problem. I am not against homosexuality, I am not against anything. It is your life — you have to decide; who am I? I am simply stating a fact that ultimately, inside your being, a meeting is going to happen: be prepared for that meeting. And the outer love with the other prepares you.
9. For centuries man has been trying to get rid of sex he has created many kinds of perversions. Homosexuality has arisen because we have deprived people of heterosexuality. Homosexuality was born as a religious phenomenon in the monasteries because we forced monks to live together in one place and nuns to live in one place, and we separated them by great walls.
10. Homosexuality is BOUND to happen. It happens only in monasteries and in the army — because these are the two places where we don’t allow men and women to mix. Or it happens in boys’ and girls’ hostels; there also we don’t allow them to mix. The whole phenomenon of homosexuality is a by-product of this whole stupid upbringing. Homosexuality will disappear from the world the day we allow men and women to meet naturally.
11. Now there is homosexuality, lesbianism, sodomy, and all kinds of other perversions, and nobody ever thinks about who is responsible. Animals in the wild are never homosexual, but in a zoo, if females are not available, then animals turn homosexual. That gives a clue. It seems we have made our society a zoo, not a natural phenomenon. We have repressed sex so much that now it goes on taking strange shapes.
12. Whatsoever is easily available, automatically becomes uninteresting. In the West many people are turning towards homosexuality, lesbianism, for the simple reason that a man seems for another man to be a faraway goal because he is so unnatural; a woman, for a woman, seems to be a faraway goal, it seems so unnatural. A man and woman relationship is natural. So people are turning into homosexuals, lesbians. The reason is that when you make anything difficult, condemn it, repress it, it will become more and more attractive. In my commune nothing is repressed, hence everything, by and by, loses its attraction. One becomes more and more calm and quiet and settled.
13. Now homosexuals have been one of the tortured minorities in the world, very much tortured. In some countries they are killed. In some countries, for example in Iran, if it is found that two persons are living as homosexuals or lesbians, then the only punishment is death. What nonsense! They have not committed any crime against anybody, they have not harmed anybody! Two men living together, or two women living together, this should be nobody else’s business. But there is a great fear of homosexuality, and the reason is that homosexuality has been repressed down the ages. In fact, in every person homosexuality is repressed, because there are four stages. First the child is auto-erotic, then the child becomes homosexual, then the child becomes heterosexual, and the fourth and the ultimate state is that of brahmacharya — the person goes beyond sex. Each child passes the stage of homosexuality. If he passes it naturally there will be no repression, but because he is not allowed to pass it naturally, repression happens; then a hangover remains. Now these people who kill homosexuals are really homosexuals them-selves — repressed homosexuals — they cannot tolerate it.
14. Homosexuality is such an innocent phenomenon. Why is it so much condemned? The reason is that if it is not condemned, the fear is that almost everybody will turn homosexual because every child has the tendency. Every child passes through the stage when he is homosexual. Every boy, every girl, passes through a time when boys like boys and girls like girls. The fear is that if many people turn homosexual — and particularly in the past when the population was not big and every society wanted more numbers because numbers meant power…. To allow homosexuality was dangerous; it had to be condemned, absolutely condemned, so much so that in a few countries it is the greatest crime.
15. Homosexuality is condemned because there is every possibility that if it is not condemned many more people will turn towards it. The inner tendency is there in every person. In fact, the person who is against it… the more he is against it, the more he has the tendency. Deep down, unconsciously, he knows it is there. To repress it he has to be very much against it; he feels disgusted by the very idea.
16. In a Catholic monastery in Europe, Mount Athos, for one thousand years no woman has entered; not even a six-month-old girl has been allowed to enter in. What kind of people are living there? A six-month-old girl and they are afraid even of that! What can they do? But repressing sex creates fear, so the whole monastery is full of men; and homosexuality is a natural by-product if only boys are together or only girls are together.
17. The more man has become intelligent, he wants to find new ways: and homosexuality is a new way — so contrary to nature; an invention, a discovery that you can relate man-to-man or woman-to-woman. There are people who are even more revolutionary. They are relating to false toys. You can make a woman, a plastic woman, and make love to her. That is even more revolutionary — and more convenient too. any moment you can pack her back in your bag, and you can carry her anywhere you want. Homosexuality is more convenient than heterosexuality because the language is the same. But convenience is not the goal: growth is the goal. Growth always happens through inconvenience. Growth always happens through pain, challenge. If you are interested in spiritual growth, move towards heterosexuality. If you are not interested in that, then there is no problem. If you want to go beyond, if you really want to search your innermost being, the inner space, then heterosexuality will be helpful.
18. Celibacy is one of the most unnatural things. It has destroyed so many human beings — millions — Catholic monks, Hindu monks, Buddhist monks, Jaina monks, nuns. For centuries they have been teaching celibacy; and the most amazing thing is, even in the twentieth century, not a single medical expert, physiologist, has stood up and said that celibacy is impossible, that in the very nature of things, it cannot happen. To impose celibacy means to pervert the sexual energy of man. It is celibacy that has created homosexuality. It is celibacy that has created sodomy. Perhaps you don’t understand the word “sodomy”; it is making love to animals. And, finally, it is celibacy which has brought humanity to experience the great joy of AIDS. I call AIDS a religious disease. It has been created by all the religions.
19. Sex in itself is not a barrier to enlightenment, but all the religions have made it a barrier by repressing it. It is not sex that is the barrier, it is perverted sex that becomes the barrier. Homosexuality is a barrier, lesbianism is a barrier. But because all your religions have been teaching you to be celibate if you want to attain to God, self-realization, liberation, enlightenment — whatsoever their name is for the ultimate experience — then celibacy has been taught to be the basic requirement. It is that idea of celibacy which has driven people into all kinds of perversions. Celibacy has led humanity to the perfect perversion, AIDS. This is a religious disease. This is the blessing your popes and your shankaracharyas and your imams have given to you. Certainly whenever nature is not allowed to be natural, it takes you off the route of your growth, you start growing in a different direction. Enlightenment is your natural growth. The more natural you are, the easier the growth. Sex is not a problem; celibacy is.
20. Celibacy is the root cause of homosexuality, of all kinds of sexual perversions. But the priests have been reaping a good crop out of your perversions. The more perverted you are, the more you are in the hands of the priest, for the simple reason that you start feeling guilty. Going against nature makes you feel guilty, makes you feel disgusting, makes you feel unacceptable to yourself. You cannot have the dignity of a man if you are perverted. You lose all pride of being a man, the highest expression of evolution — consciousness. You hide your perversions. And remember, sex is not a problem, perversions are. Men have been making love to other men. Men have been making love to animals. Naturally, you will try to hide the fact that you are making love to animals. You have degraded yourself. You have reduced yourself to the state of animals.
21. Homosexuality cannot be prevented by law. Law has never prevented anything! In fact, it makes the thing more attractive.
22. There is no need to make love either. Be loving, hug each other. Go to sleep together hugging, silently, meditatively, with the incense filling the room, with the candlelight….
23. If man can be taught the beauties of being loving, all homosexuality will disappear, all kinds of perversions will disappear. They cannot disappear by making laws. And strangely enough, the people who make laws — the senators and the members of the parliaments, assemblies — most of them are homosexuals. But they are in a position that they can go on keeping it a secret. Even your popes have been found to be homosexuals, and they are preaching sermons to the whole world to remain celibate. We have created such a hypocritical world. It is time to be finished with it! Be authentic, be sincere!
24. They destroy your acceptance of yourself, they create guilt in you. That is something of an ultimate crime — to create guilt. And the easiest way is to teach you to go against your own nature. You cannot go against nature. Who will go against it? You are nature. So all these monasteries of Hindus and Mohammedans and Buddhists are full of hypocrites; there is not a single man worthy of any respect. And these religions have created all kinds of perversions in the world. When you suppress your sex, it starts flowing in unnatural ways. You cannot stop nature, it will find some other way. If you keep men and women apart you will be responsible for creating homosexuality.
25. Homosexuality is not such a big problem, it is not a problem at all, in fact. It is part of human freedom. There is nothing wrong if two persons choose a certain style of sexual relationship; it should be nobody’s business. But the priests and the politicians are poking their noses into everything! They create guilt in you — absolutely unnecessary.