Osho Rajneesh Book "The White Lotus"

The White Lotus

The Highest Flight

3 November 1979 am in Buddha Hall
The first question:
BELOVED OSHO,
Question 1

WHAT IS A POET? WHAT IS POETRY?

Devaprem, there are three ways of looking at existence: seeing it, feeling it, being it. The first is

science, the second is art, the third is religion.

Science looks at the universe in an objective way. It looks at the universe as if it is there, outside.

Hence science concludes that there is only matter and nothing else. The very method of science

limits it; it is a great limitation. If you look in an objective way you can only catch hold of the objectivity of existence. That is matter. Matter is the objectiveness of existence.

The word object is significant; it means that which obstructs you, that which objects to you. Anything

that obstructs your vision is an object. Hence science becomes antagonistic towards the world, it

starts trying to conquer it, because the object is the enemy and has to be conquered. It is because

of the scientific approach that man has become so alienated from nature. And now he feels so

isolated and alone that it seems that suicide is the only way to get rid of the whole misery that this

isolation has created.

The second approach, the second way, is that of art, aesthetics, poetry. It is a subjective approach

towards existence. Art is not concerned with what is there but what is here, inside you. It is not

concerned with the roseflower itself but how it feels to you. When you see the roseflower, what

happens in your inner world? When you see the sunrise, how does it reflect in your being? When

the cuckoo starts calling from the distance, how does it echo in your innermost recesses?

Art is concerned with your response: not with what is there but with what is inside you. Art is closer

to home than science – although not yet exactly at home, but on the way. It is a mid-point between

science and religion. Art gives you more freedom than science. The poet has more freedom than

the mathematician, the musician has more freedom than the physicist. The scientist is obstructed

by his own objects. The scientist cannot go beyond matter and matter defines his world. But the

poet can soar, can go beyond, can create his own worlds.

Science discovers, art creates. Science can only discover that which is already there. Art creates,

hence art brings you closer to the creator.

And whenever I talk about poetry I mean the essence of art. Poetry is the essence of art. The

sculptor is creating poetry in stone, the musician is creating poetry in sound, the painter is creating

poetry in color on the canvas. They are all poets. Their mediums differ, their expressions differ, but

their basic approach is not that of arithmetic but of poetry.

Because science has become too predominant, art has almost disappeared. It is no longer thriving,

it is no longer as alive as it always has been in the past. Science has taken over everything. Hence

the great boredom felt in the world, because unless you are creative you are bound to be bored.

Only a creative person knows how to drop boredom; the creative person knows no boredom at all.

He is thrilled, enchanted, he is constantly in a state of adventure. And small things create such

ecstatic states within him. A butterfly is enough to trigger a process in his being. Just a small flower

is enough to bring a spring into his heart. A silent lake reflecting the stars, and the poet himself

becomes a silent lake and starts reflecting millions of stars.

Science is the root cause of the creation of boredom in the world. First it creates isolation: man is

no more part of nature, he stands outside it – he becomes just an observer, a spectator, no more

a participant. And unless you participate in the celebration, unless you participate in the dance,

you are bound to be bored. Isolated from existence, antagonistic to existence, trying to conquer

it, you are simply killing yourself. And you become fed up, bored. Life loses meaning, there is no

significance; there are only things without any significance, and life appears only to be an accident

with no intrinsic value. Yes, things have prices, but nothing has value as far as science is concerned.

As far as poetry is concerned, things are valuable, they don’t have any price. How can you price a

beautiful roseflower? It is impossible. Its beauty is immeasurable; it is not possible to fix its price.

Yes, value is there... and remember, value is not price, value is your appreciation. The rose and

the star and the moon and the sun are not marketable. You cannot sell them, you cannot purchase

them. You can enjoy them, but you cannot possess them.

Price means you can possess a thing, you can sell it and purchase it; it is a commodity. Value

means it is not a commodity; it is an experience, it is a love phenomenon.

Science lives through logic, poetry lives through love. Poetry is a loving approach towards existence.

Science is a kind of rape; poetry is a love affair. Yes, in rape also you go through the same act of

penetration as in love but there is such a vast distance; the gap is unbridgeable. You can rape a

woman, she may even get pregnant, but it will not be to know the mystery of the woman. You will

not know the joy of love. And if rape becomes your very lifestyle, you will be missing something of

tremendous value. Your life will remain empty, hollow

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