When several of the giant national food chains offered to buy him out, he accepted the highest bid – seven and a half million dollars. The contracts were drawn up and the corporate executive and Stosh, surrounded by a large number of attorneys, met in the plush corporate offices atop one of Manhattan’s most prestigious skyscrapers. The contracts were looked over, heads were nodded and finally the executive signed on the relevant dotted line. Then Stosh picked up the solid gold pen and laboriously scrawled his ‘X’ at the bottom of the page.

The corporate executive leaped up from his chair and shouted, “My God, man! You mean to say you have amassed this business worth seven and a half million dollars without being able to read or write?”

“Hell!” snorted Stosh emphatically. “If Stosh could read or write, Stosh would still be a bookkeeper in a whorehouse!”

The second question:

Osho,
What is mechanical goodness?

There is nothing like mechanical goodness. Goodness cannot be mechanical and anything mechanical cannot be good. It is a contradiction in terms. Goodness can only be conscious, nonmechanical; and evil can only be unconscious, mechanical.

But I understand your question. It is relevant, because for centuries something like mechanical goodness has been taught to people because it is easy. People are mechanical. To bring real goodness in their lives, real virtue, you will have to transform their unconsciousness into consciousness, you will have to change their darkness into light. That is an arduous effort, and the society, moreover, is not interested in it at all. In fact, it is afraid of it because whenever a really good person has happened in the world he has created trouble for the society.

A Jesus, a Lao Tzu, a Buddha, a Kabir, these are the greatest rebels for the simple reason that they were so conscious that they could see through the whole stupid game that we go on playing. They could see through our lies, they could see through our deceptions. It was impossible to deceive them and it was impossible to exploit them and it was impossible to enslave them. Not only was it impossible to enslave them, but they created great movements of consciousness in the world. They created chains, they triggered chains. Many, many people became enlightened through their efforts. Their efforts were thought to be antisocial. That’s why Jesus was crucified.