A rebellious childhood - OSHO Talks Vol. 5

This is the fifth part of Osho's talk which is dedicated to answering a series of crucially important questions about spiritual growth: are there different states of growth, how can people who are in different states be of use to others? According to Osho: You have often talked about your rebellious childhood and how it gave you so much freedom, how you insisted on discovering your own individuality. How did you know the need to rebel at that tender age? What happened to those people who did not have the courage to rebel and to those who have hindered their childhood? Is a rebellious childhood necessary for enlightenment? No, it is not necessary. A man can attain enlightenment without having a rebellious childhood; but no one can become enlightened without being rebellious beforehand. If one is fortunate enough to be rebellious in his childhood, enlightenment will come sooner. I became enlightened when I was twenty-one years old. Gautama Buddha became enlightened when he was forty-two, because until the age of twenty-nine he never rebelled against his father's wishes. At the age of twenty-nine, he had to rebel. He could see that those twenty-nine years had passed meaninglessly.