It is a poor substitute, very very poor – but the appeal indicates something; it indicates that man can be at home in only two ways. Either he falls back into nature through chemicals, through sex, or through other means, or he rises above himself, and reaches a point where his whole consciousness has become conscious; nothing remains unconscious in him. The dark continent of unconsciousness is there no more. All corners of his being are lighted up. This is the meaning of becoming a buddha. A buddha means he who has no unconscious. A buddha means he whose whole being is transformed into light, awareness. Again – the celebration, the marriage, the feast, but on a totally different plane.

Jesus used to tell a parable – and his parables are multidimensional – the parable of the prodigal son. One man had two sons – the two brothers wanted to separate from each other. The father divided the property in two, and the elder son remained with the father; the younger left with all the riches that he had now got. The younger left, gambled, indulged, destroyed the whole property, became a beggar, went completely astray.

Then one day while he was begging, suddenly a thought arose: If I go to my father, he will forgive me. I know him – he has the heart of a father. Even though I have destroyed half of his property, his life’s labor – I have not been good to him and I have not served him – still I know he loves me, and if I go back he will accept me.

He came back. The news reached the father that the son was coming back, so he arranged a great feast. The fattest lamb was killed, the oldest wine was brought up from the cellar. He asked friends to come and celebrate the coming of the son: “My son is coming back home!”

The elder son was in the gardens, working in the field. When he was coming back a few people met him on the road and they said, “Look – look at the injustice! You have been serving your father for all these years. You have been an absolutely obedient son, you never went against any of his wishes. But he never celebrated for you, a feast was never given, and now comes your younger brother, who has gone astray, gambled, indulged, indulged in sins, became a beggar. He was disobedient, a rebel. Now he comes and your father is giving a feast. This is injustice!”

Of course, the elder brother also felt very angry, in a rage. He came running home and he asked his father, “What is this? What is going on? and for what? and for whom? This is injustice! I have been an obedient servant to you, and you never, never celebrated for me. And now comes your younger son, who has destroyed everything, your whole life’s labor, and you are arranging a feast! I cannot believe my eyes! Don’t you love me? It seems you only love your younger son.”

The father said, “That is not the point. You misunderstand me. He has gone astray, and now he is coming back. You have never gone astray, you have always been with me: there was no point in celebrating.”

This parable is meaningful here, in the context of what I have said to you. Man is the prodigal son. Trees have always remained with the father, the birds always remain with the father. The rocks and the skies always remain with the father. They have never left home, they never went astray.