The ancient story is:

A man found the truth.

A little devil came running to the old devil and asked him, “What are you doing here?”

The old devil was smoking a cigarette. He said, “My son, cool down. What is the matter?”

The little devil said, “You are sitting here, and one man has found the truth! Our whole business is at risk!”

The old devil said, “Sit down. Take a cigarette. My people have already reached there.”

The little devil said, “But I am coming from there, and I have not seen any devils!”

The old devil said, “Devils are not needed, my people have reached there. They are the priests, they are the rabbis, they are the popes, they are the shankaracharyas, they are the imams. They have reached there, and they will organize the truth, and once the truth is organized, it is finished! They will surround the man, and they will not allow the people to approach the man. They will interpret the man, and in their interpretation the truth will be lost.”

The last commandment from the pope has been…He has found a new sin; it is a great discovery. People have been sinning just in the old way, routine. He should be counted as a great pioneer!

The new sin is that you should not communicate with God directly; you should only communicate through the priest.

As far as I can see, that’s what the devil was meaning, that “the priests are there, they are my people, they serve me.” They talk about God, but talking about God, creating belief in people about God, does not help any transformation.

Belief is not needed. What is needed is knowing. Belief simply hides your ignorance, it does not make any rebellion in your being.

Once Sri Raman, one of the great seers of this age, was asked by a journalist coming from the West, “Do you believe in God?”

Sri Raman said, “No.”

The man was shocked. He had heard that this man has realized God, and he says he does not believe in God! He repeated the question. He said, “Have you heard me rightly? I am asking, `Do you believe in God?’”