And it raises a thousand and one questions which Christian theologians have not been able to answer – not even a single one. What was God doing for eternity? And why did he create the world exactly four thousand and four years before Jesus was born? What is the secret of it? And where has this fellow been before? And the more basic question is: From where did God come? Who produced him? Is he an orphan, with no mother, no father? Who created him? If the world needs a creator, then God also needs a creator.

This hypothesis can satisfy only very childish minds, and can give them security. But millions of people are in that space. In temples, in synagogues, in mosques, they are praying to a God which is just a hypothesis.

Some day when man really comes of age and to maturity, he will laugh at us: “What kind of idiots is the whole history full of? They create a hypothesis, and they worship a hypothesis.”

Two plus two make four: that is a hypothesis, but you never worship it – or do you? Just writing “two plus two is equal to four”…and then flowers and devotional songs…But your God is not better in any way than “two plus two is four.”

But science is not in a better position either. They say that at a certain point, nearabout four billion years ago…Their calculation is as bogus as the religious calculation: four thousand and four years, or four million years, or four billion years. How do you come to that conclusion? It is simply whimsical. They say the world came into existence out of an explosion. Explosion of what? They have removed God; now instead of God, it is an explosion of energy. But that means the energy was there. And if the energy was there, existence was there.

Gautam Buddha seems to be more logical, Mahavira seems to be more logical; they don’t believe in the creation at all. They have simply denied that the world has ever been created: it has always been there, and it will always be there, changing its forms.

You cannot conceive a point when the world was not, and then suddenly it was there. It is not logic, it is magic: a moment before there was nothing and a moment after, there was everything. God seems to be a street magician! But the street magician knows only tricks. Out of an empty cap, he brings birds – but they are hidden in the empty cap. He creates the illusion that the cap is empty, but it is not empty.

Gautam Buddha is right when he says, “The very idea of the creation of the world is foolish. It will lead to more stupid answers and questions.” But why do people want to know such things? There must be a psychological need, and a universal psychological need. This is the need: safety. Knowing that God created the world, you feel at ease.

Strange, I have never felt any unease about whether God created the world or not. Who cares? In what way am I related to that creation? It does not affect me this way or that. I am ready to accept the mystery of life, and I am against all those people – whether religious scholars or scientific researchers – who are going to satisfy your fear of insecurity by giving you hypotheses.