In Japan they have dolls called daruma dolls. Daruma is the Japanese name for Bodhidharma. Those dolls are beautiful. They represent Bodhidharma: their bottom is heavy, very heavy, so you throw the doll in any way, and it will always sit in the lotus posture again. Because the base is heavy and the head is light, and the whole body is light, it cannot remain in any other position. If you put it in any other position it will immediately turn and sit in the lotus posture. The daruma doll was created because of a certain statement of Bodhidharma. He said, “When you become really centered in your being, nothing in the whole of existence can create even a slight trembling in you. No fear is possible. And when you are centered in your being, even if the whole of existence wants to throw you upside down, it is impossible; you will always come rightside up.” That gave the idea of the daruma doll.

The religious man is multidimensional. All his windows and all his doors are open. His consciousness is available to everything.

He is not looking for a certain discovery, he is not looking even for God. That is why I am continually saying to you, “There is no God, don’t look for him otherwise you will be obsessed. That’s why I call all the religions that have existed up to now pseudo-religious: they are obsessed, just like anybody else – in fact, more obsessed.

What is a Tibetan monk doing his whole life? – just repeating the name of Buddha. If that is not an obsession, then what can be an obsession? – and a useless obsession too. If Albert Einstein is obsessed, at least he contributes to the world. He suffers, but he gives something to the world.

These Tibetan monks, what have they given to the world? The Hindu monks, what have they given to the world? What is their contribution? Of the Christian monks, the Catholic monks alone are one million in number. One million monks! And what is their contribution? They are just burdens on humanity – obsessed people, but obsessed with something that does not exist; hence there is no contribution.

The scientist is obsessed with something that really exists – he is obsessed with some objective reality. The poet is obsessed with something of subjective reality. But your pseudo-religious man is obsessed with a God which does not exist, and out of a non-existent God what are you going to get? Where are you going to reach? These monks are moving in circles their whole life. They are obsessed.

So let me make it clear to you. If you find a religious man obsessed, then that is enough proof that he is not religious. A really religious man is not obsessed at all. He is open to the whole. And he is not concerned in any way to discover something, to create something: a song, a painting, a dance, a sculpture. No, he is not concerned.

It is possible that a really religious man may create a song, but that is just play; he is not serious about it. It is just… You are sitting on the beach and you start playing and making a statue out of wet sand. You are not obsessed with it; there is no need to complete it. And when you leave you may give a hit to the statue that you have been creating for hours.

This was not an obsession, you were just being playful. Sitting alone… You were not doing something serious. A religious man sometimes composes poetry or music or dance or a statue or a painting, but they are all just games.