The new rebel is truly a sage. He lives with such totality, so intensely, so coherently, so harmoniously, that wisdom arises as a by-product. His enlightenment is not a gift from any God; his enlightenment is a reward of his own effort. It is his own hidden treasure that he finds.

The more harmonious he becomes…His religion will be a harmoniousness, a natural, relaxed, conscious effort to create music out of his life, to make it a dance and a celebration.

The old sage was absolutely uncreative – he has not created anything that you can be proud of. The new rebel will be a creator; he will create poetry, he will create music, he will create sculpture, he will create songs. Fundamentally he will create a luminous life here on this earth – not after death, but now.

This rebellion has been needed for thousands of years. Now it is time: those who have courage should come out of their imprisonment and declare the death of God and the birth of a new man. As far as the old sages and saints are concerned, the differences are not much. Between this religion and that religion, this culture and that culture…just superficial.

The mother gave her little girl some money to go to the movies, a treat she had never had before. When she came home, her mother asked, “How did you get on, dear?”

“Well, Mummy, it was a bit like Sunday school!”

“What? What do you mean?” asked the mother.

“Well, at Sunday school they sing, ‘Stand up, stand up for Jesus.’ And in the movies they shout, ‘For Christ’s sake, sit down!’”

Not much difference…!

A Christian sage, a Hindu sage, a Jaina sage – not much difference. Their words may be different, their disciplines may be different – somebody is standing up, somebody is sitting down – but their basic approach is to support slavery, to condemn humanity, and to proclaim a God which is the greatest lie we have tolerated for thousands of years.

There was a young priest who went to his first parish. The old priest arranged to be in the back of the confessional, to see if the beginner did it right. The young man tried hard and asked afterwards, “I did not do too badly, did I, Father?”

“Well,” said the old priest, “not too badly for the first time. But next time we can have a little less ‘Whew!…Wow!…Gee!’ and a lot more ‘Tut, tut, tut!’”

The young priest, listening to the sinners, was saying “Wow! Gosh!…”