Osho,
God is dead, religion is dead; then what is left?

God has never been in the first place. It is the greatest lie that has been told to humanity. When I say God is dead, it simply means the lie is dead, the fiction is dead. And when a lie dies, no corpse is left behind.

So remember it, don’t misunderstand the statement that God is dead. It does not mean that he was alive. It does not mean that he was sick, it does not mean that he was on his deathbed, it does not mean that you have to go to the crematorium again. He has never been there. Existence knows nothing of God. It is only the crafty priests who had invented the fiction. With the death of the fiction, the profession of the priests becomes irrelevant.

When I say religion is dead, there is something very significant to be understood. Religion is alive only when it is unorganized, when it is an individual search out of your own freedom; not based on any belief system, but simply based on a deep inquiry – which is man’s privilege. That makes a man a man, when he starts looking into what life is all about, who he is. When he turns in to find out the very center and the source of life, of love, of consciousness, religion is alive.

Religion is dead the moment it becomes something collective, organized. When it becomes Christianity it is dead. When it becomes Hinduism it is dead. When it becomes Buddhism it is dead. When it becomes Rajneeshism it is dead.

If you are here as an individual seeker, then there is a beauty. There is no hierarchy, there is no dogma, no creed. You have to find your way yourself. In fact, the very effort of finding the way crystallizes you. To be closer to the truth – the very fact of inquiring into the truth means you have completed almost half the journey.

When religion becomes organized it becomes a catechism. You are handed over a belief system. You have only to believe, there is no need for you to inquire. You have to believe in Jesus Christ – that’s enough. You have to believe in Gautam the Buddha, and that’s enough.

Belief is the most dangerous thing against truth, because it prevents you inquiring. It makes you knowledgeable, but it does not make you wise. It can make you a great scholar, a theologian, but deep inside you are full of darkness; you don’t know who you are.

Organized religions have been deceiving humanity for thousands of years. But they could do it because you allowed it to be done. Belief is cheap; you don’t have to do anything. You don’t have to go into the unknown, the mysterious. You have just to cling to your belief system and Jesus will save you, Buddha will save you.