From Ignorance to Innocence - Osho - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 18. ONE GOD, ONE MESSENGER, ONE BOOK – ONE BIG LIE
The religious man never converts anybody, but his presence inspires many people to be with him.
A religious person has no followers, only fellow travelers – it is impossible for a religious person to
insult somebody by calling him a follower.
When Jesus was crucified, a strange thing happened, something that has happened to almost all
the religions. The same type of people who had crucified Jesus – the rabbis, the priesthood... the
same type of people gathered around the dead religious phenomenon, which had gone, which was
not there anymore.
It is just like the fragrance of a flower.
The flower is gone, the fragrance lingers on a little – and then it is lost.
Religion cannot have a continuity.
It will always be individual, here and there.
One individual becomes enlightened and suddenly people start becoming attracted towards him as
if by a magnetic force.
Jesus is not an intellectual; he is not even educated. He is not a theologian; he cannot argue for
God or for religion. In all his teachings there is no argument, they are statements.
A philosopher argues, a religious person states.
The philosopher argues because he does not know; it is through argument that he wants to come to
a conclusion. But the religious person knows it. He states it, it is a declaration – and he also knows
that there is no way to prove it. No argument is going to be supportive of it.
But once that magnet disappears....
The priest is the most cunning part of humanity – and clever. He is a businessman, he sees the
opportunity of a great business. While jesus is alive, it is dangerous to be with him. No businessman
will come close to him – only gamblers may risk it and be with him. It is dangerous to be with him:
he can be crucified, you can be crucified.
But once he is dead it is a great opportunity for business. Then a new kind of people start gathering
around: those are the priests, the popes, the imams, the rabbis – learned, scholarly, argumentative,
dogmatic. They create the dogma, the creed. They create the cult.
On the dead body of a religious person, a cult is created.
Christianity is a cult.
Friedrich Nietzsche used to say... and I feel that he has the tremendous quality of seeing certain
things which others go on missing. The man was mad, but sometimes mad people have a very
From Ignorance to Innocence 247 Osho