Am I on the path of sin if I love people but don't feel a connection to God?

Osho, I love people. But I don’t know whether I have any feeling for God. Am I on the path of sin?

Seek the human being and love him. In the very search for man you will slowly begin to glimpse Him. The world has become irreligious because we were taught: do not love the world, do not love people. The door of love was shut. The bridge to God was broken. I tell you—love much. Only let no dam come to love. Let love keep flowing—rising above every vessel, spilling beyond each. This is prayer: love flowing forever is prayer. And flowing love surely finds God. So don’t be afraid and don’t think you have sinned, or that you are making some mistake, that you are irreligious. Often the so‑called religious are not religious at all—they only appear to be. And, conversely, those who seem irreligious are often not irreligious. I have heard a small story. A great Christian priest in Europe went to preach at a church. He said, “Those…

Question: Second question: Osho, is love a sin? Yogendra, if love is a sin then there can be nothing meritorious in the world. If love is sin, virtue is impossible—because the very essence of virtue is nothing other than love. Taste a little of love. Love is a wondrous happening—extraordinary, otherworldly. The little ray of heaven that descends upon this earth is called love. The little glimmer of light that enters this darkness is called love. The touch of moisture that softens this stony heart is called love. Love means: I rejoice in someone’s life; I am delighted by someone’s being—without cause! Love has no cause. If there is a cause, it is attachment. Without cause, it is love. If you tell someone, “I love you because...,” that is attachment.

Hence Mahavira says ahimsa—non-violence, which means love. Buddha says karuna—compassion, which means love. And Jesus says plainly: “Love is God.” He says, Forget about God—love itself is the Divine. Someone asked Saint Augustine, Tell me in brief: What is the essence of religion? How can I be free of sin? There are so many sins, and life is short! The man asked well: Life is very short, sins are many; if I go on dropping them one by one, I’m not confident I’ll manage it—life will be over. Give me one key that opens all. Augustine said: If you want just one key, then love. Love—and leave the rest to itself. For one who loves, sin cannot happen. That is why it is the “master key.” All locks open. You can steal because you feel no love for the one you are stealing from.

The only quality that man already possesses which can be called divine is love. Love is the only proof that God exists. There is no other proof. So those who have not loved cannot conceive that God is possible. Friedrich Nietzsche says that God is dead for the simple reason that his heart never flowed in love. In fact he should have said that love is dead. That's what was happening inside him: love was dead. And because love is dead there is no proof for God. Sigmund Freud does not believe in God because he does not believe in love. He thinks sexuality is all, man ends with sex. If man ends with sex then there is no difference between man and animals, then there is no humanity really, then man is another species of animal. Sigmund Freud takes away all the glory of humanity.

Osho, most of the world’s religious leaders gave their male and female renunciates rules to keep as much distance as possible; yet you always emphasize love between the two. Do you wish to make some constructive use of love? Or do you want us to experience its futility?

Therefore I say: love is the first introduction to God. Whomever you fall in love with, you will begin to glimpse God in them. Where love happens, you will see transformation. The person you love is no longer ordinary; he becomes extraordinary. Your love begins to seek God within him. Love finds God—because without God, love cannot be. The faults of the one you love stop appearing; and the one you hate, you see only faults. In the one you hate you begin to see the devil; in the one you love you begin to see God. You see goodness upon goodness. Even if he does wrong, it seems right. Only fragrance seems to emanate. A temple begins to arise. This is the recognition, the acquaintance. If this acquaintance is with you, then some day, standing before God, you will recognize him. Without this, as is the case with your…