Are all priests the worst enemies of God?

Question: BELOVED MASTER, ARE NOT ALL THE PRIESTS THE WORST ENEMIES OF GOD? Deepesh, not all the priests, but just the few -- the pope, the shankaracharyas. These are the people who are the enemies of God; otherwise, poor priests are simply trying somehow to make their bread and butter. They have nothing to do with God -- they are not friends, they are not enemies. They don't have any time for God. It is just a profession, and a poor profession at that. The poor priest doesn't get more money than the lowest clerk, and he runs the whole day from one temple to another, from one house to another -- he is almost a beggar! No, he is not the enemy of God. He just doesn't know any other way to earn his bread, particularly in India. In India, priests are brahmins, and brahmins are the poorest people.

You said that priests, pundits, and religious authorities have kept people from moving toward God and the knowing of God. The question is: Do priests know nothing at all? In thousands of years have they learned nothing? Are they utterly ignorant?

No; priests know a great deal. That is precisely the danger. If they were ignorant, there would be far less danger. They know a lot—and the danger lies in what they know. Let me tell a small story; perhaps it will make my point clear. Early one morning a royal court was filling, and a stranger arrived—a traveler from a distant land, it seemed. His dress was unfamiliar, his face unknown. But he carried himself with great dignity and presence. Everyone in the court found their eyes drawn to him. He wore a magnificent turban—unlike anything seen in that country—rich with multicolored patterns and glittering ornaments on top. The king asked, “Honored guest, may I ask how expensive this turban is and where you bought it?” The man said, “It is very expensive. I had to spend a thousand gold coins.” The vizier, seated beside the king—and viziers are naturally…

Question: BELOVED OSHO, OF THE PRIESTS AND ONE DAY ZARATHUSTRA MADE A SIGN TO HIS DISCIPLES AND SPOKE THESE WORDS TO THEM: HERE ARE PRIESTS: AND ALTHOUGH THEY ARE MY ENEMIES, PASS THEM BY QUIETLY AND WITH SLEEPING SWORDS!... THEY ARE BAD ENEMIES: NOTHING IS MORE REVENGEFUL THAN THEIR HUMILITY. AND HE WHO TOUCHES THEM IS EASILY DEFILED.... HE WHOM THEY CALL REDEEMER HAS CAST THEM INTO BONDAGE -- INTO THE BONDAGE OF FALSE VALUES AND FALSE SCRIPTURES! AH, THAT SOMEONE WOULD REDEEM THEM FROM THEIR REDEEMER!... OH, JUST LOOK AT THESE HUTS THAT THESE PRIESTS HAVE BUILT THEMSELVES. CHURCHES THEY CALL THEIR SWEET-SMELLING CAVES! OH THIS COUNTERFEIT LIGHT! OH THIS MUSTY AIR! HERE, WHERE THE SOUL MAY NOT FLY UP TO ITS HEIGHT! ON THE CONTRARY, THEIR FAITH COMMANDS: `UP THE STEPS ON YOUR KNEES, YOU SINNERS!'... WHO CREATED SUCH CAVES AND PENITENTIAL STEPS?

Question: BELOVED OSHO, AND WHEN HE ENTERED INTO THE CITY ALL THE PEOPLE CAME TO MEET HIM, AND THEY WERE CRYING OUT TO HIM AS WITH ONE VOICE. AND THE ELDERS OF THE CITY STOOD FORTH AND SAID: GO NOT YET AWAY FROM US. A NOONTIDE HAVE YOU BEEN IN OUR TWILIGHT, AND YOUR YOUTH HAS GIVEN US DREAMS TO DREAM. NO STRANGER ARE YOU AMONG US, NOR A GUEST, BUT OUR SON AND OUR DEARLY BELOVED. SUFFER NOT YET OUR EYES TO HUNGER FOR YOUR FACE. AND THE PRIESTS AND THE PRIESTESSES SAID UNTO HIM: LET NOT THE WAVES OF THE SEA SEPARATE US NOW, AND THE YEARS YOU HAVE SPENT IN OUR MIDST BECOME A MEMORY. YOU HAVE WALKED AMONG US A SPIRIT, AND YOUR SHADOW HAS BEEN A LIGHT UPON OUR FACES. MUCH HAVE WE LOVED YOU.

Question: Fourth question: Osho, is the God of the priests and pundits not true? The God of the priests is only as true as they are true. Your God will be only as true as you are. Your God cannot be truer than you. After all, your God is yours! If you are false, your God will be false. If you are false, your worship will be false, your prayer will be false. It depends on you. If you are dead within, your God will be dead. Your God cannot be otherwise than you. What is the priest’s God? A web of words. Something read in scriptures, not something lived or experienced. The priest’s God exists to exploit you, not to transform his own life. He builds temples, but not for his inner transformation; he gives sermons, but not because his life has been transformed.