Do you believe in God?

Question: BELOVED OSHO, DO YOU BELIEVE IN GOD? I do not believe in believing. That has to be understood first. Nobody asks me, "Do you believe in the sun? Do you believe in the moon?" Nobody asks me that question. Millions of people I have met, and for thirty years continuously I have answered thousands of questions. Nobody asks me, "Do you believe in the roseflower?" There is no need. You can see: the roseflower is there or it is not there. Only fictions, not facts, have to be believed. God is the greatest fiction that man has created. Hence you have to believe in him. And why does man have to create this fiction of God? There must be some inner necessity. I don't have that necessity so there is no question. But let me explain to you why people have believed in God.

Question: DO YOU BELIEVE IN YOU? DO YOU BELIEVE IN GOD? WHO IS GOD? No, religion need not be based on belief. Religion has to be based on experience -- not on fear but on love; not on negation of life but on affirmation of life. Religion has not to be a belief -- it has to be a knowing, an experiencing. That's why I say 'belief' is a dirty word here. 'Knowing', 'loving', 'being' -- these are real words. And, belief hinders them: you cannot know if you believe, you cannot love if you believe, you cannot see if you believe. And remember: I am not saying that you have to disbelieve, because disbelief is again belief. The atheist and the theist are not different -- they are in the same boat, they are fellow-travellers.

Question: OSHO, DO YOU REALLY BELIEVE THAT GOD DOES NOT EXIST? He had all these degrees, and he was so respected all over the country and particularly in Bengal, that there was nobody who even came close to him. He was invited to a drama, to inaugurate it, and it was arranged by such great people that he could not refuse. Even the viceroy of India was going to be present there, because Calcutta in those days was the capital of India. So he went to inaugurate it. He inaugurated it and was sitting by the side of the viceroy, just in the front row. In the drama there is a very corrupted, cunning character, a villain who is continually after a very innocent woman. The story becomes very intense: at one point he finds the woman alone -- far away from the village.

Osho, can't one believe in god without seeing him?

Surendra Mohan, WHO IS TELLING YOU TO BELIEVE IN GOD? I am against all belief. You must be a very new comer here. Belief is irreligious, as much as disbelief is. Belief means you don't know yet you have accepted something. It is cowardly -- you have not inquired. You are pretending, you are a hypocrite. All believers are hypocrites -- Catholic and communist, Jainas and Jews -- all. Believers are hypocrites. They don't know and yet they pretend AS IF they know. What is belief? It is playing the game of "as if." And the same is true about disbelief. The communist knows NOT that there is no God, just as the Hindu knows not that there is a God. The Hindu believes there is a God, the communist believes there is no God. Disbelief is also a kind of belief -- a negative kind of belief. And that's…

Osho, I simply can't believe in god. What should I do?

"Every hair on your head," said the barber, "is a little hollow tube, open at the ends, so the body's energy sort of bleeds out of it. After you get a haircut it is a good idea to get a singe because it closes up the hole at the end of each hair and seals in the energy. Otherwise the hair and your whole body just keep getting weaker and weaker every time you get it cut." "Now, wait a minute," said the Mulla, "what about the hair on my chin? I shave it every day and cut off the ends and it just keeps getting thicker and stronger. How do you explain that?" "Easy!" said the barber. "You just ain't the kind of a fella this story was made up to tell to!" These are all just stories. If it appeals, good, if it doesn't appeal, very good! Krishna…