What happens when one seeks spirituality outside of traditional religions?

Osho, since childhood I used to hate religions, yet there was an unconscious longing in my heart to search for something. So I wandered through many places of pilgrimage, but all in vain. Suddenly one day, after reading your book, I went mad in love with you and then even became a sannyasin. Now, even in old age I feel young; every pore is rejoicing. What I was seeking is being found, but the outer body has become almost dead. Osho, what is all this?

By believing in Mahavira you may become a Jain, but you will not become a Jina. And that is the essential thing. Jina means the one who has conquered—the one who has arrived, who is fulfilled. By believing in Muhammad you may become a Muslim, but nothing will happen until you become Muhammad—until his very intoxication and song arise in you, until God deems you worthy that the Quran hum within you, until then nothing happens. One must connect directly with the divine. No intermediary can connect you. Even the true master does not “connect” you to God; he only points the way. Buddha said: the enlightened ones only point the finger; you must walk. You must arrive. You became a lover because you glimpsed what you had been seeking; you could take sannyas. And this has happened not only with you—it has happened with many. Those who have been…

Osho, you say the same thing in countless ways. But when I listen to you, it feels as if I am hearing it for the first time. And I feel so much joy that I don’t feel like going back home. What should I do—what can I do—so that I can just keep listening to you!

You will feel as if you have been made to rise out of season, before time—as if you were not yet to go and yet had to go. And if you go in that way, your home will become even more desolate than before. I do not want to make your home desolate; I want to make your home a temple. I want that when you go home, your home’s new form is revealed. I do not want to tear you away from home, from the world, from family life. That is the newness of my sannyas: I do not want to sever you from the world; I want to join you to the world in such a way that your connection with the world becomes a connection with the Divine. Let the world no longer be a barrier between you and the Divine; let it become a means. If…

A friend has asked, Osho, how can a person filled with doubt, irreverence, disbelief, rebellion pray, be devoted, and surrender?

But being half-and-half is not good. If you are praying and doubt is still inside, why are you praying? Stop that prayer. For now, do doubt properly. And when doubt no longer remains, then begin prayer. Learn to do anything completely. For, in completeness the personality becomes integral. You are no longer in fragments. Within you there are twenty-five kinds of persons. You are a crowd. One part of the mind says one thing; another part says something else; a third says something else. A lady came to me just this morning. She said she had been searching for God for twenty years. I told her, “Come to Chowpatty tomorrow morning at six for meditation.” She said, “Coming at six will be very difficult.” Searching for God for twenty years! And coming at six in the morning to Chowpatty is difficult! This is called searching for God! People this incomplete…

Osho, why has human faith in religion waned?

Then there is a further fall. This is when, around Buddha, people hear, oppose, accept. Then two-and-a-half thousand years pass. One generation hands it to the next. Those who had heard from Buddha, or at least seen him—some hint of truth must have reached their ears; some touch of Buddha’s presence must have touched them; some color of Buddha must have fallen upon their souls—however slight, it fell. Then their sons and their sons’ sons believe because the fathers believed, the forefathers believed, people have always believed—and then belief becomes blind belief. What you call religions are superstitions. They should have been bid farewell long ago. New editions of truth descend from the sky every day. A new Koran descends every day. God has not grown tired, has not exhausted Himself with Mohammed. Jesus is not God’s only son—as Christians say, the only begotten. Nor did God come to an…

Osho, in the classical tradition the sannyasin turns away from māyā and sensual enjoyment and orients himself toward God-realization; yoga and bhoga are known to be mutually opposed. But in your sannyas there is no emphasis on dispassion from enjoyment. Therefore, kindly clarify your conception of sannyas!

So first thing: religion is not tradition. Religion is ever ancient and ever new. It is a paradox. It has always been—and yet each time it must be discovered anew. When the sun of religion rises, it is private, personal, not collective. It does not become society’s property or legacy. If you do not trust Buddha, Buddha has no way to make you trust. Have you thought about this? If you say, “We doubt you: you claim God-experience, but how are we to believe it?” Buddha will shrug his shoulders: “What can be done? What happened is private, personal. There is no way to spread it out on the table before you. It happened within; there is no device to bring it out. It happened so deep that it cannot be exhibited for all to see.” That is why there have been so many perfectly awakened ones, yet atheism has…