What has made man susceptible to the concept of God as presented by priests?

The questions. The first question: it seems that for god worshippers, the opposite to god is not -- in the first instance -- that which is "evil," but that which is natural. What has made man such easy prey for the priests with their concept of a god who is hostile to life?

Another baby monkey is given a version of an artificial mother just a little different. The wires are covered with woolen clothes and with fur. It is artificial, just made-up, and warm like the mother's blood. It is kept warm through electricity, so the baby feels the warm body because of the warm clothing. Inside there are tubes carrying milk, kept continuously warm by the electricity. It has breasts for the baby monkey, not just like pipes, but looking almost like real breasts -- plastic, but warm and so the milk comes out warm. And the baby monkey can hug the mother. And strangely, all these experiments proved that the child who gets the warmth and a certain idea that he is with a living mother, lives; the other child dies. Within three months the other child dies, although he is being nourished, taken care of. Only one thing is…

Beloved Osho, if the experience of god is a subjective experience, then what are priests and popes for? If the experience of god is an objective experience, then why don't they produce him?

Because of the concept of God, man has been able to live -- not very joyously, because his whole living is based on wrong principles. But still, somehow he has been able to drag through his life. Without God you sudddenly feel a cold wave around you, a dark night surrounding you. God was the great father -- protection, security, hope... all are gone. This makes one mature -- if you can get rid of God you are mature. According to me, twenty-one years of age does not make you mature, adult. Only one thing makes man mature, and that is getting rid of God -- because God is a bundle of all kinds of fears, greeds, hopes. It is opium; it keeps you drugged. But while you are drugged your life is slipping by, and soon death will knock on the door and then it will be too late.…

Beloved Osho, this morning you talked about the misery implanted in our minds by society, priests and so on that is not ours. But how could this game develop -- priests on the one hand, people on the other? What qualities are there in man so that things develop this way?

And a mother can be persuaded very easily, because she is nothing but love, she is nothing but heart. The father is head, logic, reason, discipline. The father is man, and the society is man-made. My mother even used to enjoy it when I would come and say to her, "I have done something, and I am in urgent need of help." She would say, "But first tell me what you have done. I will save you, I will try my best, but first tell me the whole story. You bring such juicy stories that I wonder why your father gets angry. He should enjoy them." The priests, the father in heaven, the parents here on the earth, the teachers, the political leaders, they all want absolute obedience from everybody so that there is no question of any rebellion, no revolution, no change, so their vested interests are protected. We…

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: OSHO, WHEN I WAS A CHILD ATTENDING SUNDAY SCHOOL THERE WAS A HEBREW PROVERB HANGING ON THE WALL. IT READ: "THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM IS THE FEAR OF THE LORD." FOR MANY YEARS I WAS CONVINCED OF THE MEANING THAT GOD WAS FRIGHTENED OF MAN GAINING ANY WISDOM. AFTER ALL, DIDN'T HE FORBID EATING OF THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE? AND THEN ONE DAY IT WAS EXPLAINED: "FEARING GOD IS THE FIRST STEP IN MAN'S PATH TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING." AGAIN IT MADE PERFECT SENSE. AFTER ALL, WASN'T JEHOVAH A FEARSOME, PUNITIVE, OMNIPOTENT GOD! AND NOW I AM FINDING IT HARD TO RECOVER FROM THAT IDEA, AND IT INTERFERES WITH MY LOVE FOR YOU. IN SPITE OF "KNOWING BETTER" I HAVE TO SEE YOU AS ALL-POWERFUL; I HAVE TO BE DEPENDENT ON YOU FOR MY LIBERATION; AND SOMETIMES IT FOLLOWS THAT THEN I HAVE TO BE AFRAID OF YOU AND YOUR "PUNISHMENT.