What is the difference between godliness and God?

Osho, lately you have been speaking of godliness instead of God, and of religiousness instead of religion. Kindly explain godliness and religiousness in detail.

In the same way, I speak of religiousness instead of religion. For “religion” means fixed notions—beliefs, dogmas. “Religiousness” means a radiant state of consciousness: the inner becoming luminous, lit up. Right now there is darkness within—that is irreligion, or more precisely, non-religiousness. When the light of awareness spreads within, meditation awakens, the flame of meditation rises—that is religiousness. Religiousness is not a doctrine, just as godliness is not a person. Doctrines are worth two pennies; make them as you like, erase them as you like. A doctrine is a net of arguments—and man is the master of argument. The same logic can prove, the same logic can disprove. There is no trusting logic. What doctrine is there that cannot be refuted? What idea is there that cannot be supported? Logic is a prostitute—make it stand with anyone. Or say logic is a lawyer. There is not much difference between lawyers…

[NOTE: This is an unedited tape transcript of an unpublished darshan diary, which has been scanned and cleaned up. It is for reference purposes only.] The moment we use the word 'god' we create a fictitious person, who does not exist. Godliness is a truth, god is a fiction, Godliness is a quality, not a person but a presence. You cannot see godliness but you can feel it, you can experience it, you can have a taste of it. It is like fragrance, not like a flower. The flower is visible, the fragrance is invisible. You can possess the flower; you cannot catch hold of the fragrance. All that you need to experience fragrance is a deep sensitivity. Godliness is the fragrance that surrounds the whole existence. The moment we say god, suddenly it seems god has an address.

Osho, what is god?

GOD is not a person. That is one of the greatest misunderstandings, and it has prevailed so long that it has become almost a fact. Even if a lie is repeated continuously for centuries it is bound to appear as if it is a truth. God is a presence, not a person. Hence all worshipping is sheer stupidity. Prayerfulness is needed, not prayer. There is nobody to pray to; there is no possibility of any dialogue between you and God. Dialogue is possible only between two persons, and God is not a person but a presence -- like beauty, like joy. God simply means godliness. It is because of this fact that Buddha denied the existence of God. He wanted to emphasize that God is a quality, an experience -- like love. You cannot talk to love, you can live it. You need not create temples of love, you need…

Beloved Osho, I'm confused hearing you say there is no god. There have been many beautiful moments in my life when I feel something moving through me which I know is not me. I used to call it god, now I call it godliness. But I still don't like hearing that there is no god. Can you ease my confusion?

Baby, my whole work is to confuse you! Unless you are utterly confused, you are not going to drop your knowledgeability. What do you mean when you ask me to "ease your confusion"? In other words, you want certain, settled knowledgeability. You want to convince yourself that you know it. I cannot commit that crime. You do not know it. So first I have to remove all your knowledge -- which is bogus anyway. You have not earned it, you don't deserve it. It has not grown within you, it is all rubbish that you have collected from books, from people. I am going to confuse you more and more. And look, what is your confusion? You say that there have been moments in your life which you used to call God -- you cannot deceive me. I know you may have experienced a few beautiful moments; everybody experiences a…

Meditation makes you aware enough to drop the ego. Meditation brings a light so that you can see that the snake does not exist and there is only an old rope lying on the road. And all the problems that were created by the illusory snake disappear -- with the snake they are gone. In the same way meditation creates a light, a vision, a clarity, an insight -- and that helps you to get rid of the ego. That is one side of the story, getting rid of the ego. The other side is union with the whole. If ego is misery then union is bliss! I don't believe in a God, because I have searched everywhere, in and out. I have not found God, but I have found something far more important: I have found godliness!