Why did Gurdjieff say that if you want to get rid of religion, live close to a priest?

Why did gurdjieff use to say that if you want to get rid of religion live close to a priest?

It is simple. The priest remains significant only if you don't know his heart, if you don't know his reality. If you start knowing his reality you will be surprised: the priest is the last person to believe in religion. He never believes, he only pretends. It is his profession to believe. The priest is the only person who knows that God does not exist, but he cannot say it because his whole business depends on it. It is his trade secret. Gurdjieff is right. You listen to a few stories. That will do! A member of the Catholic Church approached her priest and said, 'Father, my dog died, and I want to know if you think it is all right to have a funeral for him.' The priest said, 'Yes, I think it's all right, if you desire one.' 'And who do you think would be a good minister…

Osho, what is the relationship between meditation and patience?

If you sit to meditate to remove mental restlessness, you will keep looking back again and again: “Has it gone yet?” And the irony is that when you begin to meditate, restlessness will increase. Because what has been repressed will start surfacing; catharsis will begin. The rubbish you have kept hidden within and never allowed to express—meditation will break open those doors too. It will clean the house. Dust piled up for years, for births, will rise again; there will be gusts and storms. For a while even the little peace you had will be lost. Then you will panic: “I came for peace, and even what I had is gone.” Without patience, you could even become unhinged, because meditation brings such a great storm. The disease is not from a day or two; it’s from lifetimes. Meditation will break through all the layers to reach your innermost core. In…

Question: Fourth question: Osho, is the God of the priests and pundits not true? And a broker’s enthusiasm is in the money he gets from you. Give a hundred rupees and he’ll do it for half an hour; give two hundred and he’ll go an hour; give five hundred and he’ll keep at it all day. Give nothing, and he won’t come to pray even once; the temple bell won’t ring, the ritual tray won’t be set, flowers won’t be offered. So this priest who is performing worship—this ritual he does—is it worship of God or worship of money? As long as you pay, all is fine—there is God and devotion and praise; and the moment the money stops, everything vanishes. I heard a Russian tale. It’s about an old peasant. Like all Russian peasants, his life was full of hardship.

It is in the beginning, in the middle, and the end; yet end and beginning are nowhere else.

ALL THOSE WITH MINDS DELUDED BY INTERPRETATIVE THOUGHTS ARE IN TWO MINDS AND SO DISCUSS NOTHINGNESS AND COMPASSION AS TWO THINGS. BEES KNOW THAT IN FLOWERS HONEY CAN BE FOUND. THAT SAMSARA AND NIRVANA ARE NOT TWO HOW WILL THE DELUDED EVER UNDERSTAND? WHEN THE DELUDED IN A MIRROR LOOK THEY SEE A FACE, NOT A REFLECTION. SO THE MIND THAT HAS TRUTH DENIED RELIES ON THAT WHICH IS NOT TRUE. THOUGH THE FRAGRANCE OF A FLOWER CANNOT BE TOUCHED, 'TIS ALL PERVASIVE AND AT ONCE PERCEPTIBLE. SO BY UNPATTERNED BEING-IN-SELF RECOGNIZE THE ROUND OF MYSTIC CIRCLES. Tantra is NOT ordinary indulgence: it is extraordinary indulgence. It is not ordinary indulgence because it indulges in God Himself. But, Tantra says, it is through the small things of life that you have the taste. There are no big things in life; everything is small. The small thing becomes big and great…

I grew up in a totally unreligious home, but every time I hear you mention the name of jesus I cry and something deep inside me is moved. What is happening?

That must be because you grew up in an unreligious home. Religious homes destroy religion forever. Religious homes are the most unreligious places on the earth. What do I mean when I say this? If you are born in a religious Christian home, they will go on forcing you to bow down to Jesus, they will go on forcing you to become a Christian. they will condition you. They will not listen to your desire, and they will not bother about your freedom; they will condition you to be a Christian. And of course, the innermost spirit rebels against all sorts of bondages. Christianity is a bondage, so is Hinduism, so is Islam, and all so-called religions. When a child is forced to become a Hindu or a Christian or a Mohammedan, the innermost being rebels. He resists. And when something is forced on you, howsoever beautiful it is, it…