Why do you object to worshiping an idol in the temple if God is in everyone?

A friend has asked: Osho, if God is in everyone, then why do you object to worshiping an idol in the temple?

I said, “God in everyone!” and immediately they remembered the temple idol: “If we worship that, what objection can you have?” If it is understood that God is in everyone, then the question of the temple idol doesn’t arise at all. The idol remains a question only so long as God is not seen in all; until then one keeps trying to see God in the temple idol. The day He is seen in everyone, then who is the temple idol and who is outside the temple? Who is an idol and who is not an idol? How will you tell then? How will you be sure that the beggar sitting at the door is not the temple’s idol, and the stone placed inside is God? No—there is then no way. But the temple idol is a substitute, and therefore it is dangerous. I say, do not worship the temple…

A friend has asked: Osho, if God is everywhere, then why would he not be in an idol?

Of course he will be. But the one who insists that he is only in the idol will never find him everywhere. And for the one who does not find him everywhere, he cannot be in the idol either. God is everywhere—certainly he is also in the idol. But the person who says, “He is only in the idol,” for that person he is not everywhere; and for the one for whom he is not everywhere, he cannot be in the idol either. And the one who says, “He is everywhere,” will not go searching for an idol; whatever he encounters will be God. He will not go searching for a temple, because all is his temple. Then he will not say, “This is my idol; I will worship it.” Whom to worship then? When all is that. Every breath is that, every particle is that—so whom to worship? I…

Today I would request Osho to guide us on idol worship.

A Japanese seeker from Soto Zen told me of a practice: twenty-four hours a day the disciple intones “Muuuu… muuu…” After days, the sound storms inside; thoughts drop. By three weeks, the roaring “Muuuu!” possesses him. Food, sleep fall away; guards must watch him. At the final climax, a last thunderous roar—and suddenly all is still. For days he lies in deep quiet. When he returns, the old man is dead; a new man stands—continuity with the past broken. Om is such a sound; every religion has its own. As worship deepens, sound transforms consciousness. Repetition is crucial. If you sing one hymn one day, another the next, there will be no results. Continuous blows on one point drive the nail. But beware of mechanical repetition—then it is wasted labor. If the sound becomes your very life, every cell, bone, blood crying it—then sound can open the door. And all…

Another friend has asked: Osho, if meditation can lead to samadhi and samadhi to knowing the Divine, then is going to today’s temples pointless? And should they be removed?

The husband was stunned. It was true. “But how did you know?” he asked. The wife said, “Last night, as you fell asleep, you said to me, ‘Tomorrow morning I must buy shoes. He’s quoting a high price; I’ve managed without shoes this long, but I must go in the morning.’ From experience, the last thought at night becomes the first in the morning. So I guessed you must be at the shoe shop just now.” The husband admitted, “I can’t deny it—this is the truth. I was chanting ‘Ram Ram’ loudly, but when she spoke, I saw I was at the shoemaker’s; he was demanding too much, I had grabbed him by the neck—an argument had started—and amid that inner quarrel I was chanting even louder. She is right; perhaps I have never been to the temple.” Entering the temple is not so easy as stepping within four walls.…

There has been no society on earth which did not have an idol. No group of human beings in any corner of the world has existed where there was no idol in one form or other. This indicates that the idol fulfills some inherent need, not just for the individual but for the whole of humanity. It is only in this century or the last two hundred years that the concept of an idol has been shattered. Some people argue that idols are a meaningless burden, just stones, and they must be removed. But if first the meaning behind idol worship is properly understood, I don't think that any intelligent person will want to remove idols. But if the scientific thought behind idol worship is not understood, then idols will have to be removed; they can't be saved. They will probably fall away by themselves.