Why have the enlightened ones created so many religions?

Osho, why have I found nothing but suffering in this life?

Sujata, if you have found nothing but suffering, you must have worked very hard to get it—great effort, great discipline, great austerity! If you have found only suffering, you must have acquired great skill. Suffering does not come just like that; it isn’t free. You have to pay for it. Bliss, on the other hand, comes of its own accord; it is free—because bliss is your nature. Suffering has to be earned. And what is the first rule for earning suffering? Ask for pleasure, and suffering will arrive. Ask for success, and failure will come. Ask for respect, and insult will follow. Whatever you demand, the opposite will be given. Whatever you desire, the opposite will happen—because this existence does not move according to your desire; it moves according to the will of the divine. Jesus made a final prayer: O Lord, Thy will be done! That is the final…

Osho, why is it that all enlightened ones teach the central transformation of awareness and awakening, yet the religions founded on them shrink into conduct codes and rituals? Aren’t all organized religions merely parts of society?

But the wife would not agree. She said, “I don’t get into talk of mistakes and corrections. Some ill omen might occur! What harm is it to us?” Lines remain: “It happened this way, it was done that way, it was said so.” Then our meanings, our blindness, are added to them. Religion becomes superstition; truth loses its peaks and becomes the falsehood of the valleys. And around that falsehood, crowds gather. Those who reached the Buddha in the beginning reached through their own awakening. Then they had children; those children had nothing to take from the Buddha, nothing to give. For them, religion is only a rite. Born in a Buddhist home—Buddhist; had they been born in a Hindu home—Hindu; in a Muslim home—Muslim. It is a matter of accident. Being born in a Hindu home is as accidental as a white cat sitting by a pot of curd.…

Osho, while Buddha was alive in the body, his monastic sangha remained united. But after Buddha’s passing, as time went on, Buddhism began to split into many branches and sub-branches. The ignorant create sects, but even Buddha’s enlightened disciples divided into many different and even opposing sects. Please shed some light on this phenomenon.

On Mahavira’s tree there were only two branches—Digambara and Shvetambara. That’s all. And even between them there isn’t much distance; the differences are trifles. One worships Mahavira adorned, another worships him naked. Within adornment too, Mahavira remains naked; and within nakedness there is his great adornment. There is no great gap. His nakedness itself is ornament—what else is there to decorate? To decorate him further is like sticking legs onto a snake: the snake walked perfectly well without legs; don’t spoil it by pasting on more. To paint a peacock with extra colors—he was colorful enough; please don’t ruin his colors with your kindness. In Mahavira’s nakedness there is exquisite adornment. Has such beautiful nakedness ever appeared? But then it is your whim. Your mind does not rest—not because there is some lack in Mahavira, but because your mind won’t accept anything without doing something. You want to do. What…

Truth is one, you say. Then why are there so many religions?

Truth is one, but interpretations are many and can be millions. Truth is one, but the people who see truth are different. Their eyes give different angles. Christ has his own unique personality, as Krishna has. When Christ looks at the truth the truth reflects in his eyes; that becomes Christianity. When Krishna looks at the truth, truth reflects in his eyes, and that becomes Hinduism. Hinduism is not direct truth. Christianity is not direct truth. They have come via unique persons, and the unique person's uniqueness is always reflected in it. When Buddha comes to truth, truth becomes Buddhist, has to become; it takes the color of Buddha. When you will come to see the truth, there will be a meeting of you and the truth. The truth will transform you and you will transform the truth, and the ultimate result will be a cross-breeding between you and truth.…

Beloved master, why are there so many religions in the world, and why do these religions continuously quarrel with each other?

Hence, in the East a totally different kind of reading has existed which is nonexistent in the West. You would not like to read the same Bernard Shaw book again and again and again, or would you? Unless you are insane you would not like to read it again and again and again. What is the point? Once you have read it, it is finished! That's why the paperback has come into existence: read it and throw it. But in the East a different kind of reading exists: the same book is read again and again the whole life long. The TAO TEH CHING is not a book which can be published in paperback -- they are doing that now. It should not be published in paperback -- it cannot be, because it is a totally different kind of book. It has layers and layers of meaning. When for the…