In the first place I am not a religious leader. I am a religious man. A leader is fundamentally a politician. Whether or not his politics is hidden behind religion does not matter; the very word `leader' comes from politics. I don't have any followers here; these are all my friends. So please don't call me a religious leader -- I am just religious.

Secondly, I am not criticizing America and Christianity because they have tried to destroy my body. That does not matter to me. It does not hurt me, because I know something which is indestructible; no poison, no bombs, no nuclear weapons can destroy it. My being, my spirituality is beyond any destruction. It is eternal and immortal. So it is not a question of hurting me. My criticism of America and Christianity has nothing to do with my personal attitude. I am against all religions, not only Christianity. I am against God because I am against all fictions. I am against hell and against heaven because I don't want to create a schizophrenia in humanity. I don't want human beings to live in fear of hell and greed for heaven. And I don't want people to have any kind of belief system. Whether it is Christianity or Hinduism or Buddhism, it does not matter. To me, any organized religion -- and Christianity is the most organized religion in the world -- is a danger to human beings. Their individuality, their freedom, their dignity is destroyed. Jesus goes on saying to people, "You are sheep, and I am the shepherd." That is the attitude of all so-called religions: "You don't know -- I know. And you have simply to believe in me and all your sins will be forgiven." Just believing in Jesus, or in Krishna, or in Buddha, cannot erase anybody's crimes and sins. Every action has its reaction: if you have done something wrong, you will have some bitter experiences following it. If you are doing something good, you will have flowers showering on you....

OshO
Comunism & Zen Fire, Zen Wind
Chapter 1

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