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They are not religious or religion in the ordinary sense of the term. They are far more: they are far deeper and higher. The so-called society has no vision; it consists of blind people.

It has been happening, always. When Buddha appeared, they didn’t believe that his teachings were religious. When Jesus appeared, they crucified him. When Mansoor declared, “I am God,” they killed him. Mohammedans thought Mansoor was one of the most irreligious persons who has ever been on the earth. To declare oneself God? This is kufr; this is irreligion, this is anti-religion.

Whenever it happens that something of the pure truth is expressed, is sung, society starts becoming uneasy about it. It is natural, because society has a very pseudo kind of religion: comfortable, convenient, consolatory. It has false temples to worship in, false gods to worship, false priests to follow. And it is very convenient because it doesn’t disturb your life; you can remain a Christian. In fact, it never disturbs your life – on the contrary, it helps your life. You fit better into the so-called society, the so-called society’s rules, moralities if you are a Christian.

But to follow Christ is dangerous. No Christian ever follows Christ, cannot follow him. In fact, being a Christian is a way of avoiding Christ. To be a Buddhist is a way of avoiding Buddha. If you really love Buddha, then you would like to become a buddha, you would not like to become a Buddhist. Why should one want to become a Christian? Either be a christ or forget all about it. But Christ is dangerous. He was not killed by immoral people, bad people; he was killed by good people, respectable people. Remember it always.

Buddha was not attacked by the criminals; he was attacked by those whom you can never consider criminals, good people, moral people, puritans. Why does it happen? Jesus is killed by rabbis, religious people, scholars, priests, good in every way. Their lives are completely clean, people who have character. And he was loved by people who have no character, a Magdalene.

Just a few days ago, a young woman came from Switzerland whose name is Magdalena. I didn’t change her name when she took sannyas. I love that name, Magdalena. A prostitute followed Jesus, and rabbis killed him. Thieves and drunkards and gamblers followed Jesus, and rabbis killed him. All the so-called saints were against him and the so-called sinners were for him – what kind of world is this? What paradox? Why has this always been happening? There is a certain reason in it.

Whenever a new religion, a new dispensation arrives on the earth, whenever a new glimpse of God arrives on the earth, whenever a new window or door opens to God, it is first accepted by those who are not very respectable. Why? Because they have nothing to lose; they can accept it. They can even accept truth, they have nothing to lose. What did Magdalene have to lose?

But the chief rabbi had much to lose; he had an investment in the old, rotten religion, which was dead and had been dead for a long time. It was stinking, it was just a corpse, but he had an investment in it: he was the chief priest of it. If he follows Jesus, he will no longer be the chief priest, and all the prerogatives that he has by being the chief priest will be lost. He has the most beautiful house, the best salary, is the most respected person. Why should he follow this vagabond, Jesus? It would have been just a loss for him.

Magdalene could follow Jesus. She had nothing to lose, and much to gain. A gambler or a drunkard, has nothing to lose but something to gain. All great religions start with rebellious people; all great religions start with young people because old people have investments. They have been praying, worshipping, their whole lives, now they can’t just suddenly stop; stopping would mean their whole lives had been wrong. To accept that goes against the grain, against the ego.

Only a few rarely courageous old people can follow a Jesus, a Buddha, only those who are so courageous that they can see the point and they can say, “Okay, so it was wrong and I will drop it. My whole life was wrong and I will start anew.” To start anew in old age is very, very difficult, because ahead there is only death, no time is left, and you are starting something new? Great trust is needed: great trust in life, great trust in God, and adventurousness. All great religions start with adventurous people, young people, the downtrodden, oppressed, criminals, sinners; all religions die when they become respectable and saints arrive and churches evolve.

A new flower is opening up here. All the so-called religious people will be against it, they are against it. They have to be against it. How can they risk all their investments, all their privileges, all their consolations? They will cling, they will fight with me. They are fighting with me, they are creating all kinds of trouble for me. You may not be aware of it, because I never talk about it, what is the point? I never say anything about it and you may not be at all aware of what trouble is continuously being created.

For one year, I have continually been trying to find a place to move to, but they go on creating trouble: legal trouble, other trouble. And the politicians are with them, and the priests, and all the respectable people are with them. They have power; they can create a thousand and one troubles. They don’t want the commune to be established because they are very much afraid: once there is a commune and the work really starts – this is just an introduction – when the real work starts, then all those who are courageous anywhere in the world are going to come. Thousands and thousands of people are going to come and be transformed. I just need a right situation, a buddhafield. So they are creating every kind of trouble in every way,. And the more my work spreads, the more trouble will be coming, because they will become more apprehensive, more afraid.

You ask me: [Why are your teachings not accepted as religion or religious?]

How can they be accepted as religion and religious? It is pure religion, that’s why it cannot be accepted as religious. I am not Hindu, otherwise they would have been very happy. They would have loved you all if I had been Hindu. They would have said, “Look! Our religion is so great, so many people from all over the world, from all races, are being converted to Hinduism.” They would have worshipped you, they would have invited you to stay in their houses; they would have bragged about it in their papers, magazines, books, radio stations, TV. They would have bragged, “Look! See the beauty and the grandeur of Hinduism, so many people are being converted to Hinduism!” But I am not a Hindu.

They have to repress everything that is happening here so that it cannot reach people. They don’t want anybody to hear about what is happening here, or they want such wrong information to be given out that nobody becomes attracted here.

I am not a Mohammedan, I am not a Jaina, I am not a Christian, I am not a Buddhist, so naturally all those people are against me. They are all united in at least one thing: they are all against me. About that they have no differences. The Hindu and Mohammedan, the Christian and the Jaina, are all together about one thing, at least about one thing they agree, I have given them one thing to agree about: that this man is wrong.

What I am saying is rebellion. It is going to destroy their very foundation; hence, they cannot accept it as religion. They will deny, they will fight, they will try to crush this opening bud. They will be against you; you will have to face a thousand and one difficulties. That’s the risk you take by being with me, and that is the challenge too. And that challenge is going to become a blessing to you. Those who will be able to accept the challenge and be with me, and those who will be so much in love with me that they can suffer for me, will grow. They will grow to infinite heights; they will know something which is not ordinarily known by human beings. It is not available in churches, it is not available in temples; it becomes available only when a master lives and when a disciple allows himself to be so open to the master that the master starts living in the disciple too. When this transfer of energy happens…

They think they know what religion is; they have certain definitions. I don’t fit in any of their definitions. Naturally, how can they call it religion? And just see, then it will be clear to you: Christianity cannot believe that Buddhism is a religion, because they have a definition and Buddhism does not fit in it. How can there be a religion without God? So Christians cannot call Buddhism a religion. At the most, they can accept it as a morality, but not as a religion. How can there be a religion without God?

Ask the Buddhists, “Is Christianity a religion?” and they say, “No, how can it be a religion when people are so stupid that they believe in God? They have not known anything. How can a religious person believe in God?” Buddhism has its definition: To believe in God means a deluded person, a person in hallucination, a person who is pathological, who needs psychiatric treatment.

Ask the Jainas and they will not agree that Christianity is a religion or Buddhism is a religion. And ask the Mohammedans… Nobody will agree that the other religion is a religion. What is the problem? – they have a certain definition, a fixed idea. If something fits with that idea, it is religion; if it doesn’t fit, it is not religion.

So whenever a new insight arises, and new insights continuously arise, then it cannot be called religion. And new insights have to arise because old insights slowly, slowly become so rusty, so dusty, become covered with so many interpretations, jargon, that they lose aliveness. New insights have to go on coming. When a new insight comes, it certainly will not fit with any definition available, it cannot be called religion.

Each new religion has to create itself and its definition. Remember it. When my orange people have spread all over the world, and we have millions of orange people, then it will be a religion because we will have created our definition of what religion is.

Definition comes later on. First the religion has to come; first the religion has to penetrate people’s hearts, then slowly, slowly definition arises. Definition is not there ready-made beforehand. Each buddha has to create his religion, the definition, the following, the field, and it always has to be started from ABC, from scratch. No old temple can be used for it, a new temple has to be raised. And not only that, but the old temple has to be erased, destroyed, because only when the old temple is no longer a temple in people’s eyes do they start searching again, do they start groping for the new.

It is very natural that my approach will not be thought of as religion, as religious. It depends on you: if you start living what I am saying, you will be creating the definition. It depends on you; it solely depends on you. If you become one with what I am saying and you start living it in its totality, sooner or later the definition will follow. But who cares about it?

Live what I am saying. Don’t be worried about what people think.