What is religion?
The root meaning of that word is not very clear.
But we know,
we have some perception of what religion is, as it is now,
rituals, meaningless utterly,
prayers,
asking God to help you, and you pay in return something,
either in coin
or through some kind of sacrifice,
take vows and so on
– quid pro quo,
you give me this and I'll give you that.
And religions,
as they are now, most of them believe in God.
Probably you all do.
Right?
Would the speaker be accurate if he asked you
that you believe in God, most of you?
Silence?
Most of you believe in God.
You have never asked why.
If there is no fear in your heart,
absolutely no fear,
would you have gods?
And gods are created by thought.
Go to any temple, any mosque or any cathedral
and all the things apart from architecture,
the great cathedrals of Europe have marvellous architecture,
structures so enormous and so marvellous,
great dignity, like some of the Indian temples and mosques.
All those external things are created by thought,
good architects,
anonymous.
You don't know who built the ancient temples of India
or the most beautiful mosques in the world or the cathedrals,
but what is inside these temples of the world
are put together by thought,
their rituals,
their costumes,
their idols
are all put together by hand or by thought.
And thought, as we said, is a material process.
I do not know if you have gone into it.
If you have,
you must have perceived for yourself
that thought is contained in the brain cells
as memory, knowledge, experience.
We went into that very carefully.
And whatever thought has created,
which is your gods,
your rituals, your prayers,
and all the books, religious books of the world
have been put together by thought.
You might say, they are divine revelation
straight from the horse's mouth,
but it is still thought
that put those words in the books.
Thought is a material process
because it is the result of experience, knowledge, memory,
stored in the brain.
The cells of the brain carry these memories.
So, God, prayers,
all the things that are contained in churches, temples and mosques
are put together by thought,
whether that thought be ancient or modern it is still thought.
So what has thought done?
Invented the image then worships the image.
You understand?
Through imagination, through fear, through longing,
through this search for some eternity
where there might be peace
– thought has done all this.
So thought, creating the images,
whether by the hand or by the brain,
then worships the very thing which it has created.
Obvious.
So you are playing a game,
which doesn't affect your daily life at all.