Sadhguru: See, this is the beauty and the ugliness of Indian society is,
in this society
we have the freedom to create our own gods.
Okay?
If you don't like any of the existing gods, you can create a new one.
Because we clearly understand, god is our making.
So we created thirty-three million gods and goddesses.
That is when our population was thirty-three million (Laughter).
Since then,
because of western influences
we’ve started feeling little ashamed of so many gods and goddesses
because they said, “There is only one god.”
You look suddenly confused.
No, no, don't be confused, create more gods, what's the problem?
What's the problem?
Because somebody said an elephant god,
now, you, when you see an elephant, you do this (Gestures namaskaram). Nice.
Somebody told you cow is a god, you do this (Gestures namaskaram) Nice.
If somebody told you, ant is a god, you'd have walked little more gently and carefully.
Would it make you a better human being or no?
Participants: Yes.
Sadhguru: If somebody told you, tree is a god you bow down to it, you wouldn't think of simply cutting it down.
If somebody told you, the person in front of you is god,
that's why you did this (Gestures namaskaram) when you see people,
because it doesn't matter - this person's body, her mind, her nonsense… it doesn't matter,
there is a dimension within her which you bow down to, which makes you behave in a certain way.
Otherwise, you would look at her in a different way.
Isn't it?
So when there were thirty-three million people, we created thirty-three million gods and goddesses.
Since then you lost your imagination, yes (Laughs)?
Since then you lost your imagination and trying to reduce the number of gods and goddesses,
don't do that.
We need 1.2 billion gods and goddesses.
So behind no particular god a crowd gathers,
everybody has their own, then no problem.
Behind one god, thousand people gathered, trouble.
Trouble or no?
For sure trouble, isn't it (Laughs)?
If all of us had our own gods, no fighting.
Because we understood that anyway god is our making.
Let's make it the way we can relate it to…
relate to, you know?
If you like a dog, you can have a god dog.
You know, just reverse the spelling and it'll happen (Laughter).
You don't know, whether god loves you or not, but your dog loves you for sure (Laughter).
Any doubt?
God loves you or not, many times you had doubt.
Somebody comes up to me one day and says, “God loves us.”
I looked at him (laughs), “See, the way you are made, only god can love you” (Laughter/Applause).
God loves you, it doesn't mean anything.
You create something and he loves you, doesn't mean anything.
If you made yourself in such a way nobody can help loving you, that's something, isn't it?
So this was a fabulous culture because
you were given the freedom, the ultimate freedom of creating the god that you want. Ishta devata -
a god of your choice.
But we…
Because people, over generations did not understand the significance of the freedom that was offered to them
if you conduct your freedom irresponsibly, freedom becomes the worst thing, isn't it?
Yes or no?
So today you ended up with a two dozen gods and goddesses in your house, in your local pooja room.
If the quantum of fear increases within you it will multiply into eight dozens (Laughs).
It's becoming ridiculous.
What was fabulous you turned into ridiculous nonsense,
because not understanding the significance of what it is,
and not knowing the accompanying science, the technology of god making.
Simply, emotionally making up things, it lost its significance and vibrance.
We have to put it back because this is the ultimate freedom, that you can create god.
What more (Laughs)?
Everywhere people believes god created them -
here we have always known, we made the god the way we wanted.
The way we can relate to the ultimate, like that we made it up.
And we just didn't make it up.
We made it into a device which will work for us in different dimensions of our life.