God is Dead, But that creates the question: Who began this Universe?

GOD IS DEAD, BUT THAT CREATES THE QUESTION: WHO BEGAN THIS UNIVERSE?

There is no need for anybody to begin it, because there is no beginning to this universe, and there is no end.

This question has been exploited by all the religions, because everybody wants to know who began the universe, because your minds are so small they cannot conceive a beginningless universe, an endless universe, just eternity to eternity. Because you cannot conceive that vastness, your question arises, ”Who created the universe? Who began it?” But if there was somebody already to begin it, there was a universe. Do you see the simple arithmetic? If there was somebody already to begin it, then you cannot call it the beginning, somebody was already there.

If you think that God is a necessary thing... it gives you consolation that God created the world, so you have a beginning. But who created God? Again you fall into the same problem.

And all the religions have said that God exists eternally, there is no creator of God. If that is true for God, why is it not true for existence itself? It is autonomous, it exists on its own. There is no need of any creator because that creator will require another creator, and you will fall into an absurd regress. You can go from A to Z. But who created Z? The question remains standing, you simply go on pushing. But the question is not solved because you have asked a wrong question.

The universe has no beginning, it is not a creation by anybody. It has no end. And remember, if it had any beginning, then there would certainly be an end. Every beginning is a beginning of an end. Every birth is the beginning of death. So it is good. Get rid of God, because if he can create the world he can destroy the world. And any world that is created is bound to be destroyed sooner or later. If there is birth, there is death. Only a beginningless universe can be endless.

So your problem is just because the capacity of the mind is very limited. That’s why I want you to go beyond mind. Only no-mind can conceive the beginningless, the endless; the incomprehensible becomes absolutely clear. There is no problem at all. Those who have risen beyond mind have also risen beyond God simultaneously. God is a need for the mind, because the mind cannot conceive infinite, eternal things. It can only conceive very limited things. The question arises because of your mind’s incapacity, its impotence.

You ask, ”God is dead, but that creates the question, ‘Who began this universe?’”

But have you ever thought that God will not solve the question? On the contrary, the question will be pushed a step back: who created God? Any hypothesis that does not destroy the question is absolutely useless. Any answer that keeps on pushing the question further back but does not touch it at all, is not the answer.

The only answer you will find is in your own experience of eternity. Then you will know nobody has created it. It has no beginning, no end. You don’t have any beginning, you don’t have any end. When you experience it within your own self, you know existence is autonomous, it is not created.

A created thing cannot be more than a mechanism; it cannot be an organic reality. A car is created, man is not created. If man is also created he becomes a mechanism, a robot. You can dismantle a car, take all the parts apart – the wheels and everything – and you can put them back and the car will be perfectly okay. But cut a man into pieces and then join them together – with German glue! – still the man will not be back. An organic phenomenon cannot be dissected. The moment you dissect it, its very mystery disappears. Then you can join those parts, but you will have only a corpse, not a living human being.

It is the dignity of existence that it is not created. It is the dignity of man that he is not created. God is an insult to existence, to man, to consciousness, to everything! God is a humiliation. God is not a solution for any problem. In fact, he creates more problems in the world and he does not solve anything.

There are three hundred religions in the world and all are fighting with each other. These are all created because of the concept of God, because they have all invented their own concepts.

The Hindu god has three heads. Just think of the poor fellow. Imagine you have three heads. I don’t think you will be able to stand up. One head will be falling this side, one head will be falling that side, this head will be falling this side, the very weight... I have seen the statues and the pictures of the Hindu god. His whole body seems to be just like a man; it cannot manage three heads.

I have seen children in circuses who are freaks of nature. I have seen children with two heads, but they cannot even sit; they are just lying down. The circus is enjoying their tragedy, earning money...

One man had gone to see a circus, and there was a three-headed child in the circus. The man was very much concerned because all his children – he had twenty children, four wives, he was a Mohammedan... The fee was one rupee per person, and every child of his insisted on seeing. There was great trouble. The father was trying to convince them, ”We don’t have twenty rupees. I can stay out, and I can send you, but we don’t have twenty rupees.”

The owner of the child, who was distributing tickets, heard all this argument between the children and the father. He said, ”Wait. I will give you twenty rupees. Let me bring the child with three heads. He can see you are a bigger phenomenon! One man with twenty children.” And he brought the child in a trolley to look at this man who had twenty children. And he gave him twenty rupees as a fee, because, ”This boy also needs some entertainment. He gives entertainment to thousands of people.”

But that boy could not see from any of his three faces and six eyes. It was difficult for him even to turn in the trolley. The Hindu god must be living in a trolley. One head will always be pushing against the pillow, breathing will be difficult. And walking is out of the question.

And all three gods, who have one body, have three wives. Just see the tragedy. Each god is joined with two other gods, and each god has a separate wife. Three wives to one man, because the sexual machinery is only one. I have never heard that the Indian god has three sexual machineries. Now, I cannot figure out how things are managed.

These fictions create three hundred religions, because everybody is free to have his own fiction. Why borrow anybody else’s fiction? There are religions which think that god has one thousand hands. One thousand hands? They must be growing all over the body just like branches in a tree. And I don’t think he can manage to do anything. One thousand hands? From the back they will be growing backwards, from the front they will be growing... there will be no space left for anything else!

And there are gods which have one thousand eyes! I cannot conceive it. Even with no-mind I cannot conceive it. One thousand eyes in one head? Then there is no possibility for ears, no possibility for the nose, no possibility for the mouth, no possibility for anything – not even hair. He must be bald-headed, with eyes all over the head. Even then I don’t think he can manage one thousand eyes. How will he move? According to which eye will he see? Even if he winks at a woman, which eye? One thousand eyes winking at one woman! That will be real romance!

God has not solved any problem, God has created thousands of problems. And every religion has its own idea, because it is a fiction. You don’t have different ideas about the sun. You don’t have different ideas about the rose. You can have only different ideas about a fiction. It is then up to you, whichever way you want.

The Bible says God created man in his own image. The reality is just the opposite: man has created God in his own image. And he has been trying to refine the image of God, finding explanations for all kinds of absurdities. He needs one thousand hands because he has to care for five billion people. But if you have to care about five billion people, you need five billion hands. One thousand hands won’t do. At least, if you want even to shake hands with the whole of humanity, you will need five billion hands. Just hands and hands and nothing else! And you go on shaking and nobody is there!

They go on finding explanations: he has one thousand eyes because he has to look after the whole universe. Can’t he move his head, just the way I am moving mine? I can see ten thousand people without any difficulty, just with two eyes. Does he not move backwards and go in reverse? He has eyes all over his head, so when he wants to go backwards, the front eyes are closed, the backward eyes are open. When he wants to go sideways, three sides are closed, the right side is open. Is it a god or some kind of toy to entertain children?

The very idea of God is because our mind cannot comprehend eternity. Once you rise beyond your limited mind to an unlimited no-mind, you can conceive all that was inconceivable before. No God is needed.

God is Dead, Now Zen is the Only Living Truth 40 ♡♥Osho♡♥