All that has been given to you has to be dropped so that again you come out of the clouds into the open sky, so that again you can come out of this small, tunnel-like existence of being a Hindu, a Mohammedan, a communist, this and that; how to find the open sky again — dimensionless. No religion, particularly no organized religion, is in favor of it. They decorate their tunnels. They force things on people, as if theirs is the only way to reach to God.
I have heard about a man, a Protestant, who died and reached to heaven. He asked Saint Peter, "First, before I settle somewhere, I would like to have a tour. I would like to see the whole of heaven." Saint Peter said, "Your curiosity is understandable, but one thing you will have to remember: I will take you around, but don't talk, be completely quiet. And walk so that no noise is made.
" The Protestant was a little worried, "Why so much…?" but they walked. Whenever he wanted to say anything, Saint Peter would put his finger on his lips and say, "Shhh! Keep quiet." When the tour was over he asked, "What is the matter? Why so much quietness?" Peter said, "Everybody here believes. For example, the Catholics believe only they are in heaven; the Protestants believe only they are in heaven; the Hindus believe only they are; the Mohammedans believe only they are. So they feel very much offended if they come to know that somebody else is also there. That is impossible for them to believe."
On the earth people live in tunnels, and in heaven also.
No organized religion can be in favor of a totally open mind. That's why an organized religion is not a religion at all; it is a politics.
Just the other day I received a letter from Amida. She was in Arica. Now she has come here, so those Arican people are very much disturbed. She has become a sannyasin, so they have written a letter of expulsion. She is expelled. This looks like nonsense. This seems to be politics. Now she cannot be allowed to attend their meetings anymore, or to participate with them. In their jargon they have said, "Now you are put in water." She is condemned. The same goes on everywhere. Scientology does the same to people. Once you are in scientology and you leave it, just as Amida has been put in water, they give a notice that you are now an enemy. An enemy!
But this is how it has always happened. Always remember, wherever your mind is being narrowed, escape from there. It is not religion, it is politics. It is an ego-trip.
Religion widens you.
Religion widens you so much that the whole house around you, by and by, disappears. You are just under the sky, absolutely nude, in total communication with existence. Nothing exists between you and existence. This point is achieved easily, naturally, spontaneously, at the time of birth. The powers are revealed at birth — everything is revealed at birth. It is only a question of reclaiming it. It is a question of remembering it again. It is not going to be a discovery, it is going to be a re-discovery.
Many people come to me and they ask, "If samadhi happens, if enlightenment happens, how are we going to recognize it, that it is that?" I say to them, "Don't you be worried; you will recognize it because you know what it is. You have forgotten. Once it happens again, suddenly, in your consciousness, the memory will arise, surface, and immediately you will recognize."
And this can be also acquired in four ways. The first is through drugs. Hindus have made drugs for thousands of years. In the West the craze is very new; in India it is very ancient.
OSHO
