Religious Leaders

 

 

You become religious, you become a great religious leader. If you succeed you become a great saint; if you don't succeed, still you are a small saint, you don't fail. The smallest saint is still a saint -- the lowliest priest is still in the same line as the pope. In religion there is no failure. So, cowardly people -- who are as much interested in gaining power, who are suffering as much from an inferiority complex, who are on a power trip but don't have the guts to follow the criminal path -- find the path of righteousness, ascetism, morality, prayer.

 

By becoming a saint they will also attain to power. Of course, this power cannot be very effective. They cannot become Alexander the Great, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin; they cannot have millions of lives in their hands -- and now such politicians have the whole of humanity's life in their hands. Of course these saints can't have that much, but in a certain way, from a different aspect, they are more powerful because the politicians will come to touch their feet, the presidents will come to bow down in respect to them.

 

The politician does everything according to a particular strategy. If just before the elections President Reagan goes to the Vatican to pay respects to the Catholic pope, it is not accidental, it is preplanned. When Reagan goes to the Vatican and gives his respects to the Catholic pope, all the Catholics of America are, without much effort, converted to giving him votes: this is the right man.

 

All the bishops, all the cardinals in America will now tell their congregations that Reagan is our man. Now, to persuade so many Catholics in America ... if he had to go from home to home it would have taken eternity. And how many stupid things politicians have to do! They have to go on kissing all kinds of children -- their noses are running and they are kissing them .... The politician has to do it.

 

This is easier, to go to the pope -- just kiss his hand and millions of Catholics are on your side. And the pope blesses you: that way he feels far superior to the presidents, prime ministers, kings, queens. Of course his power is only airy-fairy, but you enjoy it. It has nothing substantial in it, it is hollow inside. But it does not matter, because when the presidents and the prime ministers come, the whole media is there, all the newspapers, all the television stations of the world, all the radio stations are talking about the pope -- you can feel a certain gratification. But the gratification is of the same desire -- the will-to-power.

 

That's why I go on talking about the political leaders and the religious leaders without making any distinction -- because there is no distinction at all, only a superficial distinction. Their psyches are functioning in the same way.

 

Neither the religious leader nor the politician is interested in the people whom they pretend to lead.

 

They are interested in being leaders -- and of course the leader cannot be without the led, so it is a necessity to go on promising the people things. Politicians promise them things of this world; religious leaders promise them things of the other world. But do you see any difference in what they are doing? Both are promising so that you go on following them, afraid to get lost somewhere else, because if you lose the path then you will miss the promise.

 

The promise keeps you with the crowd -- and promises don't cost anything. You can promise anything. Promises are always for tomorrow, and tomorrow never comes. And you are not going to live here forever.

 

Just look at past history. All politicians have been promising people things which have not materialized in thousands of years. Thousands of political leaders have been promising the same things. How blind humanity must be!

 

The promises have not changed -- that means certainly nothing has been achieved. The same promises are being given to you and you go on following, hoping.

 

Hope is the greatest drug that man has invented.

 

Strange, that religious people are against drugs; politicians are also against drugs. Politicians make laws against drugs, religious people create hell and punishment against drugs.

 

Why are they so afraid of drugs?

 

It needs a deep search, investigation. They are afraid of drugs because drugs are competitors to them. LSD can give you hallucinations of heaven. That's the trouble. No religion can afford to allow people to use LSD. LSD is not dangerous; taken in the right proportions, under medical care, it can be tremendously helpful in religious growth.

 

But religions are not ready to allow it for the simple reason that if LSD can give you a beautiful experience -- hallucinatory, but still it is an experience and tremendously satisfying, fulfilling -- then just promises will look like dry bones without any juice in them. Only idiots perhaps may continue to chew the dry bones.

 

-Osho, “From Darkness to Light, #5”