pseudoreligion or religiousness
Hindus and Jews are established. Christians, Mohammedans, Buddhists are not established. They try to convert people; but in their conversion, deep down what is going on? The established religion has a past to support, thousands of years of past, which means millions of people have been on the path; you are not alone. But when you follow Jesus you know only that this guy has got these fantastic ideas. Who knows? -- you are following a fool or really a son of God? He can be either this or that; there is no third alternative. Either he is a perfect idiot....
In fact Fyodor Dostoevsky has written a book, THE IDIOT; that is the title of his book. But the idiot, the character, is almost Jesus-like: very innocent, simple, who has never done any harm to anybody. In fact, he is better than Jesus. But Dostoevsky has titled the book THE IDIOT.
Jesus needs converted people. He himself may be feeling shaky about what he is saying and about whether it is true or not. In fact, why did he want Jews to accept him, his messiahhood? Why was he so insistent that they had to crucify him? He must have nagged them, tortured them with the idea. They must have got so fed up that they decided, "This man won't leave us in peace -- he has to be crucified, otherwise he will go on torturing us."
And he was getting more and more fanatic. He started calling the great temple of the Jews, "my Father's house," and "... I have come to clean my Father's house." And he really wanted to clean it of all the priests and all the rabbis: What is the need of all these people when the only begotten son is there? He had become a nuisance. He must have been thinking in some silent moment, "Perhaps I am just mad. I have not been able to convince a single rabbi."
Jesus seems to be worried, and all Christians have carried his sickness in their minds. They are all worried. I cannot think that the pope really believes that he represents God, it is impossible -- unless you are mad, then everything is possible.
Pseudo-religions are continually trying to convert people or they are so ancient that the question of conversion had never arisen. They are the beginners; from the very beginning they caught hold of the customers. Because of this idea of converting people there are constant fights, crusades, jihads, holy wars.
And pseudo-religions go on creating more and more theology; nobody reads it.
Hundreds of theologians continually creating more and more books.... For what? -- because the basic questions have not been answered yet. They go on improving upon the books, but whatsoever they do, the fundamental questions remain at the same place, because intellect has no answer for them.
A simple thing has not occurred to them, that if in five or ten thousand years of theological thinking you have not been able to demolish a single question, now it is time to stop: perhaps you are not moving in the right direction.
Religion in the second stage of consciousness, of the conscious mind, intellect, is theology. I call it pseudo-religion -- just words about truth, God, love, but no experience to support it.
When religion reaches the third, the highest peak, then only is it religiousness.