"Think in terms of play. Work is serious, heavy; play is non-serious. This whole existence can be seen through these two words, work or play.

"The Western concept of God is that of a doer, hence they call him 'the creator.' In the East the concept of God is not of a doer but of a player. We call his existence not his creation but his leela, his play – the way somebody sings a song without any motivation behind it, for the sheer joy of it, with no result in view; no past behind it, no future ahead of it.

"These birds singing…it is not work, they are just shouting that they are alive. They are simply saying, 'We are here,' to the sun and to the sky and to the clouds; they are chanting. It is an outpouring. Godliness is out-pouring into existence. Because the Western concept of God is that of a doer, the whole of religion became very serious. Eastern religion is more celebrating, it is fun.

"I am here to share my joy with you. It is just like birds singing in the morning, or stars shining in the night, or flowers blooming in spring – it is just like that; no work is involved. You need not even feel grateful to me, because I am not doing anything for you. I am just here, you are there, something is happening. Nobody is doing, it is just a pure happening.

"Millions of things are happening all around; if you look at them as a happening, a great joy will arise in you. You will start dancing with existence, and all fear will disappear. If you think of it as work, fear is bound to remain there, you will be afraid you may miss. If it is work then you have to be hard at it, then you have to do it whatsoever the cost. Then methods, techniques, necessarily become implied in it, and you are on a mind trip again. The ego wants it to be a great work, because the ego can survive only if it is work; in play the ego simply evaporates.

"Hence my insistence again and again: never use the word work in relation to me, let it be pure play."