"But these are all projected by you and exploited by him. It is a mutual phenomenon.

"The messiah, the tirthankara, the avatara, the paigambara, they know your psychological need, everybody's psychological need; they exploit it. They say, 'You need not be worried. You have only to believe in me.' They make it so simple – no risk. You have nothing to do, other than believe – can't you do even this much? And in the bargain, what are you getting? Everything that you always needed: a hope, a future, a meaningfulness. Otherwise you are bored, otherwise you start thinking: 'Why go on living?'

"The messiah shows you the way, shows you the goal, makes you significant, that you are not an accident, that God has something special to be fulfilled through you. He fulfills your psychological need. He does not destroy your fear, your meaninglessness, your hopelessness. He simply gives a beautiful cover; he covers your psychological vacuum.

"And you fulfill his psychological need. The more you gather around him, the more followers are there, the more he is convinced that he is not insane. Otherwise the suspicion is bound to be there: 'What proof have you got that you are the son of God?' It may be just your mind projection. But now he has got some proof: the believers. As they go on increasing, as the following becomes bigger and bigger, now he has solid proof: so many people, millions of people, cannot be wrong.

"Do you see the vicious circle? He becomes more authoritative, more determined, more fanatic. And the more he becomes authoritative, determined, fanatic, the more people are bound to fall in the trap because they need authority. They need a father figure, somebody to lead them. On their own they don't know where to go, what to do, what to be.

"That's the way every child is being brought up, so that the psychological need arises, is bound to arise. Everything is told to the child, that he has to do this, not to do that. Of course the parents think they are doing it for the child's own good; it is not so. It is just the opposite."