Volume
Vol. 6, The Alchemy of Happiness
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Stages of Belief in God
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1. Mass-Belief
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Vol. 6, The Alchemy of Happiness
Stages of Belief in God
1. Mass-Belief
The first belief is the mass-belief. If someone says, "There is a God", then everyone repeats after him, "Yes, there is a God." One might think that today, at this stage of civilization, people are too advanced to have mass-beliefs, but that would be a great mistake. People are the same today as they were a thousand years ago, perhaps worse if it comes to spiritual questions. Someone who is called "the man of the day" in a nation, is for the time being supported by the whole nation; thousands and millions lift him up, hold him high; but for how long? Until some still more powerful person says, "No, it is not so." Then the whole country lets him down.
Just before the war I was visiting Russia. In every shop one saw a picture of the Czar and Czarina, held in high esteem. It was a sacred thing for people. There was a religious ideal attached to the emperor as he was the Head of the Church. And they used to be filled with joy when they saw the Czar and Czarina passing in the street; it was a religious upliftment for them. But not long afterwards they themselves had processions in the streets when at each step they broke the czarist emblems. It did not take them one moment to change their belief. Why? Because it was a mass belief.
It is a very powerful belief. It changes nations. It throws them down and raises them up; it brings war. But what is it after all? A mad belief. And yet no one will admit it. If you ask an individual, he says, "I am not one of them." Yet at the same time all move together when an impulse comes for good or bad.
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