"These philosophies of masochism have been predominant. The people who had no other talents, no other creative possibilities, easily chose to torture themselves – fast, beat yourself, find out new ways of torturing, sleep on a bed of thorns, renounce everything that is pleasant, remain naked when it is too cold, cover yourself with a blanket when it is too hot. Certainly these people were very inventive, but because it was associated with spirituality by a certain fake logic…the person who tortures himself in this world is passing through a fire test of his trust in God.

"Jesus belongs to these masochists. Mahavira in India belongs to these masochists. And thousands of saints were only famous because there was no competing with them; they were far ahead in torturing themselves in every possible way. People were cutting their genitals, women were cutting their breasts – and religions were supporting it. Naturally these people were miserable, but misery became now a kind of investment. You be miserable here and all the pleasures of paradise will be yours forever. The misery is only for one life; the reward is for eternity.

"The others who worshipped these masochists were sadists; they enjoyed people torturing themselves. They worshipped a person more if he tortured more; if he fasted for months, he became a great saint. If he became just a skeleton, millions came to worship him, but their psychological joy was seeing somebody torture himself. And, of course, they fitted together perfectly.

"The sadists became disciples, followers; and the masochists became prophets, messiahs, saviors – and they were complementary to each other. And nobody thought that this is a very sick psychology.

"But religions were becoming prosperous, and people were engaged in this stupid game. They had no energy for any revolution against the politicians. They had no energy to go against the rich and create a classless society. Their whole mind became centered only on these two things.

"That schizophrenic mind still remains. It has gone very deep into the unconscious of man. It is not only in Switzerland, it is the same all over the world. People who have all kinds of things – every pleasure is possible for them, and they are free from ordinary mundane work – can use this time and energy for inner growth, for the evolution of consciousness."