What happens to the memory of a charismatic teacher after his death? From Jesus to Osho, the growth of institutions, rival interpretations and later doctrines may be less surprising than it first appears.
Religion can be understood not as literal cosmology but as a symbolic language through which humanity reflects on its own existence. From Feuerbach and Durkheim to modern psychology, religious ideas reveal how rational animals attempt to interpret consciousness, morality, and the mystery of being human. Seen this way, the emergence of reflective awareness is not a tragedy but one of the great gifts of evolution.