Virgin Birth

 Now, ‘virgin birth’ has nothing to do with biological virginity; that is utter nonsense. Jesus is not born of a biological virgin mother, but then what is meant by saying that Mary was a virgin? ‘Virgin’ simply means utterly pure, so pure that there is no sexuality in the mind. It is not a question of the body but a question of the mind – so pure that there is no idea of sexuality.

And at the deepest core, everybody is a virgin. Virginity means purity of love. Jesus must have been born out of great love. Love is always a virgin. Love transcends sex – that is the meaning of virginity.

But there are foolish people everywhere; they go on insisting that “No, he WAS born of a virgin mother.” They make him a laughingstock. And because of their foolishness, a great parable, a great metaphor, loses all meaning.

A mother and her daughter came to the doctor’s office. The mother asked the doctor to examine her daughter. “She has been having some strange symptoms and I am worried about her,” the mother said.

The doctor examined the daughter carefully, then he announced, “Madam, I believe your daughter is pregnant.” The mother gasped. “That’s nonsense!” she said. “Why, my little girl has nothing whatsoever to do with men.” She turned to the girl, “You don’t, do you, dear?” “No, Mumsy,” said the girl. “Why, you know that I have never so much as kissed a man.”

The doctor looked from mother to daughter and back again, then silently he stood up and walked to the window. He started out; he continued staring until the mother felt compelled to ask, “Doctor, is there something wrong out there?” “No, madam,” said the doctor. “It is just that the last time anything like this happened, a star appeared in the East – and I was looking to see if another one was going to show up.”

Mary must have been in tremendous love; that’s why she is a virgin. Mary must have been so deep in love that sex was not the point at all. Remember, you can make love to a woman without any love in your heart – then it is pure sexuality, animality; it is prostitution. You can make love to a woman with no idea of sex, then love is just a pure communication of two energies, a sharing, a dance, a celebration. No idea of sex in the mind and you can make love to a woman, and the woman can make love to you not thinking of sex at all. The whole point is where your mind is. If you are thinking of sex, if your mind is obsessed with sex, you simply want to use the woman, the woman simply wants to use you, it is ugly. It has no aesthetics in it, no poetry in it. There is nothing of the beyond in it – it is very muddy. But the same act...

Remember, the act will be the same: when two lovers make love and when a man goes to a prostitute biologically the act is the same, but spiritually there is a tremendous difference. The man who goes to the prostitute is thinking only of sex, and the lover when he makes love to the woman has no idea of sex. It is simply a communion, coming closer and closer. Then sex happens only as a gesture of communion. It is a virgin.