.... "Well, for heaven's sake don't!" said the first man. "I took one bite and went blind." This is what your knowledge is - just inferences from coincidences. Just the other day I told you a joke about a Polack who had come to New York to earn name, fame, money, power, prestige. He heard a voice coming from far away in the sky, "Climb up to success!" A little hesitant, a...

...: he is trying to make his disciples a third category. The old, ancient categories are two. The first is the worldly, the householder, those who have a home. They are called householders for the simple reason that they live in the fallacy of security, safety - a safety that they think comes through money, power, prestige, a security that they think comes out of relationships. The wife thinks she is...

... safe with the husband, the husband thinks he is safe with the wife, the parents think they are safe with their children. The safety is fallacious because neither the family nor money nor anything else of this world can save you from death. When death comes it shatters everything; it shatters all your sandcastles. The householder lives in a kind of dreamworld, a world of his own projections. It is not...

... category is of those who have renounced the first category, who have moved to the other extreme - who don't live in houses, who don't live in families, who don't earn money, who don't even touch money, who have moved to exactly the opposite extreme. They are known as sannyasins. They used to wander around the country in small or big groups. Jaina monks are not allowed to move alone. In Buddha's time...

... THOSE WHO HAVE A HOME. He does not linger with the first category, the people who are obsessed with money, power and prestige. He does not waste his time with these people, he does not linger with these insane people. And he says: ... NOR WITH THOSE WHO STRAY - nor with those who go on roaming around the country in groups because that is another kind of security, a subtler kind, but the mind is the...

... that he wants is that God is there: "If nobody is there then at least God is there; I am not alone." The whole idea of God as a person is the fiction created by the people who cannot be alone; hence they have created God. When nobody is there, at least God is always there; you need not be worried about that, he is everywhere. To have an idiot box you need some money and you cannot carry the...

... you going to call great? Ronald Reagan? Are you going to call people who have mountains of money great? In America the richest man has four million dollars; in Japan the richest man has twenty-six million dollars. Certainly this man must be called Bhagwan. He has defeated everybody in the world. Never before has anybody had twenty-six million dollars. Forgive me, he has twenty-six billion dollars...

.... Japan is only one-fourth, as far as land is concerned, of the United States, but its value is four times more than the whole U.S.A. Now Japan should be called a great nation - the richest. People who have money, people who have political power, people who have scientific knowledge... Are you going to call Albert Einstein, the man who created atomic energy, Bhagwan? What does it mean? All these...

... meaning of the word. But not Mahavira. Standing naked... what affluence? He had not even a begging bowl in his hands. Sixth, detachment. If detachment is the criterion, then what about Mohammed having nine wives? - and the richest woman he married just for money. He was only twenty-six and the woman was forty. She was a widow, but had the most money in Saudi Arabia. He married the woman not for beauty...

..., not for any love, but just for her money. His whole life he was holding his sword, although on his sword he had written, "Peace is my message." Strange... He killed as many people as you can conceive, and peace is his message! Mahavira will accept neither Mohammed nor Jesus. Jesus was very much in love with wine. He even converted water into wine - absolutely a criminal act. He was...

...," Rama's ego was hurt. If he had really loved Sita, he should have renounced the world - detachment. But rather than renouncing the world and all the money and the whole kingdom, he renounced a poor pregnant woman without telling her even where she was being sent. And you call it detachment? This man was too much attached with the kingdom. And these Dalits, oppressed Buddhists, don't know at all...

... come to your own being. It is not by effort. Yes, money is gained by effort, political power is gained by effort, but not spirituality. Desire... That's why I told you I have had such a hilarious day. Bhagwan means desire - and all the teachings of all the great enlightened people of the world have been against desire. Unless you become desireless you cannot attain to your innermost luminous self...

... feel boredom because it needs tremendous intelligence to experience it. So in a way it is not a curse, it is a blessing. It is out of boredom that the inquiry for the meaning of life arises. Those who have felt bored simply show that whatsoever ordinary meanings life has, are no longer fulfilling for them. There are people who are perfectly happy with money, accumulating more and more money, and they...

... if by dominating millions of people they will become masters of their own being. They are empty people, hollow; their inner life is utterly dark. But you will never see them bored. They are always on the go, always interested in stupid efforts of gaining power, prestige, money. But they are contented; if they are succeeding you will see them very joyous. It is the most intelligent people who feel...

... boredom, who cannot see any meaning in money. Of course, there is certain utility in money, but no meaning. Who cannot see any meaning, any significance, in power politics, in ego trips, who can see the utter futility of it all - now for people of such intelligence the greatest problem in life will be boredom. The first thing, Sarjano, I would like to tell you is: feel blessed. This is a symptom of a...

... higher intelligence. Out of this boredom the person starts moving inwards; finding everything futile on the outside he turns in - because there is nowhere else to go. His intelligence is so clear, so transparent that he can see that he can have all the money of the world, still he will be the same person. He can have all the power of the world, still he would not have become a new being through it, he...

... either. You say: I AM NOT A COWARD. Why? You must be feeling it, that you are a coward. All these tricks are very ancient tricks. Food you need from the outside; you don't eat inner food. Clothes you need from the outside; you don't produce inner clothes. Medicine you need from the outside; you go to a physician. Sannyas you take inwardly. Money you will have to earn on the outside. Everything else you...

... apostles. (1933.7) 178:2.10 David Zebedee had much business to transact with Judas so that he was easily prevented from following Peter, John, and Philip, as he so much desired to do. When Judas gave David a certain sum of money for provisions, David said to him: “Judas, might it not be well, under the circumstances, to provide me with a little money in advance of my actual needs?” And after Judas had...

... reflected for a moment, he answered: “Yes, David, I think it would be wise. In fact, in view of the disturbed conditions in Jerusalem, I think it would be best for me to turn over all the money to you. They plot against the Master, and in case anything should happen to me, you would not be hampered.” (1934.1) 178:2.11 And so David received all the apostolic cash funds and receipts for all money on deposit...

... THAT SHE WAS HAVING A PHYSICAL LOVE AFFAIR WITH YOU UP UNTIL THE TIME SHE LEFT. A: That is absolutely wrong. Q: AT ANY TIME DURING...? A: Never. She is just disgusting. Q: SHE CLAIMS AS WELL THAT THE COMMUNE IS BROKE, THAT ALL THE MONEY HAS BEEN SPENT ON ROLLS ROYCES AND DIAMOND WATCHES. A: That is absolutely wrong. Q: WHAT KIND OF SHAPE IS THE COMMUNE IN FINANCIALLY? A: Perfectly right. Q: SHE...

..., a small kingdom in the Himalayas, where in small villages you can bribe a magistrate just a small money and you can get any kind of certificate you want. So she got a backdated divorce certificate. But she was planning for two months, because she was looking for Puja also here for any Swiss sannyasin to marry her. But all these things came to my knowledge as these people left. When they left, then...

... have simply to pay back the money that they have taken from them. So antelope will be Antelope again; we are withdrawing our police forces from there. Why we should bother about anybody? And as they start possessing their land and houses back we will vacate, we don't want. It was Sheela's mind, which became power-oriented, to overtake Antelope and when she succeeded in overtaking Antelope then came...

... the desire to overtake the whole Wasco County, and for which she brought 3,000 street people. And to me she said that she is bringing these street people just as a humanitarian gesture because we have more money than our needs. So we can spend two, three million very easily without any trouble. I said, "If it is a humanitarian gesture it is perfectly good." But I was not aware that it is...

... rupee note that you were carrying was not authentic at all. But his mother is dying, and he has no money for medicine, and I cannot say that he is a criminal; he is simply a kind-hearted man who loves his mother. Once private property disappears.... And in a commune there is going to be no private property, everything belongs to all; naturally, stealing will disappear. You don't steal water and...

... accumulate it, you don't steal air. A commune has to create everything in such abundance that even the retarded person cannot think of accumulating it. What is the point? It is always available, fresh. Money has to disappear from society. A commune does not need money. Your needs should be fulfilled by the commune. All have to produce, and all have to make the commune richer, affluent, accepting the fact...

... lazy people who do nothing but meditate, who do nothing but go on playing on their guitar while others are toiling in the fields. A little more human outlook is needed; these people are not useless. They may not seem to be productive of commodities, but they are producing a certain joyful, cheerful atmosphere. Their contribution is meaningful and significant. With the disappearance of money as a...

.... The lady contributed to Mulla Nasrudin on crutches, but could not resist the temptation to preach to him. "It must be terrible to be lame," she said, "but think how much worse it is to be blind." "That's right, Lady," said the Mulla. "WHEN I WAS BLIND, PEOPLE KEPT PASSING COUNTERFEIT MONEY OFF ON ME." 19. The young father was pushing the crying baby down the...

... register, he picked me up gently, brushed me off, and escorted me back into the dance hall. THEN HE THREW ME OUT THE FRONT DOOR." 21. "You don't love me any more," said Mulla Nasrudin's wife through her tears. "When you see me crying, you never ask why." "I am sorry, Darling," said Nasrudin, "BUT THAT SORT OF QUESTION HAS ALREADY COST ME AN AWFUL LOT OF MONEY."...

... of woe and a request for assistance. The old gentleman refused him, saying, "I am sorry, my friend, I have no money, but I can give you some good advice." The Mulla said in a disgusted tone, "No thanks, IF YOU AIN'T GOT NO MONEY, I DON'T GUESS YOUR ADVICE IS WORTH ANYTHING, SIR." 36. A man said to his friend Mulla Nasrudin: "Who is the boss in your house?" "Well...

... go over to my wife, and she puts her arms around me, and caresses me, and soothes me until finally I forget all about the pain." Nasrudin brightened up and said: "GEE, THAT'S WONDERFUL! IS SHE HOME NOW?" 63. A well-known dead-beat caught Mulla Nasrudin on the street one day before the Mulla could duck. "I am really in a jam and need money," he said to the Mulla," and I...

...." "How about five million, Mulla?" asked his friend. "No, not even for five million," said the Mulla. "Well," said the other, "how about one dollar?" Mulla Nasrudin sat up. "WELL," he said, "THAT'S DIFFERENT. NOW YOU ARE TALKING REAL MONEY." 75. "Where have you been for the last two hours?" demanded the man's wife. "I MET...

.... "This poor widow," said the Mulla, "with four starving children to feed, is sick in bed with no money for the doctor, and besides that she owes 100rentforthreemonthsandisabouttobeevicted.I "I certainly can," said the minister. "If you can give your time to this cause, so can I. By the way, who are you?" "I AM THE LANDLORD," said Nasrudin. 79. As usual...

...;My wife takes care of my money. My mother-in-law tends to my business. ALL I HAVE TO DO IS WORK." 89. A friend gave a bottle of cheap liquor to Mulla Nasrudin as a birthday present. Later he asked the Mulla how it was. "It was just exactly right," said the Mulla. "What do you mean just right?" asked the friend. "WELL," said Nasrudin, "IF IT HAD BEEN ANY...

... wife complained bitterly to the Mulla. "I am absolutely ashamed of the way we live. Mother pays our rent. My aunt buys our clothes. My sister sends us money for food. I don't like to complain, but I am ashamed that we cannot do better than that." "YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED," said Nasrudin. "YOU HAVE GOT TWO UNCLES THAT DON'T SEND US A DIME." 113. A man in the upstairs...

... burglars. But before dying he wrote a note to his wife from the hospital. The last paragraph of it read: "I have been very fortunate because only the day before I had put all of my money and negotiable bonds in my safety deposit box at the bank, SO THAT I AM LOSING PRACTICALLY NOTHING BUT MY LIFE." 200. When Mulla Nasrudin died, his wife decided to have him cremated. The attendant at the...

...;president of India"... and the man is the same! Once it happened: A very beautiful man, Mahatma Bhagwandeen, came to the town where I used to live. He was making a small place for orphans, an orphanage. He wanted to collect some money, so he went to collect. The whole day the old man went from one shop to another shop, from one house to another house. He was a very simple man. All that he collected...

... narrative of misery and woe, the elderly gentleman replied benignantly: "My good friend, I have no money, but I can give you some good advice." The tramp spat contemptuously, and uttered an oath of disgust. "Well, if you ain't got no money," he said, turning away, "I reckon your advice ain't worth hearing." Just a moment before, the man was immensely valuable, but now because...

... he has no more money, no money at all, not even his advice is worth hearing; not even that much politeness can the beggar show. You behave only according to a certain pattern and gestalt of your mind. You behave through your desires. If somebody fulfills your desire or you think can fulfill your desire, he is great. In India they have a proverb: When in need, one can even call a donkey "father...

... finally said, " So how come a child has to be born in a barn?" "Well, grandfather, you know the story. Mary and Joseph came to the inn so poor that they had no money and they could only afford the barn. " The old man nodded and turned to his grandson and said, "Tell me, is not that just like our people? Money for a hotel room they don't have, but money for a family picture they...

... somewhere in the finite. You can see. You can seek money and power, but each time you succeed, you will find that you have failed. Each time you succeed, the success will bring nothing but the awareness of the failure. Money is there but you are as dissatisfied as ever, or even more so. Power is there and you are as impotent as ever. Nothing makes man more aware of powerlessness than power. Nothing makes...

... I am, only then can life have any meaning - otherwise it can't have any meaning. I can go on working and accumulating things, money, prestige. But how is that going to satisfy me? - because I don't even know who I am. I must first have absolute feeling of my being, only then can I be on the right track.' Everybody wants to have bliss, but how can you have bliss if you are not even aware of who you...

... gives a kind of consolation, it helps to soothe you. It is just like a tranquilliser. And for people who are in search of anything, in a very, very juvenile way.... America in particular is in great search for something to hang on to, because all that is available - money, power - has become meaningless. All has become meaningless. They have everything; for the first time a society has become affluent...

... any direction and they don't have any reference to the past. Their parents have never searched for spirituality, their parents were in search of money. Their parents were in search of money and they succeeded. And in that very success, everything failed. Their parents had only one thing that was enough to keep them drunk, and that was power. How to have a big house? How to have a big car? How to...

... have more money? - more power. They were drunk with power. And they had only one thing as their religion and that was work. Work is the American ethos. Work hard so that you can achieve many things in the world. And they succeeded; unfortunately, they succeeded. And now their children are at a loss. Now what? Money is there, house is there, car is there, everything is there - now it doesn't make any...

... put into years of construction. The first day the train passes by... and with the bridge, the train and the passengers all go down into the river - but take it positively. Dams continually go on flooding thousands of miles because they break. India goes on borrowing money from all over the world, from the world bank and from other sources, to make new dams. And with all the engineers and all that...

... to repay. That is absolutely clear, because how are you going to pay it back? Slowly slowly, you are becoming slaves again - economic slaves. Political slavery is gone; now economic slavery is coming from the back door. If you cannot pay money, then you will have to substitute it by something. If you owe to America, or if you owe to the Soviet Union, then you will have to give them bases for their...

... people, make friends - and go on exploiting them economically the way you were doing before. Now you will do even better because you are friends, you are helping in every possible way... but for what reason are you helping? Russia goes on pouring money into India. In Russia itself there is poverty; they are not too worried about that poverty, they are more concerned to create factories in India, steel...

... plants in India. Go on giving as much money and expertise as India asks, because soon they will be so much in debt that while politically they can remain free, it will make no difference - your armies, your military bases will be inside their country; they will have to give in to you. Their political freedom will be just paper freedom: underneath they will be slaves again. In India nobody is punished...

... hospital, and everything. And on paper these things do happen. You can see the road has been made, on the map. The contract has been signed, the contractor has taken the money, the engineers have been working, the laborers have been paid, the machines have been purchased. Five years of work and the road is ready. The road is even inaugurated by a great leader - and there is no road! You see the picture...

... length. It is non-existent. Great miracles! But take it positively, and don't complain against anybody, otherwise everybody will be caught: the leader who inaugurated the road will be caught and asked, "What road have you inaugurated? Where is it?" The minister who gave the contract must have been bribed. The contractor must have taken the major portion of the money that was going to make the...

... are clapping because they believe in positive philosophy. They know the road goes only one furlong, but still they are clapping because a great leader has come, and they have all been given money to clap Praise the leader, wave flags to welcome him. And these pictures will be the proof. All these people have to be punished. And Mother Teresa says to those poor people, "Don't complain."...

.... So I say that when millions of Jews are evaporated, Hitler must be doing great, positive work: perhaps with a smaller population there will be less poverty. And these Jews were the richest people in Germany, so let their money and their riches be distributed. And anyway they are going to die sooner or later, so why not sooner? What could they have done by living? So why make so much fuss? They may...