... Babylonian Talmud: Baba Kamma 115         Previous Folio / Baba Kamma Directory / Tractate List / Navigate Site Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Baba Kamma Folio 115a it would not be necessary to be so particular.1  But he might perhaps have been in need of money and thus compelled to sell [some of his articles]? — Said R. Ashi: There is the fact that a rumour of...

... place] before Renunciation12  and there is nevertheless here a difference of opinion? For we learnt: If one asked another to sell him the inside of a cow in which there were included priestly portions he would have to give it to the priest without deducting anything from the [purchase] money; but if he bought it from him by weight he would have to give the portions to the priests and deduct their...

... value from the [purchase] money.13  And Rab thereupon said that the [last] ruling could not be explained except where it was the purchaser who weighed it for himself, for if the butcher14  weighed it for him, the priest would have to sue the butcher!15  — Read: 'He can sue also the butcher,'16  for you might have thought that priestly portions are not subject to the law of...

... first; i.e., the claim of the purchaser for recovery of his money is against the thief, as the benefit of market overt does not apply here,31  whereas R. Johanan stated in the name of R. Jannai that he30  may sue the second, i.e., the claim of the purchaser for repayment should be against the proprietors since the benefit of market overt does apply also here.31  But does Rab really...

... purchase in] market overt would apply. But if their value equalled the amount of money lent on them, Amemar said that the benefit of market overt would not apply37  whereas Mar Zutra said that the benefit of [a purchase in] market overt should apply. (The established law is that the benefit of a purchase in market overt should apply.)38  In the case of a sale, where the money paid was the exact...

... borrowed on it four further zuz. As the thief was subsequently identified, the case came before Rabina43  who said: Regarding the former [four zuz] it is a case of a thief misappropriating articles and paying a debt [with them] in which case the plaintiff has to pay nothing whatsoever,44  whereas regarding the latter four zuz you can demand your money and [then] return the garment. R. Cohen...

.... 205. Proving thus that the plaintiff would have to pay the purchase money even where the theft was definitely established. For the purchaser should not have bought the articles from him. To the purchaser. For as it is unusual that the value of the pledge should not exceed the amount of the loan, it is probable that the loan was not based on the security of the pledge. [The bracketed passage is...

... made a profit of forty zuz. Who bought it from a thief as was the case here. I.e., the purchase money he paid. I.e., the thief who sold the book for this amount. As to the substitution of 'barrel' for 'jug' v. supra p. 142. Tractate List / Glossary / / Bible Reference Baba Kamma 115b HE WOULD BE ABLE TO CLAIM NO MORE THAN THE VALUE OF HIS SERVICES;1  BUT IF HE SAID [AT THE OUTSET], 'I AM GOING...

... barrel [we suppose] the bale of the press-house was twined around it.9  [Still, how does the Baraitha state:]10  'And if he says so, his statement is of no legal validity'? Surely it was taught: If a man was walking on the road with money in his possession, and a robber confronted him, he may not say, 'The produce which I have in my house11  shall become redeemed12  by virtue of...

... these coins,'13  yet if he says so, his statement has legal validity?14  — Here [in the latter case] we suppose that he was still able to rescue the money.15  But if he was still able to rescue the money why then should he not be allowed to say so16  even directly? — We suppose he would be able to rescue it with [some] exertion. But still even where there is likely to...

... Babylonian Talmud: Baba Mezi'a 6         Previous Folio / Baba Mezi'a Contents / Tractate List / Navigate Site Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Baba Mezi'a Baba Mezi'a 6a But then, in the case in which R. Nahman said, We make him take 'an oath of inducement',1  — why do we not say that since he is suspected of fraud in money matters he must also be suspected of swearing...

... falsely? Moreover, there is the case where R. Hiyya taught: Both of them swear, and receive payment from the employer,2  — why do we not say that since he is suspected of fraud in money matters he must also be suspected of swearing falsely? And furthermore, there is the case where R. Shesheth said: We make him3  take three oaths: 'I swear that I did not cause the loss wilfully; I swear...

... that I did not use [the animal] for myself; I swear that it is not in my possession', — why do we not say that since he is suspected of fraud in money matters4  he must also be suspected of swearing falsely? Therefore [we must conclude] that we do not say, 'Since he is suspected of fraud in money matters he must also be suspected of swearing falsely.' Abaye says: We apprehend that he may...

... be claiming the repayment of an old loan.5  But if so, let him take it without an oath?6  — Therefore say that we apprehend that he may be claiming the payment of a doubtful claim of an old loan. But do we not say that if he appropriates money on the strength of a doubtful claim he will also swear falsely in regard to a doubtful claim? — R. Shesheth, the son of R. Idi, said...

... [in reply]: People will desist from taking an oath in regard to a doubtful claim, while they will not desist from appropriating money their right to which is doubtful. For what reason? — Money can be given back [later]; an oath cannot be taken back. R. Zera asked: If one of the litigants seized [the garment] in our presence,7  what is the law? But [it is immediately objected]: How could...

... him without witnesses!' If you prefer, I could also say that [the Baraitha deals with a case where], as stated, one of them was holding it, and the other was just hanging on to it. In such a case [it is necessary to inform us that] even Symmachus, who maintains15  that disputed money of doubtful ownership should be divided among the disputants without an oath,16  would agree,17  for...

.... supra 3a), but that a litigant may deem himself entitled to an article found by his opponent, on the ground that the latter had borrowed money from him a long time ago and had forgotten about it. Such a litigant would not hesitate to plead that he had found the garment, or that it was all his, in the hope that at least half the value of the garment would be awarded to him. Hence the need for an oath...

... therefore the garment is not 'disputed money'. I.e., the garment. If R. Zera's question is to be answered in the sense that the litigant who has seized the garment must give up half the garment to the other claimant. Without seizing it. For the act of dedication cannot be more effective than the act of seizing it. V. A.Z. 63a; cf. B.B. 133b. Lev. XXVII, 14. Tractate List / Glossary / / Bible Reference...

... again.14  But if Hezekiah's ruling is correct, let Hezekiah's [remedy] be employed by redeeming it with the earlier money!15  — It means that he has not [yet] redeemed [any other].16  Then let him bring the other tithe [produce] which he has and combine them?17  — That [which is tithe] by Biblical law and that which is [so] only by Rabbinic law cannot be combined.18...

... lighter. Which is a leniency compared with the second tithe, That the second tithe cannot be neutralised at all, V, n. 2. This is explained below. This is a repetition, with a little more explanatory detail, of the difficulty already raised. So that he has no money with which it may be retrospectively redeemed. I.e., the tithe which is intermixed and that which he brings, and then redeem both. By...

... bear it'].2  Now, 'se'eth'3  can only refer to eating, as it is written, And he took and sent mase'oth ['messes'] unto them from before him!4  — But this refers to [commodities] purchased with the [redemption]money of the second tithe.5  But let that also, which is bought with the [redemption] money of the second tithe, be redeemed, for we learnt: If what was redeemed with...

... the [redemption-]money of the second tithe became defiled, it is [itself] to be redeemed!6  — This agrees with R. Judah, who ruled: It must be buried. If so, why particularly if it has gone forth [again]: the same applies even if it has not gone forth? — But after all, this refers to undefiled [tithe]: and what is meant by 'gone forth'? That the walls [of Jerusalem] had fallen.7...

.... Lakish said, Its fifth is less [etc.]. An objection is raised. For second tithe worth less than a perutah it is sufficient to declare, 'That itself and its fifth are redeemed with the first money.'20  Now, on the view that [it does not require redemption even if] its fifth is worth less [than a perutah], it is correct; hence he [the Tanna] states 'it is sufficient,' viz., though that itself...

...: If the owners value it at twenty [sela's], the owners have priority, since they add a fifth. If a stranger declared, 'I accept it for twenty-one,' - To Next Folio - Original footnotes renumbered. See Structure of the Talmud Files Where undefiled tithe cannot be redeemed. Deut. XIV, 24; The next verse says: Then thou shalt turn it into money.. [H], 'to bear'. Gen. XLIII, 34. Thus he translates the...

... first verse: If thou art not able to eat it — being defiled — then thou shalt turn it into money — i.e., redeem it. The original second tithe having been redeemed, the money was expended in Jerusalem upon commodities, which in turn became defiled. At this stage it is assumed that only the original tithe can be redeemed if defiled, but not that purchased with the redemption money. M...

... demand, 'Either return me my money or give me land to the value thereof.' And from what part [of the estate] must he satisfy his claim? From the best. But if the purchaser retracts, the vendor has the advantage; if he desires, he can say to him, 'Here is your money.' Alternatively, he can say. 'Here is land for your money.' And what [part of the field] may he offer him? The worst.6  R. Simeon b...

... after many years.7 The Master said: 'And from what part [of the estate] must he satisfy his claim? From the best.' Now, this was assumed to mean, 'from the best part of his estate.'8  But let him [the buyer] be even as an ordinary creditor! And we learnt: A creditor is entitled to medium quality!9  Moreover, here is the land for which he paid money! — R. Nahman b. Isaac said: [It means...

...] repeatedly dunned16  [the buyer] for his money;17  the latter, where he did not repeatedly demand his money. For Raba said: If one sold an article to his neighbour, and repeatedly demanded payment, it does not become his [the purchaser's];18  but if not, he [the buyer] acquires it.19 Raba also said: If one lent a hundred zuz to his neighbour, who repaid him a zuz at a time, it is [valid...

... an ordinary debt, and therefore does not affect the ownership of the field, which passes to the buyer on payment of money. I.e., not particularly of the field sold, but the best of any land that the vendor might own. If the debtor does not repay, the creditor can exact payment only from his medium quality fields, not from the best. And even that is a special privilege. Referring to the second case...

.... V. supra 48b. This shews that the transaction is binding though the balance was not arranged as an ordinary debt. Lit., 'was going in and out.' Lit., 'comes in and out for money'. This proves that he sold his field through financial pressure, and therefore, unless he explicitly arranged for the balance to be treated as an ordinary loan, he can cancel the sale if full payment is delayed. [Even if...

... there was meshikah (v. Glos.); so according to the majority of authorities. Cf. Tosaf. and H.M., CXC. 11.] And the purchase money is regarded as an ordinary debt. A hundred zuz in a lump sum can be put to business use; one zuz at a time is spent as received, with no visible or tangible advantage. The text is [H], which may mean 'ass' or 'wine', and Rashi translates 'ass'. The reason is that in Rashi's...

... opinion, this assumption, viz. that the vendor's repeated demand for money proves that he sold the article only because he was hard pressed, applies only to land or such articles which are not normally sold, such as an ass which is kept for work on the land; but in the case of wine, which is a normal article of sale, it proves nothing, and hence the consequences drawn from it do not hold good (Maharam...

... for it. They do not arise from prayers, because prayers are addressed to a fictitious God, who does not exist. It happened in America: a poor man ... his wife was dying, and he had no money to purchase medicine or call a doctor, or have her admitted to a hospital. In desperation he thought of a great idea: "Why not write a letter to God, just for fifty dollars, not much. And for a God who is...

...? What is his strategy? The strategy is: if somebody dies, in the dead person's memory you send him the money, and the money will be sent into your account in paradise. Millions of dollars he accumulates, and the blind believers think that the money is reaching into their bank accounts. I was staying with a friend in Surat, who is a Khoja, a follower of the Aga Khan. I asked him, "Your father has...

... died. How much money have you sent?" He said, "Three lakh rupees." I asked, "Have you got the bank account number?" He said, "The account number?" I said, "When you reach to paradise, how will you find which is your bank account where the money is deposited?" He said, "That's right." And I said, "You are a well-educated man, a doctor, and...

... you could not think of a simple thing? You could not see how the Aga Khan goes on throwing money all around the world? From where does this money come? From which account?" The Aga Khan's hobby is racehorses. He is the greatest bidder all over the world, and wherever there is a race meeting, he immediately rushes to that place. This palace here has been made because Poona has a race meeting...

... palace he is ready to sell. There is another sect I have come across which is even more stupid. At least this money reaches to the Aga Khan, it does not go further -- but that cult puts the money in the coffin. Your father dies, you put ten lakh rupees into the coffin, and it goes into the graveyard. Again, I was a guest in a house with a friend, who was a professor and had been my colleague. I said...

..., "You also think that money will enter into heaven with your father's soul?" He said, "Yes. My whole religion believes it; so many people cannot be wrong." This argument I have heard so many times that I have made my own argument: If there are so many people agreed on something, they must be wrong! So many people cannot be right. Right belongs to very rare people; crowds cannot be...

..., "Look, those notes are here. You are an idiot, and your whole religion is stupid! Take these notes!" There was a moment of grave silence. I said, "You take them or I will take them!" He immediately took them out, and I said, "Now you do the remaining work, you have taken the money! I am going. You push the coffin in, put in the mud, cover it, do whatever you want -- but I have...

... been receiving radiation continuously, of a different world, vibrations .... So give him a new set of clothes, his old set is torn, too old. This will be your gratitude. So Buddha's statement will be, "It is better to receive than to give." The giver is a poor man, he has nothing else than money. I was in Jaipur, one of the most beautiful cities of India. The man who was making Jaipur...

... so rich, he was far richer than the king. In creating Jaipur, the king had borrowed much money from Sohanlal Dugar. Nobody knew how much money that man had, because he had no books. He told me, "I don't have any books, so I don't pay any income tax. Nobody knows how much I have." And then I found out where his books were. He had written them in his bathroom on the walls, in a language...

... ten thousand rupees at my feet. He said, "You have to accept them!" I said, "But I don't need them right now. You can keep them on my behalf. Whenever I need them I will inform you, 'Send me the money.'" He said, "That cannot be done -- because I am a gambler. Today I have, tomorrow I may not have." He was one of the greatest gamblers you can conceive of. He was known...

... start releasing it very slowly in different places, so the prices don't fall. He said, "Today I have, tomorrow I may not have, so I cannot take that responsibility. You have to accept them right now." Seeing that I was not interested in accepting the money, because I don't have even pockets to keep it, so where to keep it? -- just to carry ten thousand rupees in my hands? ... I don't have...

... sitting by the side of my couch in the train. Anybody can take them; I cannot just remain watching them." He said, "Listen ..." He had tears in his eyes, and he was an old man, more than seventy. He said, "Listen, just look at my tears. I am a poor man, because I don't have anything except money." I have not forgotten his statement, I have not forgotten his tears. I have nothing...

... to say to such a man who says, "I am so poor, I have nothing but money, and if you reject money you reject me. Please don't reject me. It will become a wound in me. Nobody has ever rejected me!" So I said, "Okay. For your sake I take the money." I gave half the money to the organization that had arranged the meeting and had been arranging meetings for me for years, and the other...

... half I gave to Jaipur's library to purchase more and more agnostic literature, which is neither theist nor atheist, but purely of those who are inquirers, seekers. He came with me to leave me on the railway station. He said, "I am so happy that you accepted, although you gave it away -- but that is not my problem. It was your money, you have given it. You have accepted it, so I am at ease. I...

... have never felt so happy. You have made me so blissed out, I am grateful to you. Just one promise I want ..." I said, "You are now getting greedy!" He said, "I am greedy, otherwise why should I collect so much money? Just one promise ..." I said, "Let me first hear it." He said, "No. Do you want me to cry again?" I said, "No, I don't want that...

... three months you are going to be my guest." But the way he said, "I am the poorest man in the world because I don't have anything else than money. If you reject the money, you reject me. Don't do that to an old man, the wound may be fatal" -- this is far greater than this Christian statement: "It is better to give than to receive." I have a friend in Jabalpur, who is the...

... relative, but seeing possibilities they adopted me, they educated me. Now they are dead, and I am the sole owner of a great empire. Because I have so much money, I have raised my old family also to be very rich, my brothers, my cousin-brothers, my friends. The people I knew I have helped as much as possible. Whatever they wanted ... they all have beautiful cars, they all have beautiful houses, they have...

... on giving their beautiful girls? -- only beautiful girls are chosen by the priests, by the saints -- because, in India particularly, to have a daughter is to have a catastrophe. To get her married you may have to sell your house, your business, your land, everything. You have to give so much money, because the parents of the boy to whom you are marrying your daughter ask for money. They have...

... also is frustrated. All these frustrated people -- created by religion -- and then they are jealous! The wife is afraid. She is uneducated, has no financial position and has children. All the money is in the hands of the husband; she is just a commodity. Because you have reduced the woman into a commodity she is constantly watching where you are going, what you are doing. She is looking into your...

... ten-dollar bill out of his pocket, setting it on the table. "If he takes this money," says Jack smiling, "then he will grow up to be a banker." Then Jack takes a dusty old Bible off the bookshelf and sets it on the table next to the money. "Now," says Jack excitedly, "if he takes the Bible, for sure he will grow up to be a great TV evangelist like Jimmy Bakker...

... contents. Suddenly, in one motion, he stuffs the money in his pocket, sticks the Bible under his arm, grabs the whiskey bottle by the neck and walks out of the room, whistling. "My goodness," says Mrs. Jerk, "what does that mean he will grow up to be?" "Ah!" cries her husband, "it means he is going to be a politician!" Justice Dung is the presiding judge in a case...

... the lotus starts growing -- a sunrise, and the lotus opens its petals, and on its petals you can see beautiful dewdrops shining in the morning sun with such glory, such splendor, that even pearls will feel jealous. At this moment you are the most blessed people on the earth. The whole world is looking for mundane things -- for very ordinary, mediocre, outward commodities: money, power, prestige. All...

... only one Jew in France who was for Zionist venture was Rothschild, because of oil and the Suez Canal Extortion of money They would send $8 billion dollars to Israel, tax exempt, tax deductible, which would cause $7 billion shortage in the U.S. Treasury So why do you let these people send their money over there to buy guns to drive people out of their ancient homeland? There has never been persecution...

... of "Jews" for their religion Jews have been driven out of England for 400 years because in the Christian faith and the Moslem faith usury is a sin King Edward the First declared himself a fifty-percent partner of the money lenders But it got worse and worse and the king finally had drive the Jews out When Russia, in 920 was formed, most of the well-to-do Khazars fled to Western Europe When they...

... have money they become tyrants. And when they become defeated, they become ruthless. They're only barbarians What right did they have to take over Russia the way they did? Lenin: "Wait for the right time, and then give them everything you've got" Jews conceived and created and cultivated the Communist movement Statement of support of Israeli agression by Kennedy Do you call the return of people to...

... didn't like the Czar, and they didn't want Russia to win this war. So the German bankers — the German-Jews — Kuhn Loeb and the other big banking firms in the United States refused to finance France or England to the extent of one dollar. They stood aside and they said: “As long as France and England are tied up with Russia, not one cent!” But they poured money into Germany, they...

... economy, because they had come in and with cheap money — you know the way the Mark was devalued — they bought up practically everything. When Germany refused to surrender to the World Conference of Jews, Jews declare a "Holy War" against Germany Well, in 1933 when Germany refused to surrender, mind you, to the World Conference of Jews in Amsterdam, they broke up and Mr. Untermeyer came back...

... boycott against us and throw all our people out of work, and our industries come to a standstill? Who are they to do that to us?" They naturally resented it. Certainly they painted swastikas on stores owned by Jews. Why should a German go in and give their money to a storekeeper who was part of a boycott who was going to starve Germany into surrender into the Jews of the world, who were going to dictate...

... dollars of your money for defense, they say. Defense against whom? Defense against 40,000 little Jews in Moscow that took over Russia, and then, in their devious ways, took over control of many other governments of the world. Now, for this country to now be on the verge of a Third World War, from which we cannot emerge a victor, is something that staggers my imagination. I know that nuclear bombs are...

... naturally bribed them, shut them up with money, stuffed their mouths with money, and now... I don't care whether you know all this or not. It doesn't make any difference to me whether you know all these facts or not, but it does make a difference to me. I've got, in my family, boys that will have to be in the next war, and I don't want them to go and fight and die... like they died in Korea. Like they...

... light fires. Many of the other active persons in this fight learned all about it for the first time through "Common Sense". Now, I have been very active in helping him all I could. I'm not as flush as I was. I cannot go on spending the money... I'm not going to take up a collection. Don't worry. I see five people getting up to leave. (laughter) I haven't got the money that I used to spend. I used to...

... thing in the whole world, as a death-blow to the fight Christians are making to survive. So I just want to tell you this. All they do is circulate rumors: "Mr. Benjamin H. Freedman is the wealthy backer of 'Common Sense'." The reason they do that is to discourage the people in the United States: don't send any money to Common Sense. They don't need it. The've got the wealthy Mr. Freedman as a backer...

... get it could buy ten or twenty five, or fifty, give them around. Plow that field. Sow those seeds, you don't know which will take root, but for God's sake, this is our last chance. (Freedman then discusses the importance of people forgoing unnecessary purchases to 'buy more stuff', play golf, etc., and use the money to keep "Common Sense" going. He explains that the paper is going in debt; could be...

... Canal So the same disunity is among the Jews. And I'll show you in this same document that when they went to France to try and get the French government to back that Zionist venture, there was only one Jew in France who was for it. That was Rothschild, and they did it because they were interested in the oil and the Suez Canal. Extortion of money [Question inaudible] Freedman: You know why? Because if...

.... Treasury as income tax. So what happens? That seven billion dollars deficit — that air pocket — the gullible Christians have to make up. They put a bigger tax on gasor bread or corporation tax. Somebody has to pay the housekeeping expenses for the government. So why do you let these people send their money over there to buy guns to drive people out of their ancient homeland? So why do you let...

... these people send their money over there to buy guns to drive people out of their ancient homeland? And you say, "Oh, well. The poor Jews. They have no place to go and they've been persecuted all their lives". There has never been persecution of "Jews" for their religion They've never been persecuted for their religion. And I wish I had two rows of Rabbis here to challenge me. Never once, in all of...

... Jew. But do you know why they were driven out? Because in the Christian faith and the Moslem faith it's a sin to charge 'rent' for the use of money. In other words - what we call interest [usury] is a sin. So the Jews had a monopoly in England and they charged so much interest, and when the Lords and Dukes couldn't pay, they [Jews] foreclosed. And they were creating so much trouble that the king of...

... England finally made himself their partner, because when they came to foreclose, some of these dukes bumped off the Jews... the money-lenders. So the king finally said — and this is all in history, look up Tianson [Tennyson?] or Rourke, the History of the Jews in England; two books you can find in your library. King Edward the First declared himself a fifty-percent partner of the money lenders...

... When the king found out what the trouble was all about, and how much money they were making, he declared himself a fifty-percent partner of the money lenders. Edward the First. And for many years, one-third of the revenues of the British Treasury came from the fifty-percent interest in money-lending by the Jews. But it got worse and worse and the king finally had drive the Jews out But it got worse...

... and worse. So much worse that when the Lords and Dukes kept killing the money-lenders, the King then said, "I declare myself the heir of all the money-lenders. If they're killed you have to pay me, because I'm his sole heir". That made so much trouble, because the King had to go out and collect the money with an army, so he told the Jews to get out. There were 15,000 of them, and they had to get out...

... they were endowed. When Benjamin Franklin referred to them as Jews because that's the name that they went by, and when the Christians first heard that these people who were fleeing from Russia — who they were — that they had practiced this Talmudic faith — the Christians in Western Europe said, "They must be the remnants of the lost ten tribes!" When they have money they become...

...... they say it themselves. I can give you half a dozen books they've written in which they say the same thing: When they have money they become tyrants. And when they become defeated, they become ruthless. They're only barbarians. They're the descendants of Asiatic Mongols and they will do anything to accomplish their purpose. What right did they have to take over Russia the way they did? What right did...

.... SANSARA, the world, is nothing but an effort to fill this inner vacuum. Fill it with money, fill it with women, fill it with men, fill it with power, fill it with anything - big houses, fill it with fame - but fill it. Go on throwing things into it - so one day you can feel you are not just nothing, you ARE somebody, you ARE something. But it never happens, it CANNOT happen. Because the abyss is...

... - anything! Can you fill it?' And the emperor said, 'Yes! You seem to be mad! Why can't it be filled?' He called one of his viziers and told the vizier, 'You fill this man's begging-bowl with money.' And the vizier went. It was a small begging-bowl, but soon the king was getting afraid. Money was being poured, and the moment you would pour it, it would disappear. And the begging-bowl remained empty, and...

... you forgot your inner nothingness. Now, the desire fulfilled, the car in the porch, the woman in your bed, the money in your bank-balance - again, excitement disappears. Again the emptiness is there, yawning within you, ready to eat you up. Again you have to create another desire, to escape from this yawning abyss, from this death that is waiting for you there. It can swallow you in a single moment...

..., you may not even say it to yourself, you may not accept it. Because it is so frightening, that you had been working for seven years to raise enough money to purchase a house - now you have purchased the beautiful house in the mountains, and suddenly, the moment the house is yours and you have the papers in your hands, you are no more in-terested. But this is how things are - an intelligent person...

.... Arrange a group, and I will give you all the money needed. Yes, this peak HAS to be conquered. Standing there, just in front of us, it is a challenge.' The priest tried to convince the king that it is futile - 'Even if we climb it, what is going to happen?' He said, 'That is not the point. Who bothers about what is going to happen? The climb itself is going to be beautiful.' And the valley was agog. And...

... thousand by-paths. Somebody may go away through money, somebody may go through power, somebody may go through sex, somebody may go through alcohol, drugs - a thousand paths, by-paths. But they basically belong to one direction - going without, going withoutwards, going outside. Going farther and farther away from the center towards the periphery. And that periphery exists not. So you go on and on and on...

... disappeared. A religious person is a desireless person. And remember, let me remind you again: Don't start desiring desirelessness. A religious person is one who has known 'I am not'. When 'I am not', then what is the point of going on collecting things called MINE? It is 'I' that goes on collecting things which are mine - 'my house, my wife, my husband, my money, my prestige, my respectability, my church...

... not renounced anything. Because the basic disease still exists. It used to claim money before, now it claims renunciation. But the 'I', the ego, is still there. Hence, Hui-neng is right: 'All doctrine by nature is dark.' Don't create doctrines; Zen is against all doctrines. Zen says: Just look into reality, that's enough. That's why no scripture is needed. Zen says: Burn all scriptures - because...

... scriptures will just put new ideas into your head, for new peaks to be climbed. Scriptures will give you new desires, new objects, for your becoming, for TANHA. Here you get finished - one day you understand that it is meaningless to rush for money - but then you start rushing for meditation. One day you start seeing the pointlessness of this world. Then you start thinking of God. Desire has moved, but not...

... may be called love, your play may be called politics, your play may be called money. You may be playing in the market, or in New Delhi or in Washington - but if you are still playing then you are childish. If you are still involved in games and taking games very seriously - taking games so seriously that you are ready to fight, kill or be killed - then you are very childish, you are not a grown-up...

.... And the intelligent mind is in tune with the river of life, flows with it. A preoccupied mind is playing games, and playing them very seriously. You can go into the marketplace and see people playing the game of money, and very seriously. And they will die and all the money will be left here - and while they were here they played the game so seriously. Go into a capital town and see how people are...

..., you still chop wood, you still carry water - but with great serenity. You still laugh, you still love - but with a totally different quality. Now nothing matters. If the woman leaves you, you say good-bye with great gratitude. If your money is stolen, you say, 'Okay, somebody must have needed it.' You are not serious any more, that's all. That seriousness has disappeared. You still continue to play...

... 'mine' we create an 'I'. The more you have, the more you can call 'my', the bigger 'I' you will have. The bigger the territory of the 'my', the stronger will be the 'I'. So when you are a president of a country, you have an 'I' like a tower touching heaven. When you are no more a president of a country, you shrink; that tower disappears, you become just a stump of a cut tree. When you have money you...

... walk with strength. When the money disappears you start wavering. When you have money in your pocket you don't feel so cold, money gives such warmth. When the money disappears from the pocket, suddenly you feel cold and shivering. The warmth is gone, the heat is gone, the energy is gone. Those children are playing, and each is defending his castle, and the castle is made of sand. All castles are made...

... castle: you say, 'Come on, all of you! and help me to punish this man.' And yes, people will come and help you, because they have to protect THEIR castles too. So this is an agreement; that's how you punish the criminal. That's how thousands of people are in the prisons being punished by you all, because they disturbed somebody's castle. Somebody has stolen somebody's money, or somebody has taken...

... your money, he has taken somebody else's money - but all those who are there will jump on him, will beat him, throw him on the ground and stamp on him. And they will say, 'He is a thief. We have to punish him.' But why are you punishing? - he has not taken your money. No, he has not taken your money, but he is a danger - if you allow him to take somebody else's money, some day he is going to take...

... your money too. Then. So it is better to be cautious, it is better to prevent it from the very beginning. Hence the law exists. The law is always in favour of the owners, the law is always in favour of the people who have property, the law is always capitalistic. It makes no difference - even in Russia, where capitalism has disappeared, the law is all for the state, because now the state owns...

... now! They are exploiting in as many ways as possible. You will not believe it, but even today in India there are five million human beings almost functioning as slaves. They are called bonded laborers. Rich people give them money in advance, and then they give them work, dangerous work in coal mines, in marble mines, and they are paid such a small amount of money per day that they are not able to...

... back that one-thousand-rupee advance, and until he pays that he has to remain in the coal mine. People have suffered their whole lives in a strange, tricky slavery. Now, nobody can directly call them slaves, but the fact is they are bonded laborers; they will die, they will never get the money to pay the advance. The advance is given just the same way as in the past human beings were auctioned. You...

... seers were not poor people; they had many wives, they had plenty of land, and their disciples worked on the land to pay for their discipleship. They gathered much money, and that money was used to purchase women. Gadiwan Raikva was one of the most famous self-styled, so-called saints. What kind of saint is ready to purchase human beings as a commodity? But because he was defeated and the king gave...

... more money for the woman, he was very angry -- and all these people have been saying, "Don't be angry, don't be greedy." He was waiting for his chance to take revenge -- and these people have been talking about, "Drop all revengefulness, be kind, be compassionate, love your enemies." After many years the king who had purchased the woman became fed up with his kingdom and riches...

... and the whole crowd of women, and he wanted some peace of mind. Forgetting the incident that had happened twenty years before, he went to Gadiwan Raikva to find some peace of mind, taking lots of money, diamonds, emeralds, rubies, to offer to the saint. He had taken with him his prime minister. He touched the feet of Gadiwan Raikva and offered the whole lot of money. But Gadiwan Raikva was still...

... boiling with rage. Twenty years had not made any difference, the fire was still alive. He pushed aside the king and said, "Get lost, and take all your money!" The king could not believe it. He asked his prime minister, "What is the matter? Why is this man behaving so angrily? I used to think he was a great saint." The prime minister said, "He is a great saint, but you don't...

... nothing to do with anybody else; there is no question of any revolution. Mohammed said to his disciples -- and they are still following his idea and being poor -- he told his disciples one of the most absurd ideas: "You should not take interest on money, and you should not give interest on money." Now the whole world of economics depends on interest. The more the money moves, the more money...

... you have. That's why another name for money is currency: it has to be a current, continuously moving. But why should it move if I am not going to gain any interest on it? Why should I give it to anybody and take the risk? He may not return it. So Mohammedans don't give interest on money, they don't take interest on money. Their whole economics is basically false, goes against the whole science of...

... economics. The game of money depends on interest. Mohammedans have remained poor, utterly poor, and they are still following an out-of-date idea, thinking it is something spiritual. All the religions are against money. All the religions are praising the poor. When you praise the poor, you are destroying all his possibilities of becoming rich. When you talk against money, you create a non-productive...

... convert anybody to Brahmanism. Neither are the warriors, the kshatriyas, willing to accept anyone -- they are high caste -- nor the business people; they are the richest people. They don't want anybody to be converted, unnecessarily sharing their money. The only class that remains is the sudras. But nobody would like to be converted to be a sudra, because they have a definite work to do: cleaning the...

... be carried by people. He does not need to walk! He's not crippled, he's rich." On one hand, millions and millions are dying of starvation, and on the other hand, a few people have gathered all the money. Even their children have to be carried, because they can afford it. On one hand people are dying in the streets.... In the cold winter, three million Americans are living on the streets...

... bishop. But the parrot died. It was a great despair how to find another such parrot, but he went to the pet shop and he told the sad story of his parrot dying. The shopkeeper said, "It will cost much, but I have the right parrot for you -- far more refined than the one that has died." The bishop said, "Money is not the problem. You just show me the parrot." He took the bishop inside...

... tendency." And in the whole eternity ... having no fun. The psychologists say that poor people create more children for the simple reason that they don't have any other fun. To go to the cinema you need money, to go to the circus you need money, to go to Chowpatty Beach you need money. Wherever there is fun, you need money. So just go to bed -- that is the only fun without money, nobody asks for...

... money. What is God doing? -- neither can he go to Chowpatty nor can he go to a circus nor to a cinema hall. Sitting eternally bored.... Just created one son? It has many implications: perhaps he was so frustrated with this one son that he became a celibate -- "I am not going to create any more idiots." Jesus was teaching on the earth for just three years. His age was only thirty-three, and...

... it, so whenever they saw some beggar standing before his house they knew -- "This man seems to be new, from some other village. Tell him, `You won't get anything from there.'" The man's wife was dying, but he wouldn't call the doctor. He had one friend only, because to have many friends means unnecessary insecurity -- somebody may ask for money, somebody may ask for something. He had only...

... die, she is going to die. You will unnecessarily put me in trouble ... paying the fee to the doctor for the medicine, this and that. I am a religious man, and if she is not going to die she will recover without any doctor. The real doctor is God, nobody else. And I believe in God because he never asks for a fee or anything." The wife died. His friend said, "Look, just for a little money...

... you didn't call a doctor." He said, "Little money? Money is money; it is never a question of a little. And death comes to everybody." The friend was a little angry. He said, "This is too much. I am also a miser, but if my wife is dying at least I will call a pharmacist -- but I will call somebody. But you are really hard. What are you going to do with all this money?" He...

...;Friendship is one thing, but this secret I cannot tell. And the secret is such that you cannot use it when you are dying -- it has to be used before, because you have to carry all your money and all your gold and diamonds and everything to the river." He said, "What do you mean?" He said, "Yes, and go into a small boat in the middle of the river and jump with all your money and be...

... drowned -- so you have taken it. Try! Nobody has tried. If you don't succeed there is no harm, because everybody goes without it. If you succeed, then you will be the pioneer, the first one who reaches paradise with his whole bag of money. And all those saints will be looking with wide-open eyes -- `This man has done something!'" But the friend said, "That means you have to die." He said...

..., "Naturally, and you have to be in good health. When you are dying, then it will be very difficult to carry that heavy load. I am going to do it soon, because my wife is gone, now nobody is there." But even if you jump in the ocean with all your money, the money will remain in the ocean, your body will remain in the ocean. You will have to go alone, alone just as consciousness. Nothing...

... they will be the second highest class. And money he has given to the third: the businessmen, the vaishyas. To the fourth he has given nothing -- except slavery. You can see the cunningness... he divides. He does not give money to brahmins, or temporal power, because then three-fourths of the society will be against them, and it will not be possible to control. And if they have also spiritual power...

..., material power, money, then there will be resentment, anger, violence -- there will be riots. So to brahmins he gives the holy power -- they are the highest, the holiest -- but he does not give anything temporal to them. He gives the temporal power to the warriors. It is satisfying, because they are going to be the kings; brahmins cannot be the kings. And who cares about spiritual power? So let them have...

... spiritual power; it is almost like having nothing, just a nominal quality of being superior, so the warriors are not angry about it. On the contrary, they are happy that one-fourth of the society will never be in conflict with them -- they are already higher, they have nothing more to gain. And the warriors are the most powerful people. To the third he gives money and all other worldly things. These are...

... the people who cannot fight, who are not warriors -- but they can earn money, they can produce wealth. You will be surprised to know that in India all the kings, before India became a slave country, were indebted to the rich people. From where are they going to get money? -- just by borrowing. They can pay when they invade some other country; otherwise they have to borrow from the business people...

.... And the business people are happy; they have all the material things, money... Not only that, kings are borrowing from them, brahmins have to depend on them for everything -- so let them believe that they are higher... but basically the business people hold the power, they have the money. And against these three classes the poor fourth has no power to fight. They are deprived of all education...

..., deprived even of living in the city; they have to live outside the town. They cannot take water from the city well -- they have to make their own wells or carry water from the river. They are completely cut off from the society. They have just to come and serve, and do all the ugliest things that nobody else wants to do. And three powerful sections are there to go on repressing them; they have money...

... orthodox. He believes that every single word in THE BIBLE is holy, is from God's own mouth. They were in conspiracy together to destroy the commune. Just the other day I received the news that now they are making a memorial in The Dalles; bishops and politicians and all kinds of leading, prominent citizens are contributing money -- a big memorial, a memorial that they have become victorious, that they...

... the whole mess. Man is full if he is in tune with the universe; if he is not in tune with the universe then he is empty, utterly empty. And out of that emptiness comes greed. Greed is to fill it: by money, by houses, by furniture, by friends, by lovers -- by anything, because one cannot live as emptiness. It is horrifying, it is a ghost life. If you are empty and there is nothing inside you, it is...

..., `Where are you taking the bicycle?' "I can leave it anywhere. I go to see a movie -- I don't put it on a bicycle stand, because then you have to pay money. I put it anywhere, and it is always there -- when I come back it is always there. Everybody knows that it is a trouble. And even if you can get it to your home you cannot ride on it in the city -- you will be caught. So it is better not to...

... simply means you do not live just to collect things. Whenever you need something you can have it. But there are mad people all over the world, and they are collecting... Somebody is collecting money although he never uses it. That is strange. In the commune, we had made a sticker for cars: "Moses earns, Jesus saves, Osho spends." A thing has to be a utility; if it is not a utility then there...

... be existential. Let go, and move closer to existence in silence and peace, in meditation. And one day you will see you are so full -- overfull, overflowing -- of joy, of blissfulness, of benediction. You have so much of it that you can give it to the whole world and yet it will not be exhausted. That day, for the first time you will not feel any greed -- for money, for food, for things, for...