... remind you, I am not a businessman. For the simple reason, I don't have even a bank account anywhere in the world. I don't have even pockets in my robe. I have not touched money for fifteen years. I remained in America for five years, but I have not seen a dollar bill. How can you call me a businessman? Perhaps you may have heard that I have ninety-three Rolls Royces. In fact, I don't have even a Honda...

... Royce, but being a miser he could not manage. At least when he dies we should bring a Rolls Royce to carry his dead body to the cemetery." The second son said, "You are just being stupid. For a dead man what difference does it make whether you are carrying him in a Rolls Royce, or in a Ford? It doesn't matter. The dead man is dead. He will never know the difference. Why waste money?"...

...; The third man said, "Even Ford will cost money. My suggestion is, we should phone to the municipal corporation, and they can bring their truck in which they go on throwing beggars and others into the cemetery. A dead man is dead, whether he is your father or your mother, it does not matter." Before the fourth was going to speak, the old man somehow managed to sit up in the bed and said...

..., "Wait! Just find out where my shoes are." They said, "But what you are going to do with shoes. You were going to die." The man said, "I am still alive. Just give me my shoes. I will walk to the cemetery. You are all for wasting money." Now this man, what do you think? If he dies he is going to be born, his whole life he must have repressed thousands of desires, even at...

... the point of death he is concerned about money. A man of meditation dies without any desires. He dies in silence. Hence there is no question of his being born in another form. And a man of meditation knows that death is a lie, that death has never happened; it only appears from the outside. You see somebody dying, from the outside, but you don't know that is happening inside the man. His inner being...

..., "Your mind is simply upside down. Just find a man!" I tried many people. Whomever I spoke to, he said, "Forget all about it. Why should I get involved in trouble?" But I managed to persuade one of my servants, because I told him, "You see, she has so much money. The husband has left much money. You cannot earn that money in many lives. Money, a ready-made beautiful girl...

... married to this rich man you have become rich. Don't forget, just two years before you were almost a beggar. He was earning then - he was never a beggar." And from her somehow my grandfather managed to get the name, and the servant was gone. When I tried to ask where he had gone, where he had been sent, nobody answered. I have never again seen the servant. They must have just given him some money...

... is getting into debt: nine million dollars he has spent on traveling. The last time he went to Australia, just two days before him the British queen had also gone to Australia. More money was spent on the pope's visit to Australia than on that of the queen of England. And these are the people who say, "Blessed are the poor." But finally, the Polack pope died and went to heaven with pomp...

... removed from office, the whole Catholic hierarchy and bureaucracy turned against that intelligent man. In the whole history of Christianity, perhaps he was the only pope who had some intelligence, some humanity, some understanding. At the same time, he ordered an investigation into the Vatican bank which would have shown that the bank was laundering hundreds of millions of dollars of Mafia heroin money...

... every year. These are your religious institutions. The Vatican bank itself, which is under the pope, is nothing but the greatest Mafia organization. Hundreds of millions of dollars of heroin money... They go on talking and preaching against drugs, while behind the curtain they are dealing in drugs themselves. He also ordered a meeting to announce that the church supported birth control. He was really...

... promoted Marcinkus, the head of the Vatican bank, to Archbishop, and made him part of his personal group. This is the man who was running all the Mafia heroin money through the bank. In 1982 Archbishop Marcinkus was involved in a huge financial scandal after an Italian bank collapsed. One of his business friends was found hanged beneath a London bridge. And another colleague, who was in jail on charges...

... interfere in the Vatican. And the pope was hiding the man inside the Vatican; the arrest warrant was waiting outside. These are your religious leaders. The Polack pope also strongly reprimanded priests around the world for their involvement in politics, but he himself ordered one hundred million dollars of Vatican money to go to the Solidarity group in Poland who were fighting the communist government. I...

... sophist teacher, Zeno... and he was not just a sophist, he was a genius. It is unfortunate that his genius became associated with sophistry because that was prevalent. You pay him money and he can prove anything -- anything in the world. You just say it, he has a price for it. He proved strange things which logicians have not been able to disprove even now, after two thousand years, and whatever he has...

... proof. This question was asked by one king, thinking that Zeno would not be able to prove this -- and he was ready to give any amount of money if Zeno should prove that the arrow does not move. Zeno proved that the arrow does not move, and even up to now there is no way to disprove him. His argument is that for movement, the arrow has to go from point 1 to point 2 to point 3 to point 4; obviously it...

... understand that competition is meaningless. You have to meditate deeply and recognize that you are not like anybody else. And competition can be only among similar people -- and everybody is dissimilar, unique. Once the competitive mind disappears, many things change in you; then you are not jealous. If somebody has a beautiful face and somebody has more money, and somebody has a more powerful body, you...

... simply accept the fact that a few trees are tall and a few trees are small. But existence accepts them all. The disappearance of competitiveness will also help you to get rid of greed. People go on accumulating -- they want to be in a better position than you, with more money than you, with everything better than you. And their whole life is wasted in that. Purification is almost going through a fire...

... has lived along the lines of non-possessiveness. That's why she has been delayed; now she is collecting money to come here to pay her respects. Geeta could not believe it. She was thinking that Ishida would be disturbed that her prophecy did not come true, or failed on the way. But an authentic seeker is not concerned with individuals. She told Geeta, "Don't feel worried and concerned. With...

... notices that one of his flock, Hamish McTavish, does not seem to have given any money to the church charities. The young priest decides to pay a call on Hamish, who is rumored to be very rich, and see if he can squeeze any money out of him. "The records show," says Father Fumble, "that you have never donated any money to our charities." "That's right," says Hamish. "...

... that you have not always been. He told me - he is a very nice heart, very childish and very loving - "I am disillusioned with money, with power, with love, with relationships..." I said, "You have to be disillusioned about one thing more." He looked at me - "What else is there to be disillusioned about?" I said to him, "This is the last disillusionment, this...

... rejoicing in his nature. Just not to leave you serious.... A Chinese laundryman living in San Francisco opens a savings account at the bank and goes regularly to deposit his profits. After several months he has saved up a considerable sum. One day, he comes into the bank and says that he wants to withdraw all his money. The clerk is surprised, so the Chinaman explains that he is about to get married and...

... go on his honeymoon. The manager is called and tries to persuade the man to just withdraw enough for his immediate requirements. He also explains that if he takes out all his money, he will lose the interest. But the Chinaman will not be persuaded and so eventually he walks out with all his money. A few weeks later, the bank manager meets the Chinaman on the street and asks him about his honeymoon...

...... all the power that they need, all the money that they need and still, inside there is nobody. The house is full of money, comforts, luxuries, but the master is missing. It was out of this urgency that they renounced power and went in search of peace. Ordinary people, naturally, don't have the power. They only look at powerful people from far away and think, "If I was also given the same honor...

... within you, is going to give you peace. Out of that peace will come your love; out of this peace will come your dance, your songs, your creativity. But just avoid the word 'power'. Right now you are only thinking about it. Thinking will not help. Thinking is perfectly good if you want to compete in the world for power, for money, for prestige, for respectability. But as far as settling in your being...

..., mind is absolutely useless. Hence, the whole effort here is to help you get out of the mind into meditation, out of thoughts into silence. Once you have tasted your inner being, all greed, desire for money, power, will simply evaporate. There is no comparison. You have found God himself within you; what more can you desire? Question 2: BELOVED MASTER, WHAT IS THIS UNIVERSE MADE OF, BESIDES THIS...

... type can manage to write everything. In fact it is the same person who one week writes about music, and another week about poetry, and another week about politics, using different names. I have been a journalist once, out of sheer necessity, otherwise I would not have suffered it. I had no money and my father wanted me to go to a science college. I was not interested in science, neither then nor now...

.... And he was so poor that I could understand that he would be risking too much. Nobody in my family had been well-educated. One of my uncles, my father's brother, was sent to university by my father, but had to be called back because there was not enough money to keep him there. My father was ready to send me to university. Naturally it was a sacrifice for him, and he wanted to do it in a businesslike...

... respectable words - a sannyasin." He was still shocked. "A sannyasin! Then why do you want to go to university?" I said, "I hate those professors, but naturally, first I have to know their profession so that my whole life I can condemn them perfectly." He said, "This is strange, going to university just to condemn it. I have to borrow money for you, mortgage my house for you...

... I saying? I just try to keep a check on you. "You were talking about how you had to take up journalism because your father had no money to support you." Before that? "When you are truly an authentic artist you become possessed." Right. "Not the journalistic type." Continue taking really exact notes. You have become a good writer. My father was always amazed whenever...

..., how to destroy the commune? The commune was a far superior version of communism. No dictatorship, no money -- in the commune there was no need for money. People donated to the commune, but as far as their needs were concerned, the commune was responsible to fulfill their needs. And the commune was living at a far better, higher standard than any American. The richest American was jealous of the...

... with such joy, such laughter, and they were working hard. All their needs were fulfilled. They had the whole commune centrally air-conditioned; they had everything that they wanted, and there was no exchange of money in the commune. This made the American government completely mad. They arrested me without any arrest warrant, and without showing me any reason for arresting me. Just a piece of paper...

... nuclear weapons. And Ronald Reagan has left the post of president, but he has given a budget of one and half trillion dollars to create more weapons. Now George Bush is at a loss -- from where to get this money? My criticism of American politicians is based not on my personal hurts -- they don't matter. At least to me they don't matter. But I am certainly hurt because of America's anti-human attitude...

... known anything like revolution against the social structure. And India is one of the poorest countries, but the poor are given the opium continuously, that "You are poor because of your past evil acts. It has nothing to do with the capitalist people; they have money because they did good deeds in the past." Now do you want shankaracharyas from India to be imported to the Soviet Union? They...

..., because who will ask him to make a portrait? Just look at his paintings! He said, "I have never done any portrait." The woman said, "I am willing to pay any amount of money. Don't bother about money, money does not matter." She was a widow of a super-rich American. Just to avoid the woman, Picasso said, "It will cost one million dollars." She said, "Agreed, start!"...

..., dissolving your separation from existence. The ocean of consciousness is without any waves, without any ripples. It is utterly calm and quiet. This moment you are the most blessed people on the earth, because everybody is concerned only with the trivia -- money, prestige, power. Nobody seems to be concerned to know themselves, and nobody seems to be concerned to know their eternity. This moment, now and...

... forests on reservations. And they are given pensions, because America is using their land - the whole country belongs to them... and they are very few so it is not much of a problem. It is better to give them money than to create the possibility of any revolt from them. Money is very destructive, when no work is given. Work makes you feel that you are doing something, you are worthy, you are...

... contributing to life, to existence, you are taking care of people whom you love. But no work is given to the Red Indians. That gives a feeling that they are not needed at all. If they die, the government will be happy, the nation will be happy, because that much pension will be saved. And what is he going to do with the money if he has no work? He will drink alcohol, he will gamble, he will go to the...

.... It is natural, there is nothing wrong in it. The rich man can afford it, the poor man is unnecessarily wasting his time. And not only time, but the poor man may start asking that medicine also should be given to him because he has no money. The rich man has to be kept. If he gets tired of one sickness, give him another sickness. Just put the idea in his mind - "I feel you are going to have a...

..., they become sick, the doctor's money has to be cut. He is not taking care well. Just the opposite of now: he will be paid to keep people healthy and if somebody falls sick, his pay will be cut. That will bring to the whole medical profession a totally different perspective." And that's how enlightened people have been giving new perspectives to people, which the people don't understand in the...

... beginning. People would not understand that you have to pay for health. Health is yours, what has the doctor to do with it? And the doctor has to lose money if you fall sick? That was absolutely right, though it looked strange. The same is the situation with the priests. If everybody was without guilt... That's what they think about me - that I am a dangerous man, because my whole effort is to make you...

... the legs, rising over people's heads, making them as if they are steps for you to climb higher. Your life is violent, and a violent life cannot be beautiful. You are merciless; only then can you become super-rich. You don't have any compassion; otherwise how can you exploit millions of people to such a stage that they are starving, and you are simply accumulating money which you cannot use? There is...

... same old problem: they cannot accept a lion; they are sheep, they are poor little men, hungry for money, power, prestige. They cannot tolerate a man who lives according to his own insight, according to his own awareness, who does not follow anybody, who has no scriptures and no religion. Such a man creates a great inferiority complex in millions of people. Otherwise, what harm am I doing to anybody...

... man's energies could rise higher and higher." He is coming very close to the point of meditation. Your energies are going outward to objects, to money, to power - and finally, if you become religious, to paradise, to God, but they are all out. So your energies are leaking out and the ultimate result is a feeling of utter emptiness, hollowness, unworthiness, failure. He is only thinking that the...