..., but ego is there. And don't think only the house-holder is egoistic, and not the sannyasin. Even a sannyasin has his ego. However, if I give up every. thing that makes up and strengthens the ego; if I give up money, family, relationships; if I renounce all the props of my ego, my ego will be left without any support. But even then the "I" will not disappear; it will now cling to itself, to...

... its own pure I-ness. This is the most subtle form of "I", the one that comes through the process of negation. And many people get stuck there and remain hung up on it, because this "I" is subtle, invisible. A rich person's ego is gross and loud: he says he owns so much money. The ego of a sannyasin, a renunciate, is subtle, invisible, but it is there; he says he has renounced so...

... much money. A householder's ego is obvious: he has a house, a family, possessions. These are the ingredients of his ego and its signposts too. But even a monk has his monastery, his ashram, his family of disciples. And besides, he is either a Hindu monk or a Christian monk or a Mohammedan monk. A monk has his own things that bind him and feed his ego; he too is stuck somewhere. But his ego is subtle...

... postponement. That is why no community of seekers could grow around him it was not in the very nature of things. As far as a seeker is concerned, he very much likes to play with methods. He will say it is very difficult to part with the ego, but he can part with his money if it is going to help. But Krishna is not going to oblige you. He will say parting with money won't do, because your disease will...

... reached the town where his future master was living as a nobody. His chariot halted in front of a hotel, where he found him under a scorching midday sun, a young man begging a little money from the hotel manager to buy himself a pair of sandals. He was pointing to his bare and bleeding feet, lacerated with wounds. The prime minister stepped down from the chariot and approached the young beggar. He took...

... God is the whole. You cannot look at God because whatsoever you look at will be a part, remember it. I can understand your problem. When you start searching for God you are searching for a direction, you are searching for a goal. Before you were searching for money, now you are searching for God. Money was a goal, or power; now God is the goal. You have not changed: money was in the future, God is...

... in the future. Money was in a certain direction, God is in a certain direction. You have not changed much, nothing has changed. You have only changed the object of your desire. Direction means desiring. Desire creates the direction. First you were going towards the marketplace, you were going to Wall Street; now you are going to the Himalayas - but still going, going somewhere. Wall Street has been...

..., people throwing tomatoes and banana peels on him, abusing in every way, spitting on him, and he says, "Father, forgive these people because they don't know what they are doing. They are unconscious, they are unaware, they are not awake. All that they are doing is in a kind of dream. Forgive them." THIS is miracle. Jesus driving the money-changers from the temple is a miracle. A man of...

... compassion, a man of love, is so enraged that he takes a whip in his hand and chases the money-changers out of the temple. This is miracle. Compassion can become such that even if it has to be anger, it is ready to go to that length - this is miracle. Walking on the water is not a miracle. Turning stones into bread is not a miracle. These are stories to satisfy the stupid, the mediocre. But Christ dared to...

... he dropped his penny in the box. Richard's quotation was, 'The Lord loveth a cheerful giver.' This too was well received. And so on down the line to little Lloyd. As he grudgingly made his contribution, he mumbled, 'A fool and his money are soon parted.' Now all three boys had looked in the Bible, in the same Bible, but they had found three different quotes. When you look, you always find something...

... all these luxuries, a deep jealousy must have arisen in them which was not visible to them. and whenever people are very indulgent they have a religious idea that people who are indulgent are not religious. How can they be religious? They are indulgent. So people who are religious must be far away from all kinds of indulgence. If you are too much of a money maniac, then you will have an idea that...

... the real man of God will not have any desire for money. This has to be understood. You always put the opposite higher than you because you condemn yourself utterly. You know that you are mad about money, so immediately the idea comes, 'So he is just like me. He is nothing special. He is just like me.' If you are too sexual, if your mind is continuously fantasising about sex and you see Junaid...

... prepare good food for themselves and invite friends. When the Mohammedans' religious function comes, they will wear new clothes because that is the only time they purchase or they can purchase. Then the whole year they will use the same clothes. And they will prepare good sweets. delicious foods, invite people. Those days will be of great joy. And they will spend money. They cannot afford to spend money...

... very difficult to not drink without becoming a saint. Then they want everybody to stop drinking. Now he is proposing prohibition of all alcohol. That has been the poor Russian's only relaxation, only enjoyment, only entertainment -- vodka. Otherwise he has no beautiful car, no house, nowhere to go, no money... it was vodka that was keeping him alive! At least in the evening he can drink, and with his...

... and the politician has no money, so they go together well. But at least the capitalist has no power, so he cannot harass people; and the politician depends on votes, so he has also to be aware not to harass people too much; otherwise they won't give him their votes. In a communist country the state is both: it is the only capitalist -- it owns everything in the country -- and it has all the power...

... foreign money to be invested in the Soviet Union, on the condition -- this is my prediction -- on the condition that foreign money will not be nationalized, that the foreign money will be available to the outside owners and they can take it back any time they want. This is the only way left for him to make the social economy of the Soviet Union rise higher. But this will create the capitalist class...

... second! You have the tremendous responsibility of protecting a great experiment that has never been done before. Yes, it is true: they are less conditioned, simpler people; hence they can more easily enter into the world of no-mind. The Zorba is there; I can introduce the Buddha also. But Gorbachev has no idea of the Buddha. His eyes are fixed on America and American money, and American capitalism's...

...! Missing half an hour? You will lose the gold medal." I said, "Who cares about the gold medal? And if you are so interested you can give me a gold medal. You want me to have a gold medal on my chest? give me a gold medal! You can manage it, you have enough money." He said, "You don't understand; it is not just a question of a gold medal, it is a question of topping the whole...

... read any copy of any examinee. To one intelligent student who was trustworthy, who wouldn't say anything to anybody, I just said, "You will get half the money. Just check all these books, and remember nobody is to be failed, so everybody gets above the thirty-three mark. And nobody gets above sixty percent because I think nobody is that capable. So these are the limits, thirty-three to sixty...

... to borrow money and immediately rush there, and I told that man, "No book should go from here." Those books had seals with a certain man's name and address, and finally the police came. I said, "Yes, these are the books, and I have purchased them from the Thieves' Market. In the first place this man is almost ninety years old - he will be dying soon." The police inspector said...

... to me, "What are you arguing about?" I said, "I am simply making things clear to you. This man is going to die sooner or later; these books will be rotten. I can give you these books, but you have to give one hundred and fifty rupees to somebody, because I have borrowed the money. And in fact you cannot catch me because that shopkeeper is there; he will be a witness for me that the...

.... You will be surprised that comparison is not just to do with money or power, but can be about anything. In my childhood, just as girls in India had earrings - and now that disease is spreading in the West too - in my childhood rich people's boys used to have earrings also. My ears still have the marks of those old holes. I resisted very much but I was too small, and my parents said, "It doesn't...

... have been saved." Competition in everything, strange things.... If you are living in a commune or a community of hippies, then the dirtier you are, the greater you are. What I mean to explain to you is that it has nothing to do with money or power or anything in particular. It can be to do with anything, and you can use it to feel superior or inferior. Now the hippy who never takes a bath is...

.... Greed means now you feel excited only, sexually excited, with money - money is your object of love. It may become politics; then power is your object of love. Then you are simply living an unnatural life, because power cannot fulfill your love, neither can money fulfill your love. But you have completely forgotten what has happened, why you have become so much interested in money. Why do people cling...

... to money so deeply? Use the money, but don't cling to it. Why do people become so ambitious? And why is there so much sexual perversion in the world? It is because of repression. Every repression destroys something in you. Gino went to an optometrist and asked for a new pair of glasses. "But you just got a new pair last week." "I know," said Gino, "but I got them-a broken...

... example, you cannot ask your public people; they depend on you, their respectability depends on you. If a senator says he is a homosexual, perhaps next election he is gone. But as far as I am concerned, I am not dependent on anybody in the whole world -- not even your God. So I can simply be true. Only I can be true -- anybody who is dependent cannot be true. Q: I MIGHT ASK YOU HOW MUCH MONEY YOU HAVE...

... format, for the simple reason that I don't come to you or to my people with any answers ready -- your question creates the response in me. So if I know, I will tell you. If I don't know, I will tell you I don't know anything about it. Q: A SANNYASIN MY FEEL THAT PERHAPS THE MONEY SHOULD BE USED DIFFERENTLY. HOW WOULD THAT PERSON MAKE IT KNOWN TO YOU THAT HE HAS RESERVATIONS ABOUT THE WAY MONEY IS SPENT...

...? A: I have nothing to do with money, and I have nothing to do with how it is spent. Q: HAVE YOU NO INFLUENCE IN THE WAY MONEY IS SPENT? A: No, I have no influence, no information -- that is different corporations, different corporation heads; they have to settle their own things. Q: I THINK WHEN YOU SAY THAT, PEOPLE ON THE OUTSIDE SIMPLY DON'T BELIEVE IT. A: That is their business.... By not...

... WHO HAS NO MONEY TO PAY HIS ELECTRIC BILL TONIGHT; WHAT CAN HE DO? A: He should go to the church and first ask the priest there to give him food. Ask your god, ask your savior -- he has been saying that he is coming back. Two thousand years have passed and and he has not come back yet, so 'you give us'. And your savior was turning stones into bread, walking on water, raising the dead. So why can't...

... five copies were sold and these too, were bought by his friends. he lived all his life on the money his father left him for, for all the twenty four hours he was engrossed in his thoughts, in his search; where was the time to earn a living? Every first of the month, he would go to the bank and draw some money on which he lived the entire month. Then one day he was told that the money has finished...

.... Soren fell down at the door of the bank and died, because there was no hope of money coming from any other source. For a full hundred years, no one remembered Soren Kierkegaard. no one knew either his books or even his name. Now since the last 30-40 years, he has been rediscovered. Today it can be said that the West has been greatly influenced by Soren Kierkegaard. People say, it will take hundreds of...

... return for he had no money. He would barter his paintings for a packet of cigarettes. Sixty years after his death when his genius was discovered people delved in to their junk-yards to take out his paintings. Some paintings were recovered from a tea-shop, some from a hotel where he must have had a meal. All these owners of his paintings became millionaires. Each painting drew a sum of five lacs of...

... rupees. Today only 200 of his paintings are available. Vincent Van Gogh was a painter of the highest calibre in the history of man. But it is now that he is acclaimed. In his life-time he went hungry three days in a week. His brother sent him money from which he ate four days in a week and spent the three days allowance to buy painting requisites. He was on the verge of death by the time he was 32 for...

... course, you have a motivation: you go to earn money. You come home; you have certain motivation: to rest. You eat food because you are hungry; there is a cause to it. You have come to me - there is a motivation; you are in search of something. It may be vague, clear, known, not known, but the motivation is there. But what can be the motivation of the total? It is unmotivated, it is desireles - because...

... is. Whatsoever we say is good is just according to a certain narrow mind. Whatsoever we say is bad is also according to a certain narrow mind. There is a Taoist fable: A man had a very beautiful horse, so precious that even the emperor was envious and jealous. Many times offers had come to him, and people were ready to pay whatsoever amount of money he expected or asked. But the old man would laugh...

... the whole situation, but it is a great blessing. Not only is your horse back, but twelve other horses! And we have never seen such beautifully strong horses. You will gather a lot of money." The old man said again, "Don't bother about whether it is a blessing or a calamity. Who knows? Future is unknown, and we should not say anything unless we know the future. You are again making the same...

... mistake. Just say,'The horse is back, and is back with twelve other horses,' that's all." They said, "Now don't try to befool us. We know you have gathered a lot of money." But after a week, the only son of the old man was teaching a horse, a wild horse, trying to tame it. He fell down from the horse. All over he was broken - many fractures. He was the only support of the old man, and the...

... capital punishment. The prison governor visited him on the morning of his execution. "Mr. Cohen," he said, "it will cost this country 100 pounds to hang you." "Bad business," said Abe. "Give me 95 pounds, and I will shoot myself." A businessman is a businessman. He goes on thinking in terms of business, in terms of money. He has become skillful about it. Just...

... daughter. If she has a boy, she gets 50,000; ifitisagirl, shegets35,000. Is that fair?" The father halted, while the look of anger on his face changed. "And if it is a miscarriage," he pleaded, "will you give her another chance? " Suddenly, the circumstances had changed. Now a seed of greed sprouts. He had come to murder, but just the mention of money and he had forgotten all...

... with food. Or he can become obsessed with money, with gold, with power. These are all ways to somehow feel significant. But nothing succeeds, everything fails. You can hope only while things are far away; when you achieve them, suddenly you see you have been chasing shadows. You are not feeling empty because you don't have much money. You are feeling empty because you have not yet encountered your...

... the personality; it becomes strengthened. Hence a great longing for respectability. You can attain it through money, you can attain it by renouncing money. You can attain it by eating too much or you can attain it by eating too little, by fasting. You can attain it by accumulating things or you can attain it by accumulating knowledge. But the whole idea is: you are looking in the others' eyes to see...

... Peter. "They have banded together, collected money, and employed engineers to install air- conditioning." If you have intelligence, awareness, even in hell you can manage to air-condition it. That's what I am doing. Can't you see the hell all around? But somehow I have got a few people banded together and we are trying to create a small heaven of our own. What to do? People have decided to...