It has nothing to do with Jews crucifying him or the Romans crucifying him. Those are the visible facts, but the invisible truth is that he must have committed something really heinous – murder, rape – and the result is crucifixion. So crucifixion is not something to be worshipped; it is a condemnation.

Now for the Christian the same fact, the crucifixion of Jesus, makes him the greatest man on the earth because he suffered for humanity, he was crucified for you; to save you he gave his own life. That is their interpretation.

But the Jainas, Hindus and Buddhists will all explain that he is suffering from many past lives of crimes. “He is not giving his life to save anybody – because we don’t see anybody saved. Who is saved? He could not even save himself.”

One thing should always be remembered: don’t be bothered about facts. They can be interpreted this way or that way very convincingly, but facts belong to the mundane world. Truth is the thing you should concentrate on.

You have mentioned The New Yorker article about me and the commune. Perhaps they may not have ever written such a big article before – one hundred and fifty-six pages. And what they call facts are only the facts that the government has supplied to them. They have not asked me; otherwise for every fact there is a counter-fact. But it is easy not to ask both parties.

I have heard that Mulla Nasruddin in his old age became an honorary magistrate. His first case came up. He heard one side, and started writing the judgment.

The court clerk could not believe what was happening. He whispered in his ear, “Honorable magistrate, what are you doing? You have not heard the other side yet. They are waiting.”

Mulla Nasruddin said, “I am not going to hear anybody, because right now I am absolutely clear what the situation is, and if I hear the other side also I will become confused. And out of confusion, judgment will be very difficult.”

The New Yorker is simply presenting one side. I will give you a few facts on the other side so you can see how facts should not be decisive.

The land that we purchased for the commune had been for sale for almost half a century, and nobody had purchased it, because it was a desert. Not a single flower ever blossomed there, no cultivation was ever done; it was just a useless wasteland. And it was big – one hundred and twenty-six square miles, eighty-four thousand acres.