This borrowing goes on century after century, generation after generation. Every disease goes on being inherited by the new generation. It is just a replica of the older generation, a reflection, a shadow, but it does not have its own originality. It is because of this you need a God, an ultimate guide. You cannot depend on your parents as you grow older. You start seeing their falsities, their lies. You start seeing that their advice is not perfect; they are fallible human beings. But the small child has believed in them as if they were infallible. It was not their mistake, it was the small child’s innocence; it trusted the father, the mother, who loved him. But finally he comes to know as he grows towards a little maturity that what these people say is not necessarily true.

One day I was playing – just must have been five or six years old. A man used to come to see my father. He was an utterly boring man, and my father was tired of him. So he called me and told me, that when I see that man is coming… “He will waste my time unnecessarily and then it is very difficult to get rid of him. I have to go out, saying to him, ‘Now I have some appointment.’ I have to go out unnecessarily, just to get rid of him. And sometimes it happens that he says, ‘I am coming with you, so on the way we can have good talk.’ And there is no talk, it is a monologue. He only talks, and tortures people.”

So my father said, “I am going inside. You just remain playing outside. And when he comes, simply say to him, ‘My father is out.”

And my father was teaching me continuously, “Never speak the untruth.” So I was shocked. It was contradictory.

So when the man came and asked me, “Where is your father?” I said, “He is in, but he says that he is out.”

My father heard it from inside, and the man entered with me, so he could not say anything in front of the man. When he was gone, after two or three hours, my father was really angry with me – not with the man.

He said, “I told you to tell him, ‘My father is out.’“

I said, “I repeated exactly the same thing. I told him the same thing: ‘My father says to tell you that he is out. But he is in, the truth is he is in.’ And you have been teaching me to be true whatever the consequence, so I am ready for the consequence. If you want to give me any punishment, give it, but remember, if truth is punished, truth is destroyed. Truth has to be rewarded. Give me some reward, so I can go on speaking the truth whatever happens.”

He looked at me and he said, “You are clever.”

I said, “That you already know. Just give me some reward. I have spoken the truth.”

And he had to give me some reward. He gave me a one rupee note. At that time one rupee was almost equal to twenty-five rupees today. You could live with a one rupee note for almost half a month. And he said, “Go and enjoy whatever you want to purchase.”

I said, “You have to remember this: if you tell me to speak a lie I am going to tell that person that you have told me to. I am not telling a lie. And each time you contradict yourself, you will have to reward me. So stop lying. If you don’t want that man, you should tell him directly, ‘I don’t have any time, and I don’t like your boring talk” because he is saying the same things again and again. Why are you afraid? Why do you have to tell a lie?”

He said, “The difficulty is, he is my best customer.”