But they said, “It is only for three months, and we are having it because we have surplus money out of the festival, two and half million dollars. We have more, so we can share in some humanitarian work.” And this was a lie. They were even lying to me, because today I inquired and found that we are fifty-five million in debt. They wasted almost three million dollars and created unnecessary hostility, created some ugly publicity. We are not interested in publicity. We are certainly interested that whatever is the truth about us should be known by everyone, so nobody lives in deceptions, gossips. But we are not interested in publicity. We really want that we forget the whole world and the world forgets us and forgives us, so we can live here silently and peacefully and do our thing.

And then they made in Antelope a housing complex, and never told me exactly what are their intentions about it. I thought it must be for festival purposes, when more sannyasins are there. Only at the last date, next day they were going to have a press conference, and they had to inform me because I was going to be in the press conference. If I had been silent there was no need even to inform me. They informed me that they want to make that housing complex, which can accommodate five hundred people, and they have wasted almost two million dollars on it, they want to make it a AIDS home.

I said, “It is good that you are feeling so compassionate about people who are having AIDS, but you should think also of all the people around Antelope whose life will be in danger. You can put the whole life of Oregon in danger, because AIDS spreads not only by sex contact, it can spread, just by kissing. It can spread even by somebody’s tear. It can spread, somebody eating with a spoon is not sterilized and you use it. Saliva is a carrier.” I said, “This is not right. You are not only putting whole Oregon’s people in great danger, you are putting our own commune in danger. Our doctors will have to look after them. Our nurses will have to look after them. And the same doctors and the same nurses will be looking after the commune.”

I had to stop it. That’s why the great press conference that was going to happen did not happen. Instead, this great press conference is happening. That press conference would have been a curse. This is a blessing.

I would like the media people to spread the news to the farthest corner of the world, because I have my sannyasins around the world, almost more than one million. And these seven people have gone to Europe, and they can do harm to other sannyasins, other communes. They are expert in lying. So please let the message go throughout the world that a group of criminals has reached in Switzerland. Sheela and Puja are the leaders of the group, and they should be avoided more than AIDS!

Now you can ask any question if you have.

Mark Hendricks,

KOIN-TV, Channel 6, Portland (CBS Affiliated).

You said the commune is fifty-five million dollars in debt, that was your figure? Is that the result of negligence on the part of these people or criminal wrongdoing on the part of the people you mention?