When we were there, they had collected almost fifty thousand signatures. But as the commune disappeared, nobody was interested in giving them signatures. The campaign had been going very well. But it was going well because of us – that, they could not understand. Once we were not there, people said, “What is the need? The law has been there for years and there has been no trouble and the people you were afraid of are gone.”

They were so much afraid – as if we were going to take over Oregon! Because just jokingly I had said, “We are going to take the whole universe. What about Oregon? – I am not interested in small things.”

Now those politicians who had become great leaders have fallen back into the nobodies. Now they must be repenting, and remembering….

Niren was saying that there is a possibility: “If you want to come back we can get the commune again, because the defeated politicians will support us. And now everybody understands that our presence is necessary for people who are in power to remain in power.”

But I said, “Now, to start again in that desert from abc – I am not interested.”

I feel compassion for Frohnmeyer, and for Governor Atiyeh – poor fellows. They proved to be retarded, not understanding the ways of politics. I am not a politician but I can see it clearly: in politics you should not destroy your enemy completely. You should go on threatening him – that’s enough – because by his presence, there is immense support to you, from all those people who are afraid.

It is just a political strategy of your personality, of your old mind – which you are discarding, and getting into a new space, a new consciousness. The old mind will try in every way to imprison you. This is its strategy, to create resentment, jealousy. Once you get caught in jealousy and resentment, soon you will be back in the old prison.

And this is the last effort. Your old mind is putting everything at stake, so you have to be very alert.

Nobody is closer to me than anybody else. And there is no need for you to feel resentment against those people, who functionally have to be in my house. Or if you want me to start cleaning the house and the bathrooms, taking care of the library, taking care of the garden, I can do that. But then I will not be able to come in the morning to meet you, or in the evening to meet you.

In these mornings and evenings, if your heart rejoices with me, you are as close as anyone can be.

And you all can be as close as existence allows. There is no need to feel resentful about anybody. It only hurts you, not the person to whom you are resentful.

Don’t hurt yourself. And this shadow is going to disappear, you just have to be a little courageous, intelligent, alert.

You are lucky to be here. In the whole world there are five billion people. Out of five billion people, a few people are fortunate to be again in the golden atmosphere of a living master, of a Gautam Buddha.

I will tell you a small joke.