And don't tell anyone about the experience you have within the heart. Why? Why not tell this secret? Because this secret is such that whoever you tell it to will laugh. And it is possible that you are not yet capable of enduring the laughter of others. Whoever you tell this secret to will think you are mad. And it is possible that you are yet unripe, you are very new on the inner journey, so don't let the laughing of others put you in disarray. Don't let it people start calling you mad and you too begin to doubt  --  who knows?

 Man lives according to the opinions of others. You believe what people say. Where else will you find recognition? Right now you don't have the capacity, you don't have the awareness that you can find recognition within yourself. You find respect outside. This is why you are so eager that someone praise you, and you are so afraid that someone might insult you. There are so many people in the world who appear moral. It is not because they are moral. The whole reason is they are afraid of what people will say. They are fearful people. There is fear in their morality. If they are convinced that they will not be caught, that there is no way that they can be caught, then all these people will fall into immorality.

 This is why it ordinarily happens that when people get into power they become immoral. Lord Acton's famous statement is: 'Power corrupts and corrupts absolutely.' Not just partially but totally corrupts. Why? I both agree and disagree with Lord Acton's statement. Agree because the fact can be seen that power corrupts people. Good people  are corrupted as soon as they get into power. Simple direct people who you had never thought would be corrupted if they got in power. Moving into power immediately the hood springs up within them and poison glands emerge. What happens to people who get in power? So it seems that Acton's statement is factual that power corrupts people, because it is seen every day.

 Look at the disciples of Gandhi Baba. What have they been doing in this country for thirty years? They were good people. It cannot be said that they were bad people. As long as they were not in power no one could think that they would prove themselves bad. They neither drank nor ate meat. They wore homespun khadi, they wove with their hands, they spun the spinning wheel. No cigarettes, no betel, no tobacco. They followed vows and fasted. They served the country. They were good people  --  they were servants. Then what happened? How did their faces change when they got in power?

 So Acton's statement seems correct, still I say there is an error in it. And the error is that power does not pervert people, power merely uncovers peoples real face. Power does not pervert them, power only makes them naked. Before being in power the man was hidden in clothes, because before being in power he was afraid you would catch him. How much strength have you got? How much capacity? Arriving in power, strength comes into your hand. Then you can do what you want. Who is going to catch you? You are the one who catches people, who will catch you? The whole power is in your hand. And, 'the buffalo belongs to the one who holds the staff.' The staff of power convinces you that now you can do with open heart what you always wanted to do and could not do because you didn't have the power to do it. You would be caught.

 Power does not corrupt anyone. In my estimation only people who are corrupted are eager to get into power. But they haven't had a chance to  openly play their corruption. Their hands are weak. The heart is filled completely with fire, but they are afraid that if they reveal it now the little respect they have will also be taken. When you reach power who is going to take away your respect? When you are in power whatever you do is right. Whatever the powerful do is right. No law is enforced on the powerful, the powerful are above the law. The law is in force for everyone else. This is why it appears that power corrupts. Power does not corrupt. Power merely uncovers you. Power makes evident your naked picture: how you are, who you are, what you are.

 We want people's praises so we are moral. We are afraid of peoples insults so we move with thought and care to insure we are not insulted. We take every step with caution. This is why Gorakh says when you begin to feel the inner experience and you start to feel unconditional happiness and a waterfall of nectar bursts inside of you, don't tell anyone. Gorakh is saying something worth noting: don't reveal the secret. This is a new shoot emerging, people will jump on it and break it. And people are eager to break it because this shoot has not emerged in them; and "How are you so bold? We are all miserable and you have become happy." Jealousy will be provoked, terrible jealousy will be provoked. Perhaps you will not be able to endure their jealousy, if you are new on this inner journey.

 ... DON'T TALK OF THE SECRET...

 So when nectar begins surging up inside, flowers start blooming, don't tell it to anyone, quietly hold and protect it. Tell it to your master, tell it to your fellow disciples, tell it to those who can understand. But don't declare it to people. Don't start dancing on the streets when dance comes inside of you, otherwise the police will catch you and take you away. Your very family will take you to a psychotherapist, asking for injections, saying something has gone wrong with him. They will request electric shock treatment saying something is wrong with him. Does anyone dance in the street?

 Bertrand Russell went for the first time to an aboriginal society. A full moon night... and when the aboriginals started dancing and sounding the drums and playing cymbals, it arose in Russell's mind: how much civilized man has lost! What do we have in the name of civilization? We don't play drums, we don't play cymbals, nor is there any capacity for dancing left. The feet have forgotten how to dance. Russell wrote: that night under the full moon, seeing naked tribal people dancing beneath the trees a question arose in my heart, what have we gained in the name of progress? And he also wrote that if I return to London and start dancing in Trafalgar Square, I will be immediately apprehended. People will think I have gone mad.

 People think unhappiness is health and think bliss is insanity. Conditions have become so disturbed that only mad people laugh in this world, when do the rest, the sane and sensible people have time to laugh? The hearts of the sane have dried up. The sane  are entangled in counting money. The sane are climbing ladders of ambition. The sane say lets go to Delhi. Where is the leisure to laugh, to sing a couple of songs, to play an ektara, to dance beneath the stars in the shade of a tree, to look at the sun, to talk to the flowers, to hug the trees  --  where is the time? These are the last things when everything is complete  -- when there is money, power, prestige then we will sit under the trees. But this day never comes, it never has come, it never will come. You pass through this life crying and grumbling. As you come, so you go  --  come empty-handed, go empty-handed.

 So if ever the inner nectar takes birth in you and the inner taste starts coming to you... and it doesn't take time to come, just turn in and everything is present. You have turned your back on the river, this is why you are thirsty. Change your direction, turn your back on the world and face yourself. And you will be surprised: why were you thirsty for so long? You will cry because so much was wasted and you will laugh because it is so amazing that you were searching for what you have! You went in search of what you already have and you agonized and were troubled because you didn't find it. And you couldn't find it, because what is inside, you cannot find outside. It can be found where it is.

 But never say it  --  because the feeling to immediately declare arises in that moment, the feeling naturally arises  --  go and tell others, who are straying in the dark. But the straying ones will not agree with you so easily. Their egos have become part of their straying. If you go and tell them, "Don't stray off, you are wandering meaninglessly. Look I have attained. Look at me, look into my eyes." They will laugh. They will say, "One more man has been wasted. You have gone mad."

 The great Western psychologist R. D. Laing has come across a new discovery. Laing tried to demonstrate that in Western insane asylums there are many people who if they had been born sometime in the past in the countries of the East they would have been thought of as 'paramahansas'. The ones people called 'mast fakirs'  --  ecstatic saints, the ones people worshipped. And when a thoughtful psychologist like R. D. Laing says something there is meaning in it. After a lifetime of studying the insane he gave the statement that there are many people locked up who would be Ramakrishnas if they were in the East. And you can be sure that if Ramakrishna was in the West he would have been put into some hospital and considered a hysteria patient. It was just a coincidence that he was born in India and a coincidence that the time was good when he was born. Now if he were born in Calcutta, he would not be in Dakshineswar Temple, he would be in Bade Bazaar hospital. No matter how much he screamed, who would listen? If he screamed that I have become enlightened people would say, "Relax, it happens to all mad people." If he went on saying I am seeing visions of Mother Kali people would say, "Relax, you are hallucinating."

 Even now psychologists say that Ramakrishna had epilepsy, it was hysteria. This going unconscious and falling down is no samadhi or anything. Psychologists say that Jesus too was insane. Only an insane man talks to the sky. Does a sensible person talk to the sky? Jesus bowed down, went to his knees and spoke to the sky. And spoke as if there was someone in the sky. He called to his father : Abba  --  daddy! Has he gone mad? What daddy is in the sky? Psychologists will say it is hallucination. This man has become ill, give him an injection of insulin, or electric shock treatment. Bring him back to his senses, put him back on the path.

 It is good that Buddha, Mahavira, Krishna and Christ have already come and gone. There are problems now. The problems have increased. Gorakh is right, his suggestion is totally correct for a seeker.

 LIVE IN THE HEART, DON'T TALK OF THE SECRET...

 Don't tell anyone what is going on inside. Enjoy it quietly, inwardly. Drown in it. Yes if sometime you meet someone, a pilgrim of the inner, converse with him. This is the meaning of satsang: where four divine madmen are sitting. Telling each other, hearing each other. Tell it where people can understand, keep it hidden from the rest. This secret is not to be told to everyone.

 DON'T TALK OF THE SECRET, SPEAK NECTAR-SOAKED WORDS.

 Never give any message about what has happened inside of you, but in your statements its nectar will bubble up. Don't say anything about it, that, "I have found the source of nectar inside of me, I have met god, I have found my soul." Don't say it. Don't be in a hurry. It should be declared in the last moment, when even if the whole world goes against you it won't make any difference to you. Even if you remain alone no doubts will arise in you. Being alone doubts will start to arise; this happens to a new seeker. This is because we think that where the most people are going is where the truth is. If not then why are so many people going? This is why throughout the world religions try to increase their crowd. The bigger the crowd the more our faith becomes certain that the truth is with us.

 If the Christians say that they have the truth, what is the reason? The reason is that about one third of the world is Christian with them. If the Jainas put forth a claim, what claim can they make? At the most there are three million Jainas. Christians are one billion. Three million Jainas! Twenty five hundred years have passed since Mahavira. If he had convinced only thirty couples then by now they would have three million children. Children increase this fast  --  and in India! Thirty couples are sufficient, because if twelve each are born to each couple, then again to each of these twelve, twelve are born then in twenty five hundred years the number will be much more than three million: you can figure it out. Three million people? It is clear that they cannot have the truth. Otherwise why were so few people convinced?

 This world lives following the crowd. A man was telling Bernard Shaw, a Christian was telling Bernard Shaw, that so many people believe so it must be true. Bernard Shaw said, excuse me, this many people believe it, so it cannot be true. Truth happens only infrequently. It manifests only in the life of the few, everyone else lives in lies, because living in lies there are great consolations, in lies there is great comfort. Lies are the way to pull over the blankets and go to sleep. Untruth is sleep. Most people are asleep. Truth is found by the awake.

 Keep quiet until such a state arises within you, until such firmness happens that even if the entire world says you are mad, that even then doubt does not arise within. Until then go on ripening. Until then let maturity arise. Until then let firmness arise. Until then let roots grasp  --  deeper and deeper into your consciousness. Let the tree of this knowledge spread. Yes, one day when the tree has become so strong that it no longer needs support ropes, then the declaration will happen by itself, then there is no need to do anything.

 But now you are worried about every small thing. Think, if you told someone that meditation is happening to you and he said, "Are you in your senses? Meditation does not exist. These are all illusions of the mind." And you will start doubting. At night you will become worried, does meditation exist or not? When you sit down to meditate this doubt will hang around you, does it even exist or not? Are you just wasting your time? And if you meet many people who say it, it will become very difficult.

 Your mind is still swayed very much from the outside, so keep quiet. But in your voice nectar will start flowing. Don't talk about nectar, but a sweetness will come into your voice. In your voice the taste will begin to flow. Don't say directly what you have found, but in your living, in your every movement the difference will start to show, transformation will begin. You will speak and your speech there will have a sweetness that was never there before. In your speech there will be a song, a rhythm that was never there. This rhythm will bring those people near you who are in search of rhythm. This rhythm will start to attract people. They will start to ask you, what has happened to you? When someone comes very close to you and enquires about liberation then you can tell him, otherwise keep the secret hidden.

 LIVE IN THE HEART, DON'T TALK OF THE SECRET, SPEAK NECTAR-SOAKED WORDS.

 WHEN OTHERS BECOMES FIRE, O AVADHU...

 And if the person facing you gets fired up, flies into a rage, goes wild in anger, goes crazy YOU BECOME WATER. Then completely melt. When someone in front of you is ignited with anger then melt, then rain on him like water. Let this be your style of life. Let this be your individuality. Let this be your expression. Through it those who are searching will slowly slowly begin to know. They will get a clue. It does not need to be declared, does not need to be proclaimed from the house tops. In this way slowly slowly your fragrance will reach to the nostrils of the eager, of the seekers. The veena that is playing within you will slowly slowly transform your individuality. And from the sound of your strings the veena inside those who search, those who are thirsty, will also start echoing. People will come, they will start coming from far away. Who here does not want to search for the eternal? Who here is not seeking bliss? People are searching in wrong directions, but people are seeking bliss. And whenever they meet an individual who is blissful, their influence is unavoidable.

 Rahim has said:

 Both appear as one, as long as neither speaks

 only in the spring, are crow and cuckoo unveiled.

 The crow and the cuckoo look similar as long as they don't speak. But when spring comes the difference is made clear. When spring comes the difference is heard. Both crow and cuckoo are black. On the surface no difference is apparent.

 When you speak, when you act, when you take someone's hand in your hand, when you embrace someone, then the difference will be known.

 only in the spring, are crow and cuckoo unveiled.

 Your love, your sweetness, your grace will open in the spring, at that time the difference will be known.

 WHEN OTHERS BECOME FIRE, O AVADHU, YOU BECOME WATER

 And understand this, it is a very surprising thing, but it must be understood.

 A lady came to meet me. A lady from a very rich family, well educated. She told me, "I have come to learn meditation. But before I learn meditation, I have to ask something. If I learn meditation will it create any difficulty in my marriage relationship, in my family life?"

 Before I could say anything she herself said, "I know... why should difficulty arise? Meditation is a good thing. Why should problems come from meditation? But I am asking because my husband told me to ask this before learning meditation."

 I told that woman, "Then it is better that you don't learn meditation, problems will come."

 And the amazing thing is that if you learn something bad then no great problem arises. For example if the wife or husband starts to drink alcohol, then only a little difficulty arises. If he starts to gamble only a little difficulty arises. And the truth is, perhaps no problem at all will arise. And it can also happen that where there had previously been a problem, that problem also goes away, becomes easier.

 You will be a little shocked, because you are not aware of the deeper secrets of the mind. Wives enjoy greatly correcting their husbands. If the husband is completely right and proper, the wife has nothing left to enjoy. If the husband drinks wine, if he smokes cigarettes, then the wife becomes dominant over him. The wife becomes holy. So far Indian women haven't managed the courage to drink wine and smoke cigarettes. So she cannot do these things herself, she doesn't have the courage. The weight of centuries has broken her courage. Even in imagination she doesn't think that she too can drink wine and smoke cigarettes, it is not possible. But she gets one consolation, she gets the consolation of insulting her husband. And it makes it easier for her to take possession of the husband. When the husband comes home he comes home afraid: because he smokes cigarettes. If the husband should completely stop smoking cigarettes and drinking wine then the mastery of the wife who has been the master for twenty years will fall. The enjoyment she had will be lost. People are not so disturbed by evil, because the man who does evil becomes humbled and becomes a reason for others to feed their egos.

 We all want that other people are more humbled than we are, are inferior to us. This is our inner desire. There are two methods: one is that we become superior, then they become inferior. And the other is that they become humbled and we remain just as we are, but we become superior. Ordinarily your so-called religious people renounce and do ascetics, take vows and fast only because there is no more convenient way to feed the ego than this. By renouncing the small things they ascend the lion's thrown  --  they don't smoke cigarettes, they don't chew betel, they don't chew tobacco, they don't drink  water at night, they drink filtered water, they don't eat this or don't eat that. On the basis of all these small things their ego gets great status. Who will give up ego and worship that are received so cheaply? What is man  not willing to do for ego? This is a very cheap renunciation, what's in it? If someone in the family in the family is doing something degrading then the others find it easy to dominate him.

 I said to that woman, "I cannot say that no problem will come from doing meditation. Great difficulty will come from doing meditation. All the politics at home will change. There will be a great shuffling of politics at home. If you meditate then difficulties will start. You will become peaceful, the husband will fly into a rage and you will remain calm. Can you imagine what a blow that will be to your husband's ego? So come deliberately. You go, then come deliberately. There will be differences." And every day I experience that there are differences.

 One woman has meditated some three years, difficulties have begun, because now she has no interest in sex. And her husband is becoming absolutely insane. He is going completely mad.

 I told that woman, "At least you can fake it, what is the use in having a fight every day? Fulfill the husband's demands  --  do it just as acting."  She said okay. A meditative person can do acting very easily. Only a meditator can act! The inside is far away, play-act on the outside. But when the wife was playing on the outside, still the husband had difficulty. The husband came to me. He said, "You have given her a new instruction. Now I feel even more like an idiot. She is just playing. And when someone else is just acting with me I can see clearly that she is not interested. She is only showing interest, so I feel more repentant. You have ruined my whole life."

 So I told that woman, "You go and ask again before coming. Differences will come. Meditation will increase your heights, it will increase your depths. The whole arrangement of your house will certainly change. What yesterday was higher than you will start to fall below you. What yesterday was deeper than you will start to feel shallow. All their egos will feel hurt. They will take revenge."

 It has been five years, that woman never returned.

 Take note, as soon as a little inner flame awakens in your life, differences will come. If you don't say, still differences will arise. If you hide the distinctions, still differences will come. You cannot go on behaving like you were until yesterday. Spring has come, now the difference between the crow and the cuckoo has become clear. The crow will be angry. The crow will be very angry with the cuckoo. Naturally, the cuckoo is cooing and everyone one is in ecstasy. The poor crow also tries very hard to get someone to clap their hands. And people do clap their hands  --  to shoo him off, go, get away, and don't come back here again.

 A crow was flying. A cuckoo asked him, "Uncle, where are you going?"

 He said, "I am going to the East. Now I'm not going to live here. The people here are bad. No one here welcomes my song, my singing. I am going to the East. I have heard that people in the East are very good."

 The cuckoo said, "I have to tell you one thing, whether you go to the East or to the West, wherever you go as long as your throat remains as it is, you will experience difficulty everywhere. Transform your throat. Nothing will happen by going East and West. The people in the East are the same."

 A Sufi story. A man was sitting at the gate of a town, an old man. A rider stopped, a horse rider and asked him, "what are the people of this town like?"

 The old man asked, "Why do you ask this?"

 The rider said, "The people of the town I have come from are very indecent. I was upset and disturbed by them. I had to leave that town. Now I want to become a resident of some new town. So I am asking you how the people of this town are."

 The old man said, "Brother, you had better move on. The people of this town are even more vile, more wicked, more indecent. Here you will get into trouble, go look somewhere else."

 The rider moved on. Just behind him a bullock cart came to a halt and a man looked around and said, "Grandfather, how are the people of this village? I am searching for a new residence."

 The old man asked again, "How were the people of the village you have left?"

 Tears came to the eyes of that man. He said, "I didn't want to leave, helplessly I had to leave. The people of that village were very loving. Now wherever I live the memory of those people will torment me. I was helpless, I was in economic difficulty. I had to leave it so that I can earn something, I need to try my luck somewhere else. But I have just one ambition that whenever my luck improves, I will  return there. I will reside in that village, in the end I want to die in that village. If I cannot live there then at least I want to die there."

 That old man said, "You are welcome. You will find the people of this village even more loving than the people of that village."

 A man was sitting there listening to all this. First he heard what the horse rider said and the old man's answer. Then he heard what this man on the bullock cart said and the old man's answer. The man said, "You have really surprised me. You said to one man that this village is very vile and wicked, just move on. And to the other you said this village has very loving people, you have no need to go further, you are welcome! The old man explained, "People are just the way you are. Everywhere men are the same. The real thing is your question."