Chapter 10
[NOTE: This is a typed tape transcript and has not been edited or published, as of August 1992. It is for reference use only.]
Interview by Hindustan Times
WHAT ARE YOUR FUTURE PLANS IN MANALI?
My basic philosophy is just to live moment to moment. I do not believe in any future planning. So what will happen tomorrow I do not know.
SO YOU ARE NOT CERTAIN WHETHER YOU WILL STAY HERE FOR PERMANENTLY?
Mmm?
SO YOU ARE NOT CERTAIN WHETHER YOU WILL STAY HERE PERMANENTLY?
This moment I am certain. Next moment... I am a living being, not dead, so next moment will bring its own certainties. So I am neither burdened by the past nor by the future.
WILL YOU SET UP A COMMUNE IN HIMACHAL PRADESH?
No.
WHY?
I am finished with communes.
(INAUDIBLE) Everywhere WHAT ABOUT THE EXISTING ONES?
They can exist, they are independent; they were never dependent on me. And I have never been a part of any commune. So if Himachal people want a commune, they can have; they can have my advice, but I am not going to establish it.
IF HIMACHAL GOVERNMENT REFUSES TO GIVE YOU LAND -
I am not asking any government to give me any land. I have never asked anybody to give me anything.
YOU WILL NOT ASK IN THE FUTURE ALSO?
No. If they offer then I may consider.
IS THERE ANY IMPROVEMENT IN YOUR RELATIONS WITH MA SHEELA?
There has been no relationship ever. I have one million sannyasins around the world. The relationship is one-sided; they are related to me, I am not related to them.
BUT YOU DON'T BELIEVE IF "A" IS RELATED TO YOU, TO B IN THE SAME PROPORTION B WILL BE RELATED TO A?
Not necessarily. As far as I am concerned, I am absolutely unrelated.
HOW?
Just I am just myself. I don't need any relationship. People who are unfulfilled in their life need relationships to fulfill them. I am complete.
COMPLETE HOW?
Because I don't need anything from anybody. My contentment is my inner fulfillment.
WHAT EXACTLY LED TO THE FEUD BETWEEN YOU AND MA SHEELA?
There was no feud.
(INAUDIBLE)
She wanted to leave. She left. She had not even seen me.
FOR HOW MANY MONTHS?
For almost three, four months. She just sent me a note that "I want to leave." I said, "That's perfectly okay. There is no need even to send me a note." Every sannyasin is absolutely free to be here or not to be here.
HOW DO YOU PLAN TO RECOVER THE MONEY WITH WHICH SHE ALLEGEDLY RAN AWAY?
I don't care about money at all.
YOU REPORTEDLY SAID THAT SHE WAS A BITCH BUT YOU LOVED BITCHES. AND WHAT IS EXACTLY MEANT? IT IS PUBLISHED IN THE PAPER HERE.
There must have been some misreporting. I had said that she is a bitch. And there are people who love bitches, but I am not the one.
WILL YOU CALL YOUR DISCIPLES AT ALL AGAIN TO INDIA?
No. They have their commune there, and the commune will continue.
I was just a guest there, not even a member of the commune.
WHETHER YOUR IMAGE SUFFERED AMONG YOUR DISCIPLES DUE TO YOUR ARREST IN USA?
I don't care about my image at all. Only people with inferiority complex care about their images.
As far as my arrest is concerned, my people have fallen in love again with me with more respect, with more gratitude. The image of America has certainly fallen.
HOW?
Because to torture an innocent man, who has not done any crime, and to behave in a fascist way....
BEHAVE IN A FASCIST WAY?
Certainly. America has risked much in arresting me because its real face has come into the eyes of the world. It is not a democracy. It does not respect individuals. It is absolutely fascist, covering itself with a mask of democracy.
Arresting me, it has created world-wide exposure of its hypocrisy.
They had made the case titled "government of U.S. versus Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh." It is hilarious. And they could not prove anything against me.
BUT YOU ADMITTED YOUR GUILT. WHY?
Just they could not prove anything against me. In the first court, where the case trial was arranged, in North Carolina, all they asked was that I should be not bailed out here. Six persons who were with me were bailed out. Only I have to be bailed in Oregon - because they knew they have nothing against me. But between North Carolina and Oregon they can torture me as much as they want - without any trial, without any arrest warrant. And they had promised that I will be directly sent to Oregon, but it took twelve days for them to take me to Oregon.
They went on changing from one jail to another, and doing as much harm as they thought they could do.
And all the charges they brought against me were absolutely false. I would have fought them and won them, but that would have taken years. And my people around the world were in such suffering, hundreds were fasting the whole time I was in jail; and they all wanted me just to get out of America.
In my whole life I have spoken only one lie, that I told to the court that "I am guilty." I was not. And the lie was told just because of my people, out of compassion, because if they - if I go on fighting then they will keep me in the jail and my people will suffer. It was not for myself -
- FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR PEOPLE?
- for the sake of my people.
WILL THERE BE AFFECTS ALL ON YOUR MOVEMENTS DUE TO UNFORTUNATE INCIDENTS AT OREGON?
No, not at all. The movement is fast-growing because of it. Truth never suffers in any situation.
WILL YOU SHIFT TO POONA IN THE NEAR FUTURE?
No. The commune is functioning perfectly well. It is growing. There is no need for me to go there.
BUT YOU HAVE EXPRESSED YOUR DESIRE TO SETTLE DOWN IN HIMALAYAS.
I have told you that I am a man who lives spontaneously. I love Himalayas, but I love many other places in the world too. If I feel comfortable here I will remain here.
OTHERWISE....
Otherwise the whole world is there.
YOU DON'T HAVE SPECIFIC COUNTRIES IN YOUR MIND?
No.
DID YOU, AS ALLEGED ACCUSE INDIA WHEN YOU LEFT TO USA FROM THIS COUNTRY?
I have never been.
YOU DIDN'T SPEAK ANYTHING AGAINST INDIA WHEN YOU LEFT INDIA?
No, I have been speaking against the orthodoxy of India, the traditionalism of India, the caste system of India, the poverty of India. My whole life I have been speaking against these, because I love India and I want all these things to be immediately destroyed. It is my motherland and I would like it to be one of the best in the world - materially, spiritually, in every sense.
BUT YOU HAVE BEEN SPEAKING AGAINST ALL THESE THINGS, WHICH INCLUDES POVERTY ALSO?
Yes.
THERE WAS SOME REPORT THAT YOU HATE POVERTY - I MEAN
I hate poverty; not poor people.
THIS WAS AGAIN MISREPORTED.
In fact, I hate poverty because I love poor people. I don't want them to be poor.
WHAT ABOUT THE CASES WHICH HAVE BEEN PENDING AGAINST YOU WHEN YOU LEFT THIS COUNTRY?
There has been no case against me because I have never been part of any organization, I had never been on any posts. There has been no case against me.
There cannot be. I don't earn anything. You cannot put income tax on me. I don't move out of my house. What case can be against me. If freedom of speech is a crime, then I am the greatest criminal in the world.
THERE IS APPREHENSION. HAVE YOU INTERVIEWED SOME OF THE PEOPLE IN HIMACHAL. I MEAN, THEY ARE NOT VERY CLEAR ABOUT YOUR WHOLE PHILOSOPHY AND EVERYTHING. DO YOU PROPOGATE SOMETHING FOR THEM THAT... SOMETHING PSYCHOLOGICAL FEAR WHICH HAVE BEEN CREATED INTO THE MINDS OF SOME PEOPLE THAT YOUR ARRIVAL HERE HAS CAUSED SOME RESENTMENT.
No, I don't want to get involved into it because I may leave this place tomorrow.
If the people of Himachal Pradesh want me to be here, then I can consider; otherwise, I don't want to be an uninvited guest anywhere. And this is not going to be a commune; it will be only my personal residence. So they need not be afraid.
THIS IS VERY CLEAR BECAUSE OF THIS POINT OF VIEW. THANK YOU. THIS WAS A NICE INTERVIEW.
Good. Come again whenever you want to come.
I CAME LATE FROM SIMLA. I DROVE THROUGH ALL THE NIGHT BECAUSE I WANTED MANY CLARIFICATIONS. YOU ARE NOT REMOTELY CONCERNED WITH ALL THESE THINGS?
Not at all.