"You are not a presence, you are an absence – hollow within, stuffed with straw. That straw may be gold, it may be money; that straw may be power. A thousand and one are the names of that straw, but it is straw because it does not nourish the soul. It does not create the soul, it is destructive. At the most, it gives you a feeling of fullness, a very deceptive feeling.

"These are the two ways to live: either to attain to true emptiness, a positive emptiness – that is the way of meditation, prayer, the way that moves, by and by, towards God; the other way is just to go on stuffing yourself with useless, futile things, with no ultimate meaning in them. At the most, for the moment they keep you occupied. But sooner or later, one comes to discover that one has missed the opportunity.

"When Woodrow Wilson became the President of America, the whole family was celebrating. His friends all over the country were dancing in happiness, he was crying and weeping in his room. The wife approached. She could not believe her eyes because Woodrow Wilson was sitting on his chair near the window, head leaning downwards, as sad as he had ever been seen before, with tears rolling down. With deep love the wife asked the husband, 'What has happened? Why are you crying and weeping?' He looked up with sad eyes. He said, 'Now that I have become the President of the most powerful country, now that I have become the most powerful man, I realize tremendously the whole absurdity of it. Nothing is gained, and I have wasted my whole life. Now I understand the futility of power, because sooner or later, death will be coming, and I am powerless against it.'

"And if your power is powerless against death, then it is just a deception. Unless you attain to the deathless, your power is not power, it is a false coin.

"And who can attain power against death? – one who attains to true emptiness, positive emptiness. The other name for that emptiness is deep inner fulfillment. You are not filled with straw, but you are filled with your own awareness."