"The more violent they are, the more they talk about non-violence. The talk about non-violence becomes a camouflage.

"This country has talked about non-violence for centuries, and it has not happened; and it is not going to happen because the very talk creates an illusion. And slowly slowly, you are not only capable of deceiving others, you start deceiving yourself. When you have talked for centuries about non-violence you start thinking that you have become non-violent. That is really the purpose of talking about non-violence.

"Just a few days ago the president of India stayed in a circuit house in Madras, and because he could not get non-vegetarian food there – meat, eggs, et cetera – he was very annoyed. If he had not been annoyed, the country may not have come to know that he is a meat-eater; a Gandhian and a meat-eater. And these are the people who go on talking about non-violence.

"They go to the samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi every year, ceremoniously, ritualistically. These are the people who have taken vows on the samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi, and they continue to eat meat, they continue to kill animals. What kind of non-violence is this?

"But this is how man is: very deceptive, very cunning.

"Those who are moving on the path have to be aware of this stupid ideological camouflage. It is very easy to have beautiful ideals. And you will be surprised if you watch people: if you know their ideals you can be certain that they will be just the opposite of their ideals. Knowing their ideals, you can deduce logically that their life must be the very opposite of it. The ideal only proves that there is something that they are hiding behind it.

"A conscious person has no ideals at all. A conscious person lives through his consciousness. He is one; his inner and outer are not divided.

"But all kinds of idealism divide the outer and the inner. It does not allow you to be natural, spontaneous; it forces you to be something other than you are. It gives you shoulds – you should do this, you should do that. Because of those shoulds you start believing that you are aspiring very high, that you are soaring very high: 'Look what beautiful ideals I have got' and behind that empty talk your reality is just the opposite."