"Whatsoever is ugly you hide and whatsoever is beautiful, even if it is not, you try to advertise it, you magnify it, you display it. Hence the misery – because the ugly grows and the beautiful is lost. The untrue grows, it becomes a seed, and the truth is thrown away. The precious is thrown and the rubbish grows; you become like weeds. No flower comes to your life because you have never done the right thing – hidden the seed of the flower within. This opposite is the path, and I say this is one of the most secret keys of Tao.

"A man of Tao remains ordinary, absolutely ordinary. No-body knows who he is, nobody knows what he carries with-in him, what treasure. He never advertises, he never tries to display. But why do we advertise? Because of the ego. You are not satisfied with yourself, you are satisfied only when others appreciate you. Kohinoor is not enough. You may have a valuable stone, but it is not enough; others must appreciate it. Others' opinion is more valuable, not your being. You look into others' eyes as if they are mirrors and if they appreciate you, applaud you, you feel good.

"Ego is a false phenomenon. It is the accumulation of others' opinions, it is not a knowledge of the self. This self, the so-called self which is really the ego, is nothing but the accumulation of reflections – and then there is always fear. Others may change their mind, you are always dependent on them. If they say you are good you have to follow their rules to remain good, you have to follow them to remain good in their eyes, because once they change their opinion you will no longer be good. You have no direct approach to your being, it is via others. So you not only advertise, you magnify, you falsify. You may have a little truth, a little beauty, but you magnify it and it becomes ridiculous.

"I remember – and I will never forget it – the first time Mulla Nasruddin was introduced to me. A mutual friend introduced us. The friend said, among other things, that Mulla Nasruddin was a great writer."