How can meditative people be corrupted by power?

Beloved master, you said before that meditative people cannot be corrupted by power, but how come sheela and her gang were corrupted by power? Please say something about the organization of the meditative people.

Meditative people cannot be corrupted -- ever. If somebody is corrupted, that only means he was not meditative. And about Sheela, I can tell you certainly: she had no interest in meditation, in my way of life, my philosophy. Her interests were totally different. She had come first to me because her husband was suffering from cancer, and the doctors in America had said that he cannot live more than two years. She was desperately in search of someone who could help. Her husband, Chinmaya, was a beautiful man. He remained with me, and it almost always happens, when you are facing death meditation is easy. You cannot postpone it, because tomorrow you may not be here to meditate. So Chinmaya tried hard to meditate, and that helped him to live. All the medical experts were agreed. They could not believe what had happened to him, because two years was…

Osho, the incident about Rasputin you recounted yesterday is astonishing. Until now we had always heard that when power awakens—whether you call it kundalini or the third eye—its fire burns away all the grime and impurities in a person, and he becomes pure and holy!

Therefore what is truly important is not written in the scriptures. Only incomplete things are written there. No wrong person can do anything significant through scripture, because the key points are left out. As if everything has been described, but the key is not in the book. There is a full description of the palace and of every room, but where the lock is, no scripture says. And as for the key, there is no trace in any scripture. The key is always passed personally from master to disciple. What we have called mantra and initiation—diksha—is precisely this art of handing over, in secrecy, the key by one who knows, to one who will not misuse it, and who will guard it until a worthy person appears. And if no worthy person appears, the Hindus decided it is better to let the key be lost; no harm. When worthy people…

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.

Question: BELOVED OSHO, PLEASE TALK ABOUT THE MISUSE OF POWER. "Let us know when you are coming back to India, so that we can give you a really good welcome. And I refuse to step in your land unless you apologize for making these conditions. It took you one year to figure out all these conditions; and then too you have not given the visa for three weeks, just for ten days. Ordinarily the visa is given for three months -- and nobody has ever heard that such conditions have to be followed." I have told Anando to write to him that, "It seems Benito Mussolini has not died yet. Your country is not a democratic country, it is still fascist. These conditions indicate, without any doubt, a fascist mind.

Is it necessary to pass through psychic stages before the explosion can happen?

Power must not be sought, must not be longed for. When it comes your way, just be a witness to it and pass on. Don't linger for a single moment because even that pause, that standing near it, will prove fatal. It corrupts. Power corrupts not because it is bad in itself but because we are after it. The saying is: "... and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Outer power cannot corrupt as much as inner power can. It is much more absolute in a sense, much more independent of others, so it can prove to be a great stronghold for the ego. Outer power is always dependent on others. You are never absolute, you are never sovereign; you are always dependent. Someone somewhere far away can be the cause of your fall. Hitler achieved that power which is based entirely on outer forces. Such people build a great pyramid and…