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the power, then you see their real face.
Lord Acton was absolutely right when he said, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." But he was not aware of why power corrupts, how power can corrupt. The man must be carrying the seeds of corruption already but was incapable of doing anything; he needed power. Once he has the power, then slowly his mask starts falling away and you will see within him the egoist in its utter nudity. The politician is nothing but an egoist. Inside he feels empty -- and afraid of that emptiness. He wants to be somebody so that he can forget his own emptiness. Power gives him the chance. He can see that millions of people are under his thumb. He can convince himself that he is not a nobody, he is somebody special. And he starts behaving that way. He starts misusing the power. Once he is in power, then he never wants to be out of it. Then he always wants to remain in power, because now he knows perfectly well that out of power he will be more aware than ever of his emptiness and his impotence.
What I am against is the game of the ego. Who plays it, in what subtle ways one plays it, is a totally different matter. The politician is the most apparent player of the game. The religious messiah, avatara, tirthankara, paigambara -- Jesus, Mohammed, Krishna, Buddha -- they are on the same trip, it is the same number; but it will need tremendous intelligence to see their power game. The politician is nothing compared to them. The politician is playing a very trivial game.
But when Jesus says, "I am the son of God, the only begotten son" -- what is it, if not a power trip? He says, "I am the awaited messiah of the Jews and I have come to redeem the whole of humanity from suffering, misery. Those who follow me will enter into the kingdom of God, and those who do not follow me will fall into hell's darkness for eternity" -- this is the same will-to-power, but in a religious garb. It is difficult to detect it; it is more subtle, more refined, more polished. When Krishna says to Arjuna, "Leave everything aside and come to my feet; I am your deliverance" -- what is he saying? What is he asking? It is the same need.
When
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