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that you have is the present life -- which is suffering. They have sandwiched you between two non-existential things. And they have made it clear: be patient. That is why, in India -- which is the oldest civilization in the world -- there has never been a revolution of the poor against the rich, of the powerless against those who have power. Patience is the antidote to revolution.
Don't be angry, because that leads finally to revolution, and that changes nothing. Don't be sad, because it is only anger upside down, and you create more sadness; you become, again, another example of sadness.
Become an example of joy. It will look very illogical that people are sad and you are cheerful. It is not graceful, it is not mannerly, but what is mannerly is not going to help. So it is not a question of manners and grace and etiquette, it is a question of creating in the minds of people who are sad that the possibility of getting out of sadness exists herenow.
They will try in every possible way to deny it. They will say, "You must be pretending. How can you be cheerful in this world?" They will say, "You must be posing." They will say, "You must be mad! How can you be sane and cheerful in this miserable world?" They will say, "You seem to be hypnotized." They will say all kinds of things just to protect their ideology which they are holding very close to their hearts, not knowing that that is the poison that is going into their bloodstream.
But you have to fight and make it clear to them that it is not pretending, it is not posing; that you are not mad, that you are not hypnotized. And even if madness makes people happy, it is better than being miserable. What is the use of your sanity? If hypnotic processes make people rejoice, then what is wrong in them? It seems you have decided to remain miserable; you won't allow any weight to go out of your misery. Then don't make a fuss about it -- remain miserable. But remember, it is your responsibility, it is your doing.
It is a difficult task, but it has to be done. It is difficult because their conditioning is thousands of years old. It is very thick, and you have to cut it through and through
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