Once the legendary leader of South Africa Nelson Mandela was asked, how he kept himself from hating his tormentors. Mandela answered, “Hating clouds the mind... leaders can’t afford to hate.” I wish more politicians had this wisdom. It was an enigma for everyone close to him how he did not carry any malice or grievance against his captors who tortured and humiliated him. This unique spiritual quality made Mandela tower over his detractors. His fight was not merely against whites but was a fight to reclaim the dignity and freedom of blacks. He was an unusual politician who was in search of himself.
He did not talk about his interest in meditation publicly, but his magnanimous heart and his behavior with his fellowmen had the fragrance of a maturity that can only blossom within the being of a meditator. He turned his 27 years of incarceration into a retreat, where meditation transformed him into a rare human being.
This is exactly what Osho has proposed for everyone in power, particularly politicians who have a high responsibility of looking after people around them. All politicians, unless they are meditative, are disqualified. If they have any sense of dignity, they should renounce, they should immediately resign from their posts.
