‘You are not a very nice man, UG ….’


The Sunday Observer, Interview, March 19, 1989

By Mahesh Bhatt


“We never live, but we hope to live; and, as we are preparing to be happy, it is inevitable we should never be so.” –Pascal


In a distant town in California, there is a small bookshop. The owner of that store once said, “There are two books which are stolen from my shop, time and again – one, The Bible, which says, ‘Thou shalt not steal’, the other, Mind is a Myth, in which this man called UG says, ‘Steal but don't get caught’.”


Anyone who wishes to believe that Mind is a Myth can bring happiness to his life would be wise to give this book a miss. What does the book say? Here is a passage:


“There is no love in the world. Everybody wants the same thing. Whosoever is the most ruthless gets it…. The saviours, priests, gurus, bhagavans, seers, prophets and philosophers were all wrong, as far as I'm concerned. Spirituality is the invention of the mind, and the mind is a myth. There is no such thing as God. It is the mind that has created God out of fear. Fear is passed on from generation to generation.”


The book is full of such alarming statements. This book can and will awe and alarm a wide range of people. What astounds me by reading it is the courage of this man called UG.


“He who reads or buys this book must be a damn fool,” he said, when I asked him about his own impressions of Mind is a Myth.


When a sincere-looking engineer tried to discuss the contents of the book with UG, a few hours before his departure to Madras, the man was stunned. Later, around midnight, when we were alone waiting to go to the airport, a dialogue took place between UG and me. Here is the replay.


MB: UG can you tell me why you say such terrible things when the topic of your book crops up?


UG: (ignores the question)


MB: (persistent) UG don't be evasive. I want an answer. I am going to write about this.


UG: To call that my book is an ostentatious, whispering joke. Honest to God, I don't even know what is there in that book. “God” is a metaphor. If I had a mission in my life (thank God I don't have one), I would tear every sentence, every word in that book apart.


MB: You don't mean that.


UG: Of course I do.


MB: So, this brings the so-called interview to an end.


UG: Yes, it does. (laughs)


MB: But…


UG: But I know you have to use somebody, something for your self-aggrandizement. Go ahead and write whatever you want to write, say whatever you wish.


MB: On the very first page of this book. You say that this book has no copyright – that anyone is free to claim authorship, quote, misquote, etc, without your permission or anybody else's permission. Do you mean all this or is it just a lot of bunk?


UG: It's a forthright, aboveboard, straightforward, open invitation for anybody to publish it. A religious leader, Rabbi Alvin Jacob Bobroff, did exactly that. He brought out his own American edition.


MB: Mind is a Myth is a dangerous book. Why shouldn't it be banned?


UG: Ban it if you wish to. It does not make a damn bit of difference to me. By banning a book you give importance to it. Ignore it. Why unnecessarily spur people towards this book?


MB: What would you like to be called?


UG: A philosopher of some sort. That's all.


MB: Not godman?


UG: How can you call me a godman when I am saying God is irrelevant? I don't want to debase myself by accepting the label you want to put on me…


MB: No matter what you say – you are still trying to tell us something. What is it? Can one say you are a prophet of some kind?


UG: You don't have to be a prophet to say that this planet is doomed. It is like warning you that if you drive head-long you will wind up in a ditch.


MB: What are the chances of the world paying any heed to this warning?


UG: Not a chance.


MB: So your life, like everybody's life, is a total failure?


UG: I have no interest in saving people, much less the world.


MB: Will this book be of any value to anybody?


UG: No, an emphatic no – because this book offers nothing. The mysteries of their religion is what interests people. They want to uplift themselves. All that is a sheer myth. I have no interest in saving people from pseudo-religiosity and from the clutches of cultish persons. This book sells nothing, preaches no systems. I have no axe to grind and I don't want anything from anyone. It doesn't make a damn bit of difference whether or not people read this book. What people are really interested in is entertainment and I don't think I am a highly entertaining person. For all I know they would be better off going to those wise and godly men, who offer a variety of tricks to amuse others. I simply cannot entertain people and thrive on their gullibility for anything. To put it in your film jargon, frankly old chap I don't give a damn. Sorry for the word damn. Goodbye.


Whenever I am with UG, I find a mighty current of strength coursing through my heart, the few words I speak or write are only through the course of that current gained by coming in contact with him. I do not for a moment think that I have any greatness of my own. Inhaling the memory of the time spent with him fills me with vigour and courage. “Divine fires do not blaze each day, but an artist functions in their afterglow hoping for a recurrence.”


“Goodbye UG,” I said as I watched this strange man disappear into the crowd at the Bombay International Airport. There is a kind of release – and a kind of sadness – every time I say goodbye to UG. The still beauty of dawn is nature's finest balm. Unfortunately, the chill dawn added to my gloom as I drove back home. I was reminded of the Russian proverb, “The morning is wiser than the evening.” Is it, I wonder? The living room has the afterglow of UG's absence. The photo on the book jacket stares at me. His face says it all.


It slowly eclipses everything else in the room. You are not a very nice man UG, you know, if you rob the average man of the illusions of his life, you rob him of his happiness at one stroke.


Sorry, sir, the world has no place for you.

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