"These are not things to be taught, these are qualities to be caught. And when they are caught there is no resentment; when they are caught they are spontaneous, natural. You don't have to do them, they happen of their own accord. But this has not been the case up to now. For millions of years you have lived with a duality, a thick layer of resentment – which is deeper, more underground – and a thin layer of forced grace, sensitivity, aesthetics, respect, love.

"The basic thing, the fundamental thing is to understand that when you drop your grace – the learned one; when you drop love – the learned one, remember also to drop the resentment. That too is learned. You have learned it on your own, against all those people who had power over you. If you don't drop it then I can go on telling you, 'Be naturally graceful,' and you will think, 'It is good, there is no need to make any effort to be graceful.' Your thin layer will disappear – but where will the resentment go?

"That resentment will become your behavior. Instead of respect, you will start disrespecting anybody and everybody. Instead of the arousal of a natural lovethe bogus love has gone, now you have only hate. That's why societies and cultures are afraid. They are trembling always because they are depending on something which is not natural.

"But you have to understand that when you drop the learned thing, the conditioned thing, don't forget to drop with it the resentment that had come with it; otherwise, you will become ungraceful, and to be ungraceful is ugly. You will become disrespectful and to be disrespectful is not human. It is falling below the human.

"You have got this whole beautiful existence. You don't deserve it; nobody deserves it. You had not even asked for it. You have suddenly found yourself amidst these beautiful millions of stars, the flowers, the birds. And if you are disrespectful, you will be blind to all that commands respect, you will turn your back to all that which commands respect.

"It does not demand. It does not say to you, 'Respect me, I am your father.' But silently have you not felt sometimes the flowers, without saying a word, are commanding your respect, your love, your grace? And the same applies to other human beings."