A different consciousness

At our hotel in Vina del Mar, Chile, I was on the seventh floor waiting for the elevator. Also waiting for the elevator was a man who was absolutely ferocious and very drunk. Then a lady came up to him who also had a very bad consciousness. It was not just that they were drunk, but if you entered into their consciousness, you saw they were like animals. They had a beast-like consciousness; at any moment they might strangle you. So I pretended that I had forgotten something and went away.

A minute or so later I came back. This time a very civilised, elderly American couple was waiting for the elevator. They were talking about the wife’s shoes. No matter what she wears, nothing fits her. The husband said that he was willing to go to the shoe store with her, but the next day was Sunday.

So this change happened in a matter of one minute. It is better not to get on an elevator with people like that first couple. And if somebody very undivine comes into the elevator when you are in it, just get out. If the person has time to come in, you also have time to get out.

— 27 December 1986