It happened that Mulla Nasrudin entered a hospital. The surgeon who was going to operate said to him: Here we believe in speed, and we don’t waste any time. After the operation, on the very first day you have to walk for five minutes in the room; the next day, for half an hour, outside the hospital; the third day, a long walk of one hour. Here we don’t waste time. Life is short and time is money. It has to be saved. Mulla Nasrudin said: Just one question – do you mind if I lie down for the operation? Everybody is in a hurry. Where are you going in such a hurry? Have you ever seen somebody reaching anywhere? Have you heard of anybody who has ever reached anywhere through hurry, through impatience, through speed? We have heard about a few people who reached by stopping but we have never heard of anybody who reached by running. Buddha stopped and reached. Jesus stopped and reached. Chuang Tzu stopped and reached. You carry the goal within you, there is nowhere else to go. But desire leads you to distant lands, to distant times, to distant points in space. And the more you are desirous, the more you are in a hurry, the more you go on missing yourself – frustrated, tattered, you are just a ruin before you die. But in that ruin the desire is still there. You have gathered a whole life of experiences of desire, and your mind says: You failed because you didn’t make enough effort. Look, others have succeeded. Look at the neighbours. They have succeeded, but you have failed because you didn’t run fast enough. Next time be ready. You gather all this attitude in a seed, then you are born again, and the whole vicious circle starts again. Where are you going? Is there anywhere to go? And even if you reach somewhere you will still be yourself. Even if you are made a president this very moment, of this country or some other country, do you think anything will change? You will remain the same – the same frustrated being, the same ambitious being, with the same tension, the same anguish, the same nightmares. Mulla Nasrudin once knocked at his psychiatrist’s door. Said the psychiatrist: What is the matter now? Mulla Nasrudin said: I’m having a nightmare, it recurs every night. Help me! I cannot sleep, it has become a heavy burden on my head. Something has to be done now! He was really in trouble, his eyes were sore and his whole body looked as if he had not slept for many, many months. The psychiatrist became concerned. He said: Tell me, tell me about the nightmare. What is it? Said Nasrudin: Every night I have a dream, a horrible dream. The dream is that I am on my own with twelve beautiful women. The psychiatrist said: I don’t see the point. What is horrible about it? Twelve beautiful women, and you are on your own with them, what is horrible about that? Nasrudin said: Have you ever tried loving twelve women? Alone? On an island? But you are loving twelve thousand women – every desire is a woman. And your whole life has become a nightmare: so many desires, so many horizons, so many things to be reached before life is lost. That’s why you are in such a hurry – you cannot be anywhere. You go on running and running and running until you simply fall into the arms of death. Death is the end of your whole effort. -Osho When the Shoe Fits CHAPTER 10. MAN IS A BORN IN TAO
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 14:54:19 +0000
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