Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Judge Not -Osho

Mulla Nasruddin used to come to his house, and every day there was trouble. His wife was suspicious -- as all wives are -- that he was having an affair with some other woman, because going out of the house he looked so happy and went so fast; coming home he looked sad. Certainly there was something outside the house which attracted him. So when he used to put his coat on the hanger, she would look on his coat, on his shirt, to see if she could find any hair or anything else to prove that he had been with some other woman.

One day -- for seven days she had been searching and she could not find a single hair -- on the seventh day, she burst out crying, screaming, "This is too much. Now you have started going with bald women!"

Now, it is very difficult to find a bald woman -- almost impossible. I have seen only one woman who was semi-bald, not bald. But for seven days, no hair? The conclusion is clear, that he has fallen so low that he is now going with bald women. "Can't you find a woman with hair?"

If a husband is sitting silently, then the wife is angry. If he is reading the newspaper, the wife is angry; she will snatch the newspaper and say, "I am here and you are reading the newspaper as if I don't exist."

Everybody is so miserable that he wants to find some reason somewhere to explain to himself why he is miserable, why she is miserable. And the society has given you a good strategy: judge.

First, naturally, you judge yourself in every way. No man is perfect, and no man can ever be perfect -- perfection does not exist -- so judgment is very easy. You are imperfect, so there are things which show your imperfection. And then you are angry, angry with yourself, angry with the whole world: "Why am I not perfect?"

Then you look with only one idea -- to find imperfection in everybody. And then you want to open your heart -- naturally, because unless you open your heart, there is no celebration in your life; your life is almost dead. But you cannot do it directly; you will have to destroy all this upbringing from the very roots.

So the first thing is, stop judging yourself. Instead of judging, start accepting yourself with all your imperfections, all your frailties, all your mistakes, all your failures. Don't ask yourself to be perfect. That is simply asking for something impossible, and then you will feel frustrated. You are a human being after all.

In The World Yet Not Of The World

One day one of Buddha's sannyasins was passing through a street where he had gone to beg. The most beautiful woman of that town, the prostitute of the town, fell in love with the monk. She came down out of her house and requested the monk to come and reside with her. And soon the rainy season was coming so the prostitute said, "Why don't you stay with me during the rainy season? -- because monks have to stay somewhere. For four months, during the rainy season, monks don't move, so you will have to stay somewhere, you will have to find some shelter -- why not with me?"

He said, "Perfectly okay. I will just have to ask my Master, ask his permission. If he says yes, tomorrow morning I will be present at your door."

The prostitute could not believe the way the monk said it so simply, as if there was no problem! He said, "Perfectly okay. I have to stay somewhere. I was going to ask somebody to give me shelter for four months, and this is a gift from you! I just have to ask my Master; it is just a formal request because that is the way. I have to tell him that a certain woman has requested that I stay with her. Can I stay with her?"

Other monks heard about this, and of course they were jealous. It was impossible to tolerate. This was too much! But they waited -- they waited because they thought Buddha would absolutely say no, categorically would say no. A sannyasin, and staying with a prostitute?!

And when the monk asked Buddha, Buddha looked at the monk and said, "Perfectly right! You can stay with her."

Now others stood up and they said, "This is not fair! And do you see the risk? This is a young man, and that woman is almost a magician. Even great kings are trapped by her, and this young man is almost innocent. She is not interested in giving him shelter, she has become lustful towards his beautiful body. And you say yes?"

Buddha said, "You wait! We will decide who is right after four months. Let him go and let him stay with the woman."

Those four months looked very long for the other monks. It was really difficult to wait, and they knew that Buddha was going to be proved wrong -- for four months living with that woman? She could not leave this monk, she would seduce him; it was absolutely certain.

And after four months the monk came back and touched Buddha's feet. The others said, "Now tell the truth -- what happened?"

And the monk said, "Just wait a few minutes, because the woman is coming and it will be better to hear it from the horse's mouth herself."

And the woman went and she touched Buddha's feet, and she asked to be initiated into sannyas.

Buddha said, "Why?"

She said, "I tried to seduce him, but I failed. He seduced me! He seduced me into sannyas! For four months I tried every possible way, but he remained like a lotus leaf. I would dance naked around him and he would meditate! I have never failed in my life, this is the first time. For the first time I am impressed by a man, for the first time I have encountered a man! Up to now I had seen only slaves. They may have been great kings but they all touched the dust of my feet. This is the only man I have seen who remained like a lotus leaf I tried every possible way -- good food, beautiful room, beautiful clothes, beautiful bed, every possible comfort for him -- and he would never say no! -- but I failed. I could not distract him. And he used to laugh at me. I would dance my most cherished dances and I would start throwing my clothes away, waiting, now some lust might arise in his eyes -- but never! He would laugh and giggle, and he would say, 'What are you doing? And it is too cold, you may catch cold!' He has transformed me. Now I would like to become the same, a lotus leaf."
OSHO
The Guest, Chapter-7