A shepherd who doesnt want to be a king

There was a king who was very disturbed and uneasy, and he thought of committing suicide. He got on his horse and rode towards the jungle. There he saw a young shepherd playing on his flute, and nearby his sheep were grazing. There was such magic in the tune of his flute that the king stopped his horse and told that young man, "You are playing your flute with such joy and abandon that you seem to have been given a kingdom!"

That young man replied, "Kindly pray to God that whatever may be my sins he should never give me a kingdom!"

The king said, "You are mad! What is your fear of a kingdom?"

The young man said, "A man is a king while he has no kingdom. No sooner does he acquire a kingdom then he becomes a slave."

So far nobody has seen a king who is really a king, although many who had nothing have been seen by the world who were real kings, whose joy and bliss knew no bounds, and who created such music in themselves that that music can still be heard even after thousands of years. The world has not seen any music and bliss arising from within any king. His clothes are shining, but his soul is deeply rusted. His crown is shining, but there is no light in his head -- there cannot be ever. What he chooses shows that there can be no inner light. If he had that inner light he would not have been madly wanting to decorate his head with gold.

One who has a golden head never cares for wearing a gold crown on his head. Who is mad enough to drag stones around? But those who have no golden head have their head filled with a lot of rubbish, and a gold crown hides that rubbish.

So that young man said, "Pardon me, and please pray to God that he may not make me a king, ever."

The king was puzzled. He said, "I see that you are wearing torn clothes and your work is to graze your sheep. What is the secret of your joy?"

The young man said, "The secret of happiness is not related to what you have, but in how you are using what you have." He further said, "I have eyes -- I see the beauty of nature and become delighted. I have sheep -- I love them and my heart is full of joy. What is lacking for me? I have healthy hands and feet, I am earning my daily bread. Night and day I am near the moon and stars, the jungle and the hills. What is lacking? Yes, I am lacking in one thing: the anxiety of kings. I have a deep sleep at night."

The king said, "What you are saying is right. Go back to the town and tell the people that you met me and tell them that I have agreed with you on what you are saying about happiness, and that I had come to the forest to commit suicide. I pray to God he may never give you a kingdom."

I also pray to God that nobody should ever think of having a kingdom. Whosoever gets the idea of having a kingdom becomes sick and diseased; his life is being destroyed. But still we are all running a race to have kingdoms. It does not matter what you want to become: as long as you are running after becoming something, you are in the race to become a king. It may be just a small kingdom, but that makes no difference.

Only the lame and blind ask for kingships

Try to understand why there is ambition within us. What is the reason for our running so madly? The reason is that the more a person is suffering from inferiority, the more ambitious he becomes. The more inferiority you experience, the more you feel that you are nothing, the more you will become ambitious. Why? Through ambition, you want to prove yourself in the eyes of the world and in your own eyes, so that nobody makes the mistake of considering you inferior.

I will tell you a small story to help you understand. You may have heard the name of Tamerlane -- he fought and defeated a small country. The king of that country was Baijal; he was arrested and brought before Tamerlane, duly handcuffed. Defeated, Baijal stood in front of Tamerlane, who was sitting on a throne with his advisers and soldiers standing by.

Tamerlane began to laugh. It was natural that Baijal should get angry; Baijal, though defeated, was a king. He lifted his head proudly and told Tamerlane not to be foolish. "He who laughs at others' defeat has some day to shed tears at his own defeat."

But Tamerlane said, "I am not laughing at your defeat. I am not so foolish as to laugh over such a small victory. I am laughing at the fact that I am a lame man and you are a man with one eye. How strange God is, that he gives kingships to lame and one-eyed men!"

If I were present at that time I would have told Tamerlane that nobody else asks for kingships except for those who are lame and blind. No wise person would like to become a king. No wise person would like to become a politician. No wise person would want to sit on the chest of another person. No wise person would like to bring someone else down to his feet or be his owner. All these things are desired by the diseased and inferior man residing within us.

The mental states of inferiority and weaknesses within us -- the lameness and blindness -- want to be hidden. We are running to hide them and to prove that the whole world is wrong, that we are alright. We have proved our might, and we are trying to prove to others that we are not weak or wanting. This is the race of the inferior mind.

Those who have not found him within cannot find him on the outside

A negro went to a church one morning and requested the priest of the church to allow him to enter. But how can a man with black skin enter into a church of people with white skin? These people who talk about the inner also see the color of the skin. These people who talk of God also see whether a man is a brahmin or a sudra. The priest of the church said, "Friend, what will you do, coming inside the church? As long as your mind is not pure and peaceful, what can you do by coming into the church?"

Because the times have changed, the priest has changed his language also. Before he used to say, "Go away, nigger. How can you enter here?" He has changed his language, but his heart has not changed; even now he does not allow the black man in. But he did not say, "You are a sudra and therefore impious, so go away!" He said, "Friend, what will you do by coming in? How will you know God till your mind is pure and peaceful? So first go and purify your mind."

But he had not said such a thing to any people with white skin... as if they had all attained peace of mind. The simple negro went away. The priest must have laughed within. He may have thought that now the negro will not come back, because he cannot purify his mind. In fact, the black man did not come back, not because his mind could not become peaceful, but because his mind had become peaceful.

Many days passed by... about a year passed. Then one day the priest saw that black man passing near the church. He had become a different man altogether. In his eyes there was some light of the other world. Around him it was as if there was an aura of peace and music. The priest thought perhaps he was coming into the church. He was a little afraid too, but his fear was baseless; the negro did not even look at the church but went on straight ahead.

Then the priest ran after him and stopping him, asked, "Friend, you did not come back again?"

The negro laughed and said, "My friend and guide, I thank you very much. I have passed the whole year according to your advice. I was expecting to become peaceful so that I could come into the church. But last night in my dream I saw God, who told me, 'You madman! Why did you want go to that church to meet me? For the last ten years I myself have been trying to enter the church, but the priest does not allow me to do so. Where I have not been able to enter, it is impossible that you will be allowed!'"

I can tell you that God has not only not been able to enter that church, he has not been able to enter any church or temple -- because churches and temples built by men have not been bigger than man; these temples are so small that there is no place for God in them. In reality, those whose minds are themselves not temples can build only meaningless temples. Those who have not found him within cannot find him on the outside.

Osho on Islam

1] Mohammedanism is a religion of peace, but who else has succeeded more in bringing unrest?

2] Mohammed was an absolutely illiterate man, and the Koran, in which his sayings are collected, is ninety-nine percent rubbish. You can just open the book anywhere and read it, and you will be convinced of what I am saying. I am not saying on a certain page — anywhere. You just open the book accidentally, read the page and you will be convinced of what I am saying.

Whatsoever one percent truth there is here and there in the Koran is not Mohammed's. It is just ordinary, ancient wisdom that uneducated people collect easily — more easily than the educated people, because educated people have far better sources of information — books, libraries, universities, scholars. The uneducated, simply by hearing the old people, collect a few words of wisdom here and there. And those words are significant, because for thousands of years they have been tested and found somehow true. So it is the wisdom of the ages that is scattered here and there; otherwise, it is the most ordinary book possible in the world.

Muslims have been asking me, "Why don't you speak on the Koran? You have spoken on The Bible, on the Gita, this and that." I could not say to them that it is all rubbish; I simply went on postponing. Even just before I went into silence, a Muslim scholar sent the latest English version of the Koran, praying me to speak on it. But now I have to say that it is all rubbish, that is why I have not spoken on it — because why unnecessarily waste time?

The inner world is more beautiful then the outer

There was a Sufi saint, Rabiya. One morning her friend asked her to come out of her hut. He said, "A beautiful sun is rising in the sky and the morning is pleasant."

Rabiya replied, "My dear friend, I invite you to come within, because I am seeing within the creator of that sun and the morning. Is it not better that you come inside? I have seen the outer beauty very well, but you are perhaps unacquainted with what is inside."

There is one world outside. Certainly it is beautiful. Those who want to set man against the outer world are ignorant. Those who are condemning this outer world are against the good of man. The outer world is really beautiful, but there is another inner world which is limitlessly more beautiful. One who stops at the outer world stops at the incomplete. He has made camp very early; he has misunderstood the road to be the destination. He has mistaken the door for the palace and has stopped at the entrance. He has to be awakened and alerted. His eyes have to be drawn towards the destination. Once that is done he himself will continue his journey further.