"Live consciously, don't live by a dead discipline," Osho says. Compiled by Shanti from our series 1001 Tales."
A rigid, frozen, cold, dead life is a disciplined life. You just go on mechanically doing things. It may sometimes suit the situation, but it is absolutely irrelevant many more times. Then there is always a lag behind the disciplined man, the so-called disciplined man. There is something else that the situation demands, but his discipline reacts in its own way, so he is never in deep communion with reality. He is isolated, alienated at all times. It's been:
A mystic Sufi, Junaid, went on a pilgrimage to Kaaba, a holy pilgrimage. He said to his disciples, "It's going to take us a month to get to Kaaba, and we're going to fast so that our bodies will be completely purified by the time we reach Kaaba."
There was agreement between the disciples. The journey began. They reached a village on the third day. They had been received by the whole village because Junaid had a disciple there, who was a very poor man. Because Junaid was coming to his village for the first and perhaps the last time and was going to be his guest, he sold his field, his house, all to give the whole village a feast. He was completely unaware that Junaid was on a fast and that hundreds of disciples followed him.
Junaid saw the disciple's happiness. He was just ecstatic in welcoming his master, even though he had been playing everything just to give the whole village a feast. Junaid said nothing–he didn't even mention he kept fast. When Junaid said nothing, the disciples were silent as well, but inside they boiled.
The festival began. The disciple was blessed. Junaid ate well and thanked the disciple. Since Junaid was eating, the other disciples also had to eat. "We're on a fast," they couldn't say, when the master had forgotten the fast himself. And the food was delicious, too, and they were hungry for three days! But they also felt angry deep down: "What kind of discipline is this? ”
The first thing they did on the way when they left was to ask the master, "We can't understand that. Have you forgotten everything about the fast? You haven't even mentioned it.
He said, "No, I never forget anything, but his joy was like that, and his ecstasy was like that... and if I had said,' I'm not going to eat,' it would have been such a pain to his heart. There's no problem, "Junaid said," for three more days we can keep our fast. Forget about those three days–from today we're starting our fast, and we're going to keep the fast for a month. It doesn't have a problem. Why did a simple thing hurt the poor man? Three more days we can keep the fast.
But the disciples said, "But it's a matter of discipline: we should have followed it since we took the vow."
Junaid said, "Do not live according to a dead discipline, live consciously. You felt angry–I saw it on your faces. You were angry with me–I was watching–because you just followed a dead rule:' We took a vow, so it must be followed.'
We are the masters of this. We take the vow, we are able to break it. And the situation was such that the right thing was what we did. Our fast is ordinary; there was something really holy about his love. It doesn't matter much eating or not eating, but you missed his joy, his ecstasy you couldn't share. There's been a great opportunity lost.
"If it happens again," the master said, "because we may meet other disciples in other cities, don't worry. I'm acting out of the moment. I see the situation and I'm acting–that's my discipline. I'm not acting in the past."
A rigid, frozen, cold, dead life is a disciplined life. You just go on mechanically doing things. It may sometimes suit the situation, but it is absolutely irrelevant many more times. Then there is always a lag behind the disciplined man, the so-called disciplined man. There is something else that the situation demands, but his discipline reacts in its own way, so he is never in deep communion with reality. He is isolated, alienated at all times. It's been:
A mystic Sufi, Junaid, went on a pilgrimage to Kaaba, a holy pilgrimage. He said to his disciples, "It's going to take us a month to get to Kaaba, and we're going to fast so that our bodies will be completely purified by the time we reach Kaaba."
There was agreement between the disciples. The journey began. They reached a village on the third day. They had been received by the whole village because Junaid had a disciple there, who was a very poor man. Because Junaid was coming to his village for the first and perhaps the last time and was going to be his guest, he sold his field, his house, all to give the whole village a feast. He was completely unaware that Junaid was on a fast and that hundreds of disciples followed him.
Junaid saw the disciple's happiness. He was just ecstatic in welcoming his master, even though he had been playing everything just to give the whole village a feast. Junaid said nothing–he didn't even mention he kept fast. When Junaid said nothing, the disciples were silent as well, but inside they boiled.
The first thing they did on the way when they left was to ask the master, "We can't understand that. Have you forgotten everything about the fast? You haven't even mentioned it.
He said, "No, I never forget anything, but his joy was like that, and his ecstasy was like that... and if I had said,' I'm not going to eat,' it would have been such a pain to his heart. There's no problem, "Junaid said," for three more days we can keep our fast. Forget about those three days–from today we're starting our fast, and we're going to keep the fast for a month. It doesn't have a problem. Why did a simple thing hurt the poor man? Three more days we can keep the fast.
But the disciples said, "But it's a matter of discipline: we should have followed it since we took the vow."
Junaid said, "Do not live according to a dead discipline, live consciously. You felt angry–I saw it on your faces. You were angry with me–I was watching–because you just followed a dead rule:' We took a vow, so it must be followed.'
We are the masters of this. We take the vow, we are able to break it. And the situation was such that the right thing was what we did. Our fast is ordinary; there was something really holy about his love. It doesn't matter much eating or not eating, but you missed his joy, his ecstasy you couldn't share. There's been a great opportunity lost.
"If it happens again," the master said, "because we may meet other disciples in other cities, don't worry. I'm acting out of the moment. I see the situation and I'm acting–that's my discipline. I'm not acting in the past."
