The Empty Boat - Osho.pdf - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 2. THE MAN OF TAO
But you cannot drop them because you are afraid, you are scared of yourself. If there is no radio, no
television, no newspaper, nobody to talk to, what will you do?
I have heard about a priest who died. Of course, he expected to go to paradise, to heaven. He
arrived there and everything was beautiful. The house he entered was one of the most wonderful
ever dreamed of, palatial. And the moment a desire came, immediately a servant appeared. If he
was hungry, a servant was there with the food, the most delicious he had ever tasted. If he was
thirsty, even before the desire had become a thought, while it was just the feeling, a man would
appear with drinks.
So it continued and he was very happy for two or three days, and then he began to feel uneasy
because a man has to do something, you cannot just sit in a chair. Only a man of Tao can just sit in
a chair and go on sitting and sitting and sitting. You cannot.
The priest became uneasy. For two or three days it is okay as a holiday, as a rest. He had been so
active – so much public service, mission, church, delivering sermons; he had been so involved with
society and the community, so he rested. But how much can you rest? Unless your being is at rest,
sooner or later the holiday ends, and you have to come back to the world. Uneasiness arose; he
started feeling discomfort.
Suddenly the servant appeared and asked, ”What do you want? This feeling of yours is not a want,
you are neither thirsty nor hungry, just uneasy. So what should I do?”
The priest said, ”I cannot sit here forever and forever, for eternity, I want some activity.”
The servant said, ”That is impossible. All your desires will be fulfilled here by us, so what need is
there for activity? There is no need, that is why it is not provided here.”
The priest became very uneasy and he said, ”What type of heaven is this?”
The servant replied, ”Who said this is heaven? This is hell. Who told you this is heaven?”
And this really was hell. Now he understood: without activity, this was hell. He must have gone mad
sooner or later. No communication or talk, no social service to be done, no pagans to be converted
to Christianity, no foolish people to be made wise – what could he do?
Only a man of Tao could have changed that hell into a heaven. A man of Tao, wherever he is, is at
peace, at ease. Only the essential is done, and if you can do the essential for him, he is happy. The
nonessential is dropped.
You cannot drop the nonessential. Really, ninety-nine percent of your energy is wasted on the
nonessential. The essential is not enough, and the mind always hankers for the nonessential,
because the essential is so little, so small, it can be fulfilled easily. Then what will you do?
People are not very interested in having good food. They are more interested in having a big car
because good food can be attained very easily. Then what? People are not interested in having
good healthy bodies. That can be attained very easily. They are interested in something which
The Empty Boat 36 Osho