When the Shoe Fits - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 8. THE TURTLE
Ego leaves traces, footprints. If the ego wants not to die, autobiographies are written, history is
created. And then comes the whole foolishness – neurosis. To create the ego, man has created
a conflict, and this conflict has two aspects: one aspect is with outer nature – that is how science
is created. Science is a fight with nature outside, nature without. That is why even a person like
Bertrand Russell goes on talking in terms of conquering nature. How can you conquer nature? How
can a wave conquer the ocean? It is patent foolishness! A part cannot conquer the whole; and if
the part tries, the part will go mad. The whole will not lose anything, the part will lose everything
because the part exists with the whole, never against it. Science has become destructive because
of this conquering attitude.
And there is another aspect of conflict: that aspect you call religion.
One aspect is to fight nature outside; science is created, it is destructive. The ultimate goal can
never be anything other than Hiroshima, and it will be reached – the whole earth will become a
Hiroshima. Fighting leads to death, conflict ultimately leads to ultimate death; science is leading
towards that.
Then there is the other conflict: the inner conflict, to fight with oneself. That is what you call religion
– to conquer oneself. Again the fight, and it too is destructive. Science destroys nature from the
outside, and so-called religion destroys nature from the inside. Chuang Tzu is against both types
of conflict. So-called science and so called religion are not enemies, they are partners, they have a
deep affinity.
To understand Chuang Tzu and Lao Tzu, to understand Tao, you will have to understand that they
don’t believe in fighting of any sort. They say: Don’t fight, live Just be in a let-go, so nature can
penetrate you and you can penetrate nature. They say: Just be ordinary, don’t try to be extraordinary,
don’t try to be somebody, just be nobodies. You will enjoy more because you will have more energy
left, you will be full of energy.
There is tremendous energy, but it is dissipated in fighting; you divide yourself and you fight from
both sides and the energy is dissipated. The same energy can become ecstatic if allowed to move
in an inner harmony, not fighting.
Acceptance, accepting whatsoever is, is the basis of Tao. Tao does not create any ’ought’. Chuang
Tzu says: Don’t say to anybody that you ought to do this, you should do this, you ought not to be
like this. Chuang Tzu says these things are dangerous, you are poisoning. There is only one thing
to be followed and that is your nature: wherever it leads, trust it.
But we are afraid to follow nature, not because nature is bad, but because of the moral teachers,
because of the poisoners of the very source of life. They have taught you so many things, so many
toughts’, that you cannot look directly at the ’is’ – that which is, you always look for the ’ought’. Even
if you look at a rose you immediately start to think how this rose ought to be; it could be a little more
red, it could be a little bigger, you could inject chemicals into it and it will become bigger, you could
paint it, it will become more red – but you cannot accept it as it is. Small or big, red or not so red, it
is there. Why not enjoy it at this very moment? First make it more red, make it bigger, and then you
will enjoy it.
When the Shoe Fits 109 Osho