When the Shoe Fits - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 8. THE TURTLE
In the old days a prime minister was not chosen by the people. A prime minister was appointed
by the king, and the king had to seek out a wise man. A Brahmin had to be sought, searched for,
because a wise man would not stand in an election, he would not go knocking at doors to ask for
votes – rather he would hide himself. Kings would go and seek, and wherever there was a wise
man he had to be brought to the world so the world could have the benefits. The Prince must have
come to know that Chung Tzu had become enlightened. He sent two messengers and appointed
him as the Prime Minister. CHUANG TZU HELD HIS BAMBOO POLE. Nothing changed. The vicechancellor
was standing there with a formal document saying: You are appointed Prime Minister. It
was the greatest post but Chuang Tzu remained as he was. Chuang Tzu held his bamboo pole still
watching the Pu River. He didn’t even look at those vice chancellors. He didn’t look at the document,
as if it was not worth it.
STILL WATCHING PU RIVER, HE SAID: I AM TOLD THERE IS A SACRED TORTOISE OFFERED
AND CANONISED THREE THOUSAND YEARS AGO VENERATED BY THE PRINCE, WRAPPED
IN SILK IN A PRECIOUS SHRINE ON AN ALTAR IN THE TEMPLE.
That turtle is still there; the turtle is covered with gold and precious stones. In the forbidden city of
Peking, the imperial city, which is not open for everybody, it is still there. Now it is almost six thousand
years old – a dead turtle, covered with gold and very precious stones, enshrined, worshipped by the
Prince himself.
Asked Chuang Tzu: WHAT DO YOU THINK? IS IT BETTER TO GIVE UP ONE’S LIFE AND
LEAVE A SACRED SHELL AS AN OBJECT OF CULT IN A CLOUD OF INCENSE FOR THREE
THOUSAND YEARS, OR BETTER TO LIVE AS PLAIN TURTLE DRAGGING ITS TAIL IN THE
MUD?
Chuang Tzu asked: What is better – just to be a plain turtle and live, or to be dead, covered with
gold, and be worshipped? This is the problem with everybody, before everbody, and these are the
two alternatives. People can worship you but they cannot worship you if you are alive, because life
is amoral – it is neither moral nor immoral. Life does not know any morality, it is amoral; life knows
no oughts, it simply lives from the unconscious. If you are simply alive it is very difficult for anybody
to worship you. If you simply live plainly, enjoying, you cannot expect incense to be burnt around
you, and a temple to arise, and a cult, and a sect, and people to worship you for thousands of years.
No!
They worship a Jesus not because he was enlightened, they worship a Jesus because he was
crucified. Just think about the story of Jesus: if the crucifixion had never happened there would
have been no Christianity. It is not because of Jesus that there is Christianity, it is because of the
cross; that is why the cross has become the symbol of a Christian.
Why the cross? The human mind, the neurotic mind, worships death not life: the more dead you are,
the more you can be worshipped. If you are alive then you are not worth worshipping because you
are not sacrificing anything! Sacrifice can be worshipped because sacrifice means sacrificing life, a
gradual crucifixion. If others crucify you, people will worship you and if you crucify yourself, people
will worship you more. People worship death; Jesus is worshipped because he was crucified.
If you just drop that part of the story, then who is Jesus? Then it will be difficult for you to even
remember because Jesus was a vagabond just like Chuang Tzu. The only difference in the story
When the Shoe Fits 113 Osho