When the Shoe Fits - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 10. MAN IS A BORN IN TAO
small roots; big trees will have big roots. And it is always proportionate: if the tree goes fifty feet
high, the roots go fifty feet down. The same should be for you – move into action, but then move into
inaction every day. Make it a rhythm, a harmony.
IF MAN, BORN IN TAO, SINKS INTO THE DEEP SHADOW OF NON-ACTION TO FORGET
AGGRESSION AND CONCERN, HE LACKS NOTHING, AND HIS LIFE IS SECURE.
In inactivity you dissolve into the ocean, the fish becomes the ocean. in sleep who are you? The
ego is there no more, the fish has dissolved. in deep sleep, where are you? You don’t occupy any
space, you have become one with existence. The same happens in deep meditation.
Hindus have said that deep meditation is just like deep sleep with only one difference: you are alert
in meditation and not alert in sleep. In deep meditation, when you seek the cool shadow, you are
alert, inactive, but conscious. You know where you are moving. You know that the whole being is
settling. You know that it is as if a dead leaf falls from the tree, moves toward the earth, floats a little
in the wind, then by and by settles on the earth and falls into deep sleep.
When you move towards meditation from the world of activity, you are falling like a dead leaf or a
feather of a bird. There will be a few shakings, waverings on the breeze, here and there you will
move, and by and by you go deeper until you settle on the earth. You have reached the root and
everything settles. Then there is no worry, no thought, no world no you – only that which is, remains.
That is Tao. Then enriched, rejuvenated, you come back to the world, and by and by it becomes as
easy as coming out of your house and going in. It becomes that easy. When you want to, be active,
but remember that this activity should follow your bodily need, not your mental desire. Become
active when energy is flowing and you feel the energy has to be used – because energy needs
action, energy delights in action. If you cannot do anything, at least dance. And remember, energy
needs action. If you suppress energy then you will become aggresive – don’t suppress energy. This
is one of the deepest problems for modern man. Primitive man needed much energy for his day-today
life. Going for a hunt needed much energy – eight hours running in the forest fighting with the
animals, then by the end of the evening you might be able to get your food, and that too was not
certain – much energy was needed for ordinary day to day affairs.
Now everything is done by machines, technology has relieved you of much work. What to do? You
become aggressive, you fight, you get angry. Without any reason or rhyme, you become angry –
suddenly you flare up. Everybody knows that this is foolish, even you in your cooler moments know
that that was foolish. But why did you flare up unnecessarily? The excuse was not enough. The real
reason is not that there was some situation; the real reason is you have so much energy, so much
petrol overflowing, inflammable, that any moment it can be active. That is why after anger you feel
relaxed, after anger you feel a little well-being coming to you.
For the modern man this is going to be so – that is why I insist on active meditations, not silent
meditations. Because your energy needs acting out, it needs catharsis. You have too much energy
with no action for the energy. And rich food is available and food creates more energy. It is a fuel.
This age is the most well-fed age in the whole of history. And there is no work. Even if you go to the
office or the shop or somewhere else, the work is mental, not physical. Mental work is not enough.
Man is physically a hunter. He needs much activity to be relaxed. So choose, but according to your
bodily needs. Don’t force the body, don’t compel it; just feel the body and what it needs. If it needs
When the Shoe Fits 148 Osho