When the Shoe Fits - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 2. THE TOWER OF THE SPIRIT
This is arduous, but this is what SANNYAS is – this is what it is all about. Don’t help anybody’s
expectation of you to grow. Don’t even give them a hint that you will fulfill it. Whatsoever suffering
you pass through, be ready to pass through it, but don’t allow others to have expectations about
you. Otherwise the world will close you in and there will be imprisonment. Once you nod yes to
doing something, then you are closed in. You are in the tunnel already, and now with every step,
every new act, you will fall into a new misery, new unfulfillment, new lies, new failures. Drop fulfilling
others’ expectations, and drop expecting others to fulfill yours. Remember, if you suffer, you suffer
because of you; if others suffer, they suffer because of them. Nobody suffers because of others –
remember that deeply. Only then will you be able to be really sincere to your inner self; and that
sincerity is religiousness.
Hindus have called this RIT. Jesus calls it the Kingdom of God. Chuang Tzu calls it Tao. Whatsoever
the word used, it means to stay close to one’s unconsciousness, and to flow with it without any
conditions. It means to flow unconditionally with the unconscious, wherever it leads – and to trust it.
This is what trust is. It is not a belief in a God, not a belief in a heaven or hell, not a belief in concepts,
theories or philosophies. Trust means trusting nature from whence you came and to which finally
you return. Trusting that nature you will return fulfilled, and each moment of your life will be a new
and deeper fulfillment. Otherwise each new act is a new failure.
IF HIS ACTS ARE DONE IN PUBLIC, IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, HE WILL BE PUNISHED BY MEN. IF
THEY ARE DONE IN PRIVATE AND IN SECRET, THEY WILL BE PUNISHED BY SPIRITS.
Don’t demonstrate yourself. If you demonstrate in public, in broad daylight, you will be punished by
man. This has to be understood. When you become a demonstrator, a showman, when your life
becomes a circus, an exhibition, people will appreciate you because you are falling victim to their
whims, to their expectations. They will applaud you, but this is not going to last very long. Sooner
or later they will start feeling your lies, because how long can you carry a lie? It shows, and when
they start feeling your lies they will punish you. Look at Richard Nixon. That happens to everybody
who becomes a showman. First they applaud you. Now you have become a victim. Just to get their
applause you will lie more and more. You will start filling their expectations and you will become
more and more unreal. This is a vicious circle. And the more unreal you become, the more they will
be able to see that you are lying. Then they will start punishing you. Whenever others appreciate
you – beware, you are moving on a dangerous path. Sooner or later they will punish you. When
people talk about your success – beware, now failure is not far off. When they put you on the throne,
escape, because sooner or later they will throw you off. But you are so foolish and stupid, that you
never see the fact that somebody else was there on the throne before you. They put him there, and
now, for you, they have thrown him off. Now they are garlanding and welcoming you, but sooner or
later they will find another showman and they will throw you out. This happens to everybody who
lives through public opinion. Don’t ask for any success in the outside world and you will not have
any failure. Don’t ask people to respect you, then there will be no insult.
Chuang Tzu says be the last, so nobody can push you further back. Don’t move to the front of
the queue because then everybody will be your enemy and sooner or later they will punish you.
Everything has its opposite with it. If they appreciate you they will punish you; if they respect you
they will insult you.
What is the mechanism of it? When somebody respects you, he feels insulted deep down – deep
When the Shoe Fits 31 Osho