When the Shoe Fits - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 4. FIGHTING COCK
because your call can only be authentic when you are not. It is a silent thirst of an empty being, a
silent prayer without any words of a mind which is no more, of an ego which is dissolved.
Once it happened that Mulla Nasrudin came to me, very much disturbed, sad, perplexed, and he
said: I am in deep trouble. A problem has arisen. And I am not a blind believer, I am a rational man.
So I asked him: What is the problem? He said: Just this morning I saw a mouse sitting on the Koran,
the Holy Koran. So I am disturbed. If the Koran cannot protect itself against an ordinary mouse, how
can it protect me? My whole faith is shattered, my whole being is troubled. Now I cannot believe in
the Koran any more. What should I do?
So I told him: This is the logical step. Now you start believing in the mouse, because you have seen
with your own eyes that the mouse is stronger than the Holy Koran.
And, of course, strength is the only criterion for the mind, power is what mind is in search of –
Friedrich Nietzsche is right.
I told Mulla Nasrudin: Man is nothing but a will to power. And now you have seen with your own
eyes that a mouse is more powerful-than the Holy Koran.
He was convinced. Of course there was no way to escape from logic so he started worshipping the
mouse. But soon he was in trouble because one day he saw a cat jump on the mouse. But this
time he didn’t come to ask me; now he had the key in his own hand – he started to worship the cat.
Soon he was in trouble again. A dog chased the cat and the cat was trembling. So he started to
worship the dog. But then again he was in trouble. One day his wife beat the dog to death. Then he
came again. He said: Now this is too much. I can worship a mouse, a cat, a dog, but not my own
wife. But I told him: Nasrudin, you are a rational man, and this is how reason moves. You cannot go
back, you have to accept it. So he said: Then I will do one thing. I will take a picture of her without
anybody knowing and I will go inside my room, lock the door from the inside, and worship her. But
please don’t tell her.
So he started to worship her in secrecy and privacy. Things were going well. Then one day Mulla
Nasrudin’s wife came running to me, and she said: Something has been wrong for many days. We
thought that he had gone a little crazy because he had been worshipping a mouse, then he was
worshipping a cat, then a dog, and for a few days he has been doing something secret inside his
room. He locks it and allows nobody in. But today, just out of curiosity, I looked through the keyhole,
and it is too much to bear! I asked: What was he doing? She said: You come and see.
So I had to go, had to look through the keyhole! He was standing naked before a mirror worshipping
himself So I knocked on the door, and he came out and said: This is the logical conclusion. This
morning I got angry and beat my wife, and I thought: I am more powerful than her. So now I am
worshipping myself.
This is how mind goes on moving towards the ego – the final goal is ’I’. And if you listen to the mind
this goal is bound to come sooner or later: you will have to worship yourself. And I am not kidding.
This is how the whole of humanity has come to worship. All gods have been thrown aside, all the
temples have become useless, and man worships himself.
When the Shoe Fits 48 Osho