When the Shoe Fits - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 4. FIGHTING COCK
And now enter this beautiful story of Chuang Tzu, it is one of his most beautiful parables.
CHI HSING TZU WAS A TRAINER OF FIGHTING COCKS FOR KING HSUAN. HE WAS TRAINING
A FINE BIRD. THE KING KEPT ASKING IF THE BIRD WERE READY FOR COMBAT.
This man, Chi Hsing, was not only a trainer, he was a man of Tao. In China, in Japan, in the
Far East, they have used all sorts of things as stepping boards for meditation. All sorts of things:
archery, painting, swordsmanship, even training cocks and birds to fight. Name any dimension of
life and they have used it for an inner training. This man, Chi Hsing, was asked by the Emperor to
train a cock for him. The King was interested in combat, in competition, and of course he was also
interested in his cock winning the competition.
Even through cocks our egos fight. We use everything for the ego, even games become adulterated
by it. Then you are not interested in the game, you are only interested in how to win it – that is the
difference between play and a game. In play you are interested in the play itself – children’s play.
Then play is beautiful, and if your whole life can become a play it will become a beautiful thing. In a
game you are not interested in the play itself, you are interested in the end result. You are interested
in how to win, and when you are interested in how to win, you have destroyed the game. Now it is
no longer play, it has become a business.
From the very first, remember that this man, Chi Hsing, had one type of interest in training the cock,
and the King had another: he was interested in combat, and the trainer was interested in something
else.
Chi Hsing was training a fine bird. The King kept asking if the bird was ready for combat. The trainer
said: Not yet, he is full of fire. Look... the King would have said: If he is full of fire, that is what
we need Because when you fight with somebody and you are full of fire, there is more possibility of
winning. The King must have been puzzled. What type of trainer was this man? He says: Not yet,
because he is still full of fire. He is ready to pick a fight with every other bird, he is constantly ready
to fight – that means he is afraid and he is not ready.
When you are afraid, how can you be ready to fight? Look at the different minds: the logic of the
mind will say that if you are full of fire and ready to fight with everybody, then you can become a
great warrior – you are already. Why are you waiting? What are you waiting for? If the fire is ready,
fight! Because if you wait too long the fire may go; if you wait too long the energy may subside.
But with a no-mind it is absolutely different, the gestalt is different. The man of no-mind says:
Because he is still ready to fight at every moment, he is not yet ready. Why? Because when you are
ready to fight at every moment you are a coward. Fight is a cover-up. You want to prove that you
are a brave man. The very wanting, the very desire to prove, means that you are not. A man who
is really wise will never in any way be searching for opportunities to prove that he is wise. A fool is
always in search of a way to prove that he is wise. A man who is really in love, who has become
love, will not try to prove that he is in love.
When you are not in love you try to prove in many, many ways that you are in love. You bring
presents, you go on talking about love, but all your efforts say just the opposite. If you really love a
person you will not even mention the fact that you love them. What is the need? If the other cannot
When the Shoe Fits 53 Osho