When the Shoe Fits - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 5. MONKEY MOUNTAIN
But they tried, when the emperor orders it has to be tried. They asked many Taoist teachers: Where
can we find Chuang Tzu? They said: Very difficult, nobody knows. He moves like the wind, unknown,
like a cloud, whereabouts unknown. But you go, and if some villager says that there is a man here
who is absolutely ordinary, then catch that man, he may be Chuang Tzu. And they found him in that
way.
In a village some people reported: Yes, there is a man who has just come to this village, absolutely
ordinary. You cannot find a more ordinary man than he. When asked where he was, they said:
He is fishing on the bank of the river. They went there and said to Chuang Tzu: The Emperor has
enquired about you; and we have been searching for you. Would you like to come to the court?
Would you like to become a member of the court – advisor to the king?
Chuang Tzu said: Wait, and let me think. And the next day, when they came to ask him, he was not
found in that village; he had escaped. People had suspected, they had come to know.
A man of Tao moves absolutely without identity. Why? Because if you show talent then people
cannot forgive you. People can forgive fools, but they cannot forgive wise men. That is why Jesus
was crucified, Socrates was poisoned. You feel so utterly inferior before a Jesus or a Socrates, how
can you forgive them! It is natural, you will make a concerted attack. You will all make a concerted
attack to kill that man. Then you will feel that a burden has been thrown.
A Jesus is so superb – if he just stands by your side you feel inferior. He has to hide himself. This
teaching is very basic. And the Prince told these words to his companion, Yen Pu’i.
WHEN THEY RETURNED HOME, YEN PU’I BECAME A DISCIPLE OF A SAGE TO GET RID
OF EVERYTHING THAT MADE HIM OUTSTANDING. HE RENOUNCED EVERY PLEASURE. HE
LEARNED TO HIDE EVERY DISTINCTION.
SOON NO ONE IN THE KINGDOM KNEW WHAT TO MAKE OF HIM. THUS THEY HELD HIM IN
AWE.
Many things: this man, Yen Pu’i, was really a wise man. He didn’t bother about who had given the
message to him. He didn’t bother about the vehicle, he simply took the message.
Remember this... you always bother about the vehicle. If I say something to you, you start thinking
about me, if this man is reliable, if this man has attained what he says. First you would like to be
convinced about me – but that is impossible. What I am saying, look at that – forget me completely.
It is my business whether I have attained or not, it is none of your business. Why are you concerned
about it? Whatsoever I am saying, if you feel the fragrance of it, try the medicine, not the doctor.
Don’t be concerned with the doctor, be concerned with the medicine because finally it is the medicine
that is going to cure you. And it is possible to find the right medicine even from a quack doctor. The
opposite is also possible: it is possible to find the wrong medicine from a right doctor. The real thing
is the medicine.
This man, Yen Pu’i, must have been a very wise and intelligent man, otherwise he would have
thought This fool, this fool of a Prince, he is giving me advice and he himself lives with distinction,
lives an exhibitionist’s life.
When the Shoe Fits 73 Osho