Come Follow To You, Vol 1 - Oshorajneesh.com

fire. So in every Master's house -- what they used to call GURUKUL, the familyof the Master -- there was a fire constantly burning in the middle of the house: aconstantly burning fire, twenty-four hours a day. All the teachings weredelivered near the fire. By and by, the fire symbol became deep-rooted in thedisciples.There is a beautiful story in the old Upanishads about when a disciple, a veryfamous disciple, Svetketu, was with his Master. The Master waited for twelveyears and wouldn't initiate him into the mysteries. The disciple served andserved, tending the fire in the house -- for twenty-four hours the fire had to bekept alive. It is said that the fire itself became very much worried about thisSvetketu. For twelve years he had been serving the fire, tending it, bringingwood from the forest.The story is beautiful. It says that the fire became worried. Even the fire startedfeeling that the Master was a little too hard, a little unjust. The fire started feelingcompassion for Svetketu.The fire talked to the Master's wife when the Master was out and said, "This isgoing too far. This Svetketu has been serving so silently for twelve years. He hasearned it already; the secret has to be revealed to him. You persuade yourhusband."The wife said, "But he won't listen. If I say anything, he may even become harder.He is not a man who can be persuaded. One has to wait. He knows how to workand how not to work, what to do and what not to do, and I cannot say anything."It is said that the fire became so much concerned that the fire itself revealed thesecret to Svetketu. And when the secret was revealed, the Master danced. Hesaid, "Svetketu, I was waiting. Because when the fire reveals itself, that'ssomething. I was forcing the fire itself to reveal the secret because compassionWILL arise, existence is compassionate. I could have given you the secret anyday, but that would not have been so vital. It would have been from me. But nowthe doors of existence have been opened for you by the existence itself. Now youare in communion with fire itself -- you have been initiated by fire."What secret can the fire give to you? The secret of death. In India we have beenburning dead bodies so that fire becomes associated with death. Even those whoare not seekers also know that fire is the symbol of death -- one dies in it. Butthose who know and seek on the path also know that one is resurrected throughit: dies and is reborn.In both the cases, whether through water or fire, death is the point. One has todie to attain to life abundant, one has to carry one's cross. Nobody else caninitiate you, only death. Death is the Master. Or, the Master is death.If you are ready to die, then nobody can prevent you from being reborn. But thisdeath should not be suicidal. Many people commit suicide. They are notresurrected. A suicidal death is not a death through understanding; a suicidaldeath is a death through misunderstanding. You die confused, in agony. You dieobsessed with the world, you die attached to the world. You die as a complaint.Come Follow To You Vol 1Osho