These religions have provided you with shoes that don't fit you

I HAVE HEARD about Mulla Nasruddin, that he was purchasing shoes in a shop. The shopkeeper said that, "Mulla, are you mad or something?

Because you are trying on shoes which are not going to fit. You need shoes that are one size bigger."

Mulla said, "Don't disturb me. I have always used that size and I am going to continue to use that size. I am a man of principle."

The shopkeeper said, "It is up to you -- but you will suffer the whole day. The shoes will pinch you."

Mulla said, "That is what I want."

The shopkeeper said, "But why you want that?"

He said, "You don't understand the psychology of it. Suffering the whole day, when I come home and throw off the shoes, it is such a  relief that I say, 'My God!' -- it brings such pleasure. Without these shoes, life is nothing but misery. The whole day they keep me away from all miseries. I don't have energy enough to look at other miseries...
What my wife is saying, who has ears to hear her? My shoes are pinching so badly that I am hearing only my shoes. She goes on talking to herself -- she has become accustomed to monologues.

"Business is bad, things are going from bad to worse, but nothing worries me. My only worry is my shoes. The shoes keep me away from all  the miseries of the world. And in the end, before going to bed, taking them off gives me such relief that I sleep so relaxedly, so deeply... And you are suggesting that I wear shoes one size bigger? You are going to destroy my life!"

THESE RELIGIONS HAVE PROVIDED YOU ALL WITH SHOES WHICH DON'T FIT YOU -- shoes which may have fit somebody five  thousand years before. They have given you pants which don't fit you. They are making a mockery of you -- because THOSE SHOES ARE NOT MADE ACCORDING TO YOU, those pants are not made for you, those shirts are not made for you. Everything that these religions are supplying to you was made by somebody else for somebody else far back, centuries before.

NOTHING FITS; EVERYTHING GIVES NOTHING BUT PAIN. BUT THESE RELIGIONS HAVE BEEN TEACHING YOU that BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO SUFFER, blessed are those WHO LIVE IN MISERY, blessed are those whose lives are of austerity, asceticism, self-torture, because they shall inherit the kingdom of God. So just to inherit the kingdom of God you go on wearing shoes that don't fit you, caps that are so loose that you cannot see -- they cover your eyes, clothes that are either so small that you want to jump out of them, or so loose that a crowd can live inside them -- the whole family can be accommodated!

THE REBELLIOUS MAN CANNOT ACCEPT ANY OF THIS IDIOCY. HIS RELIGION IS HIS INTELLIGENCE. His religion is HIS CONSCIOUSNESS. His religion is HIS AWARENESS. AND OUT OF HIS AWARENESS, HE BECOMES AS FREE AS A BIRD ON THE WING, as beautiful as a lotus in the pond, and as joyous as a cuckoo singing from the mango grove. He starts living for the first time, and he knows that LIFE IS THE ONLY GOD THERE IS -- THERE IS NO OTHER GOD. THE REBELLIOUS MAN IS A PAGAN. He worships the trees, he worships the stars, he worships the rivers, the mountains. He worships man, he worships everything that is alive -- because WHEREVER THERE IS LIFE, THERE IS GODLINESS.

OSHO
The Rebel
Ch #10: Jesus is not a Christian
pm in Chuang Tzu Auditorium
[part 6 of 6]

Posted by: "Sw. Amrit Subhuti" RiverIIOsho

Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:46 am (PDT)