The garden of love is green without limit and yields many fruits other than sorrow or joy. Love is beyond either condition: without spring, without autumn, it is always fresh.

– Rumi

Forget About It

I  have  heard  a  very  old  Tibetan  story:

There  was  a  great  sage  who  would  not  initiate  anybody,  who  would  not  make  anybody  a disciple.  And  his fame  spread  far  and  wide,  and  thousands  of  people  would  come  every year  to  his  hilltop  and  they  would touch  his  feet  and  they  would  cry  and  weep  and  they would  say,  “Accept  us!  Initiate  us  into  the  truth  you have  achieved!  Open  the  door  of your  temple  to  us  also  —  we  are  thirsty.

But  he  would  say,  “You  are  not  worthy,  you  don’t  deserve.  First  become  worthy  of  me!” And  his  conditions were  such  that  nobody  was  ever  able  to  fulfill  them:  Be  truthful  for three  years,  not  a  single  lie;  for  three years  be  celibate,  not  even  a  thought  of  a  woman  or a  man  —  and  so  on  and  so  forth.  Those conditions were  impossible!  And  those  conditions are  such  that  the  more  you  try  to  fulfill  them,  the  more you  will  feel  it  is  impossible.  You can  be  a  celibate  if  you  don’t  bother  too  much  about  it;  but  if  you  think too  much  about celibacy  then  you  will  be  surrounded  by  many,  many  women  in  your  mind.

Many people  had  tried  and  nobody  was  successful,  so  nobody  was  initiated.  Then  the man  was  dying.  Just three  days  before  he  died,  many  people  had  gathered  and  he  told  his closest  people,  “Now  you  go,  and whosoever  wants  to  be  initiated  I  will  initiate  —  only three  days  are  left!”

The  people  knew  him  well  and  they  said,  “What  about  your  conditions?”

He  said,  “Forget  all  about  those  conditions!  In  fact,  I  was  not  ready  to  initiate  anybody; hence,  I  was insisting  too  much  on  the  conditions.  Now  I  am  ready!  and  I  am  full  and  I want  to  share.  Now  forget  all about  the  conditions  —  whosoever  wants  to  come,  fetch them!  And  be  in  a  hurry  because  only  three  days are  left.”

He  initiated  any  and  everybody,  whosoever  came.  People  could  not  believe  it!  They asked,  “What  are  you doing?  We  are  sinners!”

He  said,  “Forget  about  it.  I  was  not  a  saint  up  to  now  —  that  was  the  only  trouble.  I  had nothing  to initiate  you  into.  There  was  no  door  —  I  was  standing  outside  the  door  myself. But  now  the  door  has opened  —  now  I  have  to  share.  Now  there  is  no  question  of  any conditions.”

What is right, and what is wrong? My answer is: that which comes out of awareness is right. That which comes out of unawareness is wrong. Actions are not right and wrong, it is the source from where they come.

– Osho

Excerpted From A Sudden Clash Of Thunder CH: 4