The habit of not finding faults, simplicity, purity of body & soul, patience, sweet voice, suppression of worldly desires, truthfulness, and tolerance are the qualities that are present in wise people.
– Vidur
Just State The Fact!
A man had a very beautiful horse, and the horse was so beautiful and so strong and so rare that even emperors had asked the man to sell the horse – whatsoever the price – but he would not sell it. Then one day in the morning he found that the horse had been stolen. The whole village gathered to sympathise, and they said, ‘How unfortunate! You could have got a fortune – people were offering so much. You were stubborn and you were stupid. Now the horse is stolen and you are broke; that was the only thing that you had’
But the old man laughed; he said, ‘Don’t talk nonsense! Only say that the horse is no more in the stable. You don’t know what has happened. Let the future come, then we will see.’
But they say, ‘Now don’t philosophise and don’t try to console yourself. Nothing is going to happen – the horse has been stolen.’
But it happened that after fifteen days the horse came back, and not only alone, it brought a dozen wild horses with it from the forest. The whole village gathered, and they said, ‘The old man was right – we were wrong! How fortunate he is. His horse is back and has brought twelve beautiful horses with him. Now he can earn as much money as he wants.’
They went to the old man and they said, ‘Sorry. We could not understand the future and the ways of god, but you are great! You knew something about it; you have some glimpse of the future.’
He said, ‘Nonsense! I don’t know anything about the future. All that I know now is that the horse has come back with twelve horses – that’s all! What is going to happen tomorrow, nobody knows! Whether it is a misfortune or a blessing nobody knows.’
But they said, ‘Now, don’t try to hide your happiness! We can see that you are very happy!
But the next day it happened that the old man’s only son was trying to break in a new wild horse, and he fell. That was the old man’s only support in his old age, and his son’s legs were broken. The whole town gathered again and they said, ‘One never knows – you were right; this proved to be a curse. It would have been better that the horse had not come back with these twelve horses. Now your son will remain crippled for his whole life.’
The old man said, ‘Don’t conclude, don’t jump ahead! Just wait and see what happens – nobody knows! Only say this much – that my son has broken his legs, that’s all.’
But nobody would listen to him, and it happened after fifteen days that all the young men of the town were forcibly taken away by the government for military purposes because the country was going to war with a neighbouring country. Only this old man’s son was left because he was of no use.
Then they all gathered – they said, ‘Our sons are completely gone! At least you have your son! Maybe he is crippled, but he is! Our sons are totally gone, and we cannot hope that they will ever come back. The war is going to be great, big, and the enemy is far stronger than our country. They are all going to be murdered. In our old age we have nobody to look after us, but you at least have your son, and maybe he will be cured!’
But the old man said, ‘Say only this much – that your sons have been taken by the government. My son has been left, but there is no conclusion.’
Just state the fact! Don’t think of it as a curse or a blessing. Don’t interpret it, and suddenly you will see that everything is beautiful!
This is the basic alchemy: you watch, witness without any judgment. There is no need of any judgment. That which is wrong will disappear, leaving a great energy behind.
– Osho
