Any man who aims at satisfying his ego is either wasting his precious time or is creating an unnecessary friction.
– Osho
Divine Clothes
The whole of humanity has been deceived about knowledge. This deception is a conspiracy against man. All this knowledge has to be cleaned out and thrown away – only then can you become open to the kind of knowing in the light of which existence is experienced and the flame of the soul is seen. This is not possible with pseudo-knowledge. Pseudo-knowledge is not light at all: the house is dark, the lamp is unlit – but people are convincing each other and explaining to each other that the lamp is lit. And after hearing it said again and again, you have also started saying that the lamp is lit. Because somewhere inside there is fear – others say that if you do not see the lighted lamp you will go to hell. They say they can see the lighted lamp, and so, slowly slowly you started seeing it too.
There was once a great king. One morning a mysterious stranger came and said to him, “You have now conquered the whole earth, so the clothes of a human being do not suit you. I will bring you the clothes of the gods.” The king’s mind became greedy. His intellect was saying, “How can the gods have clothes?” The intellect is even doubtful about the existence of any gods. But he was greedy, because he thought that perhaps there were gods somewhere, and if their clothes were brought to him then he would be the first man on the earth, in the history of mankind, who has worn the clothes of a god. And in what way could this man deceive him? He was a great emperor; he had billions and trillions of rupees just lying around. Even if the man asked for several thousand rupees it would not matter. He asked the man, “Okay, so what will it cost?”
The man said, “It will cost at least ten million rupees, because in order to reach the gods I will have to pay a large bribe. Not only do men take bribes – the gods are also very clever, they also ask for bribes. And a man will agree to a small amount of money – he is poor – but the gods will not agree to a small amount. Only if it is a big pile of money will they look at it, otherwise they will not even look at it. So it is very difficult, but at least ten million rupees will be needed.”
The king said, “Alright, that’s no problem. But remember, if you deceive me then it will cost you your life. From today onwards there will be armed guards around your house.”
The man was given ten million rupees and his house was put under guard. All the people in the neighborhood were surprised, amazed. They could not believe this. They were thinking, “Where are the gods, and where is their heaven? This man does not seem to be coming or going anywhere.” He stayed inside his house and told everybody, “After six months I will show you clothes of the gods.” Everybody was doubtful, but the king was unconcerned because the man was under a guard of naked swords. He could not escape, nor could he deceive.
But the man was much more intelligent than the king: after six months he came out of his house with a very beautiful box and said to the soldiers, “Let us go to the palace. Today is the day – the clothes have arrived.”
The whole capital gathered. Kings and emperors from far away gathered to see. A great celebration was organized. The man had to come into the court with the box, so there was no reason for any doubt. He brought the box and put it down. He opened the lid of the box, put his hand inside, brought out an empty hand and said to the king, “Take this turban.” The king looked and said, “I cannot see any turban, your hand is empty.”
Immediately the man said, “Let me remind you of one thing: the gods have said that only a person who is born of his own father will be able to see the turban and clothes. Now do you see the turban?”
The king said, “Of course I can see it.”
There was no turban there, the man’s hand was empty – but all the courtiers started clapping. They too could not see the turban but they all started saying. “We have never seen such a beautiful turban. The turban was very beautiful, unique, wonderful. No man has ever seen such a turban.”
When all the courtiers started saying that the turban was very beautiful, the king was in a difficult situation. And then the man said, “So now take off your turban and put this one on.”
The king removed his own turban and put on the turban which did not exist. If it had only been a turban that was involved it would have been alright, but soon the king was really in trouble. First his coat was removed, then his shirt, and finally the time came when he had to remove his last garment. The king was now naked, but all the courtiers were shouting, “Such beautiful clothes! Wonderful! We have never seen such clothes.” Every courtier had to say it very loudly in case other people might wonder if he was born of his own father or not.
And when the whole crowd was shouting about the clothes, each person was thinking that either something was wrong with his eyes or until now he had been mistaken about his father. “If all the other people are shouting about the clothes, they must be right. So many people cannot be wrong. There is such a majority. When everyone says the same thing it must be right.” This is democracy: everybody is in agreement – “When so many people agree, they cannot all be wrong.” So each person thought that he alone was wrong, and if he remained silent then people would think that he could not see.
The king became afraid – should he take off the last article of clothing or not? On the one hand he was afraid that the whole court would see him naked, and on the other hand he was afraid that if the world came to know that he was not born of his father, then there would be even greater difficulties. It was like going from the devil to the deep blue sea! So in the end it seemed better to accept nudity; at least his father’s name would be saved, his dynasty would not be defamed. He thought, “At the most, people might see me naked – so what. And also, when everybody is cheering about the clothes, they may be right. The clothes may really be there and it is only that I can’t see them.” So in order to avoid any unnecessary complications he dropped the last garment and stood there naked.
Then the man said, “Oh King! The clothes of the gods have descended on the earth for the first time. You should have a procession and travel around the city on a chariot.” The king became really afraid, but now there was no way out.
When man commits a mistake at the first stage then it becomes very difficult to stop at any later stage, and it becomes very difficult to return. If one is not honest at the first stage, then one keeps on getting more and more hypocritical at the next stages; it becomes difficult for him to know where to return from because each stage has become connected with many other stages.
So the king was in difficulty. He could not refuse. He was taken in a procession on a chariot… Maybe you were also there, because there were many people in that city. Everyone saw the procession, so you might also have been there and you might have praised the clothes. Nobody would want to miss the chance. All the people were praising the clothes loudly, saying that they were very beautiful.
Only a child who was in the crowd sitting on his father’s shoulders said, “Father, the king seems to be naked.”
His father said, “You idiot, be quite! You are small; you have no experience. When you become experienced you will also start seeing the clothes. I can see the clothes.”
Children sometimes say the truth, but old people don’t give them any credit because old people have more experience. And experience is very dangerous thing. Because of his experience the father said, “Be quiet! When you become experienced you will also see the clothes. We can see them – do you think we have all gone mad?”
Sometimes a child will say, “I cannot see God in a statue.” Then old people say, “Be quiet! We can see God. Ram is standing there. And when you become experienced you will also see him.”
Man is caught in a collective deception. And when everybody is caught in the same deception it becomes difficult to see.
Gold and Silver are hidden deep under the Earth. Pearl and Coral are deep under the Sea. But Peace and Joy are hidden in our Mind and Soul. Stop searching them outside…💞💞
