A Zen story told by Osho:
“Life moves so fast; it is dynamics, not static. He is not a stagnant puddle, he is the Ganges, he is constantly flowing. It is never the same in two consecutive moments. Therefore, one thing may be right at this moment and wrong at the next. What to do then? The only possible thing is for people to become so aware that they can decide for themselves how to respond to a changing life. Here is a Zen story:
There were two rival temples. Both Masters – they must have been just so-called Masters, they must have been priests in fact – were so much against each other that they told their followers never to look at the other temple.
Each of the priests had a boy to serve him, to go and bring him various things, to carry out orders. The priest of one temple ordered his boy:
“Never talk to the other boy.” Those people are dangerous.
But boys are boys. One day they met on the road and the boy from the first temple asked the other:
– Where are you going?
The other boy replied:
“Where the wind took me.”
He must have heard various great Zen sentences in the temple, so he said, “Where the wind has taken me.” Great thought, real Tao!
But the first boy was very embarrassed, offended, and could not think of an answer. Discouraged, angry, and a little guilty… “My Master told me not to talk to these people. They are really dangerous. What answer is that? He humiliated me.
The boy went to his Master and told him what had happened:
“I’m sorry I talked to him.” You were right, those people are weird. What answer is that? I asked him, “Where did you go?” – a very simple, formal question – and I knew he was going to the market, just as I was going to the market. But he said, “Where the wind has taken me.”
The teacher said:
“I warned you, but you’re not listening.” Look now, stand in the same place again tomorrow. When he comes, ask him, “Where did you go?” And he will answer, “Where did the wind take me?” Then you too will be a bit of a philosopher. You will say, “But if you have no legs, then?” – because the soul is disembodied and the wind cannot take it anywhere. – “What about this?”
The boy wanted to be completely ready; it kept repeating itself over and over all night. And the next morning he went there very early, stood in the right place and at the right moment the other boy arrived. The boy was very happy, now he would show him what a true philosophy is. Asked:
– Where are you going? “And waited.” But the other boy replied:
– I went to buy vegetables from the market.
What to do now with the philosophy you learned?
And life is like that. You can’t prepare for it, you can’t be ready. In this is his beauty, in this is his miracle, that he always boils you unprepared, always comes as a surprise. If you have eyes, you will see that every moment is a surprise and ready-made answers are never applicable.
