Open up! Throw your doors and windows open. Let wind and rain and sun come in. let people enter into you and you enter into people's lives. That is the only way to become aware of the tremendous mystery of life, says Osho, the Zen master.
The Treasure Hunt The Times of India (What’s Hot), New Delhi, 7 th February, 2008
The world is full of poor people seeking short-cuts to getting rich overnight. Every other day, we read stories or bank robberies; people are so desperate to earn a quick buck!
The other day, I came across an ancient Sufi story about one such chap. He had heard that if he went to a certain place in the desert at dawn and stood facing a distant mountain, his shadow would point to a great buried treasure. The man left his cabin before the first light of day and, at dawn, stood at the designated place. His shadow shot out long and thin over the surface of the sand. “How fortunate,” he thought as he envisioned himself with great wealth. He began digging for the treasure. He was so involved that he didn’t notice the sun climbing in the sky and shortening his shadow. After a while the sun was almost half its earlier size and he cast no shadow! Overcome by worry, he started crying and thought that all his efforts went waste since there was no sign of any treasure.
A Sufi Master who was passing by saw him and said, “The shadow is pointing to the treasure—its’s within you.”
But not all people are lucky enough to meet such a Master who can guide them towards the wealth within.
To be rich only outwardly is a waste of life. It is a sort of paralysis of our very being because getting lost in the unending, ceaseless greed for money, we become utterly hollow.
Osho says: “Money is a way to stuff one self with things. Money purchases everything, so it becomes important. Then you can stuff your emptiness with everything. You can have as many palaces as you want, as many cars, airplanes whatsoever you want. You can go on stuffing yourself. You are empty. An empty person is a greedy person.”
“And nobody is ever fulfilled by greed. Nobody is ever fulfilled by anything because things are outside and the emptiness is inside, and you cannot take things from the outside into the inside. So even if you become rich, you will remain empty.”
“The inner can be fulfilled only by the inner. I am not asking you to renounce your money; that too is foolish. To continuously run after money is foolish, to renounce money is also foolish—because nobody can fulfil his inner emptiness with money, and nobody can fulfil it by renouncing money…Because both are outside. Whether you accumulate any money or renounce it, both are outside. That is not looking into the problem correctly.”
There’s another related story about Mulla Nasruddin. One night, he dreamt that God had sent him a reward through an angel. The angel gave Mulla 10 rupees. He felt insulted and said, “ I will take 100 rupees or I won’t take anything. What a miserly approach from God!”
Still asleep, the Mulla started to shout, “Either 100 or nothing.” And woke up with a start. He looked all around—there was nobody! He said, “My God, I lost 99 rupees unnecessarily.” He closed his eyes and apologised, “Please come back, wherever you are. Even 99 is okay, 98 will do too… 97 is also alright—anything will do. Just come back! Where are you?” He came down to one rupee, “Anything from God is great. I was foolish to call God a miser. I was greedy. Forgive me. Give me just one rupee.” But the angel was gone…