A judge declared both parties to be in the right

Depth of understanding is when you can stand in others’ shoes, when you can see from others’ eyes, when you can feel from others’ hands, when you can stand in the other’s being, at the other’s center, and look through him – how he feels, what he feels, what he says.

A man of knowledge is always blind, argumentative; he is always right and the other is always wrong. He is always discussing; his discussions become disgusting. He is always arrogant and always on the defensive. He cannot understand anybody. Whatsoever you say he will deny – he will say no because in no he knows there is power. Remember this: a man who has not learned the power of saying yes is not yet wise. He goes on saying no because whenever he says no he feels powerful. Have you felt it? Just say ‘no’ and you feel powerful. Say ‘yes’ and you feel surrendered. Yes becomes difficult, so you go on contradicting whosoever is saying anything. You are always right.

How can this be possible? This whole world – so many consciousnesses, so many ways of looking at life – all wrong, only you are right? This seems to be a very very arrogant and violent outlook. A man of understanding understands that somehow everybody has to be right in some sense or other.

It happened:

A Sufi mystic was made a kazi; he was made a justice, a judge. He was a wise man, a man of understanding – what Lao Tzu calls of deep understanding.

The first case was brought before him. The first party argued. He listened intently, and then he said, ”Right, absolutely right.”

The clerk of the court was worried because he had not yet heard the other party, and how can a judge say this without listening to the other party? So he leaned towards the judge and whispered in his ear: ”I think you are not aware of the ways of the court. You should not say this because it is a judgment, the case is finished. But you have not heard the other party! How can you say to one party that they are right?”

The judge said, ”You are right. Let me hear the other party.”

He heard the other party, listened intently and then said, ”Right, absolutely right.”

Now the clerk thought that this man was mad. How could both be right together? He leaned over again and said, ”What are you doing? Are you drunk or are you mad? How can both be right?”

The judge said, ”Of course, you are right. How can both be right?”

This is a man of deep understanding, for whom everybody is right – because he can penetrate to the very depth of your being and can see your viewpoint also. He is not enclosed in his own viewpoint, in his own philosophy, in his own doctrine. He has none, in fact – he is an open phenomenon. He can come into you and look through you and can see why, why you are insisting; he can feel why you feel you are right.

But then this type of man will be a mystery. Either you will call him mad or you will call him a sage who is beyond the world and it is none of his affair to interfere with our life.

Osho, Tao: The Three Treasures, Talks on Fragments from Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, Vol 1, Ch 9 (excerpt)

Series compiled by Shanti
All excerpts of this series can be found in: 1001 Tales