“Wherever you go you take your world with you,” states Osho.
I was reading a beautiful Bavarian story; you may have heard about it. Meditate over it.
Alois Hingerl, porter No. 172 at Munich Central Station, worked so energetically one day that he just dropped dead. Two little angels carried him to Heaven with some difficulty where Saint Peter welcomed him and told him that from now on his name would be Angel Aloisius. He presented him with a harp and informed him of the Heavenly house rules. ‘From eight in the morning until twelve noon,’ he said, ‘you will jubilate. And from twelve noon until eight in the evening you will sing Hosannah.’
‘What is going on?’ asked Aloisius. ‘From eight in the morning until twelve noon, jubilating? And from twelve noon until eight in the evening singing Hosannah? So… hmhm… ya, and when do I get something to drink?’
‘You will get your manna in due time,’ said Peter, slightly annoyed, and left him.
‘Hell!’ grumbled Angel Aloisius. ‘That is going to be rather a drag! I should jubilate from eight to twelve? And I thought there was no work in Heaven.’ But he finally sat down on a cloud and began to sing as he was told: ‘Hallelujah! Hallelujah!’
A very high spirited intellectual came gliding by. ‘Hey, you!’ called Aloisius. ‘How about a pinch of snuff? Come on now, let’s have some!’ But the intellectual angel was revolted by this vulgar idea. He just whispered ‘Hosannah’ and departed.
Aloisius became furious. ‘Ya – what kind of silly idiot is this?’ he shouted. ‘If you don’t have any snuff, you just don’t, right? A man can expect a decent answer, can’t he? You country bumpkin, you! Oh! my dear, what people they have up here! Ah, ah, what did I get into!’ And once more he sat down on his cloud and continued to jubilate.
But his anger showed in his singing, and he was shouting so loudly that the Heavenly Father next door awoke from His afternoon nap and asked with astonishment:
‘From whence cometh this noise?’ At once He sent for Saint Peter, who came running, and together they heard the scandalous jubilating of Angel Aloisius: ‘Hallelujah! Scheisse! Hallelujah! Bullshit! Hallelujah! Fuck you! Hallelujah!’
Saint Peter hurried away and dragged Aloisius before the Lord.
The Heavenly Father looked at him a long time and then He spoke: ‘Oh, I see: an angel from Munich. That’s what I thought! Now, tell me, what is all this shouting about?’
That was exactly what Aloisius had been waiting for. He was so furious that he started right out. ‘I don’t like all these things! I don’t like to have wings! I don’t like to sing Hosannah! I don’t like to drink manna instead of beer! And let me make clear: I do not like to sing!’
‘Saint Peter,’ said the Lord ‘this will never do! But I have an idea. We shall employ him as messenger conveying Our Heavenly advice to the Bavarian government. So he can fly to Munich once or twice a week, and his good soul will rest in peace!’
When Aloisius heard this he felt very happy indeed. Soon he got his first delivery job, a letter, and he flew down to earth.
And when once again he felt the soil of Munich under his feet, it seemed to him that now he was really in Heaven. And, following his old habits, he immediately went to the Hofbräuhaus and found his accustomed place empty and waiting for him. And good old Kathi, the waitress, was still there and he ordered another round of beer, and another, and still another one… and he just sat and is still sitting there today.
And that’s the reason the Bavarian government to this day has to do without Divine Guidance.
Wherever you go you will be yourself. Even in Heaven or in the Himalayas. You cannot be otherwise. The world is not outside you, you are the world. So wherever you go you take your world with you.
Osho, This Very Body the Buddha – Discourses on Hakuin’s Song of Meditation, Ch 6 (excerpt)
Series compiled by Shanti
All excerpts of this series can be found in: 1001 Tales
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