Osho says, “You can never be somebody else. Remember it as one of the most fundamental laws. Aes dhammo sanantano…” – illustrated by two stories.
You can never be somebody else. Remember it as one of the most fundamental laws. Aes dhammo sanantano – this is the eternal law: you can never be like somebody else. That does not mean you should not learn. Learn, but don’t follow. Absorb, but go on your own way. Learn from all the enlightened ones. Sit at their feet, absorb their presence, but go on your own way.
Buddha himself said as his last statement on the earth: Be a light unto yourself.
A squirrel on the ground was watching two other squirrels in a tree.
One of them fell to the ground, bounced a couple of times, looked back up in the tree and said, “That making love in the tree is for the birds.”
That’s why I say don’t follow. Don’t try to make love in the tree – that is for the birds! – otherwise you will be in the hospital.
A little boy and girl squirrel were chattering and playing around when suddenly a fox appeared. The girl squirrel dashed up a tree but the boy squirrel stayed on the ground.
“That’s strange,” said the fox. “Usually squirrels are afraid of me and run up the nearest tree.”
“Listen,” said the boy squirrel. “Did you ever try to climb a tree after playing with a girl for twenty minutes?”
Just look to your own situation! Buddha has a different space, different context, a different world. You cannot follow him – literally you cannot follow him. Metaphorically you can understand him and you can be tremendously benefited by him.
Osho, The Dhammapada: The Way of the Buddha, Vol 8, Ch 12, Q 3 (excerpt)
Series compiled by Shanti
All excerpts of this series can be found in: 1001 Tales
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