“Alexander the Great, or others of his category – are perhaps searching for something else, and are not aware of it. They are searching for greatness – but greatness does not come from acquiring an empire. Greatness comes from becoming your real self, bringing your potentiality to actualization.”
When Alexander the Great came to India, one sannyasin asked him, “Why are you torturing yourself, running all over the world, wasting your life? What is the purpose?”
Alexander said, “My purpose? My purpose is to conquer the whole world.”
The sannyasin said, “Can you just be patient enough to answer my one question? If in a desert you are lost, thirsty and hungry for many days, and I come with a glass of water, how much of your empire will you be ready to give in exchange for a glass of water?”
Nobody had ever asked such a question to Alexander. He said, “How much? If I am dying I can give you half of my empire.”
The sannyasin said, “But I am not willing to sell for half an empire; then you can die. I need your full empire, the whole empire, as I am giving you the whole glass of water.”
Alexander said, “Perhaps in such a situation I may be ready to give you the whole empire and take one glass of water.”
The sannyasin started laughing. He said, “Then it is better you go home. Don’t bother about this empire; its value is not more than one glass of water.”
But these people – Alexander the Great, or others of his category – are perhaps searching for something else, and are not aware of it. They are searching for greatness – but greatness does not come from acquiring an empire. Greatness comes from becoming your real self, bringing your potentiality to actualization. It may be a grass flower, it may not be a lotus – but nature makes no difference.
When the sun rises it does not dance longer on the lotus. It does not ignore a grass flower and say, “Be out of the way, you untouchable, you sudra! I’m here for the lotus flowers, the roses.” When the rain comes it does not make any distinction, any discrimination; when the wind comes it makes no distinction, no discrimination.
The real question is not whether you are a rose, or a lotus flower, or just an unnamed grass flower. The real thing is that the grass flower has come to actualize its potentiality, just as the rose flower has actualized its potentiality, just as the lotus flower has actualized its potentiality. The real thing is actualization of the seed that you are carrying within you; that makes you great, and it is a greatness with a tremendous humbleness, with no ego in it.
Osho, The Messiah: Commentaries on Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, Vol 2, Ch 10
Series compiled by Shanti
All excerpts of this series can be found in: 1001 Tales
Photo by Thomas Kinto on Unsplash
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