Confucius meets Lao Tzu

I am reminded of a disciple of Confucius. He asked Confucius, “I have heard so much about Lao Tzu….” They were contemporaries. Sometimes it happens almost like a chain-reaction.…

In China there was Confucius, a great thinker but materialist; Lao Tzu, a great buddha; Chuang Tzu, Lieh Tzu. In India there were Gautam Buddha, Mahavira, and six others whose scriptures have been burnt by the Hindus, whose statues have been destroyed; just their names remain in the words of Buddha, or in the words of Mahavira. At the same time, in Greece there were Socrates, Heraclitus, Dionysius, Diogenes. Suddenly the whole world was afire with a new insight.

Confucius’ disciple asked him, “You must have heard about Lao Tzu. He talks about a space inside where there is only peace and nothing else, utter silence and no disturbance. Will you teach me how to enter inside?”

Confucius was very angry. He said, “Stop all this nonsense. Learn the morality, the virtue, avoid the sins, behave like a gentleman. Learn the manners of the society. As far as your inner world is concerned, when you die you will have eternity for that in the grave. You can search and meditate and find what is inside. But right now, don’t waste my time.” That was his attitude.

But, by and by, many people talked about Lao Tzu. Finally Confucius gathered courage. He was very much afraid, because the stories that he had heard about Lao Tzu were so strange: “The man can do anything. He rides on a buffalo, facing backwards – a dangerous fellow.”

But the more he wanted to avoid him, the more he became interested. That’s how the human mind functions. Whatever you want to avoid you will come across again and again. You will become enchanted. Finally he decided to meet him.

Lao Tzu was not far away, just outside the capital in the mountains in a cave. Confucius went there. He stopped his disciples who had followed him outside the cave, because he was afraid: “That man can do anything. He may hit me, and I don’t want my disciples to see what happens to me.” He said, “I will tell you. First let me go and encounter that man.”

Lao Tzu was sitting in the deep cave in darkness, very silently. He did not bother at all that Confucius had come. He did not say hello to him, he did not say, “Sit down, please.” He did not take any notice.

Confucius said, “This is strange. At least you should behave like a gentleman.”

Lao Tzu said, “I thought that you would not have the guts to enter into my cave. Here we don’t teach morality or gentlemanship. Here we teach how to die and get resurrected. Are you ready?” – looking into his eyes – and Lao Tzu pulled his sword.

Confucius said, “Please forgive me. I will never again come in your cave!” – perspiring, and the cave was very cool.

He came out and he told his disciples, “This man is dangerous. He is a dragon. He would have killed me.” He did not understand Lao Tzu at all. He was not talking about ordinary death, he was talking about the death of the ego. And unless the ego dies, you are not your authentic self, you are not your original face. Confucius missed.

Osho, One Seed Makes the Whole Earth Green, Ch 3

Series compiled by Shanti
All excerpts of this series can be found in: 1001 Tales
Featured image: Confucius talking to Lao Tzu, founder of philosophical Taoism. Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD) – commons.wikimedia.org