“Stop trying to be the first.”
Jesus says: Remember, those who are first in this world will be the last in my kingdom of God, and those who are the last will be the first. He has given you the fundamental law – aes dhammo sanantano* – he has given you the inexhaustible, eternal law: Stop trying to be the first.
But remember one thing which is very much possible, because the mind is so cunning it can distort every truth. You can start trying to be the last – but then you miss the whole point. Then another competition starts: that I’m to be the last, and if somebody else says, “I am the last,” then the struggle, then the conflict.
I have heard a Sufi parable:
A great emperor, Nadirshah, was praying. It was early morning; the sun had not yet risen, it was still dark. Nadirshah was to start on that day a new conquest of a new country. Of course he was praying to God for his blessings to be victorious. He was saying to God, “I am nobody, I am just a servant – a servant of your servants. Bless me. I am going on your work, this is your victory. And I am nobody, remember. I am just a servant of your servants.”
The priest was also by his side, helping him in prayer, functioning as a mediator between him and God.
And then suddenly they heard in the darkness another voice. A beggar of the town was also praying, and he was saying to God, “I am also nobody, a servant of your servants.”
The king said to the priest, “Look at this beggar! He is a beggar and saying to God that ‘I am nobody’! Stop this nonsense! Who are you to say you are nobody before me? I am nobody, and nobody else can claim this. And I am the servant of his servants – and who are you to say that you are the servant of the servants?”
Now you see, the competition is still there, the same competition, the same stupidity. Nothing has changed. The same calculation: “I have to be the last. Nobody else can be allowed to be the last.”
Mind can go on playing such games on you if you are not very understanding, if you are not very intelligent.
*) Aes (es) dhammo sanantano = This is the ultimate law of life
Osho, The Dhammapada, Vol 8, Ch 5
Series compiled by Shanti
All excerpts of this series can be found in: 1001 Tales
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