Zen Master in Jail

A Zen master (Zen Master is a title given to an individual who teaches Zen Buddhism to others) had been put into jail several times. Now, it is one thing to forgive a thief, it is one thing not to think that he is bad, it is another thing to go to jail oneself. And not once, many times – for stealing small things from his neighbours. And the neighbours knew, and they were puzzled: Why does this man steal? and such small things. But the moment he would be out of prison he would steal again, and he would go back. Even the judges were worried. But they had to send him to jail, because he would confess.
He would never say, ’I have not stolen.’
Finally the neighbours gathered together, and they said, ’Sir, don’t steal any more. You are getting old, and we are ready to provide you with all that you need – all your necessities, whatsoever it is. You stop this! We are very much worried, and we are very sad. Why do you go on doing this?
And the old man laughed. And he said, ’I steal in order to get in with the prisoners, and bring them the inner message. Who will help them? Outside, for you prisoners, there are many masters. But inside the jail there is no master. Who will help them, you tell me? This is my way to get in and help those people. So when my punishment is over and I am thrown out, I have to steal something and go back again. I am going to continue this. And I have found there in jail such beautiful souls, such innocent souls – sometimes far MORE innocent....’
Once it happened, one of my friends became a governor of a state in India, and he allowed me to go into jails all over his state. And I went for years, and I was surprised. The people who are in jails are far more innocent than the politicians in New Delhi, than the rich people, than the so-called saints. I know almost all the saints of this country.

They are more cunning. I have found in the criminals such innocent souls.... I can understand this old Zen master’s idea – of stealing, of getting caught, and bringing the message to them. ’I steal in order to get in with the prisoners and bring them the inner message.’

Source: " Zen: The Path of Paradox, Vol 2 " - Osho

Determination

Once, a big fat Mouse and a lively little Mouse were hopping along together, when they had the misfortune of jumping into a pail of fresh milk. They swam for hours and hours hoping to get out somehow; but the sides of the pail were steep and slippery and death seemed to be certain.
When the big Mouse was exhausted he lost courage. There seemed no hope of rescue. 'Why keep struggling against the inevitable? I cannot swim any longer.' He moaned.
'Keep on! Keep on!' urged the little Mouse, who was still circling the pail. So they went on for a while. But the big Mouse decided it was no use.
'Little brother, We may as well give up' he gasped. 'I am going to quit struggling. ‘Now only the little Mouse was left. He thought to himself. 'Well, to give up is to be dead, so I will keep swimming.'
Two more hours passed and the tiny legs of the determined little Mouse were almost paralyzed with exhaustion. It seemed as if he could not keep moving for another minute. But he thought of his dead friend, and intoxicated with determination, the little Mouse kept on swimming around and around the pail, chopping the milk into white waves. After a while, just as he felt completely numb and thought he was about to drown, he suddenly felt something solid under him.
To his astonishment, he saw that he was resting on a lump of butter which he had churned by constant paddling! And so the successful little Mouse leaped out of the milk pail to freedom.

A Rat Story

For centuries rats have been one of the most hated species on the face of the planet. In fact most people are more concerned with the eradication of rat altogether than learning anything about them. I was one in the above list till recently.
I chose to use my bike instead of my car for sometime. I parked my car in front of my house. This time along, I hadn’t started my car even once in that month. After a month when I decided to use the car, I noticed that a rat had a cozy bed in the bonnet of my car. I ignored it and thought I will clean it up some other day. Finally that some other day came a bit too late; probably after a month more. That day, I cleaned up the whole mess.
One day after that as I drove to my office, my car broke down. I left the car in the service station. When I went back to take the car, I realized what the rat had done in anger. He had blown off the fuse by damaging few wires.
All those days, when I had allowed him to be in the car, I used to drive the car. It had not done any damage till then. Once I decided to clear his mess and make no room for his comfort, he had decided to take revenge.
I should have thought about the consequences before acting. If I had thought of the consequences, I would have got rid of the smell in the bonnet, before cleaning up the rat’s home. Rats identify their setup by smell.
Also, I underestimated my tiny enemy. Underestimating is like letting a wolf in your farm. Never underestimate and definitely don’t be too overconfident for you will be arrogant and ignorant. When we view ourselves too highly and others too lightly, destruction occurs. Many huge companies ignored many small companies and eventually the roles have switched.

The lesson from this small incident was; never underestimate and never act without thinking of the consequences.

(Thanks to Raffi for sharing this incident)