To Be A Witness

Osho was a great Master. One of the greatest Masters that India has ever produced. He was opposed to all organized religion, and while Nietzsche said that "God is dead", Osho said that the Western God is fiction and was actually, never even born.

In his words and in his presence, Osho, created a magical atmosphere around him. There was always an air of liberation. It was liberation from the "Eternal Sorrow" - the ancient curse of humanity. People were attracted to his presence without even understanding why. Once, a person who had been traveling in India, stopped at Osho’s ashram to take a shower, and stayed for seventeen years. Osho gave a discourse almost every day. He spoke on every topic possible. He constantly emphasized the importance of living one’s life thoroughly and joyously, free from the conditioning of society. In the last three years of his life his lectures were on Zen.

One cool evening, at the end of October 1988, about two years before he died, Osho told the following story:

Nagarjuna was a Buddhist monk who lived a simple life by himself. He was respected by everyone, and amongst his students were also kings and queens. One day, the Queen of the Capital city invited him for a visit. They had tea together and then she said:

"If I ask a favor of you, will you grant it?"
"I will", said Nagarjuna.
"I would like to have your begging bowl", asked the Queen.
"I don’t have a problem with that", said Nagarjuna and handed his bowl over to her.
"Thank you," said The Queen, "I will keep it as if it is the most valuable thing in the whole world. But that is only half of my request.
I have prepared a new begging bowl for you, and I would like you not to refuse it."
"How can I refuse it if I haven’t even seen it yet?"
"First promise me not to refuse it, and then you can see it."
"Fine," he said, "I don’t have a problem with that. I will not refuse it."

The queen took out a parcel carefully wrapped in silk, she unfolded it and revealed a bowl covered with gold and inlaid with precious emeralds.
"You don’t understand," smiled Nagarjuna, "a golden bowl…I would not be able to keep such a bowl for even a few hours. Can you imagine a poor barefooted man collecting alms in a bowl made of gold and emeralds? Do you really believe I can keep it for long? But, since I promised not to refuse it, I will take it. Thank you."

The next day there was a thief already following Nagarjuna to the old temple where he lived. The thief hid himself outside the window, waiting for the monk to fall asleep.
"It is good to be the first," thought the thief to himself, "somebody will definitely take it away from him anyway."
Nagarjuna prepared his bed, sat on it and thought what to do with the man hiding outside. "I am letting him wait unnecessarily. As soon as I fall asleep he will take the bowl. Better to give it to him now. Why force him to steal?"
He took the bowl and threw it out of the window. The bowl fell very close to the thief, who
could not believe his eyes.
"I have never seen such a man," he thought, and suddenly felt an urge to speak with Nagarjuna.
"Can I come in?" he asked from the window.
"Certainly," replied Nagarjuna. The man entered, and Nagarjuna said:
"I did not want to make a thief out of you, so I threw the bowl over. Take it, it is yours now."
"You are certainly an extraordinary man," said the thief. "It looks like you are beyond the materialistic world and are in need of nothing. I hope that one day I will not be a thief anymore and that I will become a Master like you."
"Why postpone it?" asked Nagarjuna, "it is very simple. You can easily become a master."
"You don’t know me," said the guest, "I am a thief, I was born a thief. This is all I am good at. can’t resist the temptation to steal."
"It does not matter, you can remain a thief. Just let me teach you a small meditation:
Do whatever you do, but be an observer of it. Be a witness who is aware of all that is happening around and inside you, that’s all. I am not telling you to stop stealing. Do whatever you like, but do it with awareness, be a witness."
"Very interesting," said the man, "I have spoken with many saints over the past few years, and they have all told me that in order to become religious I must quit stealing. You are the first one who allows me to continue. "

"The saints you have seen were not saints at all," said Nagarjuna. "Just remember that whatever you do – do it the best way you can, from now on be a witness. That’s all."
The thief didn’t quite understand the full meaning of Nagarjuna’s words, but he felt that it was time for him to go. He politely said goodbye and disappeared.

After one month the thief came back, carrying four bags of rice.
"You are a very wise man," he said to Nagarjuna. "I have had plenty of opportunities to steal, but I couldn’t. My hands were trembling. I was a witness to my actions and felt great embarrassment. Ever since my visit to you I have not been able to steal anything."
"What have I got to do with that? It is your problem now," said Nagarjuna and laughed. "Now you can choose between being a thief and being a witness. But tell me, how do you feel inside?"
"Over the past month, for the first time I met my dignity. It felt great. I feel good, I sleep like a baby, but now I can’t stop witnessing, I can’t stop watching."
"So what do you want from me?" wondered Nagarjuna.
"You are a very strange man," said the thief. I came to ask…
if I may stay with you for a while."