It happened that in my village, between my house and a temple, there was a piece of land. For some technical reason, my father was able to win the case if he took it to court -- only on technical reasons. The land was not ours, the land belonged to the temple.
But the technical reason was this: the map of the temple did not show
that the land was in their territory. It was some fault of the municipal
committee's clerical staff; they had put the land onto my father's
property.
Naturally in court there was no question; the temple had no right to say that it was their land. Everybody knew it was their land, my father knew it was their land. But the land was precious, it was just on the main street, and every technical and legal support was on my father's side. He brought the case to the court.
I told him, "Listen" -- I must have been not more than eleven years old -- "I will go to the court to support the temple. I don't have anything to do with the temple, I have never even gone inside the temple, whatever it is, but you know perfectly well that the land is not yours."
He said, "What kind of son are you? You will witness against your own father?"
I said, "It is not a question of father and son; in the court it is a question of what is true. And not only will your son be there; your father I have also convinced."
He said, "What!"
I had a very deep friendship with my grandfather, so we had consulted. I had told him, "You have to support me because I am only eleven years old. The court may not accept my witnessing because I am not an adult, so you have to support me. You know perfectly well that the land is not ours."
He said, "I am with you."
So I told my father, "Just listen, from both sides, from your father and from your son... you simply withdraw the case; otherwise you will be in such a trouble, you will lose the case. It is only technically that you are able to claim. But we are not going to support a technical mistake on the part of the municipal clerk."
He said, "You don't understand a simple thing, that a family means... you have to support your family."
I said, "No, I will support the family only if the family is right. I will support whoever is right."
He talked to my grandfather who said, "I have already promised your son that I will be going with him."
My father said, "That means I will have to withdraw the case and lose that valuable piece of land!"
He said, "What can be done about it? Your son is going to create trouble for you, and seeing the situation, that he will not in any way be persuaded, I have agreed with him -- just to make his position stronger so that you can withdraw; it is better to withdraw than to get defeated."
My father said, "But this is a strange family! I am working for you all. I am working for you, I am working for my son -- I am not working for myself. If we can have a beautiful shop on that land you will have a better, more comfortable old age; he will have a better education in a better university. And you are against me."
My grandfather said, "I am not against anybody, but he has taken my promise, and I cannot go against my word -- at least as far as he is concerned -- because he is dangerous, he may put me in some trouble. So I cannot deceive him; I will say whatever he is saying. And he is saying the truth -- and you know it."
So my father had to withdraw the case -- reluctantly... but he had to withdraw the case. I asked my grandfather to bring some sweets so we can distribute them in the neighborhood. My father has come to his senses, it has to be celebrated. He said, "That seems to be the right thing to do."
When my father saw that I was distributing sweets, he asked, "What are you doing? -- for what? What has happened?"
I said, "You have come back to your senses. Truth is victorious." And I gave him a sweet also.
He laughed. He said, "I can understand your standpoint, and my own father is with you, so I thought it is better that I should also be with you. It is better to withdraw without any problem. But I have learned a lesson." He said to me, "I cannot depend on my family. If there is any trouble they are not going to support me just because they belong to me as father, as son, as brother. They are going to support whatever is true."
And since that time no other situation ever arose, because he never did anything in which we had to disagree. He remained truthful and sincere.
- OSHO
Book - The Great Zen Master Ta Hui
Chapter # 4
Chapter Name - Trust
Naturally in court there was no question; the temple had no right to say that it was their land. Everybody knew it was their land, my father knew it was their land. But the land was precious, it was just on the main street, and every technical and legal support was on my father's side. He brought the case to the court.
I told him, "Listen" -- I must have been not more than eleven years old -- "I will go to the court to support the temple. I don't have anything to do with the temple, I have never even gone inside the temple, whatever it is, but you know perfectly well that the land is not yours."
He said, "What kind of son are you? You will witness against your own father?"
I said, "It is not a question of father and son; in the court it is a question of what is true. And not only will your son be there; your father I have also convinced."
He said, "What!"
I had a very deep friendship with my grandfather, so we had consulted. I had told him, "You have to support me because I am only eleven years old. The court may not accept my witnessing because I am not an adult, so you have to support me. You know perfectly well that the land is not ours."
He said, "I am with you."
So I told my father, "Just listen, from both sides, from your father and from your son... you simply withdraw the case; otherwise you will be in such a trouble, you will lose the case. It is only technically that you are able to claim. But we are not going to support a technical mistake on the part of the municipal clerk."
He said, "You don't understand a simple thing, that a family means... you have to support your family."
I said, "No, I will support the family only if the family is right. I will support whoever is right."
He talked to my grandfather who said, "I have already promised your son that I will be going with him."
My father said, "That means I will have to withdraw the case and lose that valuable piece of land!"
He said, "What can be done about it? Your son is going to create trouble for you, and seeing the situation, that he will not in any way be persuaded, I have agreed with him -- just to make his position stronger so that you can withdraw; it is better to withdraw than to get defeated."
My father said, "But this is a strange family! I am working for you all. I am working for you, I am working for my son -- I am not working for myself. If we can have a beautiful shop on that land you will have a better, more comfortable old age; he will have a better education in a better university. And you are against me."
My grandfather said, "I am not against anybody, but he has taken my promise, and I cannot go against my word -- at least as far as he is concerned -- because he is dangerous, he may put me in some trouble. So I cannot deceive him; I will say whatever he is saying. And he is saying the truth -- and you know it."
So my father had to withdraw the case -- reluctantly... but he had to withdraw the case. I asked my grandfather to bring some sweets so we can distribute them in the neighborhood. My father has come to his senses, it has to be celebrated. He said, "That seems to be the right thing to do."
When my father saw that I was distributing sweets, he asked, "What are you doing? -- for what? What has happened?"
I said, "You have come back to your senses. Truth is victorious." And I gave him a sweet also.
He laughed. He said, "I can understand your standpoint, and my own father is with you, so I thought it is better that I should also be with you. It is better to withdraw without any problem. But I have learned a lesson." He said to me, "I cannot depend on my family. If there is any trouble they are not going to support me just because they belong to me as father, as son, as brother. They are going to support whatever is true."
And since that time no other situation ever arose, because he never did anything in which we had to disagree. He remained truthful and sincere.
- OSHO
Book - The Great Zen Master Ta Hui
Chapter # 4
Chapter Name - Trust
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