Rebellion, when it really matters - Story from Osho's Life

11 YEAR OLD RAJNEESH (OSHO) SAYS TO HIS FATHER THAT HE WILL WITNESS AGAINST HIM IN THE COURT, AND OSHO'S FATHER WITHDREW THE CASE ***


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

The Monk, Thich Quang Duc - As he burned he never moved a muscle, never uttered a sound, his outward composure in sharp contrast to the wailing people

In 1963, he sat down in a street in Saigon in the meditative position. He poured gasoline all over his body and set himself alight. He maintained a calm and meditative posture as his body burned, and then he simply toppled over. His death was dramatic but not all that different in nature and spirit from the deaths of many other Buddhist leaders and saints. One remarkable difference, however, was that his death was shown on many different televisions all around the world.

The name of the Quang Duc Association is named after Most Venerable Thich Quang Duc, a Vietnamese monk, who was known throughout the world by his self-immolation at the age of sixty-seven in central Saigon, in the lotus sitting position with full resolve whilst 4 metres flames consumed his body. This event happened at midday, on June 11, 1963, witnesed by thousands of Vietnamese people and through the media, seen by millions more people overseas.

The Most Venerable Thich Quang Duc, whose lay name was Lam Van Tuc, was born in 1897 in a small village of a province in central Vietnam. At the age of seven, he entered into the religious life and became a disciple of the Zen master Hoang Tham. At the age of twenty, he was ordained as a full Buddhist monk (Bhikkhu). After ordination, he spent many years practicing islolated and extremely demanding ascetic purification practices in the Ninh Hoa Mountains, near Nha Trang City. In 1932 he started his Buddhist teaching career at Ninh Hoa. He then went to a central Vietnam province to rebuild temples. By 1943, he had rebuilt nearly 20 pagodas, and the same year, moved to Saigon, South Vietnam where he lived in the Long Vinh temple finally taking permanent residence in the Quan The Am temple.

In 1953, he was appointed Head of rituals Committee of the United Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation, a position that he held until the time of his death.

In 1963, after four years of increased oppression by the Diem government towards Buddhist priests and the Buddhist community the Most Venerable Thich Quang Duc perfomed his heroic deed to highlight Bhuddhist demands for religious equality in South Vietnam his act literally flashed around the world by television. At midday, on June 11, 1963, he took a ride to the corner of Phan Dinh Phung and Le Van Duyet in central Saigon (now Nguyen Dinh Chieu and Cach Mang Thang Tam Street). Pouring petrol over himself, he sat in the middle of the corner, struck a match, and immolated himself.

His body was consumed, and all that remained was his heart. Later when his later when the Buddhist community tried to cremate his heart it remained intact. It was placed in the Reserve Bank of Vietnam and became the symbol of the Holy Heart.

Millions all over the globe saw his self sacrifice, and The Most Venerable Thich Quang Duc has become world-famous figure. Before he passed away, he left a letter to the government of the day, and through them, for the people of Vietnam. In Vietnamese culture, this letter is now known as the letter of Heart Blood. The core of his letter was a plea for all Buddhist believers, monks, nuns and lay people, to unite and strive for the preservation of Buddhism. His plan was to demonstrate to the world the injustice that was being perpetrated on the Buddhist religion and community by a repressive regime and it worked extremely well. Many nations worldwide brought pressure on the South Vietnamese government to soften its attitude to the traditional Vietnamese religion. The Saigon government complied.

The people who fit in the world are people who have destroyed themselves.~OSHO~

I have lived continuously as a misfit everywhere, and I have enjoyed it, every inch of it, every drop of it. It is such a beautiful journey, to be just yourself.

I have been a misfit my whole life — in my family, in my religion, in my country — and I have enjoyed it all the way, because to be a misfit is to be an individual.

To fit with the existing established order is to lose your individuality. And that’s your whole world.

The moment you compromise and lose your individuality, you have lost everything. You have committed suicide. The people who fit in the world are people who have destroyed themselves.

Certainly it needs courage, a tremendously strong sense for freedom; otherwise, you cannot stand alone against the whole world. But to stand against the whole world is the beginning of such a great joy, rejoicing and blessing, that those who have never been misfits cannot understand it.

All the great names in the history of man were just misfits in their society. All the people who have contributed to the happiness of man and the beauty of the earth have been misfits. To be a misfit is a tremendously valuable quality.

Never compromise on any point. The very compromise is the beginning of your destruction.

I do not mean that you have to be stubborn; if you see something is right, go along with it. But the moment you realize that something is not right, then even if the whole world feels it is right, it is not right for you. And then stick to your position — that will give you stamina, strength, a certain integrity.

And to be a misfit does not mean to be an egoist. If you are an egoist, sooner or later you will compromise. When you find any group of people, any society, any country, which helps you to be more egoistic, you will immediately fit with that society. The real misfit is a humble man, that’s why nobody can absorb him. He is free because he is free of the ego.

My understanding is that only people of intelligence, individuality, are rejected. The people who are obedient, who have no individuality, no freedom of expression, never say no to anything, are always ready to say yes, even against their wills — these are the people who gain much respectability in the world. They become presidents, they become prime ministers, they are honored in every possible way, for the simple reason that they committed suicide. They are no longer living, they are simply fossilized. How can you fit living people into a certain pattern? Every individual is unique — why should he fit into another’s mold?

The whole misery of the world can be explained very simply: everybody has been cut, molded, arranged by others without their even bothering to find out what he was supposed to be by nature. They don’t give a chance to existence. From the very moment the child is born, they start spoiling him — with all good intentions, of course. No parent does it consciously, but he was conditioned in the same way. He repeats the same with his children; he knows nothing else.

The disobedient child is continuously condemned. The obedient child is, on the other hand, continuously praised. But have you heard of any obedient child having become world-famous in any dimension of creativity? Have you heard of any obedient child who has attained the Nobel prize for anything — literature, peace, science? The obedient child becomes just the common crowd.

I have lived continuously as a misfit everywhere, and I have enjoyed it, every inch of it, every drop of it. It is such a beautiful journey, to be just yourself.

OSHO

Being together is the beginning, Working together is the middle, Dissolving together is the Ultimate - Sadhguru

An old man once said, "There comes a time in your life, when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it. You surround yourself with people who make you laugh. Forget the bad, and focus on the good. Love the people who treat you right, pray for the ones who don't. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Falling down is a part of life, getting back up is living."

The Spirit of Rebellion - Osho

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The power to rebel against slavery. A Tribute to Women's Rebellion. A Happenings from Saudi Arabia.

A number of Saudi Arabian women drove cars on Friday in response to calls for nationwide action to break a traditional ban, unique to the ultra-conservative kingdom, according to reports on social networks.

The call to defy the ban that spread through Facebook and Twitter is the largest en masse action since November 1990, when a group of 47 women were arrested and severely punished after demonstrating in cars.

“We've just returned from the supermarket. My wife decided to start the day by driving to the store and back,” said columnist Tawfiq Alsaif on his Twitter page. “I took King Fahd Road [Riyadh artery] and then Olaya Street, along with my husband, I decided that the car for today is mine,” Maha al-Qahtani tweeted.

“This is a right for women that no law or religion bans... I went out to get my right, so that it would be up to me to drive or not,” she told AFP by telephone.

Her husband Mohammed al-Qahtani tweeted that she carried her necessary belongings “ready to go to prison without fear”.

Another woman posted online a video of her driving after midnight Thursday as the first woman to answer the call for protest. The veiled woman drove along nearly-empty main roads until she parked at a supermarket.

Police patrols were at normal levels on the sleepy streets of Riyadh on the first day of the weekend, an AFP photographer reported.

Many Saudi women had pledged on Facebook and Twitter to answer the call to defy the deeply entrenched ban.

Sharif, a 32-year-old computer scientist, found herself behind bars for two weeks last month after driving in the Eastern Province and posting footage of her actions on the Internet. Six other women were also briefly detained after being caught learning to drive on an empty plot of land in north Riyadh.