It was a burning summer afternoon. The time when the British were still ruling India. One British sergeant riding on his horse was going towards his camp after visiting a nearby village.
The heat was unbearable, the land was barren, and the ride was long. The sergeant and his horse were both thirsty. The sergeant looked around and saw an old farmer working in the field with a well nearby. He saw the sergeant approaching his farm and walked in the direction of the rider, more out of curiosity and courtesy.
The sergeant gestured that he was thirsty, and the farmer offered him a jug filled with water. The sergeant hurriedly drank from the jug and felt much better. He thanked the farmer.
He then brought his horse near the well and requested the farmer to give the horse some water. The farmer started the chak (Persian Wheel) that he was using to fetch water from the well for irrigating his field.
The thirsty horse leaned in to drink water from the wooden canal emitting from the chak. As it spun, the chak made a loud sound “Khataak…Khataak…”… and the horse got scared. He lifted his head immediately…again he tried, and again the sound of the chak…khataak! and the horse would not drink the water.
The sergeant was confused and irritated. He ordered the old man, “Hey you…no khataak khataak, only water.”
The old farmer laughed, he said, ” Shahab ji, Khataak khataak – water, No khataak khataak – no water.” He went close to the sergeant and held his hand and placed it on the horse and said smilingly in his language. “Shahab ji, ye to zindagi hai, yehan khataak khataak to chalti hi rahegi. Ghode ko puchkarte jaiye aur paani pilate jaaiye.” — Sir, this is life, here the khataak khataak will continue to happen, we just have to keep pampering the horse, and making him drink the water.”
The sergeant looked at the old farmer with deep gratitude as through his simple words, the farmer had taught him a very valuable life lesson.
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WHAT DO YOU MEAN, OSHO, BY SAYING THAT LIFE IS PERFECT?
I mean exactly that. Life is perfect. But I understand why the question has arisen. The question has arisen because you have some ideas about perfection, and life does not fit with your ideas hence you call it imperfect.
When I call life perfect, I don’t mean that it fits with my idea of perfection — I have none.
When I call life perfect, I simply mean there is nothing else to compare it with, there is no ideal. This is all there is it has to be perfect.
Your perfection is always comparison, my perfection is just a simple statement of fact; it is not a comparison. You compare, you say, “Yes, this is perfect, that is not perfect,” and you have a criterion of what is perfect.
I have heard about a Sufi master who was talking to a few people in the coffee house and he said an old Sufi saying,” Life is perfect, everything is perfect, everybody is perfect.”
A hunchback was listening, he stood up and he said, “Look at me! I am the proof that life is not perfect. Look at me! Is this not enough to disprove your idea that life is perfect? Look at me — how ugly I am, and in how much difficulty. I am a hunchback.”
The Sufi looked and said, “But you are the most perfect hunchback that I have ever seen.”
Once you start seeing life as it is and you have no idea how it should be, everything is perfect. Even imperfection is perfect. What I mean when I say life is perfect is a simple thing: I mean don’t bring your ideals to it; otherwise, you make life imperfect, because once you bring the ideal then you are creating the imperfection.
If you say man has to be seven feet tall and he is not, there is difficulty. Or if you have the idea that man has to be only four feet tall and he is not, then there is difficulty. Life simply is. Somebody is seven feet tall, and somebody is four feet tall. One tree grows to the clouds, another remains small. But all is perfectly well, all is as it should be, because there is no ‘should’ in my mind. I simply listen and see life as it is. I have no idea how it should be. That’s why I say it is as it should be, there is no other life.
Drop comparing, drop judging; otherwise, you will remain miserable, and just because of your judgments and comparisons. Look at life without being a judge. Who are you to judge? What do you know about life? What do you know even about yourself?
Who are you to judge? Judgment comes from the idea that you know, judgment is knowledgeability.
Look at life with a state of not-knowing, through a state of not-knowing, look at life through wonder — and suddenly all is perfect. Yes, sometimes it is cloudy, but it is perfect. And sometimes it is sunny, and it is perfect. And sometimes it rains and sometimes it doesn’t rain, but it is perfect. As it is, it is a blessing. To be in tune with this blessing is to be prayerful.
Osho: The Diamond Sutra Chapter #4 Chapter title: From the Beyond Q 2
कुछ दिन से ज़िन्दगी मुझे पहचानती नहीं ,
यूँ देखती है जैसे मुझे जानती नहीं ।
Kuchh din se zindagi mujhe pehchanti nahin,
yun dekhti hai jaise mujhe jaanti nahin.
Since a few days life does not recognize me
she looks at me as if she doesn’t know me.
“Main Aisa Kyun Hoon…” from ‘Lakshya’ is one of the coolest dance numbers choreographed by Prabhu Deva for which he won the National film award for Best Choreography. This dance sequence still inspires dance enthusiasts, brilliantly penned by Javed Akhtar, the music of the film is directed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Lakshya is an Indian war drama, directed by Farhan Akhtar, starring Hrithik Roshan who plays the role of Lieutenant Karan Shergill.
A PERFECT article.
Enjoy what you have with Gratitude without comparing with anybody or anything. Life is just perfect AS IS.
Being Imperfect is key to happy life.
Acceptance Of Imperfectness Is A Natural Way To Grow In Day-To-Day Life.
Well written Sir, when I was reading this I felt your voice too. 🙏🏻🙏🏻 Thanking you so much for sharing this.
Terrific insight. Well told 😊
Well researched and well written sir
Excellent Article
Beautiful thought and concept to bring peace in life.
As a coach am taught to be non judgmental while interacting with coaching client. See person as a whole and perfect. This needs huge practice. With this blog I feel this skill horizons have hugely expanded. Will attempt to implement.
Thanks 😊👍🤗