SHOULD WE BE SELFISH?
There is no other way. Nobody can be unselfish– except hypocrites.
The word ‘selfish’ has taken a very condemnatory association, because all the religions have condemned it. They want you to be unselfish. But why? To help others….
I am reminded: a small child was talking to his mother, and the mother said, ”Remember always to help others.” And the child asked, ”Then what will the others do?” Naturally the mother said, ”They will help others.” The child said, ”This seems to be a strange scheme. Why not help yourself, rather than shifting it and making things unnecessarily complex?”
Selfishness is natural. Yes, there comes a moment when you are sharing by being selfish. When you are in a state of overflowing joy, then you can share. Right now miserable people are helping other miserable people, the blind leading others who are blind. What help can you give? It is a very dangerous idea which has prevailed throughout the centuries.
In a small school the lady teacher told the boys, ”At least once per week you should do a good thing.” One boy asked, ”Just please give us some examples of good things. We don’t know what is good.” So, she said, ”For example, a blind woman wants to cross the street; then help her to cross the street. This is a good job; this is virtuous.”
The next week she asked, ”Did any of you remember to do what I have said to you?” Three children raised their hands. She said, ”This is not good– the whole class has not been following. But still, it is good that at least three boys did something good.” She asked the first, ”What have you done?” He said, ”Exactly what you have said: One old woman who was blind, I helped her to cross the street.”
She said, ”That’s very good. God will bless you.” She asked the second, ”What have you done?” He said, ”The same– a blind old woman, I helped her to cross the street.” The teacher became a little puzzled– where are they finding blind old women? But it is a big city; perhaps they may have found two. She asked the third and he said, ”I did exactly what they have done: helped a blind old woman cross the street.”
The teacher said, ”But where did you find three blind women?” They said, ”You don’t understand: there were not three blind women, there was only one blind woman. And it was so hard to help her to cross the street! She was beating us and shouting and screaming, because she did not want to cross, but we were intent on doing some virtuous act. A crowd gathered, people were shouting at us, but we said, ‘Don’t be worried. We are taking her to the other side.’ But she never wanted to go to the other side!”
People are being told to help others, and they are empty within themselves. They are being told to love others – love your neighbors, love your enemies– and they are never told to love themselves. All the religions, directly or indirectly, are telling people to hate themselves. A person who hates himself cannot love anybody; he can only pretend.
The basic thing is to love yourself so totally that the love overflows you and reaches to others. I am not against sharing, but I am absolutely against altruism. I am for sharing, but first you must have something to share. And then you are not doing anything as an obligation to anybody – on the contrary, the person who receives something from you is obliging you. You should be thankful, because the other could have rejected your help; the other has been generous.
My whole insistence is that the individual should be so happy, so blissful, so silent, so content, that out of his state of fulfillment he starts sharing. He has so much, he is like a RAINCLOUD: he has to shower. If others’ thirst is quenched, if the thirst of the earth is quenched, that is secondary.
If each individual is full of joy, full of light, full of silence, he will be sharing it without anyone telling him, because sharing is such a joy. Giving it to someone is more joyful than getting it.
But the whole structure should be changed. People should not be told to be altruistic. They are miserable – what can they do? They are blind – what can they do? They have missed their life – what can they do? They can give only what they have got. So people are giving misery, suffering, anguish, anxiety to everybody else that comes in contact with them. This is altruism! No, I would like everybody to be utterly selfish.
Each tree is selfish: it brings water to its roots, it brings juices to its branches, to the leaves, to the fruits, to the flowers. And when it blossoms, it releases fragrance to everybody: known, unknown; familiar, stranger. When it is loaded with fruits, it shares, it gives those fruits.
But if you teach these trees to be altruistic, all these trees will die, just as the whole humanity is dead – just corpses walking. And walking to where? Walking to their graveyard, finally to rest in their graves.
Life should be a dance. And everybody’s life can be a dance. It should be a music – and then you can share; you will have to share. I don’t have to say it, because this is one of the fundamental laws of existence: the more you share your bliss, the more it grows.
But I teach selfishness.
Osho: Socrates Poisoned Again After 25 Centuries: CHAPTER 2. TIME KNOWS ONLY THE PRESENT TENSE Q 3 (Excerpts)
जिस ने कुछ एहसाँ किया इक बोझ सर पर रख दिया
सर से तिनका क्या उतारा सर पे छप्पर रख दिया …………………..जलाल लखनवी
jis ne kuchh ehsāñ kiyā ik bojh sar par rakh diyā
sar se tinkā kyā utārā sar pe chhappar rakh diyā …………….JALAL LAKHNAVI
The one who did me a favor placed a burden on my head,
In removing a single straw, they put an entire roof instead.
Osho’s words, ‘…out of his state of fulfillment, he starts sharing. He has so much, he is like a raincloud: he has to shower,’ reminded me of the season finale jugalbandi from the Amazon Prime series Bandish Bandits. The electrifying folk performance, titled Garaj Garaj, features talented Ritwik Bhowmik and Atul Kulkarni, with vocals by Farid Hasan and Mohammed Aman. The song’s music is composed by Shankar Ehsaan Loy, and the lyrics are penned by Sameer Samant.
Excellent narration with extremely relevant and captivative small Stories and examples. The tree example is profound
Excellent Narration sir
Very well written & narrated.