I am reminded of a story… In ancient China, the wells were made without any protective wall around them. There was going to be a big fair and one man fell into a well, but there was so much noise that, although he was shouting from the well, nobody heard him.
Just by coincidence a Buddhist monk passed by the side of the well, and because he was accustomed to silence he was able to hear, even in the hubbub of the fair, that somebody was shouting from the well. He went close by and the man said, "Please save me."
The Buddhist monk said, "There is no point. Everybody has to die; it is only a question of time. Remain peaceful. The great Gautam Buddha has said that life is just a dream, so if you have fallen in a dream into a well, don't unnecessarily shout. Just relax."
The man said, "I am ready to listen to all your teachings — first take me out!" He could not believe that somebody would give him such a strange sermon in such a situation, when he is dying!
But the Buddhist monk said, "Our master Gautam Buddha has said, `Never interfere into anybody's life.' So excuse me, I cannot do anything. I can only help you by giving you the real teaching: at the time of death, if you can be silent and peaceful, you will be born in a higher stage of consciousness."
The man said, "I simply want to get out of this well! I don't want to be born in higher stages…."
But the Buddhist monk went on his way.
A Confucian monk heard the man, he looked inside. The man said, "You are not a Buddhist"… and Confucius is very pragmatic. He is not an enlightened being and he is not an idealist. He is very moralistic, realistic, practical. He does not believe in any other life beyond death. He does not believe that consciousness has a separate existence. So the man said, "It is good. I am happy that a Confucian has come, because just now a Buddhist monk has gone by, giving me the advice to relax and die peacefully."
The Confucian monk said, "Don't be worried! I will go into the crowd and immediately I will start a revolution in the country."
The man said, "For what?"
The Confucian said, "Our master Confucius has said that every well should have a protective wall around it. It is not a question only of your life; it is a question of millions of people's lives. You should not be worried for your tiny self. Think of the generations to come, and feel satisfied that you have come across me. I will create a great upheaval in the whole country, that every well should have a wall."
The man said, "That is perfectly okay, but what about me? By the time the revolution succeeds and every well has a wall, I will be gone."
The Confucian said, "I am sorry, but I believe in social changes. Our concern is not with individuals, but with society…."
Just behind him comes a Christian missionary with a bucket and a rope, and before the man says anything he throws the bucket in, and he says, "We will talk later on. First you have to be saved. Just sit in the bucket and I will pull you out."
Out of the well, the man said, "You are the only religious person. That fellow just now has gone to create a revolution — I am dying here! The other one wanted me to be born in a higher stage of consciousness…. But you are really religious. Just one question, why have you been carrying this bucket and rope?"
The Christian missionary said, "I am always ready and prepared for every emergency, because Jesus Christ has said, `If you save people, if you serve people, immense will be your reward in the kingdom of God.' So don't think that I am interested in saving you; my interest is to earn more virtue. I am going to fight that Confucian because his revolution will stop people falling into wells. That means ultimately, we will not be able to save them, and without saving them there is no way to the kingdom of God. I have saved you, you teach your children always to fall into wells… and I am always around here. You can call me, and I am always ready for every emergency. This is my whole service to the people."
The religions have not been at all concerned with humanity at large. I cannot say to the hungry people, "Your hunger is just a dream," and I cannot say to a thirsty man, "Just die peacefully. Don't ask for water, don't demand anything because that will create a bad impression for your future life."
You can understand my difficulty.
I am absolutely aware that everything is illusory, and yet I would not like people to take the idea as a belief system, because that belief system, without an experience, is going to destroy their whole life in many ways. I would like them to enter on the path, to realize for themselves what it means that life is just a dream, or maya, and be freed from this illusory misery, suffering, anguish.
Help others also to rise to the same meditative consciousness. But don't give people ideas as beliefs — which they don't have as their experience — because they will start acting according to them, and their actions will be tremendously dangerous to them.
OSHO
