An ancient story… I have always loved it. An old woodcutter, poor, alone, had only one way to earn his everyday bread and that was by cutting wood and selling it. As he came into the forest, just near the entrance under a beautiful bodhi tree — the same tree under which Gautam Buddha became enlightened; hence the name of the tree has become ..bodhi tree'. Bodhi means enlightenment.
By the way, you will be surprised to know, scientists have found that the bodhi tree has a certain chemical which no other tree has, and that chemical is absolutely necessary for the growth of intelligence. Perhaps it is a very intelligent, sensitive tree. It may not have been just a coincidence….
The woodcutter would see this old man sitting silently, always there — summer, winter, rain. He would touch his feet before entering the forest, and every time he would do that the old man would smile and say, "You are such an idiot."
The woodcutter would be shocked: "Why? — I touch his feet, but rather than giving me a blessing, he simply smiles and says, ..You are such an idiot.'"
One day he gathered courage and asked, "What do you mean?"
The old man said, "I mean that you have been cutting trees in this forest for your whole life, and if you go just a little deeper into it you will find a copper mine. Only an idiot could miss it! Your whole life you have been in this forest… you can collect the copper and that will be enough for seven days' comfortable living, no need to cut wood every day in your old age."
The man could not believe it because he knew the whole forest — "He must be joking!" But perhaps he was right… and there was no harm in going a little further and being alert and watching to see whether there was some copper mine.
And he went in, and he found a copper mine. He said, "Now I know why he was continually saying, ..You are such an idiot, working every day in your old age.'"
Now he was going only once every week. But the old tradition continued: he would touch his feet, and the old man would smile and say, ..You are such an idiot!'"
"But," he said, "now this is not right! Because I have found the copper mine."
The old man said, "You don't know. If you go a little further, you will find a silver mine."
He said, "My God, why didn't you tell me before?"
The old man said, "You didn't believe me even about the copper mine — how could you have believed about the silver mine? Just go a little further."
This time there was suspicion but not so much; there was a certain trust arising. And he found the silver mine.
He came back and he said, "Now I have found silver enough that I will be coming only once in a month. I will miss you very much. I will miss your blessing very much. I have started loving to hear from you, ..What an idiot you are.'"
But the old man said, "You are still an idiot, it makes no difference."
The woodcutter said, "Even though I have found the silver mine?"
He said, "Yes, even then. You are just an idiot and nothing more — because if you go just a little deeper there is gold. So don't wait for a month, come tomorrow."
Now he thought he must be joking. If there is gold, why should he be sitting here under this tree in old rags, with no shelter from the rain, no shelter from the sun, depending on people who bring food to him… sometimes they bring it, sometimes they don't…" And if he knows where the gold is, I don't think… this time he is certainly joking! But there is no harm. He has always been right. Who knows? This old guy is a little mysterious."
He went further and found a big gold mine. He could not believe his own eyes — this is the forest he has been working in for his whole life, and this is the forest where that old man is sitting….
He brought much gold, and he said, "I think you will not say anymore that I am an idiot."
He said, "I will continue. Come tomorrow because this is not the end; this is only the beginning."
He said, "What? Gold is just a beginning?"
He said, "Come tomorrow. Just a little deeper in the forest you will find diamonds — but that too is not the end. But I will not tell you too much; otherwise you will not be able to sleep tonight. Just go home. Tomorrow morning, first you find the diamonds, and then come to me."
He really could not sleep the whole night. A poor woodcutter… he could not imagine that he was going to become the owner of all these mines — gold and silver and copper, and now diamonds! And the old man was saying this was only the beginning. He thought and thought… what can be more than diamonds?
In the morning he went very early — the old man was asleep. He touched his feet. The old man opened his eyes and said, "Have you come? I knew you would come, you couldn't sleep. First go and see the diamonds."
The woodcutter said, "Can you tell me what can be more?"
He said, "First find the diamonds — step by step; otherwise, you will go crazy."
He found the diamonds and he came dancing to the old man. He said, "Now you cannot say that ..I am an idiot.
I have found the diamonds!"
But the old man said, "Still, you are an idiot."
He said, "Now I will not leave you unless you explain it to me."
The old man said, "You can see that I know all about these mines — silver, gold, diamonds — and I don't care about them. Because there is something more which is not in the forest but within you, just a little deeper — not outside but inside. And because I have found that, I don't care about all these diamonds.
Now it is up to you: you can stop your journey at the diamonds but remember, you will remain an idiot. And I am a proof — because I know about all these mines and I have not bothered with them. This can make you understand that there is something more which is never found outside however far you go; it is found inside you."
The man dropped the diamonds. He said, "I am going to sit by your side.
Unless you drop this idea that I am an idiot, I am not going to move from here!"
He was a simple, innocent woodcutter.
It is difficult for knowledgeable people to go in.
It was not difficult for the woodcutter. Soon he was entering into a deep silence — a joy, a blissfulness, a benediction.
And the old man shook him and said, "This is the place. Now you need not go into the forest. And I withdraw my word ..idiot.. about you, you have become a wise man. You can open your eyes. You will see the same world but not in the same light; the same colors, but now they have become psychedelic; the same people, but they are no longer just skeletons covered with skin, they are luminous spiritual beings… the same cosmos, but for the first time it is an ocean of consciousness."
The woodcutter opened his eyes.
He said, "You are a strange fellow. Why did you wait so long? I have been coming here almost my whole life and I have seen you sitting under this tree. You could have said this any day."
The old man said, "I was waiting for the right moment… for the ripe moment, for the time when you would be able not only to hear but to understand it. The journey is short, but you should not stop at every achievement. Because every achievement is so fulfilling that your imagination cannot think there can be more than this."
OSHO
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