Remain Unaffected by the Surrounding

Remain Unaffected by the Surrounding

I have heard that it happened once, in some ancient time, in some unknown country, that a prince
suddenly went mad. The king was desperate – the prince was the only son, the only heir to the
kingdom. All the magicians were called, miracle makers, medical men were summoned, every effort
was made, but in vain. Nobody could help the young prince, he remained mad

The day he went crazy he threw off his clothes, became naked, and started to live under a big table.
He thought that he had become a rooster. Ultimately the king had to accept the fact that the prince
could not be reclaimed. He had gone insane permanently; all the e
xperts had failed.
But one day again hope dawned. A sage – a Sufi, a mystic – knocked on the palace door, and said,
”Give me one opportunity to cure the prince.”
But the king felt suspicious, because this man looked crazy himself, more crazy than the prince. But
the mystic said, ”Only I can cure him. To cure a madman a greater madman is needed. And your
somebodies, your miracle makers, your medical experts, all have failed because they don’t know the
abc of madness. They have never traveled the path.”
It seemed logical, and the king thought, ”There is no harm in it, why not try?” So the opportunity was
given to him.
The moment the king said, ”Okay, you try,” this mystic threw off his clothes, jumped under the table
and crowed like a rooster.
The prince became suspicious, and he said, ”Who are you? And what do you think you are doing?”
The old man said, ”I am a rooster, more experienced than you. You are nothing, you are just a
newcomer, at the most an apprentice.”
The prince said, ”Then it is okay if you are also a rooster, but you look like a human being.”
The old man said, ”Don’t go on appearances, look at my spirit, at my soul. I am a rooster like you.”
They became friends. They promised each other that they would always live together and that this
whole world was against them.
A few days passed. One day the old man suddenly started dressing. He put on his shirt. The prince
said, ”What are you doing, have you gone crazy, a rooster trying to put on human dress?”
The old man said, ”I am just trying to deceive these fools, these human beings. And remember that
even if I am dressed, nothing is changed. My roosterness remains, nobody can change it. Just by
dressing like a human being do you think I am changed?” The prince had to concede.
A few days afterwards the old man persuaded the prince to dress because winter was approaching
and it was becoming so cold.
Then one day suddenly he ordered food from the palace. The prince became very alert and said,
”Wretch, what are you doing? Are you going to eat like those human beings, like them? We are
roosters and we have to eat like roosters.”
The old man said, ”Nothing makes any difference as far as this roos-ter is concerned. You can eat
anything and you can enjoy everything. You can live like a human being and remain true to your
roosterness.”
By and by the old man persuaded the prince to come back to the world of humanity. He became
absolutely normal.
The same is the case with you and me. And remember you are just initiates, beginners. You may
think that you are a rooster but you are just learning the alphabet. I am an old hand, and only I can
help you. All the experts have failed, that’s why you are here. You have knocked on many doors, for
many lives you have been in search – nothing has been of help to you.
But I say I can help you because I am not an expert, I am not an outsider. I have traveled the same
path, the same insanity, the same madness. I have passed through the same – the same misery,
the anguish, the same nightmares. And whatsoever I do is nothing but to persuade – to persuade
you to come out of your madness.

To think oneself a rooster is crazy; to think oneself a body is also crazy, even crazier

Osho-"The Empty boat"