I was reading about a Frenchman, ‘Teilhard de Chardin’. He writes a letter to someone in which he says:
To the full extent of my power
Because I am a priest
I wish from now on to be the
First to become conscious of all that the
World loves, pursues and suffers;
I want to be the first to seek
To sympathise and to suffer
The first to unfold and sacrifice myself
To become more widely human
And more nobly of this earth
Than any of the world’s servants.
The person who quotes this says, ‘Look how humble this man is.’
But this is not being humble; it is not humility at all. The whole trip is an ego-trip!
First you want to be the first in the world. Then you become humble but the idea remains. Now you want to be the first among the servants of God.
The whole thing is the same, nothing has changed. First you wanted to be the richest man, now you want to be the humblest.
But you go on comparing with others, and you don’t want to be behind anybody.
This is a trick of the mind.
Relax, and whatsoever is happening, accept it. If you feel like being serious or important, be.
Don’t take your seriousness very seriously! Be serious — there is nothing wrong in it, but always remember to never make it a comparison. Never compare.
Don’t think in terms of who is behind you, who is ahead of you. Nobody is behind you and nobody is ahead of you. Everybody is single and unique. We are not related in that way. In fact we are standing in a circle.
The whole of humanity is moving like that. It is a circle — we are not standing in a line. Everybody is always placed in a situation; somebody is ahead, somebody behind.
The trouble with you is that you are thinking that you are serious, and if you start thinking against it you will become more serious. You will be doubly serious. You have to take your seriousness non-seriously — then you have cut the roots.
But enjoy it — there is nothing wrong in it. I also need a few serious people around, otherwise how will people laugh, and at whom? (Laughter)
A few people are needed to play the serious role also! (More Laughter)
OSHO
