Nan-in was in search of a Zen Master when he was a seeker. He lived with his Master for many years, and then the Master said, ”Everything is okay. You have almost achieved.” But he said ”almost”, so Nan-in said, ”What do you mean?” The Master said, ”I will have to send you for a few days to another Master. That will do the last finishing touch.”
Nan-in was very much excited. He said, ”Send me immediately!” A letter was given to him, and he was so excited, he thought he was being sent to someone who was a greater Master than his own. But when he reached to the man, he was no one, just a keeper of an inn, a doorkeeper of an inn.
He felt very much disappointed and he thought,”This must be some sort of a joke. This man is going to be my last Master? He is going to give me the finishing touch?” But he had come, so he thought, ”It is better to be here for a few days, at least rest, then I will go back. It was a long journey.” So he said to the inn-keeper, ”My Master has given this letter.”
The innkeeper said, ”But I cannot read, so you can keep your letter; it is not needed. And you can be here.” Nan-in said, ”But I have been sent to learn something from you.”
The innkeeper said, ”I am just an innkeeper, I am not a Master, I am not a teacher. There must have been some misunderstanding. You may have come to a wrong person. I am just an innkeeper. I cannot teach; I don’t know anything. But when you have come, you can just watch me. That may be helpful. You rest and watch.”
But there was nothing to watch. In the morning he will open the door of the inn. Then guests will come and he will clean their things – the pots, the utensils and everything – and he will serve. And in the night again, when everybody has gone and the guests have gone to sleep to their beds, he will clean things again, pots, utensils, everything. And in the morning, again the same.
By the third day, Nan-in was bored. And he said ”There is nothing to watch. You go on cleaning utensils you go on doing ordinary work, so I must leave.” The doorkeeper laughed, but said nothing.
Nan-in came back, was very angry with his Master and said, ”Why? Why I was sent for such a long journey, tedious it was, and the man was just a doorkeeper? And he didn’t teach me anything, and he simply said, ’Watch,’ and there was nothing to watch.”
But the Master said, ”Still, you were there for three four days. Even if there was nothing to watch, you must have watched. What you were doing?” So he said, ”I was watching. In the night he will clean the utensils pots, put everything there, and in the morning he was again cleaning.”
The Master said, ”This, this is the teaching! This is for what you were sent! He had cleaned those pots in the night, but in the morning he was again cleaning those clean pots. What does it mean? Because even by the night, when nothing has happened, they have become unclean again, some dust has settled again. So you may be pure: now you are. You may be innocent, but every moment you have to continue cleaning. You may not do anything, still you become impure just by the passage of time. Moment to moment, just the passage, not doing anything, just sitting under a tree, you become unclean. And that uncleanliness is not because you were doing something bad or something wrong,it happens just through the passage of time. Dust collects. So you go on cleaning, and this is the last touch, because I feel you have become proud that you are pure, and now you are not worried of constant effort to clean.”
Moment to moment one has to die and be reborn again.
Yoga: The Alpha and the Omega, Vol 1 72 Osho
CHAPTER 5. RIGHT AND WRONG KNOWLEDGE
Nan-in was very much excited. He said, ”Send me immediately!” A letter was given to him, and he was so excited, he thought he was being sent to someone who was a greater Master than his own. But when he reached to the man, he was no one, just a keeper of an inn, a doorkeeper of an inn.
He felt very much disappointed and he thought,”This must be some sort of a joke. This man is going to be my last Master? He is going to give me the finishing touch?” But he had come, so he thought, ”It is better to be here for a few days, at least rest, then I will go back. It was a long journey.” So he said to the inn-keeper, ”My Master has given this letter.”
The innkeeper said, ”But I cannot read, so you can keep your letter; it is not needed. And you can be here.” Nan-in said, ”But I have been sent to learn something from you.”
The innkeeper said, ”I am just an innkeeper, I am not a Master, I am not a teacher. There must have been some misunderstanding. You may have come to a wrong person. I am just an innkeeper. I cannot teach; I don’t know anything. But when you have come, you can just watch me. That may be helpful. You rest and watch.”
But there was nothing to watch. In the morning he will open the door of the inn. Then guests will come and he will clean their things – the pots, the utensils and everything – and he will serve. And in the night again, when everybody has gone and the guests have gone to sleep to their beds, he will clean things again, pots, utensils, everything. And in the morning, again the same.
By the third day, Nan-in was bored. And he said ”There is nothing to watch. You go on cleaning utensils you go on doing ordinary work, so I must leave.” The doorkeeper laughed, but said nothing.
Nan-in came back, was very angry with his Master and said, ”Why? Why I was sent for such a long journey, tedious it was, and the man was just a doorkeeper? And he didn’t teach me anything, and he simply said, ’Watch,’ and there was nothing to watch.”
But the Master said, ”Still, you were there for three four days. Even if there was nothing to watch, you must have watched. What you were doing?” So he said, ”I was watching. In the night he will clean the utensils pots, put everything there, and in the morning he was again cleaning.”
The Master said, ”This, this is the teaching! This is for what you were sent! He had cleaned those pots in the night, but in the morning he was again cleaning those clean pots. What does it mean? Because even by the night, when nothing has happened, they have become unclean again, some dust has settled again. So you may be pure: now you are. You may be innocent, but every moment you have to continue cleaning. You may not do anything, still you become impure just by the passage of time. Moment to moment, just the passage, not doing anything, just sitting under a tree, you become unclean. And that uncleanliness is not because you were doing something bad or something wrong,it happens just through the passage of time. Dust collects. So you go on cleaning, and this is the last touch, because I feel you have become proud that you are pure, and now you are not worried of constant effort to clean.”
Moment to moment one has to die and be reborn again.
Yoga: The Alpha and the Omega, Vol 1 72 Osho
CHAPTER 5. RIGHT AND WRONG KNOWLEDGE
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