The moral of the following story is still relevant in the Indian context, particularly when politicians expose themselves badly to the outside world by their greed sown wealth. Pl read.

Society and Freedom of the Individual

Question posed to Osho : Can you explain what kind of relationship exists between individuals and society and how they can help each other to evolve?

Osho narrates the following story.

It happened in China, twenty-five centuries ago:

Lao Tzu became very famous, a wise man, and he was without doubt one of the wisest men ever. The emperor of China asked him very humbly to become his chief of the supreme court, because nobody could guide the country’s  laws better than he could. He tried to persuade the emperor, “ I am not the right man,” but the emperor was insistent.

Lao Tzu said, “If you don’t listen to me… just one day in the court and you will be convinced that I am not the right man. Out of humbleness, I was not saying the truth to you. Either I can exist or your law and your orders and your society can exist. So…. Let us try it.”

The first day a thief who had stolen almost half the treasures of the richest man in the capital was brought into the court. Lao Tzu listened to the case and then he said that the thief and the richest man should both go to jail for six months.

The rich man said, ‘What are you saying? I have been stolen from, I have been robbed….what kind of justice is this, that you are sending me to jail for the same amount of time as the thief?”

Lao Tzu said, “I am certainly being unfair to the thief. Your need to be in jail is greater, because you have collected so much money to yourself, deprived so many people of money…. Thousands of people are downtrodden and you are collecting and collecting money. For what? Your very greed in creating these thieves. You are responsible. The first crime is yours.”

Lao Tzu’s logic is absolutely clear. If there are going to be too many poor people and only a few rich people you cannot stop thieves, you cannot stop stealing. The only way to stop it is to have a society where everybody has enough to fulfill his needs, and nobody has unnecessary accumulation just of out greed.

The rich man said, ‘Before you send me to jail, I want to see the emperor, because this is not according to the constitution; this is not according to the law of the country.”

Lao Tzu said, “That is the fault of the constitution and the fault of the law of the country. I am not responsible for it. Go and see the emperor.”

The rich man said to the emperor, “Listen, this man should be immediately deposed from his post; he is dangerous. Today, I am going into  jail, tomorrow you will be in jail. If you want to save yourself, this man has to be thrown out; he is absolutely dangerous. And he is very rational. What he is saying is right. I can understand it—but he will destroy us!!”

The emperor understood it perfectly well. ‘If this rich is a criminal, then I am the greatest criminal in the country. Lao Tzu will not hesitate to send me to jail.”

Lao Tzu was relieved of his post. He said, “I tried to tell you before; you are unnecessarily wasting my time. I told you I am not the right man. The reality is that your society, your law, and your constitution are not right. You need wrong people to run this whole wrong system.”

(From Osho’s book ‘Freedom’ –pages 2-5)