It is said about Chuang Tzu that when for the first time he entered the hut where Lao Tzu, his would- be master, was living, Lao Tzu looked at Chuang Tzu and said, ”Remember one thing, never ask me how to become enlightened.” The poor fellow had come for that very purpose. But Lao Tzu made it clear, ”Only on this condition will I accept you as my disciple.”

There was a moment of silence. Chuang Tzu thought, ”It is strange. I have come to become enlightened, that is the very purpose of becoming a disciple. And this old fellow, so beautiful and so graceful, is asking such an absurd thing: if you want to be my disciple, promise me that you will never ask about how to become enlightened.”

But it was already too late. He had fallen in love with the old man. He touched his feet and he said, ”I promise I will never ask how to become enlightened, but accept me as your disciple.”

Immediately came a hard slap, ”You idiot! If you are not going to become enlightened, then for what purpose are you becoming a disciple? I was asking this promise because I could see in you such beautiful intelligence that you might have immediately realized the point of my asking. You are enlightened; there is no way to become enlightened. There is no need. In fact even if you want to become unenlightened, there is no way.”

There have been masters like Bodhidharma. You ask him how to become enlightened and you will get such a good slap on your face that you will wake up immediately, saying, ”I am sorry, I had just fallen asleep. I am enlightened.” Those days were beautiful, when it was perfectly accepted that a master can slap the disciple. Now people have completely forgotten those beautiful moments and those beautiful days and those beautiful people.

All the meditations are nothing but an effort to feel your enlightenment – which is already the case; whether you feel it or not it does not matter. If you feel it you will rejoice, your life will become a dance, moment to moment, of tremendous glory and majesty, of grace and gratitude. If you don’t recognize it you will remain miserable, asking all kinds of idiots, frauds, ”How can I become enlightened?”

~~Osho ♥