29 Mar Prove to the one who harmed you that with the evil he tried to do to you, he finally benefited you (OSHO)
It happened once: A Zen master lived in a cottage on a faraway hill, many miles away from the town.
One fullmoon night a thief entered. The master became very worried because there was nothing that could be stolen except one blanket, and he was wearing that blanket, so what to do? He became so worried that when the thief came in he put the blanket just by the door and hid himself in a corner.
The thief looked all around but in the dark he couldn’t see the blanket – there was nothing. Dejected, frustrated, he was going to leave. So the master shouted, “Wait! Take that blanket! And I am very sorry, because you came such a long way, the night is cold, and there is nothing in this house. Next time you come please inform me beforehand. I will arrange something. I am a poor man, but I will make some arrangements so you can steal. But have pity on me, otherwise I will feel very upset:
you take that blanket – and don’t say no!” The thief could not believe what was happening. He was apprehensive; this man seemed strange, nobody had behaved this way before. He simply took the blanket and ran away.
The master wrote a poem that night. Sitting by his window – the night is cold, the full moon is in the sky – he wrote a poem, and the gist of the poem was “What a beautiful moon! I would like to give this moon to that thief!” And tears were flowing from his eyes, he was weeping and crying and feeling, “That poor man came from so far away!”
Then the thief was caught. There were other crimes against him, and this blanket was also found with him. That blanket was very famous – everybody knew that it belonged to that Zen master. So the Zen master had to go to court. The magistrate told him, “Simply say that this blanket is yours, and it is enough. This man has stolen this blanket from your hut – just say yes, that’s all.”
The master said, “But he never stole it, he is not a thief! I know him well. Once he visited me, of course, but he has not stolen anything; this is my gift, this blanket I have given to him. And I still feel guilty that there was nothing else to give. The blanket is old, almost worthless; and this man is so good, he accepted it. Not only that, in his heart there was thankfulness towards me.”
Osho
Chapter 5 : The Strangest of Saying ,
Book : The Mustard Seed My Most Loved Gospel on Jesus.
