29 Aug But youth is a fleeting phenomenon. (OSHO)
You are asking about your parents, “They were so juicy – what has happened?” Everybody is juicy when they are young, youth brings all your juices to their peak. But youth is a fleeting phenomenon.
I have heard about three old men: one was seventy, another was seventy-five, and the third was eighty-five. They were sitting in a park – and that was their routine, every day they would come. They had no work the whole day, so by the evening they would come and sit and talk about the past.
The old man has no future, he has only a long past. The child has no past, he has only a long future; hence children want to grow fast. Old people cling to the past: perhaps that will help against the oncoming death.
So they used to talk about beautiful moments in their life, difficult times in their life, successful moments in their life – most of which was exaggerated. It was their imagination that they were a great success when they were young, that they were this and that.
This evening when they met, the first old man, seventy, said, “One thing has been bothering me, and I would like to say it to you – it is almost a confession – so that I am relieved of it. I cannot go to the priest, he is just a young fellow – what does he know about religion? You are older than me, you have lived more, known more. I would like to confess to you.”
The other two became very excited. They said, “What is the thing that is bothering you? Tell it, get rid of it.”
He was very embarrassed, but he said, “The problem is that I was caught red-handed peeping through the keyhole of the bathroom, because a beautiful woman was the guest and I could not take myself away from the keyhole. And my grandmother caught me red-handed. I am ashamed.”
The two old people started laughing. One said, “You are a fool! Everybody does it, it is not a problem. In fact, why are keyholes made? This is their purpose, and we all have done it, so don’t be worried. And it is our experience, that from the keyhole of the bathroom, an ordinary, homely woman also looks like Cleopatra, because you cannot see exactly. It is vague. You can make it seem, through your imagination, as if a fairy has descended in the bathroom.
“We all have done it,” those two said, “you don’t be worried.”
He said, “You don’t understand me at all. It happened this morning!”
Then they were a little shocked. This morning? At the age of seventy?
They said, “Naturally, it is understandable why you are feeling so much in the dumps. But, boy, get out of it. What has happened has happened. Next time, be careful. First watch about your grandmother, whether she is around or not; all that is needed is that little awareness. And find some excuse – drop your handkerchief on the floor. The moment your grandmother comes, start looking for the handkerchief, so you have an excuse: ‘The handkerchief had fallen and I was just picking it up. I have nothing to do with the keyhole.'”
The seventy-year-old man was very happy. He said, “Great idea! I never thought that some way I can manage an excuse to be there. This is great! I am completely unburdened. Now I will really be waiting for tomorrow morning. It will be difficult to sleep tonight. That woman is really great!”
Because he had opened a certain subject, the second man said, “I also have something to confess to you. For almost five years I have been making love to my wife in a special way.”
They said, “What special way? You should have told us. Don’t you think we are your friends? You have found a special way, and you are keeping us in the dark? Tell us! What is the special way?”
He said, “It is nothing much. Before going to sleep I hold her hand, and press her hand two or three times, and then we go to sleep.”
The other two said, “This is a way of making love?”
He said, “What else to do? The trouble has arisen because once in a while I forget to press her hand, and she immediately starts nagging me, ‘It seems you are pressing some other woman’s hand! I will not allow this! You have to give an explanation. With whom are you making love nowadays?'”
The third man said, “You both are idiots – you think these are difficulties? I am eighty-five. I am feeling a real difficulty, and when you know about my difficulty you will forget all this nonsense of pressing hands, being nagged by the wife, becoming a Peeping Tom, finding some excuse….” He said, “I never thought that you are so stupid. “The real trouble is with me. This morning when I started preparing to make love to my wife, she said, ‘Have you gone mad? – because two times in the night you have done the same thing. And it does not suit you – an eighty-five-year-old man making love three times? You disturbed my sleep and I am fed up with you! I was hoping that now that we are getting old, this animal game will finish. You are getting older, and you are doing more and more the same thing that I was thinking would be finished!'”
The two were really amazed. They said, “You think this is trouble? This is great!”
He said, “It is a great trouble. In fact, my memory is failing – I didn’t have any idea that I had made love two times, I was thinking this is the first time. Your problems are nothing – my memory is just disappearing!”
Your parents are old. They must be having many kinds of problems which only old people have. Help them to meditate a little bit. Perhaps they can get back the memory of those juicier days. Perhaps they can start painting again, and now it will be far better. Perhaps they can start music and dance, and now it will be better because it will be coming out of their meditation.
The Journey of Being Human
OSHO
