31 Aug If I can convince someone to go to hell in my place, then will you let me stay in heaven? (OSHO)
I have heard: it happened that a journalist died and reached the gates of paradise. Journalists are not supposed to go there; how it happened I don’t know. The gatekeeper looked at him and said, “Are you a journalist?”
He said, “Of course, and as a press reporter I am allowed everywhere. Let me in.”
The gatekeeper said, “There is a difficulty. In the first place, in paradise we don’t have any newspaper because no news happens here – no crime, no drunkards, no rape. There are only saints, dried up, frozen from eternity till eternity. So what news is there? Still we have a quota of ten journalists, but that has been full from the very beginning. You will have to go to the other gate on the other side of the road.”
The journalist said, “Can you do a little favor for me? I will leave after twenty-four hours, but just give me a chance, at least a tour. If you cannot allow me a permanent, residential green card, you can let me have a twenty-four-hour tour. That is not too much to ask. Coming from so far away, have mercy on me. And give me one promise: if I can convince those ten journalists, if one of them is ready to leave in my place, then will you let me be here?”
He said, “Then there is no problem. If you can convince somebody to go to the other place, you can be in his place. It makes no difference to us; the quota is ten.”
He went in and he started talking to everybody, whomever he met. “Have you heard that in hell they are going to start a new daily newspaper, the biggest that has ever been tried? And they are in need of a chief editor, editorial staff, and all kinds of journalists, weekly editors, and literary editors – haven’t you heard?”
And they said, “We have not heard anything, but that is great. In this rotten place, only one issue of a newspaper was published, some way, far away back in the beginning of time, but since then nothing has happened, so only the first issue…. We go on reading it again and again, what else to do? This new paper is a great idea.”
The gatekeeper said, “You are a tricky fellow. All those ten have escaped to the other place, now I cannot allow you to go. At least one journalist should be here.
All the ten journalists became agitated. Next day, after twenty-four hours, the journalist reached the gate. The gatekeeper immediately closed the door and said, “Remain inside!”
The gatekeeper said, “Are you mad? You spread that rumor which is absolutely false. They got the idea that they will get great posts, and became excited again – but for what are you going?”
He said, “When ten other journalists are believing it – it may be that I started it, but there must be something in it. Some part of it must be true; otherwise how can you convince ten journalists, and that too to go from paradise to hell? There is bound to be some truth in it.”
The leader is continuously in need of being convinced again and again that what he is saying is right For that he needs growing numbers of committed people. And the more fanatically they are committed, the more convincing they are to him.
Intelligence: The Creative Response to Now
OSHO
