< Previous | Contents | Next >
Chapter 19 - At the maximum you disappear
He was worried about what he was going to say to the other priests, because they will make him a laughingstock. The temple has been there for centuries and God has never come.
But even if it looks awkward, embarrassing, he has to tell them, because he alone cannot clean the whole temple; it is so big, so huge...
He woke up all the priests and said, "Forgive me for disturbing your sleep. I am in a dilemma: I have seen this dream..." And all the priests laughed -- because priests are the only people who don't believe in God. They know perfectly well that God is a strategy to exploit people.
They said, "It was just a dream, go back to sleep." But the chief priest could not sleep. In the morning he said, "It may have been just a dream, but who knows? If God comes and finds us unprepared, it will be such a shame. So I order you, as the chief priest, to clean the temple, to decorate the temple with flowers, with candles. Make it fragrant with incense, and let us wait. Even if it was only a dream, and God does not turn up, there is no harm. The temple needs cleaning, and it is a good opportunity."
The whole day the temple was cleaned, decorated. Delicious food was made for God, but the whole day passed and there was no sign. And the chief priest was standing at the door, looking far away where the sky seems to meet the earth -- the temple was in a very lonely place -- but the road remained empty; nobody came.
The day disappeared into night. They were all hungry because they were waiting: first God should be served. And then all the other priests said, "We had told you, a dream is just a dream. Who has ever heard of God coming to the temples? You are very naive, very simple, very innocent. Now let us eat -- we are feeling hungry and tired -- and go to sleep."
So they closed the doors, and ate the food that they had made for God. And because they were tired from the whole day's cleaning and decoration and preparation, they immediately fell asleep.
In the middle of the night a golden chariot came on the road leading to the temple. The sound of the chariot coming... and the chief priest was deep down still feeling that God cannot be so deceptive, particularly to a man who has never done any harm to him. He heard the sound of the chariot. He woke up the priests, and he said, "He is coming! I have just heard the sound of the chariot, listen."
And they were half asleep and they said, "Just go to sleep! You are going mad, just because of a dream. This is not a chariot, this is just the clouds thundering." He was alone.
They silenced him.
The chariot came to the door. God stepped onto the long steps reaching up to the temple.
He knocked on the door. Again the chief priest said, "I have heard somebody knocking on the door! Perhaps God has come." And now it was too much. Annoying them in the middle of the night... utterly tired and exhausted priests. Somebody shouted at him and said, "You shut up and just go to sleep! It is nothing but the breeze hitting the doors. No God has come and no chariot has come; it has never happened." They again silenced him.
In the morning when the chief priest... he could not sleep; the waiting kept him awake, the longing kept him awake. He got up early and opened the door -- "My god!" he said, "He has come" -- because on the road there were signs of a chariot coming up to the door, and on the steps he could see the signs of someone reaching the door. He looked carefully... because dust had gathered on the steps and there were perfect impressions of the feet. It was no one other Osho - The Hidden Splendor
190
< Previous | Contents | Next >