It was a holiday, and the Hassidim had gathered to pray and
to have a communion - sat sang - with the Master.
A man had come with his child. He was a little worried about
the child, the boy. He may do something, so he was keeping an eye on the boy.
When the prayers were said, the boy asked his father, "I have got a
whistle - can I play on it?" The
father said, "Absolutely no - where is your whistle?" because he was
afraid. He may not even listen to his “no.” He showed the whistle and the
father kept his hand on his pocket, the boy's pocket.
Then there was dancing, and the father forgot and he also
started dancing. And Hassids are dancers, joyous people - the cream of Judaism,
the very essence of Judaism is with them, with those mad people.
When everybody was praying to God and dancing, suddenly the
boy could not resist any longer. He took out his whistle and blew on it.
Everybody was shocked! But Baal Shem came, hugged the boy, and said, "Our
prayers are heard. Without this whistle, all was futile - because THIS was the
only spontaneous thing here. All else was ritual."
Don't allow your life to become just a dead ritual. Let
there be moments, unexplainable. Let there be a few things which are
mysterious, for which you cannot supply any reason. Let there be a few doings
for which people will think you are a little crazy. A man who is a hundred
percent sane is dead. A little bit of craziness by the side is always a great
joy. Go on doing a few crazy things. too.
And then meaning will be possible.
Osho
