It is said about him that when he renounced the world, he used to carry a small begging bowl. But then one day he saw a dog drinking water from a river. He threw that begging-bowl. He said, “If the dog can do without it, then am I worse than the dog?” Then everything was thrown away. He remained naked.

Many stories, rumors, were reaching Alexander that this man had something in him. Finally, fascinated, Alexander went to see him, and he could see that the man had something that he had not. He was just lying down — it was a winter morning, it was cool and the sun was rising. He was lying down by the side of a river, bathing himself in the early sun, naked. Alexander said, “Can I do something for you, sir? I have much, and whatsoever you desire, I will be happy to do it for you.”

Diogenes laughed and said, “The only thing that you can do is to please stand by the side. Don’t prevent the sun from coming to me. Nothing else do I need. And remember it, because you seem to be dangerous: never stand between the sun and anybody else. Don’t disturb anybody else’s life. That’s enough; nothing else do I want from you — because all that I want is within me.”

And Alexander could feel that the man was true, literally true — the solidity, the crystallized being, the ‘vibe’ of one who has attained, the surround, the climate of the person who is filled with inner light, inner realization, inner riches. He could see it. He bowed down and he said, “If next time I am to come into the world, I would ask God not to make me Alexander, but Diogenes.”

Diogenes laughed and said, “There is no need to wait that long. You can become a Diogenes just now! For what are you struggling and conquering people, and moving continuously and warring? For what?”

Said Alexander, “First I want to conquer Middle Asia, then India, then the Far East…” And Diogenes went on asking, “Then what? Then what?” Finally, when Alexander said he had conquered the whole world, he said he would then like to rest.

And Diogenes said, “You look to me almost stupid, because I am resting without conquering the world. You can rest by my side. See, the bank is so big; we can share it. And nobody comes here. You can rest to your heart’s desire. Who is preventing you? And I don’t see the point, that one needs to conquer the world first just to rest in the end. You can rest any moment.”

In that moment Alexander must have felt his poverty. He said, “You are right. I am mad, but now it is difficult for me to come back. I have to conquer, only then can I come.”

And when he was leaving, Diogenes said, “Remember, nobody can come back unless one is aware. And if you are aware right this moment, the journey stops. If you are not aware, you will never come back.” And Alexander never could go back. He died before he reached back home.

Osho – “The Beloved”

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Diogenes looked at them and said, ”Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid, I’m not going to fight you. You can come close to me, and you can put your chains on me.” They were surprised. They chained him, they made him a prisoner, and they took him away to the marketplace. On the way he said, ”But why have you chained me? You could have just asked me, and I would have followed. Why make such fuss about it?” They said, ”We cannot believe that somebody is so willing to become a slave!”
And Diogenes laughed and he said, ”Because I am a free man, I am not worried about this.” they could not understand. Then, in the marketplace, standing in the middle of the market, he shouted, ”A Master has come to be sold here. Is some slave desirous of purchasing him?” Look what he said: ”A Master has come to be sold here. Is some slave desirous of purchasing him?”

A Master is a Master. Real freedom is not against bondage, real freedom is beyond bondage.

If your freedom is against bondage, you are not really free. You can escape to the Himalayas just because you are afraid of the marketplace and the wife and the children, but you are not really a free man. The Himalayas cannot become your freedom. You are afraid of the wife; and if the wife comes to see you in the Himalayas, you will start trembling. Your henpecked husband will suddenly be there.

Osho – Path of Love

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