The Power of Now – the Fallacy of Future Promises

The Power of Now – the Fallacy of Future Promises

A Parable On Death

This is a beautiful Osho’s story on the concept of the Power of Now.

“A King Became Very Angry with His Prime Minister for Certain Reasons, and He Sentenced Him to Death. It was the custom of that country that whenever a person was going to be crucified, the king himself used to come and see him. He was going to be crucified in the evening, so the king came in the morning. He came on his beautiful horse.

“The prisoner could see the horse outside the window. The king came in, and the prisoner started crying.

“The king said, ‘ Are you afraid of death?’

“And the prime minister said, ‘No, I am not crying because of my death, I am crying because of the horse!’

“’When I was young I lived with an alchemist. I learned from him the art of teaching a horse to fly. But only a certain kind of horse can be taught. I have been looking for that special kind of horse my whole life and today you have brought the horse!  I am crying because my long apprenticeship with the alchemist, has gone in vain! Now I will be dying in great turmoil.’

“The king became very enchanted with the idea that the horse could fly. If it were possible then he would be the only king in the whole world whose horse could fly! He said, ‘How long will it take to teach the horse?’

“The man said, ‘Only one year.’

“The king said, ‘Okay, I trust you. I give you one year! If you can teach the horse to fly, not only will you be released from this sentence of death but you will get half my kingdom also. And if the horse cannot fly, of course, after one year you will be killed, so there is nothing for me to lose. ‘

The Power of Now – the Second Chance

“The prime minister took the horse and went home. His family asked, ‘What has happened?  Have you escaped from the prison? ‘

“The prime minister laughed and said, ‘Let me tell you the whole story!’ He told the whole story.

“The wife started crying even more loudly. She said, ‘I know that this is absolutely false. You don’t know any art, you have never been an apprentice to any alchemist. Now this will be even harder for us. This whole year I will have to suffer now!’

“The prime minister said, ‘ In one year anything can happen. The king can die, I can die, the horse can die! Everything is possible. One year is long enough — much is possible. And I am free. Don’t be worried!’

“And the end of the story is unbelievable: all three died!”

Equally to Osho, there were others who explored the power of now, Eckhart Tolle, in the book of Spiritual Enlightenment explore stresses the importance of living in the present moment and avoiding thoughts of the past or future.

With time everything can happen. Why are we worried?

Osho International Foundation

To continue reading and see all available formats of this talk:
Osho, Zen: Zest, Zip, Zap and Zing, Talk #1 – Zen: The Koan Of Life

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