Love never obliges anybody.

Love never obliges anybody.

Love is always obliged that you allowed the heart to shower upon you its flowers, its joys, its songs.

Love is obliged to you for your receptivity.

Responsibility always thinks, ”I have done well and everybody should know it. And everybody should feel obliged.

I have sacrificed so much for the freedom of the country; I have done so much in the war in defending the country; I am working so hard so that my children can be educated, can be well-nourished, so that I can provide facilities for my grandparents or my parents.”

But you find this a burden. You are crushed under it. It is not a joy, it is not blissfulness, it is not ecstasy.

My grandfather loved very much. He was old, very old, but he remained active to the very last breath. He loved nature almost too much.

He lived in a faraway farm. Once in a while he would come to the city, but he never liked it. He always liked the wild world, where he lived.

Once in a while I used to go to him and he always liked somebody to massage his feet.

He was becoming so old and he was working so hard, so I would massage his feet. But I told him,”Remember, I am not fulfilling any responsibility. I don’t have any responsibility towards anyone in the world.

I love you, and I will
massage your feet but only up to the point where it is not troublesome to me.

So when I stop, never ask me to do a little more. I will not. I am doing it out of my joy, not because you are my grandfather. I could have done the same to any beggar, any stranger, just out of love.”

He understood the point. He said, ”I never thought that responsibility and love are two things. But you are right.

When I am working on the field, I always feel I am doing it for my children and their children, as a duty.

It is heavy on my heart. But I will try to change this attitude of responsibility.

I may be too old to change – it has become a fixation in my mind – but I will try to change.” I said to him, ”There is no need. If you feel it is becoming a burden on you, you have done enough.

You rest. There is no need to continue working, unless you enjoy the open sky and the green field and love these trees and the birds. If you are doing it out of joy and you love your children and you want to do something for them, only then continue.

Otherwise stop.”

OshO 
CHAPTER 30. BE ADAM AND EVE
Sat Chit Anand