Jōshū: The lion's roar

Pages: 200 (14 Black & White Illustrations)IntroductionOf all the stories Osho Rajneesh has shared with His disciples through the years this story is surely one of the al time favorites:"I have told you a story, a very ancient story, about a lioness giving birth to a cub while she was jumping from one hillock to another hillock. The cub fell into a crowd of sheep and grew up amongst the sheep. There was no way for him to know that he was not a sheep. And the sheep were not afraid, they never thought that he was dangerous. "One day an old lion saw this phenomenon and could not believe it! He had never seen any lion walking in a crowd of sheep. The moment sheep see a lion they start running-naturally. But this young lion believed he was a sheep. "The old lion was a man just like Joshu. He got hold of him. He started trembling, and the old lion said, 'You are trembling and weeping and crying and asking that you should be released because you want to join your group. There is something you don't know, it seems you are unaware, and I will not leave you unless I make you aware. You come with me!. "He dragged him to a nearby lake. The lake was silent-no ripples, no wind was there. He took the young lion to the edge of the water and told him, 'Look in the water. Look at my face and your face.'"Instantaneously, from the young lion a roar came out. It was not any effort, it was simply the fact of seeing that he is a lion immediately a roar that resounded in faraway mountains."The young lion thanked the old lion and said, 'You have been very kind to me. Otherwise my whole life I would have lived chewing grass with the sheep. You have given me a new birth."