Buddha says: MASTER YOURSELF.... If you are at all interested in mastery -- and who is not interested? -- then become interested in self-mastery. Don't waste your time in trying to dominate others. The effort to dominate others creates political conflict; the whole world is full of it. Even in personal relationships politics enters and destroys them. Even when you love a woman or a man, the mind starts its cunning ways to dominate, to possess, to destroy the freedom of the other... because you are afraid. You are afraid that if YOU don't dominate, the other is going to dominate you.

 

And for all those who want to dominate others, Machiavelli is the teacher. In India also a similar type of man has existed; his name was Chanakya. He preceded Machiavelli by thousands of years. Both men are the foundations of the extrovert mind; they have laid the foundations. And their first foundation is: the best way to defend yourself is to attack. Hence, before the other attacks you, attack the other. Before your wife starts dominating you, you dominate her, or before your husband starts dominating you, you dominate him.

 

A young man was going to get married. He asked his father, "Is there any advice for me?" And the father whispered something into his ear. The young man laughed and said, "I will take care of it."

 

He went to the town to get married. As the couple were coming back to the village, the horse who was carrying them from the town stopped. The young man was very angry. He said to the horse, "This is the first time -- I can forgive you, but remember, I can forgive you only two times."

 

The horse moved, but again he stopped at another place and wouldn't budge. The young man said, "This is the second time -- now be alert!"

 

And when the horse stopped for the third time, the young man got down, took his pistol and shot the horse immediately then and there. The horse fell down.

 

The wife could not believe her eyes -- what cruelty! She said, "What are you doing?"

 

He said, "This is the first time.... Remember, you have only two more chances."

 

And from that day, it is said, his wife always followed him. What else to do?

 

This has been the way down the ages: either the husband dominates or the wife. In ninety-nine percent of the cases the wife dominates, because the husband is trying to dominate in the outside world, in the marketplace. He comes home so tired, he comes home so frustrated, he has no desire, will or power to fight with the woman. And the woman has been waiting the whole day, accumulating. Her energies are fresh and she has nowhere to go to dominate anybody else; only the husband is her dominion.

 

Man has imprisoned woman in the house at a great cost, because he has taken away all other possibilities of going on ego trips. Now only one outlet is left -- he himself -- and he is suffering a lot. In fact, the Women's Liberation movement is not only woman's liberation; if it really happens, it will be far more MAN'S liberation. Hence I don't see any intelligent man against it; all intelligent men are for it, because they know if the woman really becomes free they will be free too. It is going to be freedom for both.

 

It is one of the laws of life: either you both can be free or you both will be slaves. It is not possible that one should be the master and the other should be the slave. The law is that the master is always a slave of his own slave, because his mastery also depends on the slave. Without the slave he will not be a master at all.

 

The child finds all these people around, running in the same direction. The child is vulnerable, open, ready to be impressed. It is very difficult for the child to find a Buddha, to find a Jesus. He always finds these stupid people living their lives in absolute unawareness. He starts imitating them. By the time he is of age he is already structured, programmed, conditioned.

 

Unless you make a great effort to get out of this conditioning you will not be free. Unless you make a great, concentrated, determined decision that you have to get out of it -- even if life itself needs to be staked you are ready to stake your life for the freedom from all kinds of conditionings -- there is not much possibility. But you can make the decision.

 

This is what sannyas is: a determination, a decision, a commitment -- a commitment to yourself, a gift to yourself.

 

MASTER YOURSELF... because mastering yourself you enter into the kingdom of God, you enter into the real world of peace and bliss. You enter into your own treasures -- they are inexhaustible. You come to know for the first time the richness of your being, the beauty of your being and the ecstasy of your being.

 

MASTER YOURSELF ACCORDING TO THE LAW. Now, there is a possibility you may misunderstand Buddha, because "according to the law" in the eyes of Christians and Jews and Mohammedans means according to the law prescribed in their books: the Ten Commandments, the Koran, the Bible. That is not the meaning of Buddha. "According to the law" does not mean the law of the state or the law given by the priests. "According to the law" for Buddha means according to the ultimate law of life and existence.

 

-Osho, "The Dhammapada - The Way of the Buddha, Vol 6, #3"