Socrates In Balance
Being spontaneous - even near death!
Socrates, while awaiting death in prison, was haunted by a dream that kept urging him, "Socrates, make music!" The old man felt he had always served art with his philosophizing. But now, spurred on by that mysterious voice, he turned fables into verse, indited a hymn to Apollo, and played the flute. In the face of death, philosophy and music briefly went hand in hand, and Socrates was as blissful as never before.
Enough of argumentation...
He had never played on the flute. Something inside him persisted, "Socrates, make music!" Just in the face of death! It looked so ridiculous. And he had never played, he had never made music. A part of his being had remained suffocated. Yes, even a man like Socrates, had remained one-dimensional. The denied part insisted, "Enough of logic -- a little music will be good, will bring balance. Enough of argumentation -- play on the flute." And the voice was SO persistent that he had to yield to it.
His disciples must have been puzzled: "Has he gone mad? Socrates playing on the flute?" But to me it is very significant. The music could not have been very great, because he had never played. Absolutely amateurish, childish it must have been -- but still something was satisfied, something was bridged. He was no more one-sided. For the first time in his life, maybe, he was spontaneous. For the first time he had done something for which he could not supply any reason. Otherwise, he was a rational man.
Osho, excerpted from The Perfect Master Vol.2 #4
No time to meditate?
Subscribe Meditation Seconds
Osho book recommendations on masters of meditation
The Buddha Said...: Meeting the Challenge of Life's Difficulties
Discover the Buddha: 53 Meditations to Meet the Buddha Within
When the Shoe Fits: Stories of the Taoist Mystic Chuang Tzu
No Water No Moon: Talks on Zen Stories
The Mustard Seed: The Revolutionary Teachings of Jesus
In this Osho quote it is described how Socrates, the master and philosopher, almost in his deathbed started to play flute. He noticed that his way of living has become unbalanced and enjoyed playing music, just to provide a balance for his genius mind.
Latest
Read about the transforming power of man's sexuality when experienced with an attitude of surrender...
Breathe in, breathe out, but let it be love coming in, going out...