Everybody wants Freedom, Nobody wants Responsibility
1 July, 2009 | by Belai Zelleke1
I am reminded of Diogenes, a beautiful Greek Philosopher, mystic- and a mystic
of a rare quality. He was a contemporary of Aristotle and he was against Aristotle.
Aristotle defined man as an animal with out feathers who walks on two legs. What
did Diogenes do ? He caught a peacock, he took out all the feathers and he sent the
peacock to Aristotle with the message: " Please receive the gift of a human being. "
who were hijacking people and selling them as slaves in the market thought to
catch Diogenes.
Diogenes heard what they were saying about him. He said, "Don't be worried.
Come here ! You need not worry that I will kill you, I never kill anything. And you
need not worry that I will fight, resist you. You want to sell me as a slave ?
Embarrassed, afraid, those four people said, "That`s what we were thinking. We
are poor... If you are willing ?
He said, "Of course I am. If I help you in your poverty in some way, it is
beautiful."
So they brought out chains. He said, " Throw them in the river; you need not chain
me. I will walk ahead of you. I don`t believe in escaping from anything. In fact I
am getting excited about the idea of being sold.
Those four people become a little more afraid: this man is not only strong and
beautiful, he seems to be mad also; he could be dangerous. But now there was no
way for them to escape. He said " If you try to escape, you will be risking your
own life. Just follow me, all four of you. Put me on the pedestal in the market."
Unwillingly they followed him. They wanted to take him, but he went ahead of
them! You see the point ? Even in such a situation, he was taking the responsibility
on himself. He was a free man even in such a situation, where people were
conspiring and trying to sell him in the marketplace, which is the ugliest thing that
can happen to a man-to be sold like a commodity.
They put him to the auction before the auctioneer. Before the auctioneer said
anything, Diogenes declared, "Listen, people! Here is a master to be sold to
any slave, because these four people need money. So start the auction; but
remember, you are purchasing a master."
A king purchased him. Of course, he could do it-- more and more money he
offered at the auction. Many people were interested but finally a sum, larger than
any that had ever been heard of before, was given to those four people. Diogenes
said to them, "Are you happy now and I will go with this slave."
On the way to the palace as they were riding in the chariot, the king said to
Diogenes," Are you crazy or something ? You think yourself a master ? I
am a king, and you think me a slave ?"
Diogenes said, " I am not crazy, but you are. I can prove it to you right now." At
the back of the chariot was the queen. Diogenes said, "Your queen is already
interested in me, she is finished with you. It is dangerous to purchase a
master."
The King was shocked. Of course, he was nothing in comparison to Diogenes. He
took out his sword and asked his queen, "What he is saying it is true ? If you say
the truth, your life will be saved-that is my promise. But if you say an untruth, and
I find it out later on, I will behead you."
The queen said, " It is true. Before him , you are nothing." The king stopped the
chariot and told Diogenes, "Get out of the chariot. I set you free; I don't want to
take such risks in my palace."
Diogenes Said, "Thank you. I am a man who cannot be made a slave, for the
simple reason that every responsibility I take on myself. "
"Take responsibility! And then even in utter poverty, suffering, imprisoned
in a jail , you will remain completely a master of yourself."
Belai Zelleke1
1 July, 2009 | by Belai Zelleke1
I am reminded of Diogenes, a beautiful Greek Philosopher, mystic- and a mystic
of a rare quality. He was a contemporary of Aristotle and he was against Aristotle.
Aristotle defined man as an animal with out feathers who walks on two legs. What
did Diogenes do ? He caught a peacock, he took out all the feathers and he sent the
peacock to Aristotle with the message: " Please receive the gift of a human being. "
- Diogenes used to live naked because, he said,
"Man is born naked, and he becomes
weaker because he is protected by clothes."
All around the world no animal has clothes
except a few dogs in England. Dogs have
clothes because a naked dog is un-christian.
You will be surprised to learn that in Victorian
England even chair legs were covered with
clothes, because they are legs and it is not
gentlemanly to look at naked legs.
who were hijacking people and selling them as slaves in the market thought to
catch Diogenes.
Diogenes heard what they were saying about him. He said, "Don't be worried.
Come here ! You need not worry that I will kill you, I never kill anything. And you
need not worry that I will fight, resist you. You want to sell me as a slave ?
Embarrassed, afraid, those four people said, "That`s what we were thinking. We
are poor... If you are willing ?
He said, "Of course I am. If I help you in your poverty in some way, it is
beautiful."
So they brought out chains. He said, " Throw them in the river; you need not chain
me. I will walk ahead of you. I don`t believe in escaping from anything. In fact I
am getting excited about the idea of being sold.
Those four people become a little more afraid: this man is not only strong and
beautiful, he seems to be mad also; he could be dangerous. But now there was no
way for them to escape. He said " If you try to escape, you will be risking your
own life. Just follow me, all four of you. Put me on the pedestal in the market."
Unwillingly they followed him. They wanted to take him, but he went ahead of
them! You see the point ? Even in such a situation, he was taking the responsibility
on himself. He was a free man even in such a situation, where people were
conspiring and trying to sell him in the marketplace, which is the ugliest thing that
can happen to a man-to be sold like a commodity.
They put him to the auction before the auctioneer. Before the auctioneer said
anything, Diogenes declared, "Listen, people! Here is a master to be sold to
any slave, because these four people need money. So start the auction; but
remember, you are purchasing a master."
A king purchased him. Of course, he could do it-- more and more money he
offered at the auction. Many people were interested but finally a sum, larger than
any that had ever been heard of before, was given to those four people. Diogenes
said to them, "Are you happy now and I will go with this slave."
On the way to the palace as they were riding in the chariot, the king said to
Diogenes," Are you crazy or something ? You think yourself a master ? I
am a king, and you think me a slave ?"
Diogenes said, " I am not crazy, but you are. I can prove it to you right now." At
the back of the chariot was the queen. Diogenes said, "Your queen is already
interested in me, she is finished with you. It is dangerous to purchase a
master."
The King was shocked. Of course, he was nothing in comparison to Diogenes. He
took out his sword and asked his queen, "What he is saying it is true ? If you say
the truth, your life will be saved-that is my promise. But if you say an untruth, and
I find it out later on, I will behead you."
The queen said, " It is true. Before him , you are nothing." The king stopped the
chariot and told Diogenes, "Get out of the chariot. I set you free; I don't want to
take such risks in my palace."
Diogenes Said, "Thank you. I am a man who cannot be made a slave, for the
simple reason that every responsibility I take on myself. "
"Take responsibility! And then even in utter poverty, suffering, imprisoned
in a jail , you will remain completely a master of yourself."
Belai Zelleke1
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| Related Stories The True Meaning of Freedom - Responsibility! By Beth Banning and Neill Gibson "One such choice we've made is to relate to the idea of responsibility differently than we learned it growing up. We now choose to understand it as our "ABILITY to respond", or our "response-ability" More. How Free Is Freedom? By Dereje Hailu "How free is freedom? Can only be understood when we take into account the relevance of defining the internal and external values, and the importance of harmonizing them through a complex compromise and power sharing, the goal of which at minimum should guarantee freedom to live." More Diogenes of Sinope From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "Diogenes was a self-appointed public scold whose mission was to demonstrate to the ancient Greeks that civilization is regressive. He taught by living example that wisdom and happiness belong to the man who is independent of society." More |
