Fun
What to give children nowadays, so that they can be as playful as you have been?
It all depends on them. Nobody was allowing me, I took the
liberty and the responsibility, and the consequences. I was
punished, but I took the punishment as part of the play; I enjoyed
so much that the punishment did not mean anything. And when my
family started understanding me a little more, they stopped
punishing me; they said, "It is useless." When my teachers started
understanding me, they said, "It is difficult to punish you,"
because they will say, "Sit down and stand up for ten times," and I
will ask, "Can I do it thirty times?" And the teacher will say, "Are
you crazy? I am punishing you for being late! It is not a reward,
and you are asking thirty times!" I said, "I don′t care about your
punishment; I can change it into a reward, you cannot stop me. In
fact, this morning I have not done any exercise. Just be
compassionate, let me do it thirty times."
They will tell me, "Go round the school one dozen times." I will
say, "That′s great. I love to run, to jog, for miles. So a dozen
times is insulting." They said, "What?" I said, "Yes, it is
insulting. Tell me, ′Go round the school the whole day.′ I love the
field, I love the trees, I love the sun, I love the wind. And I hate
your dismal class and your face and your blackboard."
Finally they stopped punishing me, because it was useless. If
somebody takes punishment as playfulness, reward, what can you do
with that man? Everybody has to understand that. But life will not
allow you - by life I mean the society around you. The people who
are purposive, utilitarian, always ask, "For what? What is the goal?
What is the motive?" And if you cannot answer, then you are mad.
Just doing anything for its own sake... Only a few artists have been
courageous enough to say that art is for art′s sake, but nobody
listened to them. They were saying something of eternal value. It is
not only art which is for art′s sake: love is also for love′s sake,
friendship is also for friendship′s sake. In life everything has its
own intrinsic value, no ulterior motive. That changes you
completely. You are no longer running for some goal; you are already
there. Each moment you are at home. There is nowhere to go, nothing
to be achieved, no ambition to be fulfilled.
Each moment is a fulfillment unto itself. And I call this kind of
life authentic, real, spiritual. The moment motive enters in, you
are a businessman. You have lost track of the mysterious; you have
fallen into the mundane, into the marketplace, where everything can
be purchased and sold. But there is a space within you where nothing
can be purchased, nothing can be sold, yet tremendous experiences
are waiting for you - invaluable, with no price tag on them.
When I say fun is the most sacred word in human language, all this
is implied in it.