When inferiority disappears, all feeling of
superiority also disappears. They live together, they cannot be
separated. The man who feels superior is still feeling inferior
somewhere. The man who feels inferior wants to feel superior somewhere.
They come in a pair; they are always there together; they cannot be
separated.
It happened... A very proud man, a warrior, a samurai, came to see a Zen
master. The samurai was very famous, well known all over the country,
But looking at the master, looking at the beauty of the master and the
grace of the moment, he suddenly felt inferior. Maybe he had come with
an unconscious desire to prove his superiority. He said to the master
"Why am I feeling inferior? Just a moment ago, everything was okay. As I
entered into your court suddenly I felt inferior. I have never felt like
that. My hands are shaking. I am a warrior, I have faced death many
times, and I have never felt any fear--why am I feeling frightened?"
The master said, "You wait. When everybody has gone, I will answer."
People continued coming to visit the master, and the man was getting
tired, more and more tired. By the evening the room was empty, there was
nobody, and the samurai said, "Now, can you answer it?" And the master
said, "Now, come outside."
A full moon night--the moon was just rising on the horizon... And he
said, "Look at these trees, this tree high in the sky and this small
tree. They both have existed by the side of my window for years, and
there has never been any problem. The smaller tree has never said, 'Why
do I feel inferior before you?' to the big tree. How is it possible?
This tree is small, and that tree is big, and I have never heard any
whisper."
The samurai said, "Because they can't compare."
The master said, "Then you need not ask me; you know the answer."
Comparison brings inferiority, superiority. When you don't compare, all
inferiority, all superiority, disappear. Then you are, you are simply
there. A small bush or a big high tree--it doesn't matter; you are
yourself. You are needed. A grass leaf is needed as much as the biggest
star. Without the grass leaf God will be less than he is. The sound of
the cuckoo is needed as much as any Buddha; the world will be less, will
be less rich if the cuckoo disappears.
Just look around. All is needed, and everything fits together. It is an
organic unity: nobody is higher and nobody is lower, nobody superior,
nobody inferior. Everybody is incomparably unique.