It happened in the second world war..... A retired Army man.... he had fought in the first world war, and he was honoured well; he was a brave man. And now almost 25 years had passed. He had a small farm and lived silently. He was going from the farm to his house with a bucket full of eggs, and a few people in a restaurant, just jokingly, played a trick on the poor old Army man. One of the men in the restaurant shouted' Attention!' And the man dropped the bucket and stood in the position of attention. It had been twenty five years since he had gone through the training. But the training had gone into the bones, into the blood, into the marrow; it had become part of the unconscious. He completely forgot what he was doing-- it happened almost autonomously, mechanically. He was very angry. But those people said,' Your anger is not right, because we can call out any word we want. Who is telling you to follow it?' He said,' It is too late for me to decide whether to follow it or not to follow it. My whole mind functions like a machine. Those twenty five years simply disappeared.' Attention' only means' Attention'. You destroyed my eggs. I am poor man.
OSHO
Beyond Enlightenment
October 12, 1986.