"Why did you save me?"

 

Once I was sitting by the side of the Ganges in Allahabad alone, in a very lonely spot,and I saw a man jump into the river. I thought he must be taking a bath, but then he started shouting, "Help! Save me!"he was drowning. I don't believe in saving anybody, but I thought that this is a totally different case. So I jumped in after him and I pulled him out. It was hard, he was a very big and fat fellow, but somehow I brought him out. And he started being very angry with me. 

 

He said, "Why did you save me?"

 

   I said, "This is something! You were shouting, `Save me, help me!'

 I am not a person to save anybody, but there was nobody else here, and I thought that this is a totally different context. But why are you getting angry?"He said, "I was really going to commit suicide.""Then," I said, "why did you start shouting, `Save me, help me'? You should have committed suicide I would not have disturbed you. I was simply sitting silently, I

was not interfering with you."He said, "What to do? I wanted to commit suicide, and with a total decisiveness I had jumped in. But when the cold water touched me, I forgot all that, and when I started drowning and came up, I don't know how, but I started shouting, `Help me, save me!'"I said, "Don't be worried. Come here."

 

He said, "What do you mean?"

 

I said, "You just come close to me." He came. I pushed him back into the water. He went under once and started shouting again, "Save me, help me! What are you doing?"I said, "Now I am not going to be worried. I did wrong the first time please forgive me for that time. Now I will simply sit here and see you commit suicide." He said, "This is not" and it was difficult to say anything because he was going down and up

 

"This is not a joke! Just save me. I don't want to commit suicide!" Somebody else jumped in  and saved him. I said, "You are doing something wrongbecause that fellow wants to commit suicide." And that fellow said, "No, I have dropped the idea. It is too difficult, I will find some easier way. This going under water and coming up it is too much for me.

 

Osho