According to Osho, Lao Tzu's 'being born old after eighty-four years' is a playful symbol, not history: it points to wisdom ripened beyond time and intellect. Lao Tzu did not accumulate maturity through years; he awakened. True wisdom arrives in a sudden, humor-filled shift, like the first belly-deep laughter or satori, where the mind drops and understanding is immediate.
Lao Tzu was wise not from getting old slowly but from waking up inside all at once—like getting a joke instantly.