According to Osho, when a hard-way seeker—trained in will, discipline, and “diamond” hardness—meets a Taoist master, the soft defeats the hard. Like water wearing down rock, the master’s yielding, feminine “watercourse way” quietly dissolves the seeker’s rigidity and ego. Initial resistance may seem strong, but ultimately surrender happens; the will’s last step is to let go, and the Taoist wins without fighting.
The tough, willful person eventually softens and gives in—the Taoist’s gentle way melts them like water eroding rock.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
In the last few days my mind has been playing with this question. What happens when a hard-way person, for example a follower of gurdjieff, comes across a taoist master?
The question is from Purna; a beautiful question, significant: What will happen if a follower of Gurdjieff comes across a Taoist Master? What happens when a river comes falling, tumbling, down off a hillock upon strong rocks? If you look, you will think 'Those rocks are so hard, what can the river do, what can this waterfall do?' But if you come after a few years, you will find those rocks are gone; they have become sand. The soft water has become victorious over hard rocks. Lao Tzu calls it 'the watercourse way', the way of the soft, the way of the feminine. What happens when a man, a very strong man and a very fragile beautiful woman come across each other, what happens? The man looks like a rock and the woman looks like just a small rivulet, tumbling from a hillock... but whatsoever the appearances, the final victory…
Question: ON THE SOFTEST SUBSTANCE: THE SOFTEST SUBSTANCE OF THE WORLD GOES THROUGH THE HARDEST. THAT-WHICH-IS-WITHOUT-FORM PENETRATES THAT-WHICH-HAS-NO-CREVICE; THROUGH THIS I KNOW THE BENEFIT OF TAKING NO ACTION. THE TEACHING WITHOUT WORDS AND THE BENEFIT OF TAKING NO ACTION ARE WITHOUT COMPARE IN THE UNIVERSE. Jesus has a very, very beautiful saying, unbelievably beautiful and paradoxical. He says: Resist not evil. Christian theologians have not been able to explain it or explain it away either -- it is a problem for them, an enigma. Resist not evil? What is Jesus teaching? Jesus is teaching Tao. Jesus is teaching the secret of wu wei. He says: Resist not evil and the evil will die. And you will survive because the evil is always self-protective, always in defense, always guilty, always protective, conscious, rationalizing, and making new defense arrangements. It will die by itself if you simply don't resist.
Lieh tzu was studying archery, and hit the target. He sought advice from kuan-yin who asked him: 'do you know why you hit the target?' 'no.' 'it won't do yet.' he went away to practice and after three years again reported to kuan-yin. 'do you know why you hit the target?' 'I know.' 'it will do. Hold onto this awareness and do not lose it.' this applies not only to archery but to ruling oneself. Therefore the sage scrutinizes not the fact of survival or ruin, but its reasons.
Watch these moments of let-go, because they are messages from God. Watch these moments of let-go, cherish them, taste them more. Welcome them so that they become more and more available to you. Receive the guest gratefully so that it starts coming more and more often. Tao says that the real happens only when you are in such a state of diffused relaxedness that you cannot say I am. 'I am' means you are tense. <q>LIEH TZU WAS STUDYING ARCHERY, AND HIT THE TARGET. HE SOUGHT ADVICE FROM KUAN-YIN WHO ASKED HIM, 'DO YOU KNOW WHY YOU HIT THE TARGET?'</q> This Kuan-yin is a Taoist Master and an archer. Lieh Tzu asked him about his archery and he said, 'I have become an expert; technically, technologically, I have attained my goal. I have hit the target.' The Master asked, 'DO YOU KNOW WHY YOU HIT THE TARGET? From where? Who…
They make the bones strong, but they make the will, the resolve, feeble, thin. We strengthen will. We say to people, Have you no will-power? If you have no will, you are spineless, not a man at all! But Lao Tzu says: the wise diminish will. Strange indeed. We teach every child to develop will. The very intelligent minds of this century insist that man should intensify will. Nietzsche wrote an extraordinary book: Will to Power. He thinks the single goal of human life is the resolve for power: how to attain power. The more willful the man, the greater he is. Carlyle, Emerson, all these Western thinkers emphasize will: make your will strong, an unshakable stone wall; let the world tremble, do not you. Break, perish, but do not bend. Lao Tzu says: let the bones be strong; let the will be completely attenuated, as if it is not.
Verse (Sanskrit): Chapter 43 THE SOFTEST SUBSTANCE The softest substance of the world, Goes through the hardest. That-which-is without-from penetrates that-which-has-no-crevice; Through this I know the benefit of taking no action. The teaching without words And the benefit of taking no action Are without compare in the universe. Transliteration: Chapter 43 THE SOFTEST SUBSTANCE The softest substance of the world, Goes through the hardest. That-which-is without-from penetrates that-which-has-no-crevice; Through this I know the benefit of taking no action. The teaching without words And the benefit of taking no action Are without compare in the universe. Translation: Chapter 43 THE SOFTEST SUBSTANCE The softest substance in the world, passes through the hardest. That-which-is without-form penetrates that-which-has-no-crevice; Through this I know the benefit of non-action. The teaching without words And the benefit of non-action Are without compare in the universe.