There was an old man in a village, very poor, but even kings were envious of him because he had a beautiful white horse. Kings offered fabulous prices for the horse, but the old man would say, "This horse is not a horse to me but a person. And how can you sell a person, a friend?" The man never sold the horse.

One morning he found that the horse was not in the stable. The whole town gathered and they said, "You foolish old man! We knew that someday the horse would be stolen. It would have been better to sell it. What a mistake."

The old man said, "Don’t go so far as to say that. Simply say that the horse is not in the stable. This is the fact. Everything else is a judgement. Whether it is a misfortune or a blessing I don’t know, because this is only a fragment. Who knows what is going to follow it?"

People laughed at the old man. They had always known that he was crazy. But after fifteen days, suddenly one night the horse returned. It had not been stolen, he had escaped into the wild. And not only that, but returned with a dozen wild horses with him.

Again the people gathered and they said, "Old man, you were right. It was not a misfortune, it has indeed proved to be a blessing." The old man said, "Again you are going too far. Just say that the horse is back…who knows whether it is a blessing or not? It is only a fragment. You read one word in a sentence, how can you judge the whole book?"

This time the people could not say much, but inside they knew that he was wrong. Twelve beautiful horses had come…

The old man had an only son who started to train the wild horses. He later fell from a horse and his legs were broken. The people gathered and again they judged. They said, "Again you proved right: It was a misfortune. Your only son has lost the use of his legs." The old man said, "You are obsessed with judgement. Don’t go that far say only that my son has broken his legs. Nobody knows whether this is a misfortune or a blessing. Life comes in fragments and more is never shown you."

It happened a few weeks later the country went to war, and all the young men of the town were forcibly taken for the military. Only the old man’s son was left, because he was crippled. The whole town was crying and weeping. It was a losing fight and they knew most of the young people would not come back. They came to the old man and they said, "You were right, your son’s injury has proved a blessing. Maybe your son is crippled, but he is still here and our sons are gone forever."

The old man said again, "You go on and on judging. Nobody knows! Look at this, your sons have been forced to enter into the army and mine has not been forced. But, only GOD, the total, knows whether it is a blessing or a misfortune."

Judge ye not, otherwise you will never become one with the total. With the fragments you will be obsessed, with small things you will jump to conclusions. Once you judge you have stopped growing. Judgement causes a stale state of mind. And mind always wants judgement, because to stop the process is always hazardous and uncomfortable.

In fact, the journey never ends. One path ends, another begins; a door closes, another opens. You reach a peak; a higher peak is always there. It is an endless journey. Only those who are so courageous that they never bother about the goal but are content just with the moment and grow into it, only those are able to walk with the total.