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other. Night was gone, the sun had risen. And once the sun has risen, the sunset is not very far away. And all those wise people -- philosophers, astrolgers and others -- were so much engaged in argumentation, in criticizing each other's view that the old servant said to the king, "Leave these people. They have never come to any agreement in centuries! No two philosophers have ever agreed on any point. With these big scriptures they have come... they will take centuries. They all have their own hypotheses, theories about death. My suggestion is, let them discuss. You take your best horse -- and you have the best horse in the world -- and escape from this palace as fast as possible. Don't stop until sunset has passed and you are still alive."
The idea was appealing.
It is said in a proverb in Tibet: Why do dogs bark at each other continuously, day in, day out? The proverb says these are philosophers; from their past lives, they have not forgotten yet... barking at each other. They know only barking. And strangely enough, they bark at the moon. Now what concern have dogs with the moon? They are not astronauts. But they are discussing the beauty! To us it is barking, but that is their language.
They always bark at people who are in uniforms -- policemen, postmen. Strange people -- why should they bark at poor postmen, policemen, sannyasins? They are absolutely against uniformity. They cannot agree on anything, and uniformity shows agreement. That's why I have withdrawn... why unnecessarily trouble poor dogs? If you are not in a uniform, the dog will not pay any attention. You don't mean anything, you are not a philosophical question. Once you are in uniform, then it is impossible for the dog not to disagree.
So the old man said, "You know the old proverb. These astrologers and philosophers are going to be born as dogs and they will bark and they will continue for eternity in this way. Don't waste time. They are not concerned with you, they are not concerned with your death. They are concerned with their opinions about death."
The king escaped from the palace. That seemed to be a very rational approach. Death had appeared in the palace,
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