An ordinary life

When I first read When the Shoe Fits nearly twenty years ago, it left a profound and lasting impression – a further shift in my understanding of life, freedom, and the subtle tyranny of power. Osho’s luminous interpretation of Lao Tzu revealed a world where control dissolves, and liberation begins, where the ordinary rhythms of life carry within them the extraordinary secret of being.

Osho invites us to witness the illusions of power: the hunger to dominate, to be recognised, to impose our will. “Power is violence,” he says, “even when it is subtle, even when it hides behind virtue. Freedom is the fragrance that comes when all such ambition has withered away.” 

In a society that worships authority, achievement, and influence, these word remind us that the true kingdom is within; that our restless striving often blinds us to the simplicity of being. Through his parables, Osho illustrates that life’s wisdom is often hidden in ordinary acts. The cobbler who knows the measure of the foot better than the emperor’s tailors becomes the symbol of one who has found the right “fit” in life. “When the shoe fits,” Osho writes, “the foot is forgotten.” 

So it is with life: when we live attuned to our own nature, effort dissolves, and being flows effortlessly, unburdened. Osho continues:

“Easy is right. Begin right and you are easy. Continue easy and you are right.” 

Here is the paradox: the one who grasps power is entangled, but the one who lives with ease is free. Osho reminds us:

“You are, but there is no ‘I’. It is a simple ‘am‑ness’, an ‘is‑ness’, but there is no ‘I’, no crystallised ego.” 

When the heart is right, opposition falls away:

“So, when the shoe fits, the foot is forgotten; when the belt fits, the belly is forgotten; and when the heart is right, ‘for’ and ‘against’ are forgotten.” 

And what is that right heart? It is the heart that ceases to fight itself, the heart that no longer clings to “for” or “against,” but rests in simple being.

This is the heart of freedom – not freedom as a prize, not freedom as a conquest, but freedom as the natural ground. It is not something to claim; it is something to uncover. Osho writes:

“Life is a mystery, not a riddle. It has to be lived, not solved.” 

In today’s world of constant endeavour and self‑promotion, When the Shoe Fits offers an antidote: a reminder that simplicity is not weakness, surrender is not defeat, and the highest mastery is to renounce the very notion of power.

“Don’t help anybody’s expectation of you to grow… Drop fulfilling others’ expectations, and drop expecting others to fulfill yours.” 

In the end, it invites us to return to our natural rhythm, to live authentically, to trust that when the shoe fits, we need no crown, no throne, and no applause – only the quiet joy of being fully at ease with ourselves.

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