Lao Tzu was traveling with his disciples and they came to a forest where
hundreds
of woodcutters were cutting the trees. The whole forest had been cut except
for
one big tree with thousands of branches. It was so big that 10,000 persons
could sit in its
shade.
Lao Tzu asked his disciples to go and inquire why this tree had not been
cut. They went and
asked the woodcutter and they said, "This tree is absolutely useless. You
cannot make anything
out of it because every branch has so many knots in it - nothing is
straight. You cannot use it
as fuel because the smoke is dangerous to the eyes. This tree is absolutely
useless, that's why
we haven't cut it."
The disciples came back and told Lao Tzu. He laughed said, "Be like this
tree. If you
are useful you will be cut and you will become furniture in somebody's
house. If you are
beautiful you will be sold in the market, you will become a commodity. Be
like this tree,
absolutely useless, and then you will grow big and vast and thousands of
people will find shad
under you."
