Meditation - The First and Last Freedom

A PRACTICAL GUIDE
THE FIRST AND LAST FREEDOM
OSHO
"^^'
ISBN O-312-I482O-8 $21.95
$29.99 Can.
(^ IH E Cloud of Unknowing,
/ the third eye, Nirvana, peace, sanity:
^-^-^ The way to understand and experi-
ence these states is through discipline of mind

and body, study, and continuous gestures of
courage. All methods of meditation call upon
essential components: relaxation, watchful-
ness, and embracing a nonjudgmental atti-
tude. The construction of the techniques may

differ, but the fundamentals do not change.
Meditation is a practical, step-by-step guide
to sixty-three meditation techniques, select-
ed by and/ or created by Osho. The techniques

range from the ancient Buddhist, Taoist, Sufi,
and Hindu practices to Osho's own systems,

the Dynamic Meditation and the Mystic Rose
Meditation — both developed specifically for
the needs of twentieth-century persons. Osho
believed that modern man, so burdened with
the outmoded traditions of the past and dis-
tracted by the particular anxieties of the pre-
sent, must go through a cleansing process
before he can enjoy the states necessary for
true meditation. So, in addition to classical
techniques, Osho guides the initiate through
to modern technique.
This truly instructional and inspirational

text encourages the subject to celebrate with
music and dance, and to carry his or her alive-
ness in all activities.

MEDITATION
3
OSHO
MEDITATION
THE FIRST AND LAST FREEDOM
A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO MEDITATION
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS

NEW YORK
T
meditation: the first and last freedom. Copyright © 1996 by Osho In-
ternational Foundation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of
America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner what-
soever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embod-
ied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin's Press,
175 Fifth Avenue. New York. N.Y. 10010.
Compilation by Swami Deva Wadud

Assisted by Ma Anand Svarup
Editing by Ma Yoga Ranjana
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Osho.
Meditation: the first and last freedom : a practical guide to meditation /
Osho compiled by Swami Deva Wadud.

; — 1st U.S. ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 271) and index.
ISBN 0-312-14820-8
1. Meditation. 1. Deva Wadud, Swami. II. Title.
BP605.R34M432 1996 %-9227

299'.93—dc20 CIP
First Published by the Rebel Publishing House GmbH in Germany

First U.S. Edition: December 1996
10 987654321
MEDITAT ON: THF. FIRST AND LAST FREEDOM
INTRODUCTION xi
NOTES TO THE READER XV
ABOUT MEDITATION 2 What Is Meditation?

2 Witnessing, the spirit of meditation
6 The Flowering of Meditation

6 The great silence
7 Growing in sensitivity
7 Love, the fragrance of meditation
8 Compassion
8 Abiding joy for no reason at all
8 Intelligence: the ability to respond
9 Aloneness: your self-nature
9 Your real self
THE SCIENCE
OF MEDITATION 12 Methods and Meditation
12 Techniques are helpful
13 Begin with effort
13 These methods are simple
14 First understand the technique
15 The right method will click
15 When drop the method
to
16 Imagination can work for you
18 Suggestions for Beginners

18 Enough space
18 The right place
19 Be comfortable
19 Begin with catharsis
23 Guidelines to Freedom
23 The three essentials
23 Be playful
23 Be patient
24 Don't look for results
MEDITATION: THE FIRST AND LAST FREEDOM
THE SCIENCE 24 Appreciate unawareness

OF MEDITATION 25 Machines help but don't create meditation
26 You are not your experiences
28 The observer is not the witness
29 Meditation is a knack
THE MEDITATIONS 33 Two Powerful Methods for Awakening

35 Dynamic Meditation: Catharsis and Celebration
37 Instructions for Dynamic Meditation *
37 Giving birth to yourself
40 Remember, remain a witness
43 Kundalini Meditation *
45 Osho Meditative Therapies

47 The Mystic Rose Meditation
49 Instructions for Laughter, Tears
50 Instructions for the Watcher on the Hills
51 The No-Mind Meditation

52 Instructions for No-Mind Meditation
53 Born Again
53 Instructions for Bom Again
55 Dancing as a Meditation
55 Disappear in the dance
57 Nataraj Meditation *
58 Whirling Meditation *
59 Anything Can Be a Meditation

61 Running, jogging, and swimming
63 Laughing Meditation
64 The laughing Buddha
65 Smoking Meditation
VI
ll
THE MEDITATIONS 67 Breath - A Bridge to Meditation

69 Vipassana
72 Watching the gap in the breath
74 Watching the gap in the marketplace
76 Dream mastery
78 Throwing things out
79 Opening the Heart

81 From head to heart
84 Prayer Meditation *
85 The heart of peacefulness
89 Heart centering
91 Atisha's heart meditation
92 Start with yourself
95 Inner Centering
97 Abdullah
98 Finding the real source
100 Center of the cyclone
105 Feel *I am'
107 Who am I?
108 To the very center of being
111 Looking Within

113 Seeing within
115 Looking as a whole
117 Inner circle
119 Meditations on Light

121 Golden light meditation *
123 Heart of light

125 Seeing etheric presence
127 Translucent presence
129 Meditations on Darkness

131 Inner darkness
VII
THE MEDITATIONS 134 Carry out inner darkness
137 Moving Energy Upwards

139 The ascent of life energy 1
145 The ascent of life energy 2
147 Listening to the Soundless Sound

149 Nadabrahma Meditation *
150 Nadabrahma for couples
151 Aum
153 Devavani (Gibberish)
154 Instruction for Devavani Meditation
155 Music as meditation
157 The center of sound
160 The beginning and end of sound
163 Finding the Space Within

165 Enter the clear sky
168 Include everything
170 A meditation for the jet-set
171 Feel the absence of things
173 Hollow Bamboo
175 Entering into Death

177 Entering into death
181 Celebrating death
183 Watching with the Third Eye

185 Gourishankar *
186 Mandala Meditation *
187 Finding the witness

189 Touching as a feather
191 Looking at the tip of the nose
Vlll
THE MEDITATIONS 197 Just Sitting

199 Zazen
201 The laughter of Zen
205 Rising in Love: A Partnership in Meditation

209 Circle of love
211 Shaking in sex
213 Circle of love alone
OBSTACLES 216 The Two Difficulties

TO MEDITATION 216 The ego
220 The chattering mind
225 False Methods

225 Meditation is not concentration
227 Meditation is not introspection
229 Tricks of the Mind

229 Don't be fooled by experiences
229 Mind can enter again
230 Mind can deceive you
QUESTIONS 234 Only a witness can really dance

TO THE MASTER 237 The goose has never been in!
240 The watcher on the hill
243 Where did you leave your bicycle?
246 Just a 180° turn
248 All paths merge on the mountain
250 Celebrating consciousness
254 Tune in to uncertainty
257 Count the moments of awareness
261 Make things as simple as possible
264 Witnessing is like sowing seeds
268 Witnessing is enough
IX
REFERENCES 271
COMPLETE LIST OF 276

MEDITATIONS
ABOUT OSHO 279
SUGGESTED FURTHER 283

READING
OSHO COMMUNE 285

INTERNATIONAL
"Music tapes are available for these meditations from any of the addresses given in the bacic of the book
INTRODUCTION
The enlightened master Osho

creating a worldwide rebel-
is
lion for the sake of man's freedom

and meditation. You may think this
is an odd choice. How are they re-
lated? Yet the subtle connection

between the two is a crucial point
in the understanding of man's fu-
ture potential. The door to opening
our capacity for love, intimacy,
creativity and expansion is medita-
tion. And according to Osho there
is no other door, no other path.
Since his enlightenment in 1953
Osho has been giving
ciples and seekers,
talks to dis-
deciphering
Introduction
many of the world's great reli-
gious, mystical, and esoteric tradi- We make it difficult by struggling I thought was not allowing me to
tions. His talks are contained in against something which we think be free.
more than 400 volumes, where he is preventing us from being free, or, The freedom of meditation is not a
has brought to life countless an- by searching for something which search to find freedom for some-
cient and contemporary mystics, we presume will give us freedom. thing, either. How many of us have
making the wisdom of their teach- It is actually found simply by relax- dreams of being in some situation
ings understandable and relevant to ing into who we are, living life or Utopia which would allow us
our lives today. moment to moment. just to relax and be ourselves, free
This book is a compilation drawn All over the world people are strug- from the competition and
from Osho's profound work on gling to be free from something. tension of everyday life? My expe-
meditation. It contains a wide vari- The struggle may be against a nag- riences have demonstrated to me
ety of methods which can help us ging wife, or a controlling husband, that the freedom we are searching
to discover what he calls "Medita- a domineering parent, or a boss at for does not depend upon some-
tion: The First and Last Freedom." work who is quashing creativity. thing outside ourselves.
The Master has said, "Meditation My struggle was either a fight So what is the freedom we are
is not something new; you have against a repressive political system longing for? I have heard Osho
come with it into the world. Mind or an effort to free myself of my describe it as "just freedom": liv-
is something new, meditation is childhood conditionings through ing in the here and now, moment to
your nature. It is your nature, it is countless therapies. This struggle moment, living neither in the
your very being. How can it be did not make me free; it was simply memory and oppression of the past
difficult?" I
a reaction against something which nor the dreams of the future.
XI
INTRODUCTION
He has said: crazy. This constant chattering liter- on missing it for years. We all cer-
ally robs us of life, preventing us tainly think we know what watch-
"Eating - simply eat, be with it.
from enjoying what each moment ing is; we observe things around us
Walking - simply walk, be there.
of life holds for us. all day long. We watch television,
Don't go ahead, don't jump here
So what to do about this out-of- we watch other people go by and
and there. Mind always goes ahead
control chattering which separates notice what they are wearing, what
or lags behind. Remain with the
us from, and robs us of, the pre- they look like, but we don't gener-
moment." -
cious moments of life? I have heard ally watch ourselves. When we do,
Many of us have certainly experi- the Master tell us over and over it is usually through self-conscious
enced what the Master is saying again to meditate. I have heard him criticism. We will notice something
about the mind. Mind is always say that we can't stop the chattering about ourselves which we don't
jumping ahead or lagging behind, mind directly, but that through like and then start worrying about
but it is never in the moment: it is a meditation the chattering can slow what others will think. Usually
constant chattering. When this chat- down and eventually disappear. these inner chatterings of the mind
tering takes place, it robs us of be- With meditation the mind becomes make us feel miserable. This is not
ing in the moment and living life a useful instrument, instead of en- witnessing.
totally. How can we live totally slaving us with its constant chatter. Osho reminds us:
when our mind is chattering to it- However, we often are confused by

"Nothing needs to be done; just be a
self even while we are engaged in the profusion of countless medita-
wimess, an observer, a watcher,
daily activities? tion techniques which are generally
looking at the traffic of the mind -
To illustrate this for yourself you obscure and not relevant for today's
thoughts passing by, desires, memo-
can try a small experiment. Put this living. Osho has taken these tech-
ries, dreams, fantasies. Simply stand
book down for a few moments and niques, weeded out the true from
aloof, cool, watching it, seeing it,
close your eyes. See how long you the false, and penetrated to their
with no judgment, with no condem-
can just sit and enjoy the feel of very core, giving us a key which
nation, neither saying 'This is good,'
your body, and any sounds that may can open the door to a universe be- "
nor saying "This is bad.' '»
be around you. yond our imagination. This master

The chances are it will not be very key is witnessing: a simple but pro- Through the meditations that are in
long, perhaps only a minute, before found stale of watching and accept- this book, you will discover what
your mind starts chattering. If you ing ourselves as we are. wimessing is. While sitting in the
sit for a while and notice what the Osho tells us that: Master's presence, witnessing just
chatterings are, you will be amazed: starts happening spontaneously. Mo-
"Witnessing simply means a de-
you will find that you are carrying ments occur when you are just sit-
tached observation, unprejudiced;
on many different incoherent inner ting, listening, feeling, watching
that's the whole secret of medita-
conversations with yourself which, whatever is happening with an inner
tion." 3
if you overheard someone else say- silence. This silence is like the vast
ing them out loud, you would think It's actually so simple that I went empty sky, yet vibrating with life.
xu
(
INTRODUCTION
Osho's home is the sky and his very you are not it. The seer is the empty sky.
being is silence. His words caress You can see thoughts, "To know it is to be fearless,
the very depth of the heart, his song then you are not thoughts; and to know it is to be full of love.
is the song of the empty sicy. you can see your feelings, To know it is to be God,
then you are not your feelings; is to be immortal." 5
"Your inner being is you can see your dreams,

nothing but the inner sky. desires, memories, imaginations, Through this book you are invited
Clouds come and go, projections, to experience your own inner sky.
planets are bom and disappear, then you are not them. My gratitude and love for my
stars arise and die, Go on eliminating all Master cannot be put into words;
and the inner sky remains the same, that you can see. only tears can convey my feeling.
untouched, untarnished, unscarred. Then one day a tremendous Through hearing his call to free-
We call that inner sky sakshin, moment arises, the most significant dom I am beginning to awaken to
the witness, moment of one's life, the beauty and grace that each
and that is the whole goal when there is nothing left moment of life can bring.
of meditation. to be rejected. Thank you, Beloved Master.
"Go in, enjoy the inner sky. "All the seen has disappeared and Swami Deva Wadud
Remember, whatsoever you can see. only the seer is there. Poona, January 1992
Xlll
NOTES TO THE READER
using this book as a guide in

Inmeditation you do not have to
read it from cover to cover before

trying any of the meditations. Use
the book intuitively. Glance through
it and choose some section or medi-
tation that appeals to you. For ex-
ample, you may prefer to jump
right into
How to use this book
one of the meditations in meditation lacks something; with- Material printed in italics
part III and get your feet wet before out music, meditation is a little dull,
reading the guidelines. Go by what unalive. Without meditation, music Many of the meditations in part III
feels good to you. is simply noise - harmonious, but are based on the teachings of vari-
After choosing a meditation try it noise. Without meditation, music is ous enlightened masters, including
for at least three days and if it feels an entertainment; music and medi- Buddha, Patanjali and Shiva from
good, continue doing it and go tation should go together. That adds India, Atisha and Tilopa from
deeper. The important thing is to a new dimension to both. Both are Tibet, and the Chinese master Lu
experiment playfully and simply enriched by it." * Tsu. Where Osho quotes their vers-
ask yourself: Does this meditation es or sutras, the selection has been
help my joy and sensitivity to keep Hence music tapes have been pre- introduced with the name of the
growing? pared to guide Dynamic Meditation earlier master in italics.
and many of the active methods, Finally, there are a few selections
Meditating to music including Kundalini, The Mystic in this book, for example the
Rose and No-Mind Meditations, summary instructions for several
Music and meditation can go
Mandala, Nataraj, Devavani, Prayer, of the meditations, which are
well together. About this, Osho
and Gourishankar, as well as Nada- based on Osho's teachings but are
once said:
brahma. The music tapes for the not actually given in his own
'To me music and meditation are meditations are available from the words. To show the difference,
two aspects of the same phe- distributors listed at the back of these pieces have been printed in
nomenon. And without music. this book. italics.
XV
PART ONE
I
ABOUT ME DITATION
What is
Meditation?
the way your being can remain
Witnessing, the spirit of meditation undisturbed, then slowly you can
start doing things, keeping alert
Meditation adventure, the greatest adventure the human

is that your being is not stirred. That
mind can undertake. Meditation is just to be, not doing any- is the second part of meditation -
thing - no action, no thought, no emotion. You just are and it first, learning how just to be, and
is a sheer delight. From where does this delight come when then learning little actions: clean-
you are not doing anything? It comes from nowhere, or it ing the floor, taking a shower, but
comes from everywhere. It is uncaused, because existence is keeping yourself centered. Then
made of the stuff called joy.^ you can do complicated things.
For example, I am speaking to
When you are not doing

anything at all - bodily,
also doing, contemplation
doing. Even if for a single
is also
moment
you, but
turbed. I
my meditation
can go on speaking, but
is not dis-
mentally, on no level - you are not doing anything and you at my very center there is not even
when all activity has ceased and are just at your center, utterly re- a ripple; it is just silent, utterly
you simply are, just being, that's laxed - that is meditation. And silent.
what meditation is. You cannot do once you have got the knack of it, So meditation is not against
it, you cannot practice it: you have you can remain in that state as long action. It is not that you have to
only to understand it. as you want; finally you can remain escape from life. It simply teaches
Whenever you can find time for in that state for twenty-four hours a you a new way of life: you
just being, drop all doing. Think- day. become the center of the cyclone.
ing is also doing, concentration is Once you have become aware of Your life goes on, it goes on really
ABOUT MEDITATION
more intensely - with more joy, time, this man would come back. The watchman said, "But this is a
with more clarity, more vision, He came out and he said, "Forgive strange business. Who is going to
more creativity - yet you are aloof, me for interrupting but I cannot pay you?"
just a watcher on the hills, simply contain my curiosity anymore. You He said, "It is such bliss, such a
seeing all that is happening around are haunting me day and night, joy, such immense benediction, it
you. every day. What is your business? pays itself profoundly. Just a single
You are not the doer, you are the Why do you go to the river? Many moment, and all the treasures are
watcher. times I have followed you, and nothing in comparison to it."
That's the whole secret of medita- there is nothing - you simply sit The watchman said, "This is
tion, that you become the watcher. there for hours, and in the middle of strange. 1 have been watching my
Doing continues on its own level, the night you come back." whole life. I never came across
there is no problem: chopping Baal Shem know that you
said, "1 such a beautiful experience. To-
wood, drawing water from the well. have followed me many times, be- morrow night I am coming with
You can do small and big things; cause the night is so silent I can you. Just teach me. Because I
only one thing is not allowed and hear your footsteps. And 1 know know how to watch - it seems only
that is, your centering should not be every day you are hiding behind a different direction is needed; you
lost. the gate. But it is not only that you are watching in some different
That awareness, that watchfulness, are curious about me, 1 am also direction."
should remain absolutely uncloud- curious about you. What is your There is only one step, and that
ed, undisturbed. -
business?" step is of direction, of dimension.
He said, "My business? I am a sim- Eitherwe can be focused outside or
Judaism there is a rebellious ple watchman." we can close our eyes to the out-
Inschool of mystery called Has- Baal Shem said, "My God, you side and let our whole conscious-
sidism. Its founder, Baal Shem, was have given me the key word. This ness be centered inwards - and you
a rare being. In the middle of the is my business too!" will know, because you are a
night he was coming from the river The watchman said. "But 1 don't knower, you are awareness. You
- that was his routine, because at understand. If you are a watchman have never lost it. You simply got
the river in the night it was abso- you should be watching some your awareness entangled in a
lutely calm and quiet. And he used house, some palace. What are you thousand and one things. Withdraw
to simply sit there, doing nothing - watching there, sitting in the sand?" your awareness from everywhere
just watching his own self, watch- Baal Shem said, 'There is a little and just let it rest within yourself,
ing the watcher. This night when he difference: you are watching for and you have arrived home. '
was coming back, he passed a rich somebody outside who may enter
man's house and the watchman was the palace;
Who
I simply watch this
The essential core, the spirit of
standing by the door. watcher. is this watcher? This meditation is to learn how to
And the watchman was puzzled be- is my whole life's effort; I watch witness.
cause every night at exactly this myself." A crow crowing... you are listening.
ABOUT M EDITATI ON
These are two - object and subject. The whole point is, one should not changed. And the miracle of aware-
But can't you see a witness who is move in sleep. Then whatsoever ness is that you need not do any-
seeing both? - the crow, the hstener, you do is meditation. ^ thing except '][ist become aware.
and still there is someone who is The very phenomenon of watching
watching both. It is such a simple
The first step in awareness is to it changes it. Slowly slowly the
phenomenon. be very watchful of your body. madman disappears, slowly slowly
You are seeing a tree: you are there, Slowly slowly one becomes alert the thoughts start falling into a cer-
the tree is there, but can't you find about each gesture, each movement. tain pattern; their chaos is no more,
one thing more? - that you are see- And as you become aware, a mira- they become more of a cosmos.
ing the tree, that there is a witness cle starts happening: many things And then again, a deeper peace
in you which is seeing you seeing that you used to do before simply prevails. And when your body and
the tree. * disappear; your body becomes more your mind are at p)eace you will see
relaxed, your body becomes more that they are attuned to each other
Watching is meditation. What attuned. A deep peace starts prevail- too, there is a bridge. Now they are
you watch is irrelevant. You ing even in your body, a subtle not running in different directions,
can watch the trees, you can watch music pulsates in your body. they are not riding different horses.
you can watch the clouds,
the river, Then becoming aware of your
start For the first time there is accord,
you can watch children playing thoughts; the same has to be done and that accord helps immensely to
around. Watching is meditation. with thoughts. They are more sub- work on the third step - that is be-
What you watch is not the point; tlethan the body and of course, coming aware of your feelings,
the object is not the pwint. more dangerous too. And when you emotions, moods.
The quality of observation, the become aware of your thoughts, That is the subtlest layer and the
quality of being aware and alert - you will be surprised what goes on most difficult, but if you can be
that's what meditation is. inside you. If you write down what- aware of the thoughts then it is just
Remember one thing: meditation soever is going on at any moment, one step more. A little more intense
means awareness. Whatsoever you you are in for a great surprise. You awareness is needed and you start
do with awareness is meditation. will not believe that this is what is reflecting your moods, your emo-
Action is not the question, but the going on inside you. tions, your feelings. Once you are
quality that you bring to your ac- And after ten minutes read it - you aware of all these three they all be-
tion. Walking can be a meditation if will see a mad mind inside! Because come joined into one phenomenon.
you walk alert. Sitting can be a we are not aware, this whole mad- And when all these three are one
meditation if you sit alert. Listening ness goes on running like an under- - functioning together perfectly,
to the birds can be a meditation if current. It affects whatsoever you humming together, you can feel the
you listen with awareness. Just lis- are doing, it affects whatsoever you music of all the three; they have
tening to the inner noise of your are not doing; it affects everything. become an orchestra - then the
mind can be a meditation if you re- And the sum total of it is going to be fourth happens, which you cannot
main alert and watchful. your life! So this madman has to be do. It happens on its own accord. It
ABOUT MEDITATION
is a gift from the whole, it is a re- The body knows pleasure, the watching... watching... watching.
ward for those who have done these mind knows happiness, the heart And slowly slowly, as the watcher
three. knows joy, the fourth knows bliss. becomes more and more solid, sta-
And the fourth is the ultimate Bliss is the goal of sannyas, of be- ble, unwavering, a transformation
awareness that makes one awak- ing a seeker, and awareness is the happens. The things that you were
ened. One becomes aware of one's path towards it.
(<
watching disappear.
awareness - that is the fourth. That For the first time, the watcher itself
makes a buddha, awakened.
And only
the
awakening does
The important thing is that you becomes the watched, the observer
in that are watchful, that you have becomes the observed.
itself
'
one come to know what bhss is. not forgotten to watch, that you are You have come home.
ABOUT M EDITATI ON
The Flowering
of Meditation
Meditation is not an Indian method; it is not simply a tech- ready present in everyone - just
nique. You cannot learn it. It is a growth: a growth of your to- we never look in.
tal living, out of your total living. Meditation is not something Your inner world has its own taste,
that can be added to you as you are. It cannot be added to has its own fragrance, has its own
you; it can only come to you through a basic transformation, light. And it is utterly silent, im-
a mutation. It is a flowering, a growth. Growth is always from mensely silent, eternally silent.
the total; it is not an addition. Just like love, it cannot be There has never been any noise,
added to you. It grows out of you, out of your totality. You and there will never be any noise.
must grow towards meditation. * No word can reach there, but you
can reach.
the name of silence is noiseless- Your very center of being is the
The great silence ness. But silence is a totally differ- center of a cyclone. Whatever
ent phenomenon. It is utterly posi- happens around it does not affect
Silence usually is understood to tive. It is existential, it is not empty. it. It is eternal silence: days come
be something negative, some- It is overflowing with a music that and go, years come and go, ages
thing empty, an absence of sound, you have never heard before, with come and pass. Lives come and
of noises. This misunderstanding a fragrance that is unfamiliar to go, but the eternal silence of your
is prevalent because very few you, with a light that can only be being remains exactly the same -
people have ever experienced si- seen by the inner eyes. the same soundless music, the
lence. It is not something fictitious; it is a same fragrance of godliness, the
All that they have experienced in reality, and a reality which is al- same transcendence from all that
ABOUT MEDI TATI O N
is mortal, from all that is momen- friendships for you - friendships Millions of couples around the
tary. with trees, with birds, with animals, world are living as if love is there.
It is not your silence. with mountains, with rivers, with They are living in a worid of 'as if.
You are it. oceans, with stars. Life becomes Of course, how can they be joyous?
It is not something in your posses- richer as love grows, as friendliness They are drained of all energy. They
sion; you are possessed by it, and grows. '0 are trying to get something out of a
that's the greatness of it. Even you false love; it cannot deliver the
are not there, because even your goods. Hence the frustration, hence
presence will be a disturbance. Love, the fragrance the continuous boredom, hence the
The silence is so profound that of meditation continuous nagging, fighting be-
there is nobody, not even you. And tween the lovers. They are both try-
this silence brings truth, and love, you meditate, sooner or later ing to do something which is impos-
If will come upon love. If you make
and thousands of other blessings to you sible: they are trying to their
you. 9 meditate deeply, sooner or later you love affair something of the etemal,
will start feeling a tremendous love which it cannot be. It has arisen out
arising in you that you have never of the mind and mind cannot give
Growing in sensitivity known before - a new quality to you any glimpse of the eternal.
your being, a new door opening. First go into meditation, because
Meditation will bring you sen- You have become a new flame and love will come out of meditation -
sitivity, a great sense of be- now you want to share. it is the fragrance of meditation.
longing to the world. It is our world If you love deeply, by and by you Meditation is the flower, the one-
- the stars are ours, and we are not willbecome aware that your love is thousand-petaled lotus. Let it open.
foreigners here. We belong intrinsi- becoming more and more medita- Let it help you to move in the di-
cally to existence. We are part of it, tive. A subtle quality of silence mension of the vertical, no-mind,
we are the heart of it. is entering in you. Thoughts are no-time, and then suddenly you
You become so sensitive that even disappearing, gaps appearing... si- will see the fragrance is there. Then
the smallest blade of grass takes on lences! You are touching your own it is etemal, then it is uncondition-
an immense importance for you. depth. al.Then it is not even directed to
Your sensitivity makes it clear to Love makes you meditative if it is anybody in particular, it cannot be
you that this small blade of grass is on the right lines. directed to anybody in particular. It
as important to existence as the Meditation makes you loving if it is is not a relationship, it is more a
biggest star; without this blade of on the right lines, n quality that surrounds you. It has
grass, existence would be less than nothing to do with the other. You
it is.
unique,
This small blade of grass
it is irreplaceable, it has
is
its
You want
of out
a love which
meditation,
is
not
bom
bom
are loving,
etemal. It
you
is
are love; then
your fragrance. It
it
has
is
own individuality. out of the mind. That is the love I been around a Buddha, around a
And this sensitivity will create new continually talk about. Zarathustra, around a Jesus. It is a
ABOUT MED ITATI ON
totally different kind of love, it is joyous, or you have purchased the what is demanded of you, what is
qualitatively different. '^
house with a beautiful garden and the challenge of the situation. The
you are joyous, but these joys can- intelligent person behaves accord-
not last long. They are momentary, ing to the situation and the stupid
Compassion they cannot remain continuous and behaves according to the ready-
uninterrupted. made answers. Whether they come
Buddha has defined compassion If your joy is caused by something from Buddha, Christ or Krishna, it
as "love plus meditation." it will disappear, it will be momen- does not matter He always carries
When your love is not just a desire tary. It will soon leave you in deep scriptures around himself, he is
when your love is not

for the other, sadness; all joys leave you in deep afraid to depend on himself. The
only a need, when your love is a sadness. But there is a different intelligent person depends on his
sharing, when your love is not that kind of joy that is a confirmatory- own insight; he trusts his own be-
of a beggar but that of an emperor, sign:you are suddenly joyous for ing. He loves and resp>ects himself.
when your love is not asking for no reason at all. You cannot pin- The unintelligent person respects
something in return but is ready point why. If somebody asks, "Why others.
only to give - to give for the sheer are you so joyous?" you cannot Intelligence can be rediscovered.
joy of giving - then add meditation answer The only method to rediscover it is
to it and the pure fragrance is re- I cannot answer why I am joyous. meditation. Meditation only does
leased, the imprisoned splendor is There is no reason. It's simply so. one thing: it destroys all the barri-
released. That is compassion; com- Now this joy cannot be disturbed. ers that the society has created to
passion is the highest phenomenon. Now whatsoever happens, it will prevent you from being intelligent.
Sex is animal, love is human, com- continue. It is there, day in, day out. It simply removes the blocks. Its
passion is divine. Sex is physical, You may be young, you may be function is negative: it removes the
love is psychological, compassion old, you may be alive, you may be rocks that are preventing your wa-
is spiritual. '^ dying - it is always there. When ters from flowing, your springs
you have found some joy that re- from becoming alive.
mains - circumstances change but Everybody is carrying the great po-

Abiding joy it abides - then you are certainly tential, but society has put great
for no reason at all coming closer to Buddhahood. ^*

rocks to prevent it. It has created
China Walls around you; it has im-
you sud- prisoned you.
For no reason at all
Intelligence:
denly feel yourself joyous. In To come out of all prisons is intelli-
ordinary life, if there some rea-

is the ability to respond gence - and never to get into anoth-
son, you are joyful. You have met a er again. Intelligence can be discov-
beautiful woman and you are joy- Intelligence simply means ability ered through meditation because all
ous, or you have got the money that to respond, because life is a flux. those prisons exist in your mind;
you always wanted and you are You have to be aware and to see they cannot reach your being, fortu-
i
ABOUT MED ITAT I ON
nately. They cannot pollute your be- there is no dependence anymore on Celebrate aloneness, celebrate
ing, they can only pollute your mind anybody, on any situation, on any your pure space, and a great
- they can only cover your mind. If condition. And because it is one's song will arise in your heart. And it
you can get out of the mind you will own, it can remain morning, eve- will be a song of awareness, it will
get out of Christianity, Hinduism, ning, day, night, in youth or in old be a song of meditation. It will be a
Jainism, Buddhism, and all kinds of age, in health, in illness. In life, in song of a lone bird calling in the
rubbish will be just finished. You death too, it can remain because it distance - not calling to somebody
cancome to a full stop. is not something that is happening in particular, but just calling be-
And when you are out of the mind, to you from the outside. It is some- cause the heart is full and wants to
watching it, being aware of it, just thing welling up in you. It is your call, because the cjoud is full and
being a witness, you are intelligent. very nature, it is self-nature. '* wants to rain, because the flower is
Your intelligence is discovered. full and the petals open and the fra-
You have undone what the society

has done to you. You have de-
An inside journey
towards absolute aloneness;
is a journey grance
Let your
is released... unaddressed.
aloneness become a
stroyed the mischief; you have de- you cannot take anybody there dance. i«
stroyed the conspiracy of the priests with you. You cannot share your
and the politicians. You have come center with anybody, not even with
out of it, you are a free man. In fact your beloved. It is not in the nature Your real self
you are for the first time a real man, of things; nothing can be done
an authentic man. Now the whole about it. The moment you go in, Meditation is nothing but a de-
sky is yours. all connections with the outside vice to make you aware of
Intelligence brings freedom, intelli- world are broken; all bridges are your real self - which is not created
gence brings spontaneity. '"^
broken. In fact, the whole world by you, which need not be created
disappears. by you, which you already are. You
That's why the mystics have called are bom with it. You are it! It needs
Aloneness: the world illusory, niaya, not that it to be discovered. If this is not pos-
your self-nature does not exist, but for the meditator, sible, or if the society does not al-
one who goes in, it is almost as if low it to happen - and no society
Aloneness is a flower, a lotus the worid does not exist. The si- allows it to happen, because the
blooming in your heart. Alone- lence is so profound; no noise pene- real self is dangerous: dangerous
ness is positive, aloneness is health. trates it. The aloneness is so deep for the established church, danger-
It is the joy of being yourself. It that one needs guts. But out of that ous for the state, dangerous for the
is the joy of having your own aloneness explodes bliss. Out of crowd, dangerous for the tradition,
space. that aloneness - the experience of because once a man knows his real
Meditation means: bliss in being God. There is no other way; there self, he becomes an individual.
alone. One is really alive when one has never been any and there is He belongs no more to the
has become capable of it, when never going to be. '^
mob psychology; he will not be
ABOUT MED ITATI ON
superstitious, and he cannot be ex- the root, persona - persona means a society is in such a mess. The per-
ploited, and he cannot be led Hke mask. The society gives you a false son is directed by others; he is not
cattle, he cannot be ordered and idea of who you are; it gives you directed by his own intuition.
commanded. He will live according just a toy, and you go on clinging to Meditation helps you to grow your
to his light; he will live from his the toy your whole life. '^ own intuitive faculty. It becomes
own inwardness. His life will have very clear what is going to fulfill
tremendous beauty, integrity.
that is the fear of the society.

But
As 1
in the
see it,
wrong
almost everybody
place. The person
is you, what
flower
is going to help you
And whatsoever it is, it is
Integrated persons become individu- who would have been a tremen- going to be different for each indi-
als, and the society wants you to be dously happy doctor is a painter and vidual - that is the meaning of the
non-individuals. Instead of individu- the person who would have been a word 'individual': everybody is
ality, the society teaches you to be a tremendously happy painter is a unique. And to seek and search for
personality. The word 'personality' doctor. Nobody seems to be in his your uniqueness is a great thrill, a
has to be understood. It comes from right place; that's why this whole great adventure. 20
10
PART TWO
The Science
of Meditation
11
THE SCIENCE OF MEDITATION
With a master, with scien-
opportunity
tific
can save
and
techniques,
sometimes within seconds you can

much
energy.
you
time,
And
Methods and
grow so much that even within
Hves you would not have been able
to grow that much. If a right tech-
Meditation
nique is used, growth explodes.
And these techniques have been
used in thousands of years of ex- Techniques are helpful
periments.They were not devised
by one man; they were devised by Techniques are helpful because they are scientific. You are
many, many seekers, and only the saved from unnecessary wandering, unnecessary groping; if
essence is given here. you don know any techniques, you will take a long time.
't
You will reach the goal, be- All techniques can be helpful but no more a hindrance, no more a
cause the life energy within they are not exactly meditation, help. You can enjoy it if you like,
you will move unlesscomesit to they are just a groping in the dark. like an exercise; it gives a certain
the point where no movement is Suddenly one day, doing some- vitality, but there is no need now -
possible; it will go on moving to thing, you will become a witness. the real meditation has happened.
the highest peak. And that is the Doing a meditation like Dynamic, Meditation is witnessing. To medi-
reason why one goes on being or Kundalini or Whirling, suddenly tate means to become a witness.
bom again and again. Left to your- one day the meditation will go on Meditation is not a technique at all!
self you will reach, but you will but you will not be identified. You This will be very confusing to you
have to travel very, very long, and will sit silently behind, you will because I go on giving you tech-
the journey will be very tedious watch it - that day meditation has niques. In the ultimate sense medi-
and boring. '
happened; that day the technique is tation is not a technique; meditation
12
'
is an understanding, awareness. But like an effort. If you succeed in it, ground in mind, if you make effort,
you need techniques because that the effort disappears and the whole by and by you will become capable
final understanding is very far away thing becomes spontaneous and ef- of leaving it also.
from you; hidden deep in you but fortless. If you succeed in it, it is
still very far away from you. Right not a doing. Tlien no effort on your
this moment you can attain it. But part is needed: it becomes just like These methods are
you will not attain it, because your breathing, it is there. But in the be- simple
mind goes on. Tliis very moment it ginning there is bound to be effort,
is possible and yet impossible. because the mind cannot do any- Each of these methods which
Techniques will bridge the gap; thing which is not an effort. If you we will be discussing has
they are just to bridge the gap. tell it to be effortless, the whole been told by someone who has
So in the beginning techniques are thing seems absurd. achieved. Remember this. They
meditations; in the end you will In Zen, where much emphasis is will look too simple, and they are.
laugh - techniques are not medita- put on effortlessness, the masters To our minds, things which are so
tion. Meditation is a totally differ- say to the disciples, "Just sit. Don't simple cannot be appealing. Be-
ent quality of being, it has nothing do anything." And the disciple cause if techniques are so simple
to do with anything. But it will tries. Of course - what can you do and the abode is so near, if you are
happen only in the end; don't think other than trying? already in it, and the home is so
it has happened in the beginning, In the beginning, effort will be near, you will look ridiculous to
otherwise the gap will not be there, doing will be there - but only yourself - then why are you miss-
bridged. -
in the beginning, as a necessary ing it? Rather than feel the ridicu-
evil. You have

remember con- to lousness of your own ego, you will
stantly that you have to go beyond think that such simple methods
Begin with effort it. A moment must come when you cannot help.
are not doing anything about medi- That is a deception. Your mind will
Meditation techniques are do- tation; just being there and it hap- tell you that these simple methods
ings, because you are ad- pens. Just sitting or standing and it cannot be of any help - that they
vised to do something - even to happens. Not doing anything, just are so simple, they cannot achieve
meditate is to do something; even being aware, it happens. anything. "To achieve Divine exis-
to sit silently is to do something, All these techniques are just to help tence, to achieve the Absolute and
even to not do anything is a sort of you to come to an effortless mo- the Ultimate, how can such simple
doing. So in a superficial way. all ment. The inner transformation, the methods be used? How can they be
meditation techniques are doings. inner realization, cannot happen of any help?" Your ego A'ill say
But in a deeper way they are not, through effort, because effort is a that they cannot be of any help.
because if you succeed in them, the sort of tension. With effort you can- Remember one thing - ego is al-
doing disappears. not be relaxed totally; the effort will ways interested in something which
Only in the beginning it appears become a barrier. With this back- is difficult because when something
13
is difficult, there is a challenge. If choking to death; a billiard ball was the most delicate; you can destroy
you can overcome the difficulty, stuck in his throat, and the assistant it, you can do something which
your ego will feel fulfilled. The ego was at a loss for what to do. So he then can not be undone. These
is never attracted toward anything asked the old doctor, "What am 1 techniques are based on a very
which is simple - never! If you supposed to do now?" The old doc- deep knowledge, on a very deep
want to give your ego a challenge, tor said, 'Tickle the patient with a encounter with the human mind.
then you have to have something feather." Each technique is based on long
difficult devised. If something is After a few minutes the assistant experimentation.
simple, there is no appeal, because phoned again, very happy and jubi- So remember this: don't do any-
even if you can conquer it, there lant, and said, "Your treatment thing on your own, and don't mix
will be no fulfillment of the ego. In proved wonderful! The patient two techniques, because their func-
the first place, there was nothing to started laughing and he spat the ball tioning is different, their ways are
be conquered: the thing was so sim- out. But tell me - from where have different, their bases are different.
ple. Ego - some

asks for difficulties you learned this remarkable tech- They lead to the same end, but as
hurdles to be crossed,some peaks to nique?" means they are totally different.
be conquered. And the more diffi- The old doctor said, "I just made it Sometimes they may even be dia-
cult the peak, the more at ease your up. This has always been my motto: metrically opposite. So don't mix
ego will feel. when you don't know what to do, two techniques. Really, don't mix
Because these techniques are so do something." anything; use the technique as it is
simple, they will not have any ap- But this will not do as far as medi- given.
peal to your mind. Remember, that tation is concerned. If you don't Don't change it, don't improve it -
which appeals to the ego cannot know what to do, don't do any- because you cannot improve it, and
help your spiritual growth. thing. Mind is very intricate, com- any change you bring to it will be
These techniques are so simple that plex, delicate. If you don't know fatal.
you can achieve all that is possible what to do, it is better not to do And before you start doing a tech-
to human consciousness to achieve, anything, because whatsoever you nique, be fully alert that you have
at any moment that you decide to do without knowing is going to cre- understood it. If you feel confused
achieve it.
^ ate more complexities than it can and you don't really know what
solve. It may even prove fatal, it the technique is, it is better not to
may even prove suicidal. do it, because each technique is
First understand If you don't know anything about for bringing about a revolution in
the technique the mind.... And really, you don't you.

know anything about it. Mind is First try to understand the tech-
have heard a story about an old just a word. You don't know the nique absolutely rightly. When you
I doctor. One day his assistant complexity of it. Mind is the most have understood it, then try And it.
phoned him because he was in very complex thing in existence; there is don't use this old doctor's motto
great difficulty: his patient was nothing comparable to it. And it is that when you don't know what to
14
do, do something. No. don't do Miracles are possible. The only were wild animals on the other
anything. Non-doing will be more thing is that the technique must be shore; it was as sure as anything
beneficial. ? for you. If the technique is not for that by the morning we would have
you, then nothing happens. Then been dead. We will never leave this
you may go on with it for lives to- boat. We are indebted forever. We
The right method gether, but nothing will happen. If will carry it on our heads in sheer
will click the method is for you, then even gratitude."
three minutes are enough. ^ Methods are dangerous only if you
Really, when you try the right are unaware; otherwise they can be
method it clicks immediately. used beautifully. Do you think a
So 1 will go on talking about meth- When boat is dangerous? It is dangerous
ods here every day. You try them. to drop the method if you are thinking to carry it on
Just play with them: go home and your head for your whole life, out
try. The right method, whenever
All the great masters say this, of sheer gratitude. Otherwise it is
you happen upon it, just clicks. that one day you have to drop just a raft to be used and discarded,
Something explodes in you, and the method. And the sooner you used and abandoned, used and nev-
you know that "This is the right drop it, the better. The moment you er looked back at again; there is no
method for me." But effort is need- attain, the moment awareness is re- need, no point!
ed, and you may be surprised that leased in you, immediately drop the If you drop the remedy, automati-
suddenly one day one method has method. cally you will start settling in your
gripped you. Buddha used to tell a story again being. The mind clings; it never al-
1 have found that while you are and again. Five idiots passed lows you to settle in your being. It
playing, your mind is more open. through a village. Seeing them, keeps you interested in something
While you are serious your mind is people were surprised, because they that you are not: the boats.
not so open; it is closed. So just were carrying a boat on their heads. When you don't cling to anything,
play. Do not be too serious, just The boat was really big; they were there is nowhere to go; all boats
play. And these methods are sim- almost dying under the weight of it. have been abandoned, you cannot
ple. You can just play with them. And people asked, "What are you go anywhere; all paths have been
Take one method: play with it for at doing?" dropped, you cannot go anywhere;
least three days. If it gives you a They said. "We cannot leave this all dreams and desires have disap-
certain feeling of affinity, if it gives boat. This is the boat that helped us peared, there is no way to move.
you a certain feeling of well-being, to come from the other shore to this Relaxation happens of its own ac-
if it gives you a certain feeling that shore. How we leave it? It is
can cord.
this is for you, then be serious because of it that we have been able Just think of the word relax. Be...
about it. Then forget the others. Do to come here. Without it we would settle... you have come home.
not play with other methods; stick have died on the other shore. The One moment all is fragrance, and
to it - at least for three months. night was coming close, and there the next moment you are searching
15
for it and you cannot find it, where Now the clouds are there again; it is destroy or you can create yourself,
it has gone. all dark and the sun has disap- that depends on you. Imagination is
Only gHmpses will happen in the peared. Now even to believe that very powerful. It is potential power.
beginning. Slowly slowly, they be- the sun exists will be difficult. Now What is imagination? It is getting
come more and more solid, they to believe that what you had experi- into an attitude so deeply that the
abide more and more. Slowly, enced a moment before was true very attitude becomes reality. For
slowly, slowly, slowly, very slowly, will be may have been a
difficult. It example, you may have heard
they settle forever. Before that, you fantasy. The mind may say it might about a technique which is used in
cannot be allowed to take it for have been just imagination. Tibet. They call it heat yoga. The
granted; that will be a mistake. It is so incredible, it looks so im- night is cold, snow is falling, and
When you are sitting in meditation, possible that it could have hap- the Tibetan lama is standing naked
a session of meditation, this will pened to you. With all this stupidity under the open sky. The tempera-
happen. But it will go. So what are in the mind, with all these clouds ture is below zero. You would sim-
you supposed to do between ses- and darknesses, it happened to you: ply start dying, you would freeze.
sions? you saw the sun moment. It for a But the lama is practicing a particu-
Between sessions, continue to use doesn't look probable, you must lar technique - he is imagining that
the method. Drop the method when have imagined it; maybe you had his body is a burning fire and he is
you are deep in meditation. The fallen into a dream and seen it. imagining that he is perspiring -
moment comes, as awareness is Between sessions start again, be in the heat is so much that he is per-
getting purer and purer, when sud- the boat, use the boat again. i spiring. And he actually starts per-
denly it is utterly pure: drop the spiring although the temperature is
method, abandon the method, for- below zero and even the blood
get all about the remedy, just settle Imagination can work should freeze. He starts perspiring.
and be. for you What is happening? This perspira-

But this will happen only for motion is real, his body is really hot -
ments in the beginning. Sometimes First you must understand what but this reality is created through
it happens here listening to me. Just imagination is. It is condemned imagination.
for a moment, like a breeze, you are very much nowadays. The moment Once you get in tune with your
transported into another world, the you hear the word "imagine" you imagination, the body starts func-
world of no-mind. Just for a mo- will say this is useless, we want tioning. You are already doing
ment, you know that you know, but something real, not imaginary. But many things without knowing that
only for a moment. And again the imagination is a reality, it is a capac- it is your imagination working.
darkness gathers and the mind is ity, it is a potentiality within you. Many times you create illnesses just
back with all its dreams, with all its You can imagine. That shows that through imagination; you imagine
desires and all its stupidities. your being is capable of imagina- that now this disease is here, infec-
For a moment the clouds had sepa- tion. This capacity is a reality. tious, it is all over the place. You
rated and you had seen the sun. Through this imagination you can have become receptive; now there
16
is every possibility that you will fall 'T'his is the difference between tuned to something that is already
ill - and that illness is real. But it X. the tantra tradition and West- there.
has been created through imagina- em hypnosis: hypnotists think that Whatsoever you create by imagi-
tion. Imagination is a force, an ener- by imagination you are creating nation cannot be permanent. If it
gy, and the mind moves through it. something; tantra thinks that you is not a reality, then it is false,
And when the mind moves through are not creating it - by imagina- unreal, and you are creating a
it, the body follows. >*
tion you are simply becoming at- hallucination. **
17
Enough space
When you are trying

meditate, put the phone
to Suggestions
off the hook, disengage
yourself. Put a notice
that for
on the door
one hour nobody should
knock, that you are meditating.
for Beginners
And when you move into the med-
itation room, take your shoes off,
because you are walking on sacred The right place

ground. Not only take your shoes
off, but everything that you are You should find a place which a tree, as full of juice as a tree, as
- of course
preoccupied with. Consciously, enhances meditation. For ex- celebrating as a tree
leave everything with the shoes. ample, sitting under a tree will with a difference. He is conscious,
Go inside unoccupied. help. Rather than going and sitting the tree is unconscious. The tree is
One can take one hour out of in front of a movie house or going unconsciously in tao; a buddha is
twenty-four hours. Give twenty- to the railway station and sitting on consciously in tao. And that is a
three hours for your occupations, the platform, go to nature, to the great difference, the difference be-
desires, thoughts, ambitions, pro- mountains, to the trees, to the rivers tween the earth and the sky.
jections. Take one hour out of all where tao is still flowing, vibrating, But if you sit by the side of a tree
this, and in the end you will find pulsating, streaming all around. surrounded by beautiful birds
that only that one hour has been Trees are in constant meditation. singing, or a peacock dancing, or
the real hour of your life; those Silent, unconscious, is that medita- just a river flowing, and the sound
twenty-three hours have been a tion. I'm not saying to become a of running water, or by the side of
sheer wastage. Only that one hour tree; you have to become a buddha! a waterfall, and the great music of
has been saved and all else has But Buddha has one thing in com- it....
gone down the drain, 'o mon with the tree: he's as green as Find a place where nature has not
18
yet been disturbed, polluted. If you enough, or just a cow passing by, more you try to just sit, the more
cannot find such a place, then just that is enough to destroy it. " disturbance will be felt. You will
close your doors and sit in your own become aware only of your insane
room. If it is possible have a special mind and nothing else. It will cre-
room for meditation in your house. Be comfortable ate depression; you will feel frus-
Just a small comer will do, but espe- trated, you will not feel blissful.
cially for meditation.
ly for meditation?
kind of act creates its

Why
- because every
own
especial-
vibration.
A
What
posture should be such that
you can forget your body.
is comfort? When you forget
Rather,
may
you
really
will begin to feel that
you are insane. And sometimes you

go insane!
If you simply meditate in that place, your body, you are comfortable. If you make a sincere effort to 'just
that place becomes meditative. When you are reminded continu- sit', you may really go insane. Only
Every day you meditate it absorbs ously of the body, you are uncom- because people do not really try
your vibration when you are in med- fortable. So whether you sit in a sincerely does insanity not happen
itation. Next day when you come, chair or you sit on the ground, that more often. With a sitting posture
those vibrations start falling back on is not the point. Be comfortable, be- you begin to know so much mad-
you. They help, they reciprocate, cause if you are not comfortable in ness inside you that if you are
they respond. the body you cannot long for other sincere and continue it, you may
When a person has really become a blessings which belong to deeper really go insane. It has happened
meditator, he can meditate sitting layers: the first layer missed, all before, so many times. So I never
before a picture house, he can med- other layers closed. If you really suggest anything that can create
itate on the railway platform. want to be happy, blissful, then start frustration, depression, sadness...
For fifteen years I was continuously from the very beginning to be bliss- anything that will allow you to be
traveling around the country, con- ful. Comfort of the body is a basic too aware of your insanity. You
tinuously traveling - day in, day need for anybody who is trying to may not be ready to be aware of all
out, day in, day out, year in, year reach inner ecstasies. 12
the insanity that is inside you.
out - always on a train, on a plane, You must be allowed to get to
in a car. That makes no difference. know certain things gradually.
Once you have become really Begin with catharsis Knowledge is not always good. It
rooted in your being, nothing must unfold itself slowly, as your

makes a difference. But this is not never tell people to begin with capacity to absorb it grows.
for the beginner. I just sitting. Begin from where I begin with your insanity, not with
When the U"ee has become rooted, beginning is easy. Otherwise, you a sitting posture. I allow your in-
let winds come and let rains come will begin to feel many things un- sanity. If you dance madly, the op-
and let clouds thunder; it is all good. necessarily - things that are not posite happens within you. With a
It gives integrity to the U-ee. But there. mad dance, you begin to be aware
when the tree is small, tender, then If you begin with sitting, you will of a silent point within you; with
even a small child is dangerous feel much disturbance inside. The sitting silently, you begin to be
19
aware of madness. TTie opposite is pressed is the more authentic part. It If we say, "Be angry," then you are
always the point of awareness. is a more major part of your mind going to be angry at someone. But
With you dancing madly, chaotical- than the part that is suppressing, and a child can be molded. He can be
ly, with crying, with chaotic breath- the major part is bound to win. given a pillow and told, "Be angry
ing, I allow your madness. Then That which you are suppressing is with the pillow. Be violent with the
you begin to be aware of a subtle really to be thrown, not suppressed. pillow." From the very beginning, a
point, a deep point inside you which It has become an accumulation child can be brought up in a way in
is silent and still, in contrast to the within you because you have been which the anger is just deviated.
madness on the periphery. You will constantly suppressing it. The whole Some object can be given to him:
feel very blissful; at your center upbringing, the civilization, the edu- he can go on throwing the object
there is an inner silence. But if you cation, is suppressive. You have until his anger goes. Within min-
are just sitting, then the inner one is been suppressing much that could utes, within seconds, he will have
the mad one. You are silent on the have been thrown very easily with a dissipated his anger and there will
outside, but inside you are mad. different education, with a more be no accumulation of it.
Ifyou begin with something active conscious education, with a more You have accumulated anger, sex,
- something positive, alive, moving aware parenthood. With a better violence, greed - everything. Now
- it will be better. Then you will be- awareness of the inner mechanism this accumulation is a madness
gin to feel an inner stillness grow- of the mind, the culture could have within you. It is there, inside you. if
ing. The more it grows, the more it allowed you to throw many things. you begin with any suppressive
will be possible for you to use a sit- For example, when a child is angry meditation - for example, with just
ting posture or a lying posture - the we tell him, "Do not be angry." He sitting - you are suppressing all of
more silent meditation will be pos- begins to suppress anger. By and this, you are not allowing it to be
sible. But by then things will be dif- by, what was a momentary happen- released. So 1 begin with a cathar-
ferent, totally different. ing becomes permanent. Now he sis. First, let the suppressions be
A meditation technique that begins will not act angry, but he will re- thrown into the air. And when you
with movement, action, helps you in main angry. We have accumulated can throw your anger into the air,
other ways also. It becomes a so much anger from what were just you have become mature.
catharsis. When you are just sitting, momentary things. No one can be If I cannot be loving alone, if I can
you are frustrated: your mind wants angry continuously unless anger be loving only with someone I
to move and you are just sitting. Ev- has been suppressed. Anger is a love, then 1am not really mature
ery muscle turns, every nerve turns. momentary thing that comes and yet. Then 1 am depending on some-
You are trying to force something goes; if it is expressed, then you are one even to be loving. Someone
upon yourself that is not natural for no longer angry. So with me, I must be there; only then can I be
you. Then you have divided yourself would allow the child to be angry loving. That loving can be only a
into the one who is forcing and the more authentically. Be angry, but be very superficial thing. It is not my
one who is being forced. And really, deep in it. Do not suppress it. nature. If 1 am alone in the room I
the part that is being forced and sup- Of course, there will be problems. am not loving at all, so the loving
20
quality has not gone deep; it has not you are just suppressing something. as he can, and you know that this
become a part of my being. And a very strange thing happens: man is a police commissioner!
You become more and more mature when you have allowed everything One man cannot forget, because
I
when you are less and less depen- to be thrown out, sitting will just he used to sit in front of me every
dent. If you can be angry alone, you happen, asanas will just happen. It day. He was a very rich man from
are more mature. You do not need will be spontaneous. Ahmedabad, and because his
any object to be angry. So 1 make a Begin with catharsis and then whole business was the share mar-
catharsis in the beginning a must. something good can flower within ket, he was just continually on the
You must throw everything into the you. It will have a different quality, phone. Whenever this one hour
sky, into the open space, without a different beauty - altogether dif- meditation would begin, within two
being conscious of any object. ferent. It will be authentic. or three minutes he would take up
Be angry without the person with When silence comes to you, when the phone. He would start dialing
whom you would like to be angry. it descends on you, it is not a false the numbers: "Hello!" And he
Weep without finding any cause. thing.You have not been cultivat- would say - it looked from his face
Laugh, just laugh, without anything ing comes to you; it happens to
it. It as if he was getting the answer -
to laugh at. Then you can just throw you. You begin to feel it growing "Purchase it."
the whole accumulated thing. You inside you just like a mother begins This would continue for one hour,
can just throw it! And once you to feel a child growing, i? and he was again and again phon-
know the way, you are unburdened ing to this place, to that place, and
of the whole past. When 1 used to lead medita- once in a while he would look at
Within moments you can be unbur- camps myself, there
tion me and smile: "What nonsense I'm
dened of the whole life - of lives was one method where every af- doing!" But I had to keep absolute-
even. If you are ready to throw ev- ternoon all the participants in the ly serious. I never smiled at him. So
erything, if you can allow your camp used to sit together and ev- he would again start phoning: "No-
madness to come out, within mo- erybody was allowed to do what- body is taking any notice, every-
ments there is a deep cleansing. soever he wanted - no restriction, body is in his own work."
engaged
Now you are cleansed: fresh, inno- just he was not to interfere in any- One thousand people doing so
cent. You are a child again. Now, in body else's work. Whatever he many things ... and these things
your innocence, sitting meditation wants to say, he can say; if he were continuously going on in their
can be done -just sitting or just ly- wants to cry, he can cry; if he minds. This was a great chance for
ing or anything - because now wants to laugh, he can laugh - and them to bring them out. It was such
there is no mad one inside to dis- one thousand people! It was such a drama.
turb the sitting. a hilarious scene! People you Jayantibhai used to be in charge of
Cleansing must be the first thing - a could never have imagined - seri- the camp in Mount Abu. and one of
catharsis. Otherwise, with breathing ous people - doing such stupid his closest friends took off all his
exercises, with just sitting, with things! Somebody was making clothes. That was a surprise! Jayan-
practicing asanas, yogic postures - faces, putting out his tongue as far tibhai was standing by my side, and
21
he could not believe it. That man the tree. There was every danger violence in me, 1 wanted to kill
was a very serious man, very rich; that he would fall with the tree on people."
what was he doing in front of one top of the thousand people. Jayan- That meditation was immensely
thousand people? And then he start- tibhai asked me, "What has to be helpful. It relaxed people in one
ed pushing the car in which I had done now?" hour so much that they told me, "It
come to the place - it was Jayantib- I said, "He is your friend. Let him seems a heavy load has disap-
hai's car. We were in the moun- be, don't be worried. Just move the peared from the head. We were not
tains, and just ahead there was a people to this side and that, and let aware what we were carrying in the
thousand-foot drop, and he was him do whatsoever he is doing. mind." But to become aware of it,
naked pushing the car. Now he is not destroying the car. there was no other way except an
Jayantibhai asked me, "What has to At the most he will have multiple unlimited expression.
be done? He is going to destroy the fractures." It was only a small experiment, I
car, and I had never thought that As people moved away, he also told people to continue it: soon you
this man was against my car. We stopped. Silently he sat in the tree. will come to many more things, and
are close friends." After the meditation was over, he one day you will come to a fwint
So I told him, "You push it from was still sitting in the tree, and where all is exhausted. Remember
the other side; otherwise he is go- Jayantibhai said, "Now get down. only not to interfere with anybody,
ing to...." The meditation is over." not to be destructive. Say anything
So he was stopping the car and his As if he woke up from a sleep, he you want to say, shout abuse, what-
friend was jumping around and looked all around and saw that he ever you want - and exhaust all that
shouting, "Get out of my way! 1 was naked! He jumped out of the you have been collecting.
have always hated this car" - be- tree, rushed to his clothes, and said, But this is a strange worid. The
cause he did not have an imported "What happened to me?" In the government of Rajasthan passed a
car, and this was an imported car night he came to see me and he resolution in their assembly that I
which Jayantibhai was keeping for said, "This was a very dangerous cannot have camps in Mount Abu,
me. I was coming to Mount Abu meditation! I could have killed my- because they had heard all these
three or four times a year, so he was self or somebody else. could have I things were happening there - peo-
keeping that car just for me. destroyed the car, and I am a great ple who are perfectly right become
His friend must have been feeling friend of Jayantibhai, and I had almost mad, start doing any kinds
jealous inside that he did not have never thought... but certainly there of things. Now the politicians in
an imported car. And then a few must have been this idea in me. the assembly don't have any idea
people seeing the situation rushed "1 hated the idea that you come in of the human mind, its inhibitions
to help. When he saw that so many his car always, and 1 hated the idea and how to exhaust them, how to
people were preventing him, just that he has got an imported car, but bum them. I had to stop that medi-
out of protest he climbed a tree in it was not at all conscious in me. tation because otherwise they were
front of me. Naked he sat in the top And what 1 was doing in the tree? 1 not going to allow me to have
of the tree, and he started shaking must have been carrying so much camps in Mount Abu. i-^
22
The three essentials
Meditation
sential
has a few es-
things in it,
Guidelines
whatever the method,
but those few essentials are neces-
sary in every method.
relaxed state: no fight
The
with
first is
the
a to Freedom
mind, no control of the mind, no
concentration. Second, just watch
with a relaxed awareness whatever dously. He is not serious. He is
is going on, without any interfer-

Be playful relaxed. '^
ence - just watching the mind,

silently, without any judgment, Millions of people miss medi-
evaluation. tation because meditation Be patient
Tliese are the three things: relax- has taken on a wrong connotation.
ation, watching, no judgment, and It looks very serious, looks gloomy, Don't be in a hurry. So often,
slowly, slowly a great silence de- has something of the church in it; hurrying causes delay. As
scends over you. All movement it looks as if it is only for people you thirst, wait patiently - the
within you ceases. You are, but who are dead, or almost dead - deeper the waiting, the sooner it
there is no sense of 'I am' -just a those who are gloomy, serious, comes.
pure space. There are one hundred have long faces, who have lost You have sown the seed, now sit
and twelve methods of meditation. festivity, fun, playfulness, cele- in the shade and watch what hap-
I have talked on all those methods. bration.... pens. The seed will break, it will
They differ in their constitution, These are the qualities of medita- blossom, but you cannot speed the
but the fundamentals remain the tion: a really meditative person is process. Doesn't everything need
same: relaxation, watchfulness, a playful; life is fun for him, life is a time? Work you must, but leave
non-judgmental attitude. '^
leela, a play. He enjoys it tremen- the results to God. Nothing in life
23
is ever wasted, especially steps may take your whole life. But if so they are more alive in the
taken towards truth. you can earn money by smuggling, morning again.
But at times impatience comes; im- by gambling, or by something else The same will happ>en in medita-
patience comes with thirst, but this - by becoming a political leader, a tion: for a few moments you are
is an obstacle. Keep the thirst and prime minister, a president - then perfectly aware, at the peak and for
throw the impatience. you have all the shortcuts available a few moments you are in the val-
Do not confuse impatience with to you. The educated person be- ley, resting. Awareness has disap-
thirst. With thirst there is yearning comes cunning. He does not be- peared, you have forgotten. But
but no struggle; with impatience come wise, he simply becomes what is wrong in it?
there is struggle but no yearning. clever. He becomes so cunning It is simple. Through unawareness
With longing there is waiting but that he wants to have everything awareness will arise again, fresh,
no demanding; with impatience without doing anything for it. young, and this will go on. If you
there is demanding but no waiting. Meditation happens only to those can enjoy both you become the
With thirst there are silent tears; who are not result-oriented. Medita- third, and that is the point to be
with impatience there is restless tion is a non-goal-oriented state. '* understood: if you can enjoy both,
struggle. it means that you are neither -
Truth cannot be raided; it is attained neither awareness nor unaware-
through surrender, not through Appreciate ness - you are the one who enjoys
struggle. It is conquered through unawareness both. Something of the beyond
total surrender, i^ enters.
While aware enjoy aware- In fact, this is the real witness.

ness, and while unaware Happiness you enjoy, what is
Don't look for results enjoy unawareness. Nothing is wrong with it? When happiness has
wrong, because unawareness is gone and you have become sad.
The ego is result-oriented, the like a rest. Otherwise awareness

would become a tension. If you
what is wrong with sadness? Enjoy
Once you become capable of
mind always hankers for re- it.
sults. The mind is never interested areawake twenty-four hours, how enjoying sadness, then you are
in the act itself, its interest is in the many days do you think you can neither.
result. "What am I going to gain be alive? Without food a man can And this I tell you: if you enjoy
out of it?" If the mind can manage live for three months; without sadness, it has its own beauties.
to gain without going through any sleep, within three weeks he will Happiness is a little shallow; sad-
action, then it will choose the go mad, and he will try to commit ness is very deep, it has a depth to
shortcut. suicide. In the day you are alert; in it. A man who has never been sad
That's why educated people be- the night you relax, and that relax- will be shallow, just on the sur-
come very cunning, because they ation helps you in the day to be face. Sadness is like a dark night,
are able to find shortcuts. If you more alert, fresh again. Energies very deep. Darkness has a silence
cam money through a legal way, it have passed through a rest period to it, and sadness also. Happiness
24
bubbles; there is a sound in it. It is aware of this deep sleep, but after
like a river in the mountains;

Machines help but ten minutes, when you are un-
sound is created. But in the moun- don't create meditation plugged from the machine, you will
tains, a river can never be very see the effects: you are calm, quiet,
When many machines no

deep;
the river
it is
comes
always shallow.
to the plain it be-
Sodeveloped around the world,
are being peaceful, no worry,
seems to be more playful and joy-
tension; life
comes deep, but the sound stops. pretending that they can give you ous. One feels as if one has had an
It moves as if not moving. Sadness meditation; you just have to put on inner bath. Your whole being is
has a depth. earphones and relax, and within ten calm and cool.
Why create trouble? While happy, minutes you will reach the state of With machines things are very cer-
be happy, enjoy it. Don't get iden- meditation. tain, because they don't depend on
tified with it. When I say be happy, This is utter stupidity, but there is a any doing of yours. It is just like
I mean enjoy it. Let it be a climate reason why such an idea has come listening to music: you feel peace-
which will move and change. The to the minds of technical people. ful, harmonious. Those machines
morning changes into noon, noon Mind functions on a certain wave- will lead you up to the third state -
changes into evening, and then length when it is awake. When it is deep sleep, sleep without dreams.
comes night. Let happiness be a dreaming it functions on another But if you think this is meditation
climate around you. Enjoy it, and wavelength. When it is fast asleep it then you are wrong. I will say this is
then when sadness comes, enjoy functions on a different wavelength. a good experience, and while you
that too. 1 teach you enjoyment But none of these are meditation. are in that moment of deep sleep, if
whatsoever is the case. Sit silently For thousands of years we have you can also be aware from the very
and enjoy sadness, and suddenly called meditation turiya, "the beginning, as the mind starts chang-
sadness is no longer sadness; it has fourth." When you go beyond the ing its waves... You have to be
become a silent peaceful moment, deepest sleep and still you are more alert, more awake, more
beautiful in itself. Nothing is aware, that awareness is meditation. watchful - what is happening? -
wrong in it. It is not an experience; it is you, and you will see that mind is by and
And then comes the ultimate your very being. by falling asleep. And if you can see
alchemy, the point where suddenly But these hi-tech mechanisms can the mind falling asleep... the one
you realize that you are neither - be of tremendous use in the right who is seeing the mind falling
neither happiness nor sadness. You hands. They can help to create the asleep is your being, and that is the
are the watcher: you watch peaks, kind of waves in your mind so that purpose of all authentic meditation.
you watch valleys; but you are you start feeling relaxed, as if half These machines cannot create that
neither. asleep... thoughts are disappearing awareness. That awareness you will
Once this point is attained, you and a moment comes that every- have to create, but these machines
can go on celebrating everything. thing becomes silent in you. That is can certainly create within ten min-
You celebrate life, you celebrate the moment when the waves are utes a possibility that you may not
death, i"*
those of deep sleep. You will not be be able to create in years of effort
25
So I am not against these hi-tech in- for you, and you will start falling ness, perhaps a few times the ma-
struments, I am all for them. It is asleep! But if you can remain awake chine may be helpful so that it be-
just that I want the people who are even in the deeF>est sleep, when you comes more and more clear, so
spreading those machines around see that just one step more and you your awareness becomes more and
the world to know that they are do- will become unconscious, you have more separate from the silence that
ing good work, but it is incomplete. learned a secret. That machine can machine is creating. And then you
It will be complete only when the be used beautifully. should start doing it without the
person in the deepest silence is also And this is true about all the ma- machine. Once you have learned to
alert, like a small flame of aware- chines of the world: in the right do it without the machine, the ma-
ness which goes on burning. Every- hands they can be used tremendous- chine has helped you immensely. 20
thing disappears, all around is dark- ly for the benefit of mankind. In the
ness, and silence, and peace - but an wrong hands they can become hin-
unwavering flame of awareness. So drances. And unfortunately, there You are not
if the machine is in the right hands are so many wrong hands. ... your experiences
and people can be taught that the But it is not meditation, it is simply
real thing will come
machine, the machine can create the
not through the a change in the radio
continuously moving around you
waves that are
in
One of the most fundamental
remember - not
things to
very essential ground in which that the air. It can be certainly helpful as only by you but by everyone - is
flame can grow. But that flame de- an experience; otherwise for many that whatever you come across in
pends on you, not on the machine. people meditation remains only a your inner journey, you are not it.
So I am in favor of those machines word. They think that some time You are the one who is witnessing
on the one hand and on the other they will meditate. And there re- it - it may be nothingness, it may
hand I am
much against them,
very mains a doubt, whether anybody be blissfulness, it may be silence.
because many, many people will meditates or not? But one thing has to be remem-
think, "This is meditation," and they But in the West the mind is mechan- bered - however beautiful and
will be deceived. These machines ical, the approach is mechanical; ev- however enchanting an experi-
will do immense harm, but they will erything they want to reduce to a ence you come by, you are not it.
spread all over the world very soon. machine - and they are capable of it. You are the one who is experienc-
And they are simple - there is noth- But there are things which are being it, and if you go on and on and
ing much in it; it is only a question yond the capacity of any machine. on, the ultimate in the journey is
of creating certain waves. Musicians Awareness cannot be created by any the point when there is no experi-
can learn from those machines, what machine; it is beyond the scope of ence left - neither silence, nor
waves they create in people, and any hi-tech. But what technology blissfulness, nor nothingness. There
they can start creating those waves can give you can certainly be used. is nothing as an object for you but
through their instruments. There is This can be used as a very beautiful only your subjectivity.
no need for the machines, just the jumping ground into meditation. The mirror is empty. It is not re-
musicians can create those waves And once you have tasted aware- flecting anything. It is you.
26
Even great travelers of the inner object, then consciousness without This home is the real temple we
world have got stuck in beautiful obstruction moves in a circle - in have been searching for, for lives
experiences, and have become existence everything moves in a together, but we always go astray.
identified with those experiences circle, if not obstructed - it comes We become satisfied with beauti-
thinking, "I have found myself." from the same source of your be- ful experiences.
They have stopped before reaching ing, goes around. Finding no obsta- A courageous seeker has to leave
the final stage where all experi- cle to it - no experience, no object all those beautiful experiences be-
ences disappear. - it moves backwards. And the sub- hind, and go on moving. When all
Enlightenment is not an experience. ject itself becomes the object. experiences are exhausted and
It is the state where you are left ab- That is what J. Krishnamurti con- only he himself remains in his
solutely alone, nothing to know. No tinued to say for his whole life: aloneness...no ecstasy is bigger
object, however beautiful, is pre- when the observer becomes the ob- than that, no blissfulness is more
sent. Only in that moment does served, know that you have arrived. blissful, no truth is truer. You have
your consciousness, unobstructed Before that there are thousands of entered what I call godliness, you
by any object, take a turn and move things in the way. The body gives have become a god.
back to the source. its own experiences, which have
It becomes self-realization. It be- become known as the experiences An old man went to his doctor. "I
comes enlightenment. of the centers of kundalini; seven have got toilet problems," he com-
1 must remind you about the word centers become seven lotus flow- plained.
'object'. Every object means hin- ers. Each is bigger than the other "Well, let us see. How is your uri-
drance. The very meaning of the and higher, and the fragrance is in- nation?"
word is hindrance, objection. toxicating. The mind gives you "Every morning at seven o'clock,
So the object can be outside you, great spaces, unlimited, infinite. like a baby."
in the material world; the object But remember the fundamental "Good. How about your bowel
can be inside you in your psycho- maxim that still the home has not movement?"
logical world, the objects can be in come. "Eight o'clock each morning, like
your heart, feelings, emotions, sen- Enjoy the journey and enjoy all the clockwork."
timents, moods. And the objects scenes that come on the journey - "So, what is the problem?" the doc-
can be even in your spiritual the trees, the mountains, the flow- tor asked.
world. And they are so ecstatic ers, the rivers, the sun and the "I don't wake up until nine."
that one cannot imagine there can moon and the stars - but don't stop
be more. And many mystics of the anywhere, unless your very subjec- You are asleep and it is time to
world have stopped at ecstasy. It is tivity becomes its own object. wake up.
a beautiful spot, a scenic spot, but When the observer is the observed, All these experiences are experi-
they have not arrived home yet. when the knower is the known, ences of a sleeping mind. The
When you come to a point when all when the seer is the seen, the home awakened mind has no experiences
experiences are absent, there is no has arrived. atall. 2>
27
seen and a subject as a seer. Let the the world have been practicing the
The observer beauty of the moment, the benedic- observer. They may have called it
is not the witness tion of the moment, overwhelm you the witness, but it is not the wit-
both, so the rose and you are no ness. The witness is something to-
The observer and the observed

two aspects of the witness.
more separate, but you become one tally different, qualitatively differ-
are rhythm, one song, one ecstasy. ent. The observer can be practiced,
When they disappear into each oth- Loving, experiencing music, look- cultivated; you can become a better
er,when they meh into each other, ing at the sunset, let it happen observer through practicing it.
when they are one, the witness for again and again. The more it hap- The scientist observes, the mystic
the first time arises in its totality. pens the better, because it is not an witnesses. The whole process of
But a question arises to many peo- art but a knack. You have to get science is that of observation: very
ple. The reason is that they think the hunch of it; once you have got keen, acute, sharp observation, so
the witness is the observer. In their you can
it, trigger it anywhere, any nothing is missed. But the scientist
mind, the observer and the witness moment. does not come to know God. Al-
are synonymous. It is fallacious; When the witness arises, there is though his observation is very very
the observer is not the witness, but nobody who is witnessing and there expert, yet he remains unaware of
only a part of it. And whenever the is nothing to be witnessed. It is a God. He never comes across God;
part thinks itself as the whole, error pure mirror, mirroring nothing. on the contrary, he denies that God
arises. Even to say it is a mirror is not is, because the more he observes -
The observer means the subjective, right; it would be better to say it is a and his whole process is that of ob-
and the observed means the objec- mirroring. It is more a dynamic servation - more he becomes
the
tive: the observer means that which process of melting and merging; it separate from existence. The
is outside the observed, and the ob- is not a static phenomenon, it is a bridges are broken and walls arise;
server means that which is inside. flow. The rose reaching you, you he becomes imprisoned in his own
The inside and the outside can't be reaching into the rose: it is a shar- ego.
separate; they are together, they can ing of being. The mystic witnesses. But remem-
only be together. When this togeth- Forget that idea that the witness is ber, witnessing is a happening, a
erness, or rather oneness, is experi- the observer; it is not. The observer byproduct - a byproduct of being
enced, the witness arises. can be practiced, the witness hap- total in any moment, in any situa-
You cannot practice the witness. If pens. The observer is a kind of con- tion, in any experience. Totality is
you practice the witness, you will centration, and the observer keeps the key: out of totality arises the
be practicing only the observer, and you separate. The observer will en- benediction of witnessing.
the observer is not the witness. hance, strengthen your ego. The Forget all about observing; that will
Then what has to be done? Melting more you become an observer, the give you more accurate informa-
has to be done, merging has to be more you will feel like an island - tion about the observed object, but
done. Seeing a rose flower, forget separate, aloof, distant. you will remain absolutely oblivi-
completely that there is an object Down the ages, the monks all over ous of your own consciousness. 22
to him, he worshiped it, and the riv- of swimming, it is only a question

Meditation is a knack er was his home. Early - at three of getting in tune with the water ele-
o'clock in the morning - you would ment. Once you are in tune with the
Meditation is such a mystery findhim on the river. In the evening water element it protects you."
that it can be called a sci- you would find him on the river And since then I have been throw-
ence, an art, a knack, without any and at night you would find him sit- ing many people into the river of
contradiction. ting, meditating by the side of the life! And just stand
I there.... Al-
From one point of view it is a sci- river His whole life consisted of most nobody ever fails // he takes
ence because there is a clear-cut being close to the river the jump. One is bound to learn. 24
technique that has to be done. When I was brought him -to 1
There are no exceptions to it, it is wanted to learn swimming - he may take a few days for you to
almost like a scientific law.
It
looked at me, he felt something. He get the knack. It is a knack! It is
But from a different point of view it

said, "But there is no way to learn not an art! If meditation were an art,
can also be said to be an art. Science swimming; I can just throw you in it would have been very simple to
is an extension of the mind - it is the water and then swimming comes teach. Because it is a knack, you
mathematics, it is logic, it is rational. of its own accord. There is no way have to try; slowly you get it. One of
Meditation belongs to the heart, not to learn it, it cannot be taught. It is a the Japanese professors of psycholo-
to the mind - it is not logic, it is knack, not knowledge." gy is trying to teach small children,
closer to love. It is not like other And that's what he did - he threw six months old, to swim, and he has
scientific activities, but more like me in the water and he was standing succeeded. Then he tried with chil-
music, poetry, painting, dancing; on the bank. For two, three times 1 dren three months old - and he has
hence, it can be called an art. went down and I felt I was almost succeeded. Now he is trying with
But meditation is such a great mys- drowning. He was just standing the newly bom, and I hope that he
tery that calling it 'science' and 'art' there, he would not even try to help succeeds. There is every possibility
does not exhaust a knack - - because
it. It is me! Of course when your life is at it is a knack. It does not
either you get it or you don't gel it.
stake, you do whatsoever you can. need any other kind of experience:
A knack is not a science, it cannot So started throwing my hands about
1 age, education... it is simply a
be taught. A knack is not an art. A - they were haphazard, hectic, but knack. And if a six-month or three-
knack is the most mysterious thing the knack came. When life is at month old baby can swim, that
in human understanding. -^
stake, you do whatsoever you can do means we are naturally endowed
...and whenever you do whatsoever with the idea of "how" to swim... it
my childhood was sent to a you can do we have
In I
totally, things happen! is just that to discover it.
master, a master swimmer. He I could swim! I was thrilled! "Next Just a little bit of effort and you will
was the best swimmer in the town, time," I said, "you need not throw be able to discover The same is it.
and I have never come across a me into it - I will jump myself. Now true about - more true
meditation
man who has been so tremendously I know that there is a natural buoy- than about swimming. You just have
in love with water Water was god ancy of the body. It is not a question to make a little effort. ^^
29
30
PART THREE
The Meditations
31
THE ME DITATION S
n
TWO POWERFUL METHODS FOR AWAKENING
Two Powerful Methods

for Awakening
These are not really meditations. You are just getting

in tune. It is like... if you have seen Indian classical
musicians playing... for half an hour, or sometimes even
more, they simply go on fixing their instruments. They
will move their knobs, they will make the strings tight or
loose, and the drum player will go on checking his drum
- whether it is perfect or not. For half an hour they go on
doing this. TTiis is not music, this is just preparation.
Kundalini is not really meditation. It is just preparation.
You are preparing your instrument. When it is ready, then
you stand in silence, then meditation starts. Then you are
You have woken yourself up by jumping, by
utterly there.
dancing, by breathing, by shouting - these are all devices

to make you a little more alert than you ordinarily are.
Once you are alert, then the waiting. Waiting is medita-

tion. Waiting with full awareness. And then it comes, it
descends on you, it surrounds you, it plays around you, it
dances around you, it cleanses you, it purifies you, it
transforms you.
33
THE ME DITATI ON S
34
Meditation is an energy
phenomenon. One very
basic thing has to be un-
derstood about all types of ener-
gies, and this is the basic law to be
understood: energy moves in a
dual polarity. That is way
the only
it moves; there is no other way for
its movement. It moves in a dual
polarity.
For any energy to become dyna-

mic, the anti-pole is needed. It is
just like electricity moving with

negative and positive polarities. If
there is only negative polarity,
electricity will not happen; or if
Dynamic Meditation:
Catharsis and Celebration
there is only positive polarity, pole. They are electrical - hence the same energy moving in polari-
electricity will not happen. Both so much attraction. With man ties, balancing itself.
poles are needed. And when both alone, life would disappear; with This polarity is very meaningful
poles meet, they create electrici- woman alone there could be no for meditation because mind is log-
ty; then the spark comes up. life, only death. Between man and ical, and life is dialectical. When I
And this is so for all types of woman there exists a balance. Be- saymind is logical, it means mind
phenomena. Life goes on: between man and woman - these moves in a line. When 1 say life is
tween man and woman, the polar- two poles, these two banks - dialectical, it means life moves
ity. The woman is the negative flows the river of life. with the opfKJsite, not in a line. It
life-energy; man is the positive Wherever you look you will find zigzags from negative to positive -
35
THE MEDITATIONS
1
positive to negative, negative to be a dead man. A dead man is ab- contradictory terms - effortless ef-
positive. It zigzags; it uses the op- solutely silent. Nobody can disturb fort, or gateless gate, or pathless
posites. him, his concentration is perfect. path.
Mind moves in a line, a simple You cannot do anything to distract Zen always uses the contradictory
straight line. It never moves to the his mind; his mind is absolutely term immediately, just to give you
opposite - it denies the opposite. It fixed. Even if the whole world goes the hint that the process is going to
believes in one. and life believes in mad all around, he will remain in be dialectical, not linear. Tlie op-
two. his concentration. But still, you posite is not to be denied but ab-
So whatsoever mind creates, it al- would not like to be a dead man. sorbed. The opposite is not to be
ways chooses the one. If mind Silence, concentration, or whatever left aside - it has to be used. Left
chooses silence - if mind has be- it is called... you would not like to aside, it will always be a burden
come fed up with all the noise that be dead - because you are silent
if on you. Left aside, it will hang
is created in life and it decides to be and dead the silence is meaning- with you. Unused, you will miss
silent - then the mind goes to the less. much.
Himalayas. It wants to be silent, it Silence must happen while you are The energy can be converted and
doesn't want anything to do with absolutely alive, vital, bubbling used. And then, using it, you will
any type of noise. Even the song of with life and energy. TTien silence be more vital, more alive. TTie op-
the birds will disturb it; the breeze is meaningful. But then silence posite has to be absorbed, then the
blowing through the trees will be a will have a different, altogether process becomes dialectical.
disturbance. The mind wants si- different quality to it. It will not be Effortlessness means not doing
lence; it has chosen the line. Now dull. It will be alive. It will be a amything. inactivity - akarma.
the opposite has to be denied com- subtle balance between two polari- Effort means doing much, activity
pletely. ties. - karma. Both have to be there.
But this man living in the Hima- A man who is seeking a live bal- Do much, but don't be a doer -
layas - seeking silence, avoiding ance, a live silence, would like to then you achieve both. .Move in the
the other, the opposite - will be- move to both the market and the world, but don't be a part of it
come dead; he will certainly Himalayas. He would like to go to Live in the world, but don't let the
become dull. And the more he the market to enjoy noise, and he world live in you.
chooses to be silent, the duller he would also like to go to the Hi- Then the contradiction has been ab-
will become - because life needs malayas to enjoy silence. And he sorbed ....
the opposite, the challenge of the will create a balance between these And that's what I'm doing. Dy-
opposite. two polar opposites. and he will re- namic meditation is a contradic-
There is a different type of silence main in that balance. And that bal- tion. Dynamic means effort, much
which exists between two opposites. ance cannot be achieved through effort, absolute effort And medita-
The first is a dead silence, the si- linear efforts. tion means silence, no effort, no ac-
lence of the cemetery. A dead man That is what is meant by the Zen tivity. You can call it a dialectical
is silent, but vou would not like to technique of effortless effort. It uses meditation. '
36
Second stage: 10 minutes self. Don arrange the body in any

't
Instructions for way. A cough, a movement, any-

Dynamic Meditation Follow your body. Give your body thing will dissipate the energy flow
freedom to express whatever is and the effort will be lost. Be a
Music to support this meditation there .... EXPLODE! .... Let your witness to everything that is hap-
and to signal the beginning of each body take over Let go of everything pening to you.
stage has been composed with that needs to be thrown out. Go to-
Osho's guidance. For availability, tally mad.... Sing, screamy laugh, Fifth stage: 15 minutes
see back page. shout, cry, jump, shake, dance,
kick,and throw yourself around. Celebrate!... with music and dance
First stage: 10 minutes Hold nothing back, keep your express whatsoever is there. Carry
whole body moving. A little acting your aliveness with you throughout
T^reathing rapidly in and out often helps to get you started. Nev- the day. -
Jj through the nose, let breath- er allow your mind to interfere with
ing be intense and chaotic. The what is happening. Remember to be

breath should move deeply into total with your body.
the lungs. Be as fast as you can in
Giving birth
your breathing, making sure Third stage: 10 minutes to yourself
breathing stays deep. Do this as
totally as you possibly can; Leaving your shoulders and neck Helpful hints
without tightening up your body, relaxed, raise both arms as high
make sure neck and shoulders as you can without locking the system of Dynamic Medi-
stay relaxed.
you literally
Continue on, until
become the breath-
elbows. With raised arms,
and down shouting the mantra
jump up My tation begins with breathing,
because breathing has deep roots in
ing, allowing breath to be chaotic HOO.'...HOO!...HOO! as deeply the being. You may not have ob-
(that means not in a steady, pre- as possible, coming from the bot- served it, but if you can change
dictable way). Once your energy tom of your belly. Each time you your breathing, you can change
is moving, it will begin to move land on the flats of your feet (mak- many things. If you observe your
your body. Allow these body ing sure heels touch the ground), breathing carefully, you will see
movements to be there, use them let the sound hammer deep into that when you are angry you have a
to help you build up even more the sex center Give all you have, particular rhythm of breathing.
energy. Moving your arms and exhaust yourself completely. When you are in love, a totally dif-
body in a natural way will help ferent rhythm comes to you. When
your energy to rise. Feel your en- Fourth stage: 15 minutes you are relaxed you breathe differ-
ergy building up; don't let go ently; when you are tense you
during the first stage and never STOP! Freeze where you are in breathe differently. You cannot
slow down. whatever position you find your- breathe the way you do when you
37
THEM EDITATION S
are relaxed and be angry at the chaotic breathing is to destroy. create body electricity - or, you can
same time. It is impossible. Chaotic breathing creates a chaos call it bio-energy. When there is
When you are sexually aroused, within you because unless a chaos electricity in the body you can
your breathing changes. If you do is created, you cannot release your move deep within, beyond your-
not allow the breathing to change, repressed And those
emotions. self. The electricity will work with-
your sexual arousal will drop auto- emotions have now moved into the in you.
matically. This means that breath- body. The body has its own electrical
ing is deeply related to your mental You are not body and mind; you are sources. If you hammer them with
state. If you change your breathing, body/mind, psycho/somatic. You more breathing and more oxygen,
you can change the state of your are both together. So whatever is they begin to flow. And if you be-
mind. Or, if you change the state of done with your body reaches to the come really alive, then you are no
your mind, breathing will change. mind and whatever is done with the longer a body. The more alive you
So I start with breathing and I sug- mind reaches to the body. Body become, the more energy flows in
gest ten minutes of chaotic breath- and mind are two ends of the same your system and the less you will
ing in the first stage of the tech- entity. feel yourself physically. You will
nique. By chaotic breathing I mean Ten minutes of chaotic breathing is feel more like energy and less like
deep, fast, vigorous breathing, with- wonderful! But it must be chaotic. matter.
out any rhythm - just taking the It is not a type of pranayama, yogic And whenever it happens that you
breath in and throwing it out, taking breathing. It is simply creating are more alive, in those moments
it in and throwing it out, as vigor- chaos through breathing. And it you are not body-oriented. If sex
ously, as deeply, as intensely as creates chaos for many reasons. has so much appeal, one of the rea-
possible. Take it in; then throw it Deep, fast breathing gives you sons is this: that if you are really in
out. more oxygen. The more oxygen in the act, totally moving, totally
This chaotic breathing is to create a the body, the more alive you be- alive, then you are no longer a
chaos within your repressed system. come, the more animal-like. Ani- body - just energy. To feel this en-
Whatever you are, you are with a mals are alive and man is half-dead, ergy, to be alive with this energy, is
certain type of breathing. A child half-alive. You have to be made very necessary if you are to move
breathes in a particular way. If you into an animal again. Only then can beyond.
are sexually afraid, you breathe in a something higher develop in you. The second step in my technique of
particular way. You cannot breathe If you are only half-alive, nothing Dynamic Meditation is a catharsis.
deeply because every deep breath can be done with you. So this I tell you to be consciously insane.
hits the sex center. If you are fear- chaotic breathing will make you Whatever comes to your mind -
ful, you cannot take deep breaths. like an animal: alive, vibrating, vi- whatever - allow it to express it-
Fear creates shallow breathing. tal - with more oxygen in your self; cooperate with it. No resis-
This chaotic breathing is to destroy blood, more energy in your cells. tance; just a flow of emotions.
all your past patterns. What you Your body cells will become more If you want to scream, then
have made out of yourself, this alive. This oxygenation helps to scream. Cooperate with it. A deep
38
scream, a total scream in which With this second step - when things So I never suggest a mantra to
your whole being becomes in- are thrown out - you become va- anyone as he is. First there must be
volved, is very therapeutic, deeply cant. And this is what is meant by a catharsis. This mantra hoo should
therapeutic. Many things, many emptiness: to be empty of all repres- never be done without doing the
diseases, will be released just by sions. In this emptiness something first two steps. It should never be
the scream. If the scream is total, can be done. Transformation can done without them. Only in the
your whole being will be in it. happen; meditation can happen. third step (for ten minutes) is this
So for the next ten minutes (this sec- Then in the third step I use the hoo to be used - used as loudly as
ond step is also for ten minutes) al- sound hoo. Many sounds have been possible, bringing your total energy
low yourself expression through cry- used in the past. Each sound has to it. You hammer your ener-
are to
ing, dancing, screaming, weeping, something specific to do. For exam- gy with the sound. And when you
jumping, laughing - 'freaking out' ple, Hindus have been using the are empty - when you have been
as they say. Within a few days, you sound aum. This may be familiar to emptied by the catharsis of the sec-
will come to feel what it is. you. But I won't suggest aum ond step - this hoo goes deep down
In the beginning it may be forced, an Aum strikes at the heart center, but and hits the sex center.
effort, or it may even be just acting. man is no longer centered in the The sex center can be hit in two
We have become so false that noth- heart. Aum is striking at a door ways. The first way is naturally.
ing real or authentic can be done by where no one is home. Whenever you are attracted to a
us. We have not laughed, we have Sufis have used hoo, and if you say member of the opposite sex, the
not cried, we have not screamed au- hoo loudly, it goes deep to the sex sex center is hit from without. And
thentically. Everything is just a fa- center. So this sound is used just as a that hit is also a subtle vibration. A
cade - a mask. So when you begin hammering within. When you have man is attracted to a woman or a
to do this technique - in the begin- become empty and vacant, this woman is attracted to a man. Why?
ning - itmay be forced. It may need sound can move within you. What is there in a man and what is
effort; there may be just acting. But The movement of the sound is pos- there in a woman to account for it?
do not bother about it. Go on. Soon sible only when you are empty. If A positive or negative electricity
you will touch those sources where you are filled with repressions, noth- hits them, a subtle vibration. It is a
you have repressed many things. ing will happen. And sometimes it is sound, really. For example, you
You will touch those sources, and even dangerous to use any mantra or may have observed that birds use
once they are released, you will feel sound when you are filled with re- sound for sex appeal. All their
unburdened. A new life will come to pressions. Each layer of repression singing is sexual. They are repeat-
you; a new birth will take place. will change the path of the sound edly hitting each other with partic-
This unburdening is basic and with- and the ultimate result may be ular sounds. These sounds hit the
out it there can be no meditation for something of which you never sex centers of birds of the opposite
man as he is. Again, I am not talking dreamed, never expected, never sex.
about the exceptions. They are wished. You need a vacant mind; Subtle vibrations of electricity are
irrelevant only then can a mantra be used. hitting you from without. When
39
THEM EDITATI ON S
your sex center is hit from without, Don't do anything at all because not doing anything, but just re-
your energy begins to flow outward anything you do can become a di- maining a witness, just remaining
- toward the other. Then there will version and you will miss the point. with yourself; not doing anything -
be reproduction, birth. Someone Anything -just a cough or a sneeze no movement, no desire, no be-
else will be bom out of you. - and you may miss the whole coming - but just remaining then
Hoo is hitting the same center of thing because the mind has become and there, silently witnessing what
energy, but from within. And when diverted. Then the upward flow will is happening.
the sex center is hit from within, the stop immediately because your at- That remaining in the center, in
energy starts to flow within. This tention has moved. yourself, is possible because of the
inner flow of energy changes you Don't do anything. You are not go- first three steps. Unless these three
completely. You become trans- ing to die. Even if a sneeze is com- are done, you cannot remain with
formed: you give birth to yourself. ing and you do not sneeze for ten yourself. You can go on talking
You are transformed only when minutes, you will not die. If you about it, thinking about it, dream-
your energy moves in a totally op- feel like coughing, if you feel an ir- ing about it, but it will not happen
posite direction. Right now it is ritation in the throat and you do not because you are not ready.
flowing out, but then it begins to do anything, you are not going to These first three steps will make
flow within. Now it is flowing die. Just let your body remain dead you ready to remain with the mo-
down, but then it flows upward. so that the energy can move in one ment. TTiey will make you aware.
This upward flow of energy is what upward flow. That is meditation. In that medita-
is known as kundalini. You will feel When the energy moves upward, tion something happens that is be-
it actually flowing in your spine, you become more and more silent. yond words. And once it happens
and the higher it moves, the higher Silence is the by-product of energy you will never be the same again; it
you will move with it. When this moving upward and tension is the is impossible. It is a growth; it is
energy reaches the brahmarandhra by-product of energy moving not simply an experience. It is a
- the last center in you: the seventh downward. Now your whole body growth. ?
center, located at the top of the head will become so silent - as if it has
- you are the highest man possible. disappeared. You will not be able to
In the third step, I use hoo as a ve- feel it. You have become bodiless. Remember,
hicle to bring your energy upward. And when you are silent, the whole remain a witness
These first three steps are cathartic. existence is silent because the exis-
They are not meditation, but just tence is nothing but a mirror. It
This is a meditation in which
preparation for it. They are a 'get- reflects you. In thousands and you have to be continuously
ting ready' to take the jump, not the thousands of mirrors, it reflects alert, conscious, aware, whatsoever
jump itself. you. When you are silent, the you do. Remain a witness. Don't
The fourth step is the jump. In the whole existence has become silent. get lost.
fourth step I tell you to stop! When In your silence I will tell you to just It is easy to get lost. While you are
I say "Stop!" stop completely. be a witness - a constant alertness: breathing you can forget. You can
40
become one with the breathing so Observe what is happening, as if you This witnessing has to be carried in
much that you can forget the wit- are just a spectator, as if the whole all the three steps. And when every-
ness. But then you miss the point. thing is happening to somebody else, thing stops, and in the fourth step
Breathe as fast, as deep as possible, as if the whole thing is happening in you have become completely inac-
bring your total energy to it, but still the body and the consciousness is tive, frozen, then this alertness will
remain a witness. just centered and looking. come to its peak. •«
41
Music meditation
to support
ami
this
to sig-
nal the beginning of

each stage has been composed
with Osho's guidance. For avail-
ability, see back page.
First stage: 15 minutes
Be loose and let your whole body

shake, feeling the energies moving
up from your feet. Let go every-
where and become the shaking.
Your eyes may be opened or
closed.
Second stage: 15 minutes
Dance . . . any way you feel, and

let the whole body move as it
wishes.
Kundalini Meditation
Third stage: 15 minutes ing, don't do it. Stand silently, feel doer, and the body will just be fol-
it coming and when your body lowing. The body is not the ques-
Close your eyes and be still, sitting
starts a little trembling, help it but tion - you are the question.
or standing ... witnessing what-
ever happening inside and
don't do it. Enjoy it, feel blissful When I say shake I mean your so-
is out.
about it, allow it, receive it, wel- lidity, your rock-like being should
come it, but don't will it. shake to the very foundations so
Fourth stage: 15 minutes If you force it, it will become an that it becomes liquid, fluid, melts,
exercise, a bodily physical exer- flows. And when the rock-like be-
Keeping your eyes closed, lie
cise. Then the shaking will be there ing becomes liquid, your body will
down and be still.
but just on the surface, it will not follow. Then there is no shake,
penetrate you. You will remain sol- only shaking. Then nobody is do-
If you are doing the Kundalini id, stone-like, rock-like within; you ing it, it is simply happening. Then
Meditation, then allow the shak- will remain the manipulator, the the doer is noL '
43
THE ME DITATI ON S
"
MEDITATIVE THERAPIES
Osho Meditative
Therapies
The ancient methods of meditation were all developed
in the East. They never considered the Western
man.... I am creating techniques which are not only for
the Eastern man, but which are simply for every man -
Eastern or Western.
Over a period of 18 months before Osho left His body,

He created a new series of "meditative therapies.
Uniquely simple and effective, they involve a minimum
of interaction among the participants, but the energy of
the group helps each individual go more deeply into his
or her own process.
45
THE ME DITATI ON S
46
I
The symbol of the mystic rose is
that if a man
care of thetakes
seed he is bom with, gives it the
right soil, gives it the right atmo-
sphere and the right vibrations,
moves on a right path where the
seed can start growing, then the ul-
timate growth is symbolized as the

mystic rose - when your being
blossoms and opens all its petals
and releases its beautiful fragrance.
The Mystic Rose

Meditation
For those who want to go deeper, I seven days continuously, three hours because you have suppressed so
have chosen to create a new medita- every day... you cannot conceive much sadness, so much despair, so
tive therapy. The first part will be how much transformation can come much anxiety, so many tears - they
laughter - for three hours, people to your being. are all there, covering you and de-
simply laugh for no reason at all. And then the second part is tears. stroying your beauty, your grace,
And whenever their laughter starts The first part removes everything your joy.
dying they again say, "Yaa-Hoo!" that hinders your laughter - all the In old Mongolia they had an an-
and it will come back. Digging for inhibitions of past humanity, all the cient idea that every life, whatever
three hours you will be surprised repressions, it cuts them away. It pain is suppressed... and pain is
how many layers of dust have gath- brings a new space within you. But suppressed, because nobody wants
ered upon your being. It will cut you still have to go a few steps more it. You don't want to be painful, so
them like a sword in one blow. For to reach the temple of your being. you suppress it, you avoid, you
47
THE MED ITATI O NS
look somewhere else. But it re- Finally, the third part is witnessing - I have invented many meditations,
mains. the watcher on the hills. Finally, af- but perhaps this will be the most es-
And the Mongolian idea was - and I ter the laughter and the tears, there is sential and fundamental one. It can
agree with it - that life after life it only a witnessing silence. Witness- take over the whole world. . ..
goes on accumulating in you; it being on its own is automatically sup- Every society has done so much
comes almost a hard shell of pain. If pressive. Weeping stops when you harm by preventing your joys and
you go in you will find both, laugh- wiuiess it, it becomes dormant. This your tears. If an old man starts crying
ter and tears. That's why sometimes meditation gets rid of the laughter you will say, "What are you doing?
it happens that by laughing, sudden- and tears beforehand, so that there is You should feel ashamed; you are
ly you find tears also start coming nothing to suppress in your wiuiess- not a child, that somebody has taken
together with it - very confusing, ing. Then the witnessing simply your banana and you are crying.
because ordinarily we think they are opens a pure sky. So for seven days Have another banana, but don't cry."
contrary. When you are full of tears you experience simply a clarity. Just see - stand on the street and
it is not a time to laugh, or when you This is absolutely my meditation. start crying and a crowd will gather
are laughing it is not the right season You will be surprised that no medi- to console you: "Don't cry! What-
for tears. But existence does not be- tation can give you so much as this ever has happened forget all about
lieve in your concepts, ideologies; small strategy. This is my experi- it, it has happened." Nobody knows
existence transcends all your con- ence of many meditations, that what what has happened, nobody can
cepts, which are dualistic, which are has to be done is to break two layers help you, but everybody will try -
based on duality. Day and night, in you. Your laughter has been "Don't cry!" And the reason is that
laughter and tears, pain and blissful- repressed; you have been told, if you go on crying, then they will
ness, they both come together. "Don't laugh, it is a serious matter." start crying, because they are also
When a man reaches into his inner- You are not allowed to laugh in a flooded with tears. Those tears are
most being he will find the first lay- church, or in a university class. . .. very close to the eyes.
er is of laughter and the second lay- So the first layer is of laughter, but And it is healthy to cry, to weep, to
er is of agony, tears. once laughter is over you will sud- laugh. Now scientists are discover-
So for seven days you have to allow denly find yourself flooded with ing that crying, weeping, laughter
yourself to weep, cry, for no reason tears, agony. But that too will be a are immensely healthful, not only
at all - just the tears are ready to great unburdening phenomenon. physically but also psychologically.
come. You are preventing them; just Many lives of pain and suffering will They are very much capable of
don't prevent. And whenever you disappear. If you can get rid of these keeping you sane. The whole of
feel they are not coming, just say, two layers you have found yourself. humanity has gone a little cuckoo
"Yaa-Boo!" These are pure sounds, There is no meaning in the words for the simple reason that nobody
used as a technique to bring all your 'Yaa-Hoo' or 'Yaa-Boo'. These are laughs fully, because all around
laughter and all your tears and clean simply techniques, sounds which there are people who will say,
you completely, so that you can be- can be used for a certain purpose to "What are you doing? Are you a
come an innocent child. enter into your own being. child? - at this age? What will your
48
{
children think? Keep quiet!" and release your fragrance, and the Let your body roll about in a light,
If you cry and weep without any rea- Mystic Rose is the fulfillment of playful way, with the innocence of
son, just as an exercise, a medita- your inner being, i
the child within you, and allow
tion... nobody will believe it. Tears yourself to laugh with totality.
have never been accepted as medita- Instructions At times, you may come up against
tion. And I tell you, they are not only blocks, which have been there for
a meditation, they are a medicine This meditation in three parts, centuries, preventing your laugh-
also. You will have better eyesight lasting for 21 days, can also be ter When this happens, shout Yaa-
and you will have better inner vision. done alone. Hoo! or do gibberish (nonsense
I am giving you a very fundamental sounds) until laughter arises
technique, fresh and unused. And it 1. Instructions for Laughter again.
is going to become worldwide, with- Let- go: At the end of the laugh-
out any doubt, because its effects The authentic laughter is not about ing stage, sit perfectly still, with
will show anybody that the person anything. It is simply arising in you eyes closed, for a few minutes.
has become younger, the person has as a flower blossoms in a tree. It has The body is frozen, like a statue,
become more loving, the person has no reason, no rational explanation. It gathering all the energy within.
become graceful. The person has be- is mysterious; hence the symbol of Then let-go: relax your body
come more flexible, less fanatic; the the mystic rose. completely and allow it to fall
person has become more joyful, without any effort or control.

more a celebrant. For seven days, begin by shouting When you feel ready, sit up again
All that this world needs is a good Yaa-Hoo! a few times, then just and sit silently, watching for 15
cleansing of the heart of all the inhi- all for 45
laugh for no reason at minutes.
bitions of the past. And laughter and minutes. You can sit or lie down.
tears can do both. Tears will take out Some people find lying on the back 2. Instructions for Tears
all the agony that is hidden inside helps to relax the stomach muscles
you and laughter will take all that is and allows energy to move more Once the laughter is over you will
preventing your ecstasy. Once you easily. Some people find that cov- find yourself flooded with tears,
have learned the art you will be im- ering themselves with a sheet, or agony. But that too will be a great
mensely surprised: why has this not holding their legs in the air helps unburdening phenomenon. Many
been told up to now? There is a rea- to bring out the laughing, giggling lives of pain and suffering will dis-
son: nobody has wanted humanity to child in them. The emphasis is on appear. If you can get rid of those
have the freshness of a roseflower finding your inner laughter, laugh- two layers you have found your-
and the fragrance and the beauty. ter for no reason at all, so your self.
I have called this series of lectures eyes are generally closed. Howev-
The Mystic Rose. "Yaa-Hoo!" is the er, some eye contact with your For the second week, begin by
mantra to bring the mystic rose in friends to spark off laughter is saying Yaa-Boo softly a few times,
your very center, to open your center also fine. then just allow yourself to cry for
49
THE ME DITATI ON S
45 minutes. You may want to have self to be vulnerable. dance. Allow the body to find its
the room slightly darkened to help own movement, and continue

you move into your sadness. You 3. Instructions for The Watcher watching as you are moving; do
can sit or lie down. Close your on the Hills not get lost in the music.
eyes and move deeply into all the

feelings that make you cry. For the third week, sit in silence 4. A Few Points to Help
Allow yourself to cry really for whatever period of time feels
deeply, cleansing and unburden- comfortable for you, and then • During the entire twenty-one day
ing the heart. Feel that the dam of dance to light, heartful music. period, it is best to avoid other
all your pent-up hurts and suffer- You may sit on the floor or use a cathartic meditations or sessions
ings is breaking open - let the chain Your head and back should (e.g. Dynamic or Kundalini Medita-
tears flood out. If you feel blocked be as straight as possible, your tions, or sessions like breath, emo-
or feel sleepy after crying for a eyes closed and your breathing tional release and bioenergetics.)
while, do gibberish. Rock your natural. • If you are doing The Mystic Rose
body back and forth a little, or Relax, be aware, become like a Meditation with friends, do not talk
say Yaa-Boo again a few times. watcher on the hills, just witness- to each other during the meditation.
The tears are there, just don pre- 't ing whatever passes by. It is the • Many
people come to a layer of
vent them. process of watching which is the anger during the week of laughter
Let- go: At the end of the crying meditation; what you are watch- or during the week of tears. There
stage each day, sit perfectly still ing is not important. Remember is no need to stay stuck there. Let
for a few minutes and then move not to become identified with or it be expressed with gibberish and
into let-go, the same as you did lost in whatever comes by: body movements, then return to
after the laughter. thoughts, feelings, body sensa- the laughter or tears.
During this week of tears, be tions, judgments. • Celebrate your laughter, cele-
open to any situation which After sitting, play some gentle brate your tears, celebrate your
might bring tears. Allow your- music of your own choice and moments of silent watching!
50
THE NO-MIND MEDITATION
No-mind means intelligence.

Mind means gibberish, not
intelligence, and when am ask- I
ing you for gibberish, I am simply

asking you to throw out the mind
and all its activity so you remain
behind - pure, clean, transparent,
perceptive.
The No-Mind Meditation

My Beloved Ones, I am introduc- nothing but gibberish. Put it aside in which the buddha appears.
ing you to a new meditation. It is and you will have a taste of your In the second part, the cyclone is
divided in three parts. own being gone and has taken you also away.
Use gibberish and go consciously The buddha has taken its place in
The first part is gibberish. The crazy. Go crazy with absolute absolute silence and immobility.
word 'gibberish' comes from a awareness so that you become the You are just witnessing the body,
Sufi mystic, Jabbar. Jabbar never center of the cyclone. Simply al- the mind and anything that is hap-
spoke any language, he just ut- low whatever comes, without pening.
tered nonsense. Still he had thou- bothering whether it is meaningful In the third part I will say, 'Let go!'
sands of disciples because what or reasonable. Just throw out all Then you relax your body and let it
he was saying was, 'Your mind is mind garbage and create the space fall without any effort, without
51
THE MEDITATIONS
your mind controlling. Just fall thoughts, you can throw them out moment. Become like a watcher
like a bag of rice. in this gibberish. on the hills, witnessing whatever
Each segment will begin with the Everything is allowed: sing, cry, passes by. Your thoughts will try
sound of a drum. shout, scream, mumble, talk. Let to race to the future or back to
your body do whatever it wants: the past. Just watch them from a
Instructions jump, lie down, pace, sit, kick, arui distance - don 't judge them, don 't
so on. Do not let empty spaces get caught up in them. Just stay
Try the meditation for seven days at happen. If you cannot find sounds in the present, watching. It is the
first, as that will be a long enough to gibber with, just say la la la la, process of watching which is the
period to experience its effects. Al- but don 't remain silent. meditation, what you are watch-
low for approximately 40 minutes If you do this meditation with oth- ing is not important. Remember
of gibberish, followed by 40 min- er people, do not relate or inter- not to become identified with or
utes of witnessing and Let-Go, but fere with them in any way. Just lost in whatever comes by:
you can continue both stages for a stay with what is happening to thoughts, feelings, body sensa-
further 20 minutes if you wish. you, and don 't bother about what tions, judgments.
others are doing.
First stage: Gibberish or Con- Third stage: Let-Go
scious Craziness Second stage: Witnessing
Gibberish is to get rid of the active
Staruiing or sitting, close your eyes After the gibberish, sit absolutely mind, silence is to get rid of the
and begin to say nonsense sounds still and silent and relaxed, gath- inactive mind, and Let-Go is to
- gibberish. Make any sounds you ering your energy inwards, letting enter into the transcendental.
like, but do not speak in a lan- your thoughts drift further and After the witnessing, allow your
guage, or use words that you further away from you, allowing body to fall back to the grourul
know. Allow yourself to express yourself to fall into the deep si- without any effort or control.
whatever needs to be expressed lence and peacefulness that is at Lying back, continue witnessing,
within you. Throw everything out, your center You may sit on the being aware that you are not the
go totally mad. Go consciously floor or use a chair Your head body nor the mind, that you are
crazy. The mind thinks in terms of and back should be straight, your something separate from both.
words. Gibberish helps to break up body relaxed, your eyes closed As you travel deeper and deeper
this pattern of continuous verbal- and your breathing natural. inside, you will eventually come
ization. Without suppressing your Be aware, be totally in the present to \our center -
52
J
BORN AGAIN
Remember this: regain your

childhood. Everyone longs for
it, but no one is doing anything to
regain it. Everyone longs for it!
People go on saying that childhood

was paradise and poets go on writ-
ing poems about the beauty of

childhood. Who is preventing you?
Regain it! 1 give you this opportu-
nity to regain it.
Bom Again
Be playful. It will be difficult, be- can you lose in being playful? But I In these eight days I want to throw
cause you are so much structured. say to you: you will never be the you back to the point where you
You have an armor around you - it is same again. started being "good" against being
so difficult to loose it, to relax it. You My insistence on being playful is natural. Be playful so your child-
cannot dance, you cannot sing, you because of this. I want to throw you hood is regained. It will be difficult
cannot just jump, you cannot just back to the very point from where because you will have to put aside
scream and laugh and smile. Even if you stopped growing. There has your masks, your faces; you will
you want to laugh, you first want been a point in your childhood have to put aside your personality.
something there to be laughed at. You when you stopped growing and But remember, the essence can as-
cannot simply laugh. There must be when you started being false. You sert itself only when your personal-
some cause; only then can you laugh. may have been angry - a small ity is not there, because your
There must be some cause; only then child in a tantrum, angry - and your personality has become an impris-
can you cry and weep. father or your mother said, "Don't onment. Put it aside! It will be
Put aside knowledge, put side seri- be angry! This is not good!" You painful, but it is worth it because
ousness. Be absolutely playful for were natural, but a division was cre- you are going to be reborn out of
these days. You have nothing to ated and a choice was there for you: it. And no birth is without pain. If
lose! If you don't gain anything, If you want to be natural, then you you are really determined to be re-
you will not lose anything. What will not get the love of your parents. bom, then take the risk.
53
THEM EDITATIONS
in any posture. Nothing is prohibit- Decide that for these days you
Instructions ed except touching other people. will be as ignorant as you were
Don't touch or harm anyone else in when you were born -just a
Osho 's guidelines for Bom Again the group. new babe, knows nothing,
child, a
are as follows: asks nothing, discusses nothing,
Second stage:
argues nothing. If you can be a
First stage:
For the second hour just sit silent- little babe, much is possible.
For the first hour you behave like a ly. You will be more fresh, more Even that which looks impossible
"*
child, just enter into your child- innocent, and meditation will be- is possible.
hood. Whatever you wanted to do, come easier. -
do - dancing, singing, jumping,

it Two hours a day for seven days.
crying, weeping - anything at all.
DANCING AS A MEDITATION
Dancing
as a Meditation
Disappear in the dance
Forget the dancer, the center of the ego; become the

dance. That is the meditation. Dance so deeply that
you forget completely that 'you' are dancing and begin
to feel that you are the dance. The division must disap-
pear, then it becomes a meditation. If the division is
there, then it is an exercise: good, healthy, but it cannot

be said to be spiritual. It is just a simple dance. Dance is
good in itself - as far as it goes, it is good. After it, you

will feel fresh, young. But it is not meditation yet. The
dancer must go. until only the dance remains.
So what to do? Be totally in the dance, because division
can exist only if you are not tot?! in it. If you are stand-
ing aside and looking at your own dance, the division
will remain: you are the dancer and you are dancing.
Then dancing is just an act, something you are doing; it
is not your being. So get involved totally, be merged in it.
Don't stand aside, don't be an observer.

Participate!
55
THE ME DITATI ON S
DANCING AS A MEDITATION
the dance flow in own

Let its
way; don't force it. Rather, fol-

low it; allow it to happen. It is not a
doing but a happening. Remain in
the mood of festivity. You are not

doing something very serious; you
are just playing, playing with your
life energy, playing with your
bioenergy, allowing it to move in its
own way. Just like the wind blows

and the river flows - you are flow-
ing and blowing. Feel iL
And be playful. Remember this
word 'playful' always - with me, it
is very basic. In this country we
Nataraj Meditation
Nataraj is dance as a total meditation. There are three stages, lasting a total
of 65 minutes.
call creation God's leela - God's First stage: 40 minutes Second stage: 20 minutes
play. God has not created the
world; it is his play, i
With eyes closed dance as if pos- Keeping your eyes closed, lie down
sessed. Let your unconscious take immediately. Be silent and still.
Music to support this meditation over completely. Do not control
has been composed with Osho's your movements or be a witness Third stage: 5 minutes
guidance. For availability', see to what is happening. Just be to-
back page. tally in the dance. Dance in celebration and enjoy. '
57
THE ME DITATION S
Whirling one of the is

Sufi
most ancient techniques, one
of the most forceful. It is so
deep that even a single experience
can make you totally different.
Whirl with open eyes, just like
small children go on twirling, as if
your inner being has become a cen-

ter and your whole body has be-
come a wheel, moving, a patter's
wheel, moving. You are in the cen-

ter, but the whole body is moving.
Whirling Meditation
It is recommended that no food or eyes open, but unfocused so that part of the meditation starts. Roll
drink be taken for three hours be- images become blurred and flow- onto your stomach immediately so
fore whirling. It is best to have ing. Remain silent. that your bare navel is in contact
bare feet and wear loose clothing. For the first 15 minutes, rotate with the earth. If anybody feels
The meditation is divided into two slowly. Then gradually build up strong discomfort lying this way,
stages, whirling and resting. There speed over the next 30 minutes until he should lie on his back Feel
is no fixed time for the whirling - the whirling takes overand you be- your body blending into the earth,
it can go on for hours - but it is come a whirlpool of energy - the pe- like a small child pressed to the
suggested that you continue for at riphery a storm of movement but the mother's breasts. Keep your eyes
least an hour to get fully into the witness at the center silent and still. closed and remain passive and
feeling of the energy whirlpool. When you are whirling so fast that silent for at least 15 minutes.
The whirling is done on the spot in you cannot remain upright, your After the meditation be as quiet
an anti-clockwise direction, with body will fall by itself. Don make
't arui inactive as possible.
the rightarm held high, palm up- the fall a decision on your part Some people may feel nauseous
wards, and the left arm low, palm nor attempt to arrange the landing during the Whirling Meditation,
downwards. People who feel dis- in advance; if your body is soft but this feeling should disappear
comfort from whirling anti-clock- you will land softly and the earth within two or three days. Only
wise can change to clockwise. Let will absorb your energy. discontinue the meditation if it
your body be soft and keep your Once you have fallen, the second persists. 2
58
ANYTHING CAN BE A MEDITATION
Anything
Can Be a Meditation
his is the secret: de-automatize. If we can de-
t:automatize our activities, then the whole life
becomes a meditation. Then any small thing, taking a

shower, eating your food, talking to your friend,
becomes meditation. Meditation is a quality; it can be
brought to anything. It is not a specific act. People
think that way, they think meditation is a specific act -
when you sit facing to the east, you repeat certain
mantras, you bum some incense, you do this and that
at a particular time in a particular way with a particu-
lar gesture. Meditation has nothing to do with all those
things. They are all ways to automatize it and medi-
tation is against automatization.
So if you can keep alert, any activity is meditation;
any movement will help you immensely. '
59
THE MEDITATI ONS
ANYTHING CAN BE A MEDITATION
r"
is natural and easy to keep
It alert while you are in move-
ment. When you are just sit-
ting silently, the natural thing is to
just fall asleep. When you are ly-

ing on your bed it is very difficult
to keep alert because the whole sit-
uation helps you to fall asleep. But

in movement naturally you cannot
fall asleep, you function in a more
alert way. TTie only problem is that
the movement can become me-

chanical.
Learn to melt your body, mind and
Running, Jogging,
and Swimming
soul. Find ways where you can God? But it has happened. And body was functioning beautifully,
function as a unity. now, more and more, running is the fresh air, the new world bom
It happens many times to runners. becoming a new kind of medita- again out of the darkness of the
You might not think of running as tion. It can happen when running. night, everything singing all
a meditation, but runners some- If you have ever been a runner, if around, you were feeling so alive
times have felt a tremendous expe- you have enjoyed running in the ...a moment comes when the run-
rience of meditation. And they early morning when the air is fresh ner disappears, and there is only
were surprised, because they were and young and the whole world is running. The body, mind and soul
not looking for it - who thinks that coming back from sleep, awaken- start functioning together; suddenly
a runner is going to experience ing - you were running and your an inner orgasm is released.
61
THEME DITATI ON S
Runners have sometimes come ac- not meditation, it is torture. For a If you are connected with the
cidentally on the experience of the young man who is alive and vibrant earth, you are connected with life.
fourth, turiya, although they will it is repression, it is not meditation. If you are connected with the
miss it - they will think it was just Start running in the morning on earth, you are connected with your
because of running that they en- the road. Start with half a mile and body. If you are connected with the
joyed the moment: that it was a then one mile and come eventually earth, you will become very sensi-
beautiful day, the body was healthy to at least three miles. While run- tive and centered - and that's what
and the world was beautiful, and it ning use the whole body; don't run is needed.
was mood. They will
just a certain as if you are in a straitjacket. Run Never become an expert in run-
not take note of it - but if they do like a small child, using the whole ning; remain an amateur so that
take note of it, my own observation body - hands and feet - and run. alertness may be kept. If you feel
is that a runner can come close to Breathe deeply and from the belly. sometimes that running has be-
meditation more easily than any- Then sit under a tree, rest, perspire come automatic, drop it; try
body else. and let the cool breeze come; feel swimming. If that becomes auto-
Jogging can be of immense help, peaceful. This will help very matic, then try dancing. The point
swimming can be of immense help. deeply. to remember is that the movement
All these things have to be trans- Sometimes just stand on the earth is just a situation to create aware-
formed into meditations. without shoes and feel the coolness, ness. While it creates awareness it
Drop the old ideas of meditations - the softness, the warmth. Whatso- is good. If it stops creating aware-
that just sitting underneath a tree in ever the earth is ready to give in ness, then it is no more of any
a yoga posture is meditation. That is that moment, just feel it and let it use; change to another movement
only one of the ways, and it may be flow through you. And allow your where you will have to be alert
suitable for a few people but it is not energy to flow into the earth. Be again. Never allow any activity to
suitable for all. For a small child it is connected with the earth. become automatic. ^
62
'
ANYTHING CAN F A MEDITATION
Laughter brings some energy

from your inner source to
your surface. Energy starts
flowing, follows laughter like a

shadow. Have you watched it?
When you really laugh, for those
few moments you are in a deep
Laughing Meditation
meditative state. Thinking stops. It know, dancing and laughter are the of boundaries. And if you are re-
is impossible to laugh and think to- best, natural, easily approachable ally dancing - not managing it
gether. They are diametrically op- doors. If you really dance, think- but allowing it manage you, al-
to
posite: either you can laugh or you ing stops. You go on and on, you lowing it to possess you - if you
can think. If you really laugh, whirl and whirl, and you become a are possessed by dance, thinking
thinking stops. If you are still whirlpool - all boundaries, all di- stops.
thinking, laughter will be just so- visions are lost. You don't even The same happens with laughter.
so, lagging behind. It will be a know where your body ends and If you are possessed by laughter,
crippled laughter. where existence begins. You melt thinking stops.
When you really laugh, suddenly into existence and existence melts Laughter can be a beautiful intro-
mind disappears. As far as I into you; there is an overiapping duction to a non-thinking state.
63
THE MEDITATIONS
Instructions for The laughing Buddha

Laughing Meditation
Every morning upon waking, There is a story, in Japan, of the they would start laughing, and
before opening your eyes, laughing Buddha, Hotei. His then the laughter would spread,
stretch like a cat. Stretch every fiber whole teaching was just laughter. and tidal waves of laughter, and
of your body. After three or four He would move from one place to the whole village would be over-
minutes, with eyes still closed, be- another, from one marketplace to whelmed with laughter.
gin to laugh. For five minutes just another marketplace. He would People used to wait for Hotei to
laugh. At first you will be doing it, stand in the middle of the market come to their village because he
but soon the sound of your attempt and start laughing - that was his brought such joy, such blessings.
will cause genuine laughter Lose sermon. He never uttered a single word,
yourself in laughter It may take sev- His laughter was catching, infec- never. You asked about Buddha
eral days before it really happens, tious; a real laughter, his whole and he would laugh; you asked
for we are so unaccustomed to the belly pulsating with the laughter, about enlightenment and he
phenomenon. But before long it will shaking with laughter. He would would laugh; you asked about
be spontaneous and will change the roll on the ground with laughter. truth and he would laugh. Laugh-
whole nature of your day. * People who would collect together. ter was his only message.
64
ANYTHING CAN BF. A MEDITATION
A
he was
"You will
man came
smoking
ill
to
and the doctors

never be healthy
me.
been suffering from chain-
He had
for thirty years;
if
said,
you
don't stop smoking." But he was a
chronic smoker; he could not help
it. He had tried - not that he had
not tried - he had tried hard, and
he had suffered much in trying, but
only for one day or two days, and
then again the urge would come so
tremendously, it would simply take
him away. Again he would fall into
the same pattern.
Smoking Meditation
Because of this smoking he had to understand. Smoking is not only once you have practiced so long,
lost all self-confidence: he knew a question of your decision now. It you are a great yogi - thirty years'
he could not do a small thing; he has entered into your world of practicing smoking! It has become
could not stop smoking. He had habits; it has taken roots. Thirty autonomous; you will have to de-
become worthless in his own eyes; years is a long time. It has taken automatize it."
he thought himself just the most roots in your body, in your chem- He said, "What do you mean by
worthless person in the worid. He istry; it has spread all over. It is not 'de-automatization'?"
had no respect for himself. He just a question of your head decid- And that's what meditation is all
came to me. ing; your head cannot do anything. about, de-automatization.

He said, "What can I do? How The head is impotent; it can start I said, "You do one thing: forget
can I stop smoking?" I said, "No- things, but it cannot stop them so about stopping. There is no need
body can stop smoking. You have easily. Once you have started and either. For thirty years you have
65
THE MED ITATION S
smoked and lived; of course it was alert, aware; take it out slowly pranayam. I am giving you the new
a suffering but you have become with full awareness. Then take the yoga for the new age! Then release
accustomed to that too. And what cigarette out of the packet with full the smoke, relax, another puff -
does it matter if you die a few hours awareness, slowly - not in the old and go very slowly.
earlier than you would have died hurried way, the unconscious way, "If you can do it, you will be sur-
without smoking? What are you go- mechanical way. Then start tap- prised; soon you will see the whole
ing to do here? What have you ping the cigarette on your packet - stupidity of it. Not because others
done? So what is the point - but very alertly. Listen to the have said that it is stupid, not be-
whether you die Monday or Tues- sound, just as Zen people do when cause others have said that it is bad.
day or Sunday, this year, that year - the samovar starts singing and the You will see it. And the seeing will
what does it matter?" tea starts boiling ... and the aroma. not just be intellectual. It will be
He said, "Yes, that is true, it Then smell the cigarette and the from your total being; it will be a
doesn't matter." Then I said, "For- beauty of it...." vision of your totality. And then
get about it; we are not going to He said, "What are you saying? one day, if it drops, it drops; if it
stop it at all. Rather, we are going The beauty?" continues, it continues. You need
to understand it. So next time, you "Yes, it is beautiful. Tobacco is as not worry about it."
make it a meditation." divine as anything. Smell it; it is After three months he came and he
He said, "Meditation out of smok- God's smell." said, "But it dropped."
ing?" He looked a little surprised. He "Now," I said, "try it on other
I said, "Yes. If Zen people can said, "What! Are you joking?" things too."
make a meditation out of drinking No, I am not joking. Even when I This is the secret, the secret: de-
tea and can make it a ceremony, joke, I don't joke. I am very serious. automatize.
why not? Smoking can be as beau- "Then put it in your mouth, with full
tiful a meditation." awareness, light it with full aware- Walking, walk slowly, watchfully.
He looked thrilled. He said, "What ness. Enjoy every act, every small Looking, look watchfully, and you
are you saying?" act, and divide it many acts
into as will see trees are greener than they
He became alive! He said, "Medita- as possible, so you can become have ever been and roses are rosier
tion? just tell me - I can't wait!" more and more aware. than they have ever been. Listen!
I gave him the meditation. I said, 'Then have the first puff: God in Somebody is talking, gossiping:
"Do one thing. When you are tak- theform of smoke. Hindus say, listen, listen attentively. When you
ing the packet of cigarettes out of 'Annam Brahm' - 'Food is God'. are talking, talk attentively. Let
your pocket, move slowly. Enjoy Why not smoke? All is God. Fill your whole waking activity be-
it, there is no hurry. Be conscious, your lungs deeply - this is a come de-automatized. ^
66
BREATH - A BRIDGE TO MEDITATION
Breath -
a Bridge to Meditation
you can do something with the breath, you will sud-

If
denly turn to the present.
If you can do something with breath, you will attain to
the source of life. If you can do something with breath,

you can transcend time and space. If you can do some-
thing with breath, you will be in the world and also
beyond it. '
67
THE ME DITATION S
68
BREATH A BRIDGE TO MEDITATION
Vipassana is the meditation

that has made more peo-
ple in the world enlight-
ened than any other, because it is
the very essence. All other medita-

tions have the same essence, but in
different forms; something non-

essential is also joined with them.
But vipassana is pure essence. You
cannot drop anything out of it and
you cannot add anything to im-
prove it.
Vipassana is such a simple thing

that even a small child can do it. In
fact, the smallest child can do it
better than you, because he is not
Vipassana
yet filled with the garbage of the awareness, knowing perfectly that coolness that is coming to you, the
mind; he is still clean and inno- you are moving the hand. You can water falling on you and the
cent. move it without any consciousness, tremendous joy of it -just be alert.
Vipassana can be done in three like a mechanical thing... you are It should not go on happening in
ways - you can choose which one on a morning walk; you can go on an unconscious state.
suits you the best. walking without being aware of And the same about your mind.
The first is: awareness of your ac- your feet. Whatever thought passes on the
tions, your body, your mind, your Be alert of the movements of your screen of your mind, just be a
heart. Walking, you should walk body. While eating, be alert to the watcher. Whatever emotion passes
with awareness. Moving your movements that are needed for eat- on the screen of your heart, just
hand, you should move with ing. Taking a shower, be alert to the remain a witness - don't get
69
THE ME DITATIONS
involved, don't get identified, don't Feel it at that extreme - the other natural. Japan has chosen the natu-
evaluate what is good, what is bad; polarity from the belly - feel it from ral way, hence you will be sur-
that is not part of your meditation. the nose. The breath going in gives a prised to see a Japanese statue of
The second form is breathing, be- certain coolness to your nostrils. Buddha. That is the way you can
coming aware of breathing. As the Then the breath going out... breath immediately discriminate whether
breath goes in, your belly starts ris- going in, breath going out. the statue is Indian or Japanese.
ing up, and as the breath goes out, That too is possible. It is easier for The Indian statues of Gautam Bud-
your belly starts settling down men than for women. The woman dha have a very athletic body; the
again. So the second method is to is more aware of the belly. Most of belly is very small and the chest is
be aware of the belly: its rising and the men don't even breathe as deep very broad. But the Japanese Bud-
falling. Just the very awareness of as the belly. Their chest rises up dha is totally different; his chest is
the belly rising and falling... and and falls down, because a wrong almost silent, because he breathes
the belly is very close to the life kind of athletics prevails over the from the belly, but his belly is big-
sources because the child is joined world. Certainly it gives a more ger. It doesn't look very good - be-
with the mother's life through the beautiful form to the body if your cause the idea prevalent in the
navel. Behind the navel is his life's chest is high and your belly is al- world is so old, but breathing from
source. So, when the belly rises up, most non-existent. the belly is more natural, more re-
it is really the life energy, the spring Man has chosen to breathe only up laxed.
of life that is rising up and falling to the chest, so the chest becomes In the night it happens when you
down with each breath. That too is bigger and bigger and the belly sleep; you don't breathe from the
not difficult, and perhaps maybe shrinks down. That appears to him chest, you breathe from the belly.
even easier because it is a single to be more athletic. That's why the night is such a re-
technique. Around the world, except in Japan, laxed experience. After your sleep,
In the first, you have to be aware of all athletes and teachers of athletes in the morning you feel so fresh, so
the body, you have to be aware of emphasize to breathe by filling your young, because the whole night
the mind, you have to be aware of lungs, expanding your chest, and you were breathing naturally... you
your emotions, moods. So it has pulling the belly in. The ideal is the were in Japan!
three steps. The second approach lion whose chest is big and whose These are the two points: if you
has a single step: just the belly, belly is very small. So be like a lion; are afraid that breathing from the
moving up and down. And the re- that has become the rule for athletic belly and being attentive to its ris-
sult is the same. As you become gymnasts, and the people who have ing and falling will destroy your
more aware of the belly, the mind been working with the body. athletic form... men may be more
becomes silent, the heart becomes Japan is the only exception where interested in that athletic form.
silent, the moods disappear. they don't care that the chest should Then for them it is easier to watch
And the third is to be aware of the be broad and the belly should be near the nostrils where the breath
breath at the entrance, when the pulled in. It needs a certain disci- enters. Watch, and when the
breath goes in through your nostrils. pline to pull the belly in; it is not breath goes out, watch.
70
These are the three forms. Any one Sitting are watching, soremember not to
will do. And if you want to do two become identified with whatever
forms together, you can do two Find a reasonably comfortable comes up; questions or problems
forms together; then the effort will and alert position to sit for 40 to may just be seen as mysteries to be
become more intense. If you want 60 minutes. Back and head should enjoyed!
to do all three forms together, you be straight, eyes closed and
can do all three forms together. breathing normal. Stay as still as
Then the possibilities will be quick- possible, only changing position if Vipassana walk
er. But it all depends on you, what- it is really necessary.
ever feels easy. While sitting, the primary object is This is a slow, ordinary walk
Remember: easy is right. to be watching the rise and fall of based on the awareness of the feet
As meditation becomes settled and the belly, slightly above the navel, touching the ground.
mind silent, the ego will disappear. caused by breathing in and out. It You can walk in a circle or a line
You will be there, but there will be is not a concentration technique, of 10 to 15 steps going back and
no feeling of T. Then the doors are so while watching the breath, forth, inside or out of doors.
open. many other things will take your Eyes should be towered on the
Just wait with a loving longing, attention away. Nothing is a dis- ground a few steps ahead. While
with a welcome in the heart for that traction in vipassana, so when walking, the attention should go
great moment - the greatest mo- something else comes up, stop to the contact of each foot as it
ment in anybody's life - of enlight- watching the breath, pay attention touches the ground. If other
enment. to whatever is happening until it's things arise, stop paying atten-
It comes... it certainly comes. It has possible to go back to your breath. tion to the feet, notice what else
never delayed for a single moment. This may include thoughts, feel- took your attention and then
Once you are in the right tuning, it ings, judgments, body sensations, return to the feet.
suddenly explodes in you, trans- impressions from the outside the same technique as in sit-
It is
forms you. world, etc. ting- but watching a different pri-

The old man is dead and the new It is the process of watching that is mary object. You can walk for 20
man has arrived. 2 significant, not so much what you to 30 minutes. '
71
THE ME DITATION S
^^hiva said: Radiant one, this

^k experience may dawn be-
ik^ tween two breaths. After
breath comes in (down) and just
before turning up (out) - the
beneficence.
When your breath comes in,
observe. For a single moment or a

thousandth part of a moment, there
is no breathing - before it turns up,
before it turns outward. One breath
comes in; then there is a certain
point and breathing stops. Then the
breathing goes out. When the
breath goes out, then again for a
Watching the Gap

in the Breath
single moment, or a part of a mo- still, but dead. But the moment is observation and attention will
ment, breathing stops. Then breath- of such a short duration, you never make you feel the gap. Then
ing comes in. observe it. nothing else is needed. You are
Before the breath is turning in or Breath coming in is rebirth; breath blessed. You have known; the
turning out, there is a moment going out is The outgoing
death. thing has happened.
when you are not breathing. In that breath is synonymous with death; You are not to train the breath.
moment the happening is possible, the incoming breath is synonymous Leave it just as it is. Why such a
because when you are not breath- with life. So with each breath you simple technique? It looks so sim-
ing you are not in the world. Un- are dying and being reborn. TTie ple. Such a simple technique to
derstand this: when you are not gap between the two is of a very know the truth? To know the truth
breathing you are dead; you are short duration, but keen, sincere means to know that which is
72
B R R AT H A BRIDGE TO MEDITATION
neither bom nor dies, to know that miss the breath. Do not go ahead; do denly, one day without knowing,
eternal element which always is. not follow behind. Just go with it. you will come to the interval. As
You can know the breath going out, Remember this: do not go ahead; do your awareness will become keen
you can know the breath coming in, not follow it like a shadow. Be si- and deep and intense, as your
but you never know the gap be- multaneous with it. awareness will become bracketed -
tween the two. Breath and consciousness should be- the whole world is bracketed out;
Try it. Suddenly you will get the come one. The breath goes in; you only your breath coming in or go-
fHDint - and you can get it: it is al- go in. Only then will it be possible ing out is your world, the whole
ready there. Nothing is to be added to get the point which is between arena for your consciousness - sud-
to you or to your structure: it is al- two breaths. It will not be easy. denly you are bound to feel the gap
ready there. Everything is already Move in with the breath, then move in which there is no breath.
there except a certain awareness. So out with the breath: in-out, in-out. When you are moving with breath
how to do this? First, become aware Buddha tried particularly to use this minutely, when there is no breath,
of the breath coming in. Watch it. method, so this method has become how can you remain unaware? You
Forget everything: just watch breath a Buddhist method. In Buddhist will suddenly become aware that
coming in - the very passage. When terminology it is known as there is no breath, and the moment
the breath touches your nostrils, feel 'Anapanasati Yoga'. And Buddha's will come when you will feel that
it there. Then let the breath move in. enlightenment was based on this the breath is neither going out nor
Move with the breath fully con- technique -only this. coming in. The breath has stopped
scious. When you are going down, If you go on practicing breath con- completely. In that stopping, "the
down, down with the breath, do not sciousness, breath awareness, sud- beneficence." *
73
THE ME DITATION S
^^hiva said: When in worldly

^k activity keep attentive be-
kJ tween the two breaths, and
so practicing, in a few days be
bom anew.
Whatsoever you are doing, keep

your attention in the gap between
the two breaths. But it must be
practiced while in activity.
We have discussed the technique
that is just similar. Now there is
only this difference, that this has to

be practiced while in worldly ac-
tivity. Do not practice it in isola-
tion. This practice is to be done
Watching the Gap

in the Marketplace
while you are doing something not be distracted. Be fixed at the gap, Your activity will become an act-
else. You are eating: go on eating, and do not stop activity; let the activ- ing, as if you are playing a part.
and be attentive to the gap. You are ity continue. You will have two lay- If this method is practiced, your
walking: go on walking and be at- ers of existence - doing and being. whole life will become a long dra-
tentive to the gap. You are going to We have two layers of existence: the ma. You will be an actor playing
sleep: lie down, let sleep come. world of doing and the world of be- roles, but constantly centered in
But you go on being attentive to ing, the circumference and the cen- the gap. If you forget the gap, then
the gap. ter. Go on working on the periphery, you are not playing roles; you have
Why in activity? Because activity on the circumference; do not stop it. become the role. Then it is not a
distracts the mind. Activity calls But go on working attentively on drama. You have mistaken it as
your attention again and again. Do the center also. What will happen? life. That is what we have done.
74
B R E AT H A BRIDGE TO MEDITATION
Everyone thinks he is living Hfe. It This technique is just to make your attention. You can feel it, you
is not hfe. It is just a role - a part yourself a psychodrama - just a can know it, but it is not signifi-
which has been given to you by so- play. You are focused in the gap cant. It is as if it is not happening
ciety, by circumstances, by culture, between two breaths, and life to you.
by tradition, by the country, the situ- moves on, on the periphery. If your I will repeat this: if you practice
ation. You have been given a role. attention is at the center, then your this technique, your whole life will
You are playing it; you have become attention is not really on the pe- be as if it is not happening to you
identified with it. To break that iden- riphery; that is just 'sub-attention'. - as if it is happening to someone
tification, use this technique. It just happens somewhere near else. ^
75
THE ME DITATION S
£^hi\'a said: With intangible

^k breath in the center of the
kJ forehead, as this reaches the

heart at the moment of sleep, have
direction over dreams and over
death itself.
Take this technique in three parts.
One, you must be able to feel the
prana in breath, the intangible part
of it, the invisible part of it, the im-

material part of it. The feeling
comes if you are attentive between
the two eyebrows. Then it comes
easily. If you are attentive in the
gap, then too it comes, but a little
less easily. If you are aware of the
Dream Mastery
center at your navel where breath but the incoming breath is filled falling into sleep, this technique
comes and touches and goes out, it with prana and the outgoing breath has to be practiced - then only, not
also comes, but with less ease. The is empty. You have sucked the at any other time. While you are
easiest point from which to know prana, and the breath has become falling asleep, only then. That is
the invisible part of breath is to be empty. the right moment to practice this
centered at the third eye. But wher- This sutra is very, very significant: technique. You are falling asleep.
ever you are centered, it comes. "With intangible breath in the cen- Little by little, sleep is overtaking
You begin to feel the prana flowing ter of the forehead, as this reaches you. Within moments, your con-
in. the heart at the moment of sleep, sciousness will dissolve; you will
The ingoing breath and the outgo- have direction over dreams and not be aware. Before that moment
ing breath are the same as vehicles, over death itself." While you are comes, become aware - aware of
76
the breath and the invisible part, are dreaming. If you realize it, then prana, continuously being touched
prana, and feel it coming to the there are two layers: the dream is by prana with every breath, you
heart. there, but you are awake, you are will become a master of your
If this happens - that you are feel- aware. For one who becomes dreams - and this is a rare mas-
ing invisible breath coming into the aware in dreams, this sutra is won- tery.Then you can dream whatso-
heart and sleep overtakes you - you derful. It says, "Have direction ever dreams you like. Just note
will be aware in dreams. You will over dreams and over death itself." while you are falling asleep that "1
know that you are dreaming. Ordi- If you can become aware of want dream this dream," and
to
narily we do not know that we are dreams, you can create dreams. that dream will come to you. Just
dreaming. While you dream you Ordinarily you cannot create say while falling asleep, "I do not
think that this is reality. That too dreams. How impotent man is! want to dream that dream," and
happens because of the third eye. You cannot even create dreams. that dream cannot enter your
Have you seen anyone asleep? His You cannot create dreams! If you mind.
eyesmove upward and become fo- want to dream a particular thing, But what is the use of becoming
cused in the third eye. you cannot dream it; it is not in the master of your dreaming? Isn't
Because of this focusing in the your hands. How powerless man it useless? No, it is not useless.
third eye, you take your dreams as is!Even dreams cannot be created. Once you become master of your
real; you cannot feel they are You are just a victim of dreams, dreams you will never dream. It is
dreams. They are real. You will not the creator. A dream happens absurd. When you are master of
know when you get up in the to you; you cannot do anything. your dreams, dreaming stops; there
morning, then you will know that Neither can you stop it nor can is no need for it. And when dream-
"I was dreaming." But this is the you create it. ing stops, your sleep has a different
later, retrosp>ective realization. You But if you move into sleep remem- quality altogether, and the quality is
cannot realize in the dream that you bering the heart being filled with the same as of death. (<
77
THE ME DITATI ON S
"râtanjali said: The mind

t-^ also becomes tranquil by
M^ alternately expelling and
retaining the breath.
Whenever you feel that the mind is

- tense, worried, chat-
not tranquil
tering, anxious, constantly dreaming
Throwing Things Out

- do one thing: first exhale deeply. air be out, and don't inhale for a and hold for three seconds. But it
Always start by exhaling. Exhale few seconds. TTien allow the body has to be thrown out completely.
deeply; as much as you can, throw to inhale. Inhale deeply - as much Exhale totally and inhale totally,
the air out. Throwing out the air, as you can. Again stop for a few and make a rhythm. Breathe in,
the mood will be thrown out too, seconds. The gap should be the hold; breathe out, hold. Breathe in,
because breathing is everything. same as when you retain the breath hold; breathe out, hold. Immedi-
And then expel the breath as far as out - if you retain it out for three ately you will feel a change com-
possible. seconds, retain the breath in for ing into your whole being. The
Pull the belly in and retain for a three seconds. Throw it out and mood will go; a new climate will
few seconds; don't inhale. Let the hold for three seconds; take it in enter into you. i
78
OPENING THE HEART
Opening the Heart

^he heart is the gateless gate to reality. Move from the
t;head to the heart.
We are all hung up in the head. That is our only problem,

the only one problem. And there is only one solution: get
down from the head into the heart and all problems dis-
appear. They are created by the head. And suddenly

everything is so clear and so transparent that one is sur-
prised how one was continuously inventing problems.

Mysteries remain but problems disappear. Mysteries
abound but problems evaporate. And mysteries are beau-
tiful. They are not to be solved. They have to be lived. '
79
THEM EDITATIONS
OPENING THE HEART
The first
headless.
point:
Visuahze
try to
your-
be
self as headless; move

headlessly. It sounds absurd, but it
is one of the most important exer-

cises. Try it, and then you will
know. Walk, and feel as if you

have no head. In the beginning it
will be only 'as if. It will be very

weird. When the feeling comes to
you that you have no head, it will
be very weird and strange. But by

and by you will settle down at the
heart.
There is a law. You may have seen
that someone who is blind has
From Head to Heart

keener ears, more musical ears. because we ordinarily do much So try this exercise I am talking
Blind men are more musical; their work with touch through our eyes: about - the exercise in headless-
feeling for music is deeper. Why? we are touching each other through ness - and suddenly you will feel a
The energy that ordinarily moves our eyes. A blind man cannot touch strange thing: it will be as if for
through the eyes now cannot move through the eyes, so the energy the first time you are at the heart.
through them, so it chooses a dif- moves through his hands. A blind Walk headlessly. Sit down to
ferent path - it moves through the man is more sensitive than anyone meditate, close your eyes and sim-
ears. who has eyes. Sometimes it may ply feel that there is no head. Feel,
Blind men have a deeper sensitivi- not be so, but generally it is so. En- "My head has disappeared." In the
ty of touch. If a blind man touches ergy starts moving from another beginning it will be just 'as if, but
you, you will feel the difference. center if one center is not there. by and by you will feel that the
THE MEDITATIONS
head has really disappeared. And that you are looking from the heart. justice of the High Court. His wife
when you feel that your head has By and by the heart center will be- told me, "I have only one problem
disappeared, your center will fall gin to function. And when the heart to tell you. Can you help me?"
down to the heart - immediately! functions, it changes your total per- So I said, "What is the problem?"
You will be looking at the world sonality, the total structure, the She said, "My husband is your
through the heart and not through whole pattern, because the heart has friend. He loves you and respects
the head. its own way. you, so if you say something to
When for the first time Westerners So the first thing: try headlessness. him it may be helpful."
reached Japan, they couldn't be- Secondly, be more loving, because So I asked her. "What is to be said?
lieve that the Japanese traditionally love cannot function through the Tell me."
have been thinking for centuries head.Be more loving! That is why, She said, "He remains a High
that they think through the belly. If when someone is in love, he loses Court judge even in bed. I have not
you ask a Japanese child - if he is his head. People say that he has known a lover, a friend or a hus-
not educated in Western ways - gone mad. If you are not in love band. He is a High Court judge
"Where is your thinking?" he will and mad, then you are not really in twenty-four hours a day."
point to his belly. love. The head must be lost. If the It is difficult: it is difficult to come
Centuries and centuries have head is there unaffected, function- down from your pedestal. It be-
passed, and Japan has been living ing ordinarily, then love is not pos- comes a fixed attitude. If you are a
without the head. It is just a con- sible, because for love you need the businessman, you will remain a
cept. If I ask you, "Where is your heart to function - not the head. It businessman in bed also. It is dif-
thinking going on?" you will point is a function of the heart. ficult to accommodate two per-
toward the head, but a Japanese It happens that when a very rational sons within, and it is not easy to
person will point to the belly, not to person falls in love, he becomes change your pattern completely,
the head - one of the reasons why stupid. He himself feels what stu- immediately, anytime you like. It
the Japanese mind is more calm, pidity he is doing, what silliness. is difficult, but if you are in love
quiet and collected. What is he doing! Then he makes you will have to come down from
Now this is disturbed because the two parts of his life; he creates a di- the head.
West has spread over everything. vision. The heart becomes a silent, So for this meditation try to be
Now there exists no East. Only in intimate affair. When he moves out more and more loving. And when I
some individuals who are like is- of his house, he moves out of his say be more loving, I mean change
lands here and there does the East heart. He lives in the world with the the quality of your relationship: let
exist. Geographically, the East has head and only comes down to the it be based on love. Not only with
disappeared. Now the whole worid heart when he is loving. But it is your wife or with your child or
is Western. very difficult. It is very difficult, with your friend, but toward life as
Try headlessness. Meditate standing and ordinarily it never happens. such, become more loving. That is
before your mirror in the bathroom. 1 was staying in Calcutta at a why Mahavir and Buddha have
Look deep into your eyes and feel friend's house, and the friend was a talked about non-violence: it was
82
OPENING THE HEART
just to create a loving attitude to- looking at the world. The mind can mate synthesis is God. If you can
ward life. never look in that way: that is im- look through the heart, the whole
When Mahavir moves, walks, he possible for the mind. The mind universe looks like one. That one-
remains aware not even to kill an can only analyze! The heart syn- ness is God.
ant. Why? Really, the ant is not thesizes; the mind can only dis- That is why science can never find
concerned. Mahavir is coming sect, divide. It is a divider. Only God. It is impossible, because the
down from the head to the heart, the heart gives unity. method applied can never reach to
creating a loving attitude toward When you can look through the the ultimate unity. The very method
life as such. The more your rela- heart the whole universe looks like of science is reason, analysis, divi-
tionship is based on love - all rela- one unity. When you approach sion. So science comes to mol-
tionships - the more your heart through the mind, the whole world ecules, atoms, electrons, and they
center will function. It will start becomes atomic. There is no unity: will go on dividing. They can never
working; you will look at the only atoms and atoms and atoms. come to the organic unity of the
world through different eyes: be- The heart gives a unitary experi- whole. The whole is impossible to
cause the heart has its own way of ence. It joins together and the ulti- look at through the head. -
83
THE M E DI TATI ONS
is best to do this prayer at

It night, in a darkened room, go-
ing to sleep immediately after-
wards; or it can be done in the
morning, but it must be followed
by fifteen minutes rest. This rest is
necessary, otherwise you will feel

as if you are drunk, in a stupor.
This merging with energy is
prayer. It changes you. And when

you change, the whole existence
changes.
Raise both your hands towards the
sky, palms uppermost, head up, just
feeling existence flowing in you.
As the energy flows down your
arms you will feel a gentle tremor
Prayer Meditation
- be like a leaf in a breeze, trem- filled, lean down to the earth and ing with it, falling into sleep. That
bling. Allow it, help it. Then let kiss the earth. You simply become will help very greatly because then
your whole body vibrate with en- a vehicle to allow the divine energy the energy will surround you the
ergy, and just let whatever happens to unite with that of the earth. whole night and it will continue to
happen. These two stages should be repeat- work. By the morning you will
You feel again a flowing with the ed six more times so that each of feel more fresh than you have ever
earth. Earth and heaven, above and the chakras can become unblocked. felt before, more vital than you
below, yin and yang, male and fe- More times can be done, but if you have ever felt before. A new elan,
male - you float, you mix, you do less you will feel restless and a new life will start penetrating
drop yourself completely. You are unable to sleep. you, and the whole day you will
not.You become one merge. . . . Go into sleep in that very state of feel full of new energy; a new
After two to three minutes, or prayer. Just fall asleep and the ener- vibe, a new song in your heart, and
whenever you feel completely gy will be there. You will be flow- a new dance in your step. ^
84
OPENING THE HEART
^^hiva said: In any easy posi-

^k tion gradually pervade an
î^J area between the armpits
into great peace.
A very simple method but it works

miraculously - try it. And anyone
can try it, there is no danger. In an
easy position: the first thing is to
be in a relaxed position - easy,

whatsoever is easy for you. So
don't try some particular position
or asana. Buddha sits in a particu-
lar posture. It is easy for him. It
can also become easy for you if
you practice it for a time, but in

the very beginning it will not be
The Heart
of Peacefulness
easy for you. And there is no need sion. If you feel somewhere there is Wherever you feel the tension
to practice it: start from any pos- some tension, do one thing: make it make it more, because it is easy to
ture that comes easy to you right more tense. If you feel that in the relax it when it is intense. In just a
now. Don't struggle with posture. leg, in the right leg, there is tension, mid-state it is very difficult because
You can sit in an easy chair and re- then make that tension as intense as you cannot feel it.
lax. The only thing is your body possible. Bring it to a peak and then It is easy to move from one ex-
must be in a relaxed state. suddenly relax so that you can feel treme to another, very easy, be-
Just close your eyes and feel all how relaxation settles there. Then cause the very extreme creates the
over the body. Start from the legs go all over the body just finding if situation to move to the other. So
feeling whether there is some ten- there is some tension somewhere. if you feel some tension in the face
85
THE MEDITATIONS
then strain all the face muscles as the area between the two armpits: filled with a certain peace. And that
much as possible, create tension the heart area, your chest. First feel peace arises from the So
heart.
and bring it to a p>eak. Bring it to a it, just between the two armpits, peace and love become
have
point where you feel that now no bring your total attention, total joined, associated. Whenever you
more is possible - then suddenly re- awareness. Forget the whole body, are in love you are peaceful; when-
lax. So see that all parts of the body, just the heart area between the two ever you are not in love you are
all the limbs, are relaxed. armpits, your chest, and feel it disturbed. Because of p)eace the
Be particular about the face mus- filled with great peace. heart has become associated with
cles, because they carry ninety per- The moment the body is relaxed, love.
cent of the tensions - the rest of the automatically peace happens in So you can do two things. Either
body carries only ten percent - be- your heart. The heart becomes you can search for love, then
cause all your tensions are in the silent, relaxed, harmonious. And sometimes you will feel peace.
mind and the face becomes the stor- when you forget the whole body But the path is dangerous, because
age.So strain your face as much as and bring your attention just to the the other person whom you love
possible, don't be shy about it. In- chest and consciously feel that it is has become more important than
tensely make it in anguish, anxiety filled with peace, much peace will you. TTie other is the other, and
- and then suddenly relax. Do it for happen immediately. you are becoming dependent in a
five minutes so you can feel now There are two areas in the body, way. So love will give you peace
the whole body, every limb, is re- particular centers where particular sometimes but not always. There
laxed. feelings can be created consciously. will be many disturbances, many
You can do it lying on the bed, you Between the two armpits is the cen- moments of anguish and anxiety,
can do it sitting also - howsoever ter of the heart, and the heart center because the other has entered and
you feel is easy for you. is the source of all peace that hap- whenever the other enters there is
The second thing: when you feel p)ens to you, whenever it happens. bound to be some disturbance be-
that the body has come to an easy Whenever you are peaceful, the cause you can meet with the other
posture, don't make much fuss peace is coming from the heart. The only on your surface, and the sur-
about it. Just feel that the body is re- heart radiates peace. That's why peo- face will be disturbed. Only some-
laxed, then forget the body. Because ple from all over the world, without times - when the two of you will
really, remembering the body is a any distinction of caste, religion, be so deeply in love with no con-
sort of tension. So that's why 1 say country, cultured or uncultured, flict - only sometimes you will be
don't make much fuss about it. every race, have felt this: that love relaxed and the heart will glow
Relax it and forget it. Forgetting is arises somewhere from the heart. No with peace.
relaxation, because whenever you scientific explanation exists. So love can give you only glimpses
remember tpo much, that very re- So whenever you think of love you of peace but never really any estab-
membering brings a tension to the think of the heart. Really, whenever lishment, any rootedness in peace.
body. you are in love you are relaxed, and No eternal peace is possible through
Then close your eyes and just feel because you are relaxed you are it, only glimpses. And between two
86
OPENING THE HEART
glimpses there will be deep valleys with peace, not that this imagina- whether the distance is becoming
of conflict, violence, hatred, anger. tion will create the peace. This is greater and greater or not, by
The other way is not to find peace the difference between the tantra at- knowing how you are feeling about
through love, but to find peace di- titude and Western hypnosis: hyp- the world. So that is the criterion.
rectly. If you can find peace directly notists think that by imagination This is not a truth - that the world
- and this is the method - your life you are creating it; tantra thinks is unreal - this is a meditative crite-
will become filled with love. But that you are not creating it - by rion. If the world has become un-
now the quality of love will be dif- imagination you are simply becom- real, you have become centered
ferent. It will not be possessive; it ing attuned to something that is al- into the being. Now the surface and
will not be centered on one. It will ready there. Whatsoever you can you are so far away that you can
not be dependent and it will not create by imagination cannot be look at the surface as something
make anyone dependent on you. permanent. If it is not a reality then objective, something other than
Your love will become just a lov- it is false, unreal, and you are creat- you. You are not identified.
ingness, a compassion, a deep em- ing a hallucination. This technique is very easy and
pathy. Try this: whenever you are able to will not take much time if you try
And now no one, not even a lover, feel the peace between the two it. Even sometimes it happens with
can disturb you, because your peace armpits filling you, pervading your this technique that in the very first
is already rooted and your love is own heart center, the world will effort you will feel the beauty and
coming shadow of your inner
as a look illusory. TTiis is a sign that you the miracle of it. So try it. But if
peace. The whole thing has become have entered meditation - when the you are not feeling it in the very
reversed: so Buddha is also loving world feels, app)ears to be illusory. first effort, don't be disappointed.
but his love is not an anguish. If Don't think that the world is illu- Wait, and go on doing it. And it is
you love you will suffer, if you sory; there is no need to think - you so easy you can do it any time. Just
don't love you will suffer. If you will feel it. It will suddenly occur to lying on your bed at night you can
don't love you will suffer the ab- your mind - "What has happened do it; just in the moming when you
sence; if you love you will suffer to the world?" The world has sud- feel that you are now awake you
the presence of love. You are on the denly gone dreamy, a dreamlike can do it. Do it first and then get
surface and whatsoever you do can existence. It is there, without any up, even ten minutes will be
give you only momentary satisfac- substance, just like a film on the enough, or ten minutes at night just
tions, and then again, the dark screen. It looks so real; it can even before falling asleep. Make the
valley. be three-dimensional - it just looks world unreal, and your sleep will
The heart is naturally the source of like a projected thing. Not that the be so deep - you may not have
peace, so you are not creating any- world is a projected thing, not that slept like that before. If the world
thing. You are simply conung to a it is really unreal - no. The world becomes unreal just before falling
source which is always there. And is real but you create distance, and asleep, dreams will be fewer be-
this imagination will help you be- the distance becomes greater and cause if the world has become a
come aware that the heart is filled greater. And you can understand dream, dreams cannot continue.
87
THE MED ITAT IONS
And if the world is unreal, you are night, feeling fresh and alive so do aware of it. But when you are filled
totally relaxed, otherwise the reality this experiment for ten minutes, with peace everyone will behave
of the world goes on impinging on then open the eyes. Relax. You are differently with you. They will be
you, hammering on you. already relaxed; it will not take more loving and more kind, less re-
As far as know - have suggested
I I much time. Just relax. Bring your sistant, more open, closer. The
this technique to many people who consciousness to the heart just be- magnet is there. The peace is the
suffer from insomnia - it, helps tween the two armpits: feel it filled magnet. When you are peaceful
deeply. If the world is unreal, ten- with deep peace. For ten minutes people come nearer to you; when
sions dissolve. And if you can move remain in that peace, and then open you are disturbed everyone is re-
from the periphery, you have al- the eyes. And the world will look pelled. This is so physical a phe-
ready moved to a deep state of sleep totally different because that peace nomenon that you can observe it
- before sleep comes you are al- will be radiated from your eyes Whenever you are peaceful
easily.
ready deep into it. And then in the also. And the whole day you will you will feel everyone wants to be
morning it is beautiful because you feel different - not only will you closer to you because that peace
are so fresh, so young, the whole en- feel different, you will feel people radiates, it becomes vibrations
ergy vibrating and just coming from are behaving differently with you. around you. Circles of peace move
the center back to the periphery. To every relationship you con- around you and whosoever comes
The moment you become alert that tribute something. If your contribu- near feels to be nearer to you -just
now sleep is finished, don't open tion is not there, people behave dif- like the shadow of a tree and you
your eyes first. First do this: the ferently because they feel you are a feel to move under the shadow and
body is relaxed after the whole different person. They may not be relax there. •»
OPFNING THE HEART
^"^hiva said: Blessed one, as

^k senses are absorbed in the
î^J heart, reach the center of

the lotus.
So what is to be done in this tech-

nique? "As senses are absorbed in
the heart..." Try! Many ways are
possible. You touch someone: if
you are a heart-oriented person

the touch immediately goes to
your heart, and you can feel the
quality. If you take the hand of a
person who is head-oriented, the
hand will be cold - not just cold,
but the very quality will be cold.
Heart Centering
A deadness, a certain deadness, heart. It can never come from the ent quality in it. If the person re-
will be in the hand. If the person head because the head is always ally embraces you, you will feel a
is heart-oriented, then there is a The heart is

cool, cold, calculative. deep melting with him.
certain warmth. Then his hand warm, non-calculative. The head Touch! Close your eyes; touch
will really melt with you. You always thinks about how to take anything. Touch your beloved or
will feel a certain thing flowing more, the heart always feels how your lover, touch your child or
from his hand to you, and there to give more. That warmth is just a your mother, or your friend, or
will be a meeting - a communica- giving - a giving of energy, a giv- touch a tree or a flower, or just
tion of warmth. ing of inner vibrations, a giving of touch the earth. Close your eyes
This warmth comes from the life. That is why you feel a differ- and feel a communication from
89
THE ME DITATION S
your heart to the earth, or to your sense is just the opening of the lotus, navel, you have suddenly fallen be-
beloved. Just feel that your hand is the petals of the lotus. Try to relate yond the heart. You have fallen into
your heart stretched out to touch the your senses to the heart first. Sec- the navel center which is the basic
earth. Let the feeling of touch be re- ondly, always think that every sense one - the original.
lated to the heart. goes deep down into the heart and If you feel that you are a heart-ori-
When you are listening to music, do becomes absorbed in it. When these ented person, then this method will
not listen to it from the head. Let two things become established, only be very helpful to you. But know
your ears be joined to the heart, not then will your senses begin to help well that everyone is trying to
to the head. Just forget your head you: they will lead you to the heart, deceive himself that he is heart-
and feel that you are headless. There and your heart will become a lotus. oriented. Everyone tries to feel that
is no head at all. It is good to have This lotus of the heart will give you he is a very loving person, a feeling
your own picture in your bedroom a centering. Once you know the cen- type - because love is such a basic
without the head. Concentrate on it: ter of the heart, it is very easy to fall need that no one can feel at ease
you are without the head; do not al- down into the navel center. It is very if he sees that he has no love,
low the head to come in. While lis- easy! Really, this sutra does not no loving heart. So everyone goes
tening to music, listen to it from the even mention this; there is no need. on thinking and believing, but
heart. Feel the music coming to your If you are really absorbed in the belief will not do. Observe very
heart; let your heart vibrate with it. heart totally, and reason has stopped impartially, as if you are observing
Let your senses be joined to the working, then you will fall down. someone else, and then decide -
heart, not to the head. Try this with From the heart, the door is opened because there is no need to deceive
all the senses, and feel more and toward the navel. Only from the yourself and it will be of no help.
more that every sense goes into the head is it difficult to go toward the Even if you deceive yourself, you
heart and dissolves into it. navel. Or, if you are between the cannot deceive the technique.
"Blessed one, as senses are absorbed two, between the heart and the head, So when you do this technique, you
in the heart, reach the center of the then too it is difficult to go to the would feel that nothing is
lotus." The heart is the lotus. Every navel. Once you are absorbed in the happening. ^
90
OPENING THE HEART
Atisha said: Train in join-

ing, sending and taking to-
gether. Do this by riding

the breath.
Atisha says: start being compas-

sionate. And the method is, when
you breathe in - listen carefully, it
is one of the greatest methods -

when you breathe in, think that
you are breathing in all the mis-

eries of all the people in the world.
All the darkness, all the negativity,
all the hell that exists anywhere,
you are breathing it in. And let it
be absorbed in your heart.
Atisha's Heart Meditation

You may have read or heard about all the beings of the world - past, are no longer sufferings. The heart
the so-called positive thinkers of present and future. immediately U-ansforms the energy.
the West. They say just the opF>o- And when you breathe out, breathe The heart is a transforming force:
site - they don't know what they out all the joy that you have, all the drink in misery, and it is trans-
are saying. They say "When you blissfulness that you have, all the formed into blissfulness... then pour
breathe out, throw out all your benediction that you have. Breathe it out.
misery and negativity. And when out, pour yourself into existence. Once you have learned that your
you breathe in, breathe in joy, This is the method of compassion: heart can do this magic, this mira-
positivity, happiness, cheerful- drink in all the suffering and pour cle, you would like to do it again
ness." out all the blessings. and again. Try it. It is one of the
Atisha's method is just the oppo- And you will be surprised if you do most practical methods, simple,
site: when you breathe in, breathe it. The moment you take all the suf- and it brings immediate results.
in all the misery and suffering of ferings of the world inside you, they Do it today, and see. ^
91
THE ME DITATION S
won't be real, it can't be real. It will you an opportunity to feel a deep

Start with yourself wound. He has opened
be just verbal. a wound in
You can say to yourself "Yes, I am you. The wound may have been
A
self.
tisha said: Begin the devel-
opment of taking with your-
taking the misery of the whole
world" - but what do you know of
the misery of the whole world? You
created by many many insults that
you have suffered
life; he may
in
not be the cause of

your whole
all
have not even experienced your the suffering, but he has triggered a
Atisha says: before you can do this own misery. process.
with the whole existence, you will We go on avoiding our own misery. Just lock your room, sit silently,
have to start first with yourself. If you feel miserable, you put on with no anger for the person but
This is one of the fundamental se- the radio or the TV and you be- with total awareness of the feeling
crets of inner growth. You cannot come engaged. You start reading that is arising in you - the hurt feel-
do anything with others that you the newspaper so that you can for- ing that you have been rejected,
have not done in the first place with get your misery, or you go to the that you have been insulted. And
yourself. You can hurt others if you movies, or you go to your woman then you will be surprised that not
hurt yourself, you will be a pain in or your man. You go to the club, only is this man there: all the men
the neck to others if you are a pain you go shopping in the market, just and all the women and all the peo-
in the neck to yourself, you can be somehow to keep yourself away ple that have ever insulted you will
a blessing to others only if you are from yourself, so that you need not start moving in your memory.
a blessing to yourself. see the wound, so that you need not You will start not only remember-
Whatsoever you can do with others, look at how much it hurts within. ing them, you will start reliving
you must have done to yourself be- People go on avoiding themselves. them. You will be going into a kind
fore, because that is the only thing What do they know of misery? of primal.
that you can share. You can share How can they think of the misery Feel the hurt, feel the pain, don't
only that which you have; you can- of the whole existence? avoid it. That's why in many thera-
not share that which you don't First, you have to begin with your- pies the patient is told not to take
have. Atisha says: "Begin the de- self. If you are feeling miserable, let any drugs before the therapy be-
velopment of taking with yourself." it become a meditation. Sit silently, gins, for the simple reason that
Rather than starting by taking the close the doors. First feel the misery drugs are a way to escajje from
whole misery of the world and ab- with as much intensity as possible. your inner misery. They don't al-
sorbing it in the heart, start with Feel the hurt. Somebody has insult- low you to see your wounds, they
your own misery. Don't go into the ed you: now, the best way to avoid repress them. They don't allow you
deep sea so fast; learn swimming in the hurt is to go and insult him, so to go into your suffering and unless
shallow water. And if you immedi- that you become occupied with him. you go into your suffering, you
ately start taking the misery of the That is not meditation. cannot be released from the impris-
whole existence, it will remain sim- If somebody has insulted you, feel onment of it.
ply an experiment in speculation. It thankful to him that he has given It is perfectly scientific to drop all
92
OPENING THE HEART
drugs before going into a group - if rier; they keep you drugged, they If - this
you can experience it is of
possible even drugs like coffee, tea, don't allow you enough sensitivity tremendous importance - then start
smoking, because these are all ways to know your pain. absorbing it. Don't throw it away.
to escape. The first thing to do is close your It is such a valuable energy, don't
Have you watched? Whenever you doors and stop any kind of occupa- throw it away. Absorb it, drink it,
feel nervous you immediately start tion: looking at the TV, listening to accept it, welcome it, feel grateful
smoking, h is a way to avoid ner- the radio, reading a book. Stop all to it. And say to yourself, "This
vousness; you become occupied occupation, because that too is a time I'm not going to avoid it, this
with smoking. Really it is a regres- subtle drug. Just be silent, utterly time I'm not going to reject it, this
sion. Smoking makes you again alone. Don't even pray, because time I'm not going to throw it
feel like a child - unworried, non- that again is a drug, you are becom- away. This time I will drink it and
responsible - because smoking is ing occupied, you start talking to receive it like a guest. TTiis time I
nothing but a symbolic breast. The God. you start praying, you escape will digest it."
hot smoke going in simply takes from yourself. It may take a few days for you to
you back to the days when you Atisha is saying: just be yourself. be able to digest it, but the day it
were feeding on the mother's breast Whatsoever the pain of it and what- happens, you have stumbled upon a
and the warm milk was going in: soever the suffering of it, let it be door which will take you really far,
the nipple has now become the so. First experience it in its total in- far away. A new journey has start-
cigarette. The cigarette is a sym- tensity. It will be difficult, it will be ed in your you are moving into
life,
bolic nipple. heart-rending: you may start crying a new kind of being - because im-
Through regression you avoid the like a child, you may start rolling mediately, the moment you accept
responsibilities and the pains of be- on the ground in deep pain, your the pain with no rejection any-
ing adult. And that's what goes on body may go through contortions. where, its energy and its quality
through many many drugs. Modem You may suddenly become aware changes. It is no longer pain.
man is drugged as never before, be- that the pain is not only in the heart, In fact one is simply surprised, one
cause modem man is living in great it is all over the body - that it is cannot believe it, it is so incredible.
suffering. Without drugs it would aching all over, that it is painful all One cannot believe that suffering
be impossible to live in so much over, that your whole body is noth- can be transformed into ecstasy,
suffering. Those drugs create a bar- ing but pain. that pain can become joy. ^
93
THE ME DITATION S
INNER CENTERING
Inner Centering
Nobody can exist without a center. It has not to be

created but only rediscovered. Essence is the cen-
ter, that which is your nature, that which is God-given.
PersonaHty is the circumference, that which is cultivated
by society; it is not God-given. It is by nurture, not by
nature. '
95
THE MEDITATIONS
96
INNER CENTERING
One Sufi
remained happy
mystic who had
his whole
- no one had ever
life
seen him unhappy - he was always

laughing. He was laughter, his
whole being was a perfume of cel-
ebration. In his old age, when he
was dying - on his deathbed, and
still enjoying death, laughing hilar-
iously - a disciple asked, "You
puzzle us. Now you are dying.
Why are you laughing? What is
there funny about it? We are feel-

ing so sad. We wanted to ask you
many times in your life why you
Abdullah
are never sad. But now, con- thing. And he was simply laughing, you going to choose today?' And
fronting death, at least one should holding his belly. And asked him, I it happens that I always choose
be sad. You are still laughing! 'What is the matter with you? Are blissfulness."
How are you managing it?" you mad or something?' It is a choice. Try it. The first mo-
And the old man said. "It is a sim- "He said, 'One day I was also ment in the moming when you be-
ple clue. I had asked my master. I as sad as you are. Then it dawned come aware that sleep has left, ask
had gone to my master as a young on me that it is my choice, it is yourself, "Abdullah, another day!
man; 1 was only seventeen, and al- my life.' What is your idea? Do you choose
ready miserable. And my master "Since that day, every morning misery or blissfulness?"
was old, seventy, and he was sit- when I get up, the first thing I de- And who would choose misery?
ting under a tree, laughing for no cide is, before I open my eyes, I And why? It is so unnatural - un-
reason at all. There was nobody say to myself, 'Abdullah' - that less one feels blissful in misery, but
else, nothing had happened, no- was name - 'what do you want?
his then too you are choosing bliss, not
body had cracked a joke or any- Misery? Blissfulness? What are misery. -
97
THE ME DITATI ON S
hiva said: On joyously see-

ing a long absent friend,
permeate this joy.
When you see a friend and sud-

denly feel a joy rising in your
heart, concentrate on this joy. Feel it
and become it, and meet the friend

while being aware and filled with
your joy. Let the friend be just on
the periphery, and you remain cen-
tered in your feeling of happiness.
This can be done in many other sit-
uations. The sun is rising, and sud-

denly you feel something rising
within you. Then forget the sun; let
Finding
the Real Source
it remain on the periphery. You be Whenever there is joy, you feel that with everything: with anger, with
centered in your own feeling of it is coming from without. You sadness, with misery, with happi-
rising energy. The moment you have met a friend - of course, it ap- ness, with everything, it is so. Oth-
look at it, it will spread. It will be- pears that the joy is coming from ers are only situations in which
come your whole body, your your friend, from seeing him. That things that are hidden in you are
whole being. And don't just be an is The joy is al-
not the actual case. expressed. They are not causes;
observer of it; merge into it. There ways within you. The friend has they are not causing something in
are a few moments when you feel just become a situation. The friend you. Whatsoever is happening, it
joy, happiness, bliss, but you go on has helped it to come out, has is happening to you. It has always
missing them because you become helped you to see that it is there. been there; it is only that meeting
object- centered. And this is not only with joy, but with this friend has become a situ-
98
'
INNER CENTERING
ation in which whatsoever was hid- just become the situation. And feel And this is the difference between
den has come out in the open - has grateful toward him that he has negative and positive emotions: if
come out from the hidden sources - helped something which was hid- you become aware of a certain
ithas become apparent, manifest. den to come into the open. He has emotion, and by your becoming
Whenever this happens remain cen- hit you somewhere, and a wound aware the emotion dissolves, it is
tered in the inner feehng, and then was hidden there. Now you know negative. If by your becoming
you will have a different attitude it, so become the wound. aware of a certain emotion you
about everything in life. With negative or positive, with any then become the emotion, if the
Even with negative emotions, do emotion, use this, and there will be emotion then spreads and becomes
this. When you are angry, do not be a great change in you. If the emo- your being, it is positive. Aware-
centered on the person who has tion is negative, you will be freed ness works differently in both
aroused it. Let him be on the pe- of it by being aware that it is with- cases.
riphery. You just become anger. in you. If the emotion is positive, If it is a poisonous emotion, you
Feel anger in its totality; allow it to you will become the emotion it- are relieved of it through aware-
happen within. Don't rationalize; self. If it is joy, you will become ness. If it is good, blissful, ec-
don't say that this man has created joy. If it is anger, the anger will static, you become one with it.
it. Do not condemn the man. He has dissolve. Awareness deepens it.
99
THE MED ITATI ON S
'hiva said: In moods of

extreme desire, be undis-
turbed.
When desire grips you, you are

disturbed. Of course, that is natu-
ral. Desire grips you, then your
mind starts wavering and many
ripples go on, on the surface. The
desire pulls you somewhere into
the future; the past pushes you
somewhere into the future. You are
disturbed: you are not at ease.
Desire is, therefore, a 'dis-ease'.
This sutra says, "In moods of ex-
treme desire be undisturbed." But
Center
of the Cyclone
how to be undisturbed? Desire dressing. Inside, become naked, witness to it, and you will be
means disturbance, so how to be naked from the anger, undressed. undisturbed. This undisturbed
undisturbed - and in extreme mo- Anger will be there, but now you point is your original mind. The
ments of desire! You will have to have a point within you which is original mind cannot be dis-
do certain experiments; only then not disturbed. turbed; it is never disturbed. But
will you understand what it means. You will know that anger is there you have never looked at it.
You are in anger: anger grips you. on the periphery. Like fever, it is When anger is there, you become
You are temporarily mad, pos- there. The periphery is wavering; identified with the anger. You for-
sessed: you are no more in your the periphery is disturbed, but you get that anger is something other
senses. Suddenly remember to be can look at it. If you can look at it, than you. You become one with
undisturbed - as if you are un- you will be undisturbed. Become a it, and you start acting through it.
100
J
INNER CENTERING
you Start doing something through mind; your whole body is taken by you, how could you feel that you
it. it: you can move to the sexual ob- are disturbed? You need a compari-
Two things can be done. In anger ject, the object of your desire. The son. You need two points to com-
you will be violent to someone, to object may be there, it may not be pare.
the object of your anger. Then you there. You can move to the object in Suppose a person is ill: he feels
have moved to the other. Anger is imagination also, but then you will illness because somewhere within
just in between you and the other. get more and more disturbed. The him, a point, a center of absolute
Here am, there is anger, and there
I further away you go from your cen- health exists. That is why he can
you are - the object of my anger. ter, the more you will be disturbed. compare. You say that your head is
From anger I can travel in two di- Really, the distance and disturbance aching: how is it that you know
mensions. Either 1 can travel to are always in proportion. The more about this ache, this headache? If
you: then you become my center of distant you are from your center, the you were the headache, you could
consciousness, the object of my more you are disturbed; the nearer not know it. You must be someone
anger. Tlien my mind becomes fo- you are to the center, the less you else, something else - the observer,
cused on you, the one who has in- are disturbed. If you are just at the the witness, who can say, "My
sulted me. This is one way that you center, there is no disturbance. head is aching."
can travel from anger. In a cyclone, there is a center which This sutra says, "In moods of ex-
There is another way: you can trav- is undisturbed - in the cyclone of treme desire, be undisturbed."
el to yourself. You don't move to anger, the cyclone of sex, the What can you do? This technique
the person whom you feel has cyclone of any desire. Just in the is not for suppression. This tech-
caused the anger. You move to the center there is no cyclone, and a nique is not saying that when there
person who feels to be angry; you cyclone cannot exist without a is anger, suppress it and remain
move to the subject and not to the silent center. TTie anger also cannot undisturbed - no! If you suppress,
object. exist without something within you you will create more disturbance. If
Ordinarily, we go on moving to the which is beyond anger. the anger is there and an effort to
object. If you move to the object, Remember this: nothing can exist suppress is there, it will double the
the dust part of your mind is dis- without its opposite. The opposite is disturbance. When anger is there,
turbed, and you will feel, "T am needed there. Without it, there is no close your doors, meditate on the
disturbed." if you move within to possibility of it existing. If there anger, allow the anger to be. You
the center of your own being, you were no center within you which re- remain undisturbed, and don't sup-
will be able to witness the dust part: mains unmoved, no movement press it.
you will be able to see that the dust would be possible there. If there It is easy to suppress; it is easy to
part of the mind is disturbed, but "I were no center within you which re- express. We do both. We express if
am not disturbed". And you can ex- mains undisturbed, no disturbance the situation allows, and if it is con-
periment upon this with any desire, could happen to you. Analyze this venient and not dangerous for you.
any disturbance. and observe this. If there were no If you can harm the other and the
A sexual desire comes to your center of absolute undisturbance in other cannot harm you, you will
101
THE MEDITAT IONS
express the anger. If it is dangerous, this center more and more, and it is has remained incomplete. That in-
if harm you more, if
the other can easy to uncover it in desire. complete thing goes on hovering
your boss or whoever you are angry This technique can be very useful, around the mind like a cloud.
at is more strong, you will suppress and much benefit can happen to "In moods of extreme desire, be
it. you through it. But it will be diffi- undisturbed": Gurdjieff used this
Expression and suppression are cult because when you become dis- technique a great deal. He created
easy: witnessing is difficult. Wit- turbed, you forget everything. You situations, but to create situations a
nessing is neither. It is not sup- may forget that you have to medi- school is needed. You cannot do
pressing, it is not expressing. It is tate. Then try it in this way: don't that alone. Gurdjieff had a small
not expressing because you are not wait for the moment when anger school in Fontainebleau, and he
expressing it to the object of anger. happens to you. Don't wait for that was a taskmaster. He knew how to
It is not being suppressed either. moment! Just close the door to create situations. You would enter
You are allowing it to be expressed your room, and think of some past the room where a group was sit-
- expressed in a vacuum. You are experience of anger when you went ting, and something would be done
meditating on it. mad. Remember it, and re-enact it. so that you would get angry. And it
Stand before a mirror and express That will be easy for you. Re-enact would be done so naturally that
your anger - and be a witness to it. it do it again; relive it. Don't

again; you would never imagine that
You are alone, so you can meditate justremember it: relive it. some situation was being created
on it. Do whatsoever you want to Remember that someone had in- for you. But it was a device. Some-
do, but in a vacuum. If you want to sulted you and what was said and one would insult you by saying
beat someone, beat the empty sky. how you reacted to him. React something, and you would get dis-
If you want to be angry, be angry; if again; replay it. Then everyone would help
turbed.
you want to scream, scream. But do This re-enacting something from you would be-
the disturbance and
it alone, and remember yourself as the past will do much. Everyone come mad. And when you were
a point which is seeing all this, this has scars in his mind, unhealed right at the point where you could
drama. Then it becomes a psy- wounds. If you re-enact them, you explode, would shout,
Gurdjieff
chodrama, and you can laugh at it will be unburdened. you can go to If "Remember! Remain undisturbed!"
and it will be a deep catharsis for your past and do something which You can help. Your family can be-
you. Afterwards you will feel re- has remained incomplete, you will come a school; you can help each
lieved of it - and not only relieved be unburdened from your past. Your other. Friends can become a school
of it: you will have gained some- mind will become fresher; the dust and they can help each other. You
thing through it. You will have ma- will be thrown away. can decide with your family. The
tured; a growth will have come to Remember in your past something whole family can decide that now a
you. And now you will know that which you feel has remained sus- situation has to be created for the
even while you were in anger there pended. You wanted to kill some- father or for the mother, and then
was a center within you which was one, you wanted to love someone, the whole family works to create
undisturbed. Now try to uncover you wanted this and that, and that the situation. When the father or
102
INNER CENTERING
mother goes completely mad, then served yourself at some time in situations also. Use this technique.
everyone starts laughing and says, your life that you were just playing This will change your life totally.
"Remain completely undisturbed." at being angry, and you didn't Once you know how to remain
You can help each other, and the know when the anger became real. undisturbed, the world is not mis-
experience is simply wonderful. Or, you were just playing and you ery for you. Then nothing can cre-
Once you know a cool center with- were not feeling sexual: you were ate any confusion in you, nothing
in you in a hot situation, you cannot playing with your wife or with your can hurt you, really. Now there is
forget it. And then in any hot situa- girlfriend, or with your husband, no suffering for you, and once you
tion you can remember it, reclaim and then suddenly it became real. know it you can do another thing.
it, regain it. The body took over. Once you can detach your center
In the West now one technique, a The body can be deceived. The from the periphery, you can do it.
therapeutic technique, is used: it is body cannot know whether it is Once the center is detached com-
called "psychodrama." It helps, and real or unreal, particularly with pletely, if you can remain undis-
it is also based on techniques like sex. If you imagine it, your body turbed in anger, in desire, you can
this. In psychodrama you just enact, thinks it is real. Once you start do- play with desires, with anger, with
you just play a game. ing something, the body thinks it is disturbances.
In the beginning it is a game, but real and it starts behaving in a real This technique is to create a feeling
sooner or later you become pos- way. of two extremes within you. They
sessed. And when you become f)os- Psychodrama is a technique based are there: two polar opposites are
sessed your mind starts functioning, on such methods. You are not an- there. Once you become aware of
because your mind and your body gry: you are simply acting angry - this polarity, you become for the
function automatically. They func- and then you get into it. But psy- first time a master of yourself. Oth-
tion automatically! chodrama is beautiful because you erwise others are your masters; you
So if you see an actor acting in a know that you are simply acting. are just a slave. Your wife knows,
psychodrama who, in a situation of And then on the periphery anger be- your son knows, your father
anger, really becomes angry, you comes real, and just behind it you knows, your friends know that you
may think that he is simply acting, are hidden and looking at it. Now can be pushed and pulled. You can
but it is not so. He might have real- you know that you are not disturbed, be disturbed, you can be made hap-
ly become angry; it may not be act- but the anger is there, the distur- py and unhappy. If someone else
ing at all now. He is possessed by bance is there. The disturbance can make you happy and unhappy,
the desire, by the disturbance, by is there, and yet the disturbance is you are not a master. You are just a
the feeling, by the mood, and if he not. slave. TTie other has a hold. Just by
is really possessed, only then does This feeling of two forces working a single gesture, he can make you
his acting look real. simultaneously gives you a tran- unhappy; just by a small smile he
Your body cannot know whether scendence, and then in real anger can make you happy. So you are
you are playing or whether you are also you can feel it. Once you know just at the mercy of someone else;
doing it for real. You may have ob- how to feel it, you can feel it in real the other can do anything to you.
103
THE ME DITATION S
And if this is the situation, then all and a slave of so many - not only many directions and dimensions,
your reactions are simply reactions, of one master, but of many. Every- you are never together; you are not
not actions. thing is a master, and you are a in a unity. And pulled in so many
This knowledge of the center or this slave to the whole universe. Obvi- dimensions, you are in anguish,
grounding in the center makes you ously, you will be in trouble. With Only a master of oneself can tran-
a master. Otherwise you are a slave, so many masters pulling you in so scend anguish. *
104
INNER CENTERING
g^hiva said: Oh, lotus-eyed

^k one, sweet of touch, when
ik_y singing, seeing, tasting, be
aware you are and discover the
ever-living.
This technique says while doing

anything - singing, seeing, tasting
- be aware that you are and dis-
cover the ever-hving: and discover

within yourself the current, the en-
ergy, the life, the ever-living. But
we are not aware of ourselves.
Gurdjieff used self-remembering
as a basic technique in the West.
Feel 'I Am'

The self-remembering is derived will have moved to some other missed. This is a mind thing; this
from this sutra. The whole Gurdji- thought. Even with this thought is a mental process: "I am."
effian system is based on this one that "Okay, I am remembering Feel "I am," not the words "I
sutra: Remember yourself, what- myself," you will have missed, am." Don't verbalize. Just feel
soever you are doing. It is very because this thought is not self- that you are. Don't think. Feel!
difficult. It looks very easy, but remembering. In self-remembering Try it. It is difficult, but if you go
you will go on forgetting. Even there will be no thought; you will on insisting it happens. While
for three or four seconds you can- be completely empty. And self-re- walking, remember you are, and
not remember yourself. You will membering is not a mental pro- have the feeling of your being,
have a feeling that you are re- cess. It is not that you say, "Yes, I not of any thought, not of any
membering, and suddenly you am." Saying "Yes, I am," you have idea. Just feel. I touch your hand
105
THE M EDITATI ONS
or I put my hand on your head: your being. You are behind the mir- come to you, and you will have
don't verbalize. Just feel the touch, ror; you have transcended the world become involved in the reflection.
and in that feeling feel not only the of reflections; you are existential. But don't be sad and don't be
touch, but feel also the touched And you can do it at any time. It disappointed. This is so because for
one.Then your consciousness be- doesn't need any special place or lives together we have been con-
comes double-arrowed. any special time. And you cannot cerned with the reflections. This
You are walking under trees: the say, "I have no time." When eating has become a robot-like mecha-
trees are there, the breeze is there, you can do when taking a bath
it, nism. Instantly, automatically, we
the sun is rising. This is the world you can do it, when moving or sit- are thrown to the reflection. But if
all around you; you are aware of it. ting you can do it - anytime. No even for a single moment you have
Stand for a moment and suddenly matter what you are doing, you can the glimpse, it is enough for the
remember that you are, but don't suddenly remember yourself, and beginning. And why is it enough?
verbalize. Just feel that you are. then try to continue that glimpse of Because you will never get two
This nonverbal feeling, even if for your being. moments Only one mo-
together.
only a single moment, will give you It will be difficult. One moment ment is with you always. And if
a glimpse - a glimpse which no you will feel it is there, the next you can have the glimpse for a sin-
LSD can give you, a glimpse which moment you will have moved gle moment, you can remain in it.
is of the real. For a single moment away. Some thought will have en- Only effort is needed - a continu-
you are thrown back to the center of tered, some reflection will have ous effort is needed.
106
'
INNER CENTERING
Gurdjieff tried from one cor-

ner. Just try to remember
you Raman Maharshi
are.
tried from another comer. He made

it a meditation to ask, to inquire,
"Who am 1?" And don't believe
in any answers that the mind can
supply. The mind will say, "What
nonsense are you asking? You are
this, you. are that, you are a man,
you are a woman, you are educated
or uneducated, rich or poor." The
mind will supply answers, but go
on asking. Don't accept any answer
because all the answers given by
the mind are false.
Who Am I?
They are from the unreal part of are nearing the answer. When no questioning, the last part of the
you. They are coming from words, answer comes, you are near the an- mind has dissolved because this
they are coming from scriptures, swer because mind is becoming question was also of the mind.
they are coming from condition- silent - or, you have gone far away Those answers were of the mind
ing, they are coming from society, from the mind. When there will be and this question was also of the
they are coming from others. Go no answer and a vacuum will be mind. Both have dissolved, so now
on asking. Let this arrow of "Who created all around you, your ques- you are.
am I?" penetrate deeper and deep- tioning will look absurd. Whom are Try this. There is every possibility,
er. A moment will come when no you questioning? There is no one to if you persist, that this technique
answer will come. answer you. Suddenly, even your can give you a glimpse of the real
That is the right moment. Now you questioning will stop. With the - and the real is ever-living.
107
THE MEDITATIONS
^^hiva said: Each thing is
^k perceived through knowing.

ik--/ The self shines in space
through knowing. Perceive one
being as knower and known.
Whenever you know something, it

is known through knowing. TTie
object comes to your mind through

the faculty of knowledge. You look
at a flower. You know this is a rose
flower. The rose flower is there

and you are inside. Something
from you comes to the rose flower,
something from you is projected

on the rose flower. Some energy
To the Very
Center of Being
moves from you, comes to the knowing a rose flower, your Knowing is just like a bridge be-
rose, takes its form, color and knowledge is half if you forget the tween two points - the subject and
smell, and comes back and informs knower who is knowing it. So the object. Ordinarily your knowl-
you that this is a rose flower. while knowing a rose flower there edge reveals only the known; the
All knowledge, whatsoever you are three things: the rose flower - knower remains unrevealed. Ordi-
know, is revealed through the fac- the known; the knower - you; and narily your knowledge is one-
ulty of knowing. Knowing is your the relationship between the two - arrowed: it points to the rose but it
faculty. Knowledge is gathered knowledge. never points to you. Unless it
through this faculty. But knowing So knowledge can be divided into starts pointing to you, that knowl-
reveals two known and
things: the three points: knower, known and edge will allow you to know about
the knower. Whenever you are knowing. the world, but it will not allow
108
INNER CENTERING
you to know about yourself. knower, you become the third, you because then your mind is always
All the techniques of meditation are become a witness. A third possi- diverted. So concentration be-
to reveal the knower. George Gurd- bility arises immediately - a wit- comes the first step towards medi-
jieff used a particular technique just nessing self comes into being - tation. Only the rose remains; the
like this. He called it self-remem- because how can you know both? whole world has disappeared. Now
bering. He said that whenever you If you are the knower, then you you can move inwards; now the
are knowing something, always re- remain fixed to one point. In self- rose becomes the point from where
member the knower. Don't forget it remembering you shift from the you can move. Now see the rose,
in the object. Remember the sub- fixed point of the knower. Then and start becoming aware of your-
ject. Just now you are listening to the knower is your mind and the self - the knower.
me. When you are listening to me, known is the worid, and you be- In the beginning you will miss.
you can listen in two ways. One: come a third p>oint, a conscious- When you shift to the knower, the
your mind can be focused towards ness, a witnessing self rose will drop out of conscious-
me - then you forget the listener. This third point cannot be tran- ness. It will become faint, it will
Tlien the speaker is known but the scended, and that which cannot be go away, it will become distant.
listener is forgotten. transcended is the ultimate. That Again you will come to the rose,
Gurdjieff said that while listening, which can be transcended is not and you will forget the self This
know the speaker and also know worthwhile, because then it is not hide-and-seek play will go on, but
the listener. Your knowledge must your nature - you can transcend it. if you persist, sooner or later a
be double-arrowed, pointing to two You are sitting near a rose flower: moment will come when suddenly
points - the knower and the known. look at it. The first thing to do is be you will be in-between. The
It must not only flow in one direc- totally attentive, give total attention knower, the mind, and the rose
tion towards the object. It must to the rose, so that the whole world will be there, and you will be just
flow simultaneously towards two disappears and only the rose re- in the middle, looking at both.
directions - the known and the mains there - your consciousness is That middle point, that balancing
knower. This he called self-remem- totally attentive to the being of the point, is the witness.
bering. rose. If the attention is total then the Once you know that, you have be-
Buddha called it satnyak smriti - worid disappears, because the more come both. Then the rose - the
right-mindfulness. He said that your the attention is concentrated on the known, and the knower - the mind,
mind is not in a right-mindfulness if rose, the more everything else falls are just two wings of you. Then the
it knows only one point. It must away. The worid disappears; only object and the subject are just two
know both. And then a miracle hap- the rose remains. The rose becomes wings; you are the center of both.
pens: if you are aware of both the the worid. They are extensions of you. Then
known and the knower, suddenly This is the first step - to concen- the world and the divine are both
you become the third - you are nei- trate on the rose. If you cannot extensions of you. You have come
ther. Just by endeavoring to be concentrate on the rose, it will be to the very center of being. And
aware of both the known and the difficult to move to the knower. this center is just a witness. *
109
THE MEDITATIONS
LOOKING WITHIN
Looking Within
These techniques are concerned with the practice of
looking. Before we enter these techniques, some-
thing has to be understood about the eyes, because these
techniques depend on that. The first thing: eyes are the
most non-bodily part of the human body, the least bodily.
If matter can become non-matter, then such is the case
with eyes. Eyes are material, but simultaneously they are
also non-material. Eyes are a meeting point of you and
your body. Nowhere else in the body is the meeting so
deep.
The human body and you are much separated. A great
distance is there, but at the point of the eyes you are
nearest to your body and the body is nearest to you. That
iswhy eyes can be used for the inner journey. A single
jump from the eyes can lead you to the source. That is
not possible from the hand, not possible from the heart,
not possible from anywhere else in the body. From else-
where you will have to travel long; the distance is great.
But from the eyes a single step is enough to enter into

yourself.
Eyes are very liquid, moving, in constant movement, and

that movement has its own rhythm, its own system, its
own mechanism. Your eyes are not moving at random,

anarchically. They have a rhythm of their own and that
111
THE MED ITAT IONS.
rhythm shows many things. If you And because of that movement, inwards. Either they can move
have a sexual thought in the mind, they are so alive! Movement is also from A to B, or if you do not allow
your eyes move differently - with a life. this outward movement they will
different rhythm. Just by looking at You can try to stop your eyes at a move inwards. Movement is their
your eyes and the movement, one particular point, at a particular ob- nature; they need movement. If you
can say what type of thought is ject, and not allow them to move, suddenly stop and do not allow
moving inside. When you feel hun- but movement is their nature. You them to move outwards, they will
gry and a thought of food is inside, cannot stop movement, but you can startmoving inwards.
eyes have a different movement. stop your eyes: understand the dis- So there are two possibilities of
So remember this, that eye move- tinction. You can stop your eyes at movement. One is from object A to
ments and thinking are joined to- a particular fixed point - at a dot on object B - this is an outward move-
gether. That is why, if you stop your the wall. You can stare at the dot; ment; this is how it is happening
eyes and their movements, your you can stop your eyes. But move- naturally. But there is another pos-
thought process will stop immedi- ment is their nature. So they may sibility which is of tantra and yoga
ately. Or if your thought process not move from object A to object B - not allowing movement from one
stops your eyes will stop automati- because you have forced them to outside object to another and stop-
cally. And one point more: the eyes remain at A, but then a very strange ping this movement. Then the eyes
move continuously from one object phenomenon happens. jump from an outside object to the
to another. From A to B, from B to Movement is bound to be there; inner consciousness. They begin to
C, they go on moving. Movement that is their nature. If you do not al- move inwards. Remember these
is their nature. It is just like a river low them movement from A to B, points; then it will be easy to un-
flowing: movement is their nature! they will move from outwards to derstand the techniques. '
112
LOOKING WITHIN
'hiva said: Eyes closed, see

your inner being in detail.
Thus see your true nature.
"Eyes closed" - close your eyes.

But this closing is not enough. To-
tal closing means to close your
eyes and stop their movements.
Otherwise the eyes will continue to
see something which is of the out-

side. Even with closed eyes you
will see things - images of things.
Actual things are not there, but im-
ages, ideas, collected memories -
they will start flowing. They are
also from outside, so your eyes are
Seeing Within
still not totally closed. 'Totally" darkness as if you have suddenly Feel! Do not allow anymovement.
closed eyes means nothing to see. gone blind - not blind only to reali- Stop all movements of the eyes.
Understand the difference. You can ty, but to the dream reality also. Feel as if they have become
close your eyes; that is easy. Every- One has to practice it. A long p)eri- stones, and then remain in that
one closes them every moment. In od will be needed; it cannot be "stony" state of the eyes. Do not
the night you close your eyes, but done suddenly. You will need a do anything; just remain there.
that will not reveal the inner nature long training. Close your eyes. Suddenly someday, you will be-
to you. Close your eyes so that Anytime you feel it is easy and you come aware that you are looking
nothing remains to be seen - no have time, close your eyes and then inside yourself.
outside object, no inside image of inwardly stop allmovements of the You have seen your body only
any outside object, just a blank eyes. Do not allow any movement. from the outside. You have seen
113
THE MEDITATIONS
your body in a mirror or you have move to the eyes totally. If you can you can look at, and that which is
seen your hands from the outside. move to your eyes totally and then entering the mind is, again, sepa-
You do not know what the inside of look in someone's eyes, you will rate and different. This entering
your body is. You have never en- penetrate him; you will go to his into the mind is what is meant by
tered into your own self; you have very depths. "seeing your inner being in detail."
never been at the center of your Close your eyes; see your inner be- Body and mind both should be en-
body and being to look around at ing in detail. The first, outer part of tered and looked at from within.
what is there from the inside. it is to look at your body from in- Then you are simply a witness, and
Close your eyes, see your inner be- wardly - from your inner center. this witness cannot be penetrated.
ing in detail and move from limb to Stand there and have a look. You That is why it is your innermost
limb inside. Just go to your toe. will be separated from the body be- core: that is you. That which can
Forget the whole body: move to the cause the looker is never the looked be penetrated, that which can be
toe. Stay there and have a look. at. The observer is different from seen, is not you. When you have
Then move through the legs, come the object. come to that which cannot be pen-
on upwards, go to every limb. Then If you can see your body totally etrated, that in which you cannot
many things happen. Many things from the inside, then you can never move, which cannot be observed,
happen fall into the illusion that you are the then only have you come to the
Then your body becomes such a body. TTien you will remain differ- real self. You cannot witness the
sensitive vehicle, you cannot even ent - totally different: inside it but witnessing source, remember; that
imagine it. Then if you touch not it, in the body but not the body. is absurd.
someone, you can move into your This is the first part. Then you can If someone says that "I have wit-
hand totally and that touch will be- move. Then you are free to move. nessed my witness," that is absurd.
come transforming. That is what is Once freed from the body, freed Why is it absurd? Because if you
meant by a teacher's touch, a mas- from the identity, you are free to have witnessed your witnessing
ter's touch: he can move to any move. Now you can move into self, then the witnessing self is not
limb totally, and then he is concen- your mind - deep down. This is the the witnessing self. That who has
trated there. If you can move to inner cave of the mind. witnessed it is the witness. That
any part of your body totally, that If you enter this cave of the mind, which you can see, you are not;
part becomes alive - so much alive you become separate from the
will that which you can observe, you
that you cannot imagine what hap- mind also. Then you will see that are not; that which you can become
pens to that part. Then you can the mind is also an object which aware of, you are not. 2
114
LOOKING WITHIN
£^hiva said: Look upon a bowl

^k without seeing the sides or
i^^ the material. In a few mo-
ments become aware.
Look at anything. A bowl or any

object will do, but look with a dif-
ferent quality. "Look upon a bowl
without seeing the sides or the ma-
terial." Look upon any object, but
with these two conditions. Do not
look at the sides: look at the object
as a whole. Ordinarily, we look at
parts. It may not be done so con-

sciously, but we look at parts. If I
look at you, first I see your face,
Looking
as a Whole
then your torso and then your whole; do not divide it. When you It may be of gold, it may be of sil-
whole body. Look at an object as a look at a thing as a whole, the eyes ver. Observe it. Do not look at the
whole; do not divide it in parts. have no need to move. In order not material of which it is made. Just
Why? Because when you divide in to give any opportunity for move- look at the form. TTie first thing is
parts, the eyes have an opportunity ment, this has been made a condi- to look at it as a whole. Secondly,
to move from one part to another. tion: look at an object totally, tak- look at it as a form, not as a sub-
Look at a thing as a whole. You en as a whole; secondly, without stance. Why? Because substance
can do it. seeing the material. If the bowl is is the material part, form is the
Try it. First look at a thing from of wood, do not see the wood: just spiritual part, and you are to move
one fragment to another. Then see the bowl, the form. Do not see from the material to the non-
suddenly look at this thing as a the substance. material. It will be helpful.
115
THE ME DITATION S
Try it. You can try it with anyone. whole. Do not allow the eyes any form. Suddenly you will become
Some man or some woman is movement. Do not start thinking aware of yourself because now the
standing: look and take the man or about "the material." What will eyes cannot move. And they need
woman wholly into your look, to- happen? You will suddenly become movement; that is their nature: so
tally into it. It will be a weird feel- aware of your self. Lxx)king at your look will move toward you. It
ing in the beginning because you something, you will become aware will come back, it will return home,
are not habituated, but it is very of your self. Why? Because for the and suddenly you will become
beautiful in the end. And then, do eyes there is no possibility to move aware of your self. This becoming
not think about whether the body is outwards. The form has been taken aware of one's self is one of the
beautiful or not, white or black, as a whole, so you cannot move to most ecstatic moments possible.
man or woman. Do not think; just the parts. The material has been When for the first time you become
look at the form. Forget the sub- dropped; pure form has been taken. aware of your self, it has such
stance and just look at the form. Now you cannot think about gold, beauty and such bliss that you can-
In a few moments become aware. wood, silver, etc. not compare it with anything else
Go on looking at the form as a Remain with the whole and the you have known. ^
116
LOOKING WITHIN
said: When (he light

Lu-tsu
is made to move in a circle,
all the energies of heaven
and earth, of the light and the
dark, are crystallized.
Your consciousness is flowing out-

ward - this is a fact, there is noth-
ing to believe in it. When you look
at an object, your consciousness
flows towards the object.
For example, you are looking at
me. Then you forget yourself, you

become focused on me. Then your
energy flows towards me, then
your eyes are arrowed towards me.
Inner Circle
This is extroversion. You see a only half of the story. But each that's the situation. And slowly
flower and you are enchanted, and time the light flows out, you fall slowly, light goes on flowing
you become focused on the flower into the background, you become outward and never returns. You
You become oblivious of yourself, oblivious of yourself. become more and more empty
you are only attentive to the beauty The light has to flow back so that inside, hollow. You become a
of the flower. you are both the subject and the black hole.
This we know - every moment it object at the same time, simulta- The Taoist experience is that this
is happening. A beautiful woman neously, so that you see yourself. energy that you sj)end in your ex-
passes by and suddenly your ener- Then self-knowledge is released. troversion can be more and more
gy starts following her. We know Ordinarily, we live only in this crystallized rather than spent if
this outward flow of light. This is half way - half-alive, half-dead, you learn the secret science of
117
THE ME DITATI ON S
turning it backwards. It is possible; body can do - and very easily. Just whenever the circle is complete
that is the whole science of all standing before the mirror in your there is a great silence. The in-
methods of concentration. bathroom, first look into the reflec- complete circle creates restless-
Just standing before a mirror some tion: you are looking and the reflec- ness, when the circle is complete it
day, try one small experiment. You tion is the object. Then change the creates rest. It makes you cen-
are looking at the mirror, your own whole situation, reverse the pro- tered, and to be centered is to be
face in the mirror, your own eyes in cess. Start feeling that you are the powerful. The power is yours.
the mirror This is extroversion: you reflection and the reflection is look- This is just an experiment; you can
are looking into the mirrored face - ing at you. Immediately you will try it in many ways.
your own face, of course, but it is see a change happening, a great en- Looking at a rose flower, first look
an object outside you. Then, for a ergy moving towards you. at it for a few moments, a few min-
moment, reverse the whole process. In the beginning it may be fright- utes, and then start the reverse pro-
Start feeling that you are being ening because you have never cess: the rose flower is looking at
looked at by the reflection in the done it and you have never known you. You will be surprised how
mirror - not that you are looking at it; it will look crazy. You may feel much energy the rose flower can
the reflection but the reflection is shaken, a trembling may arise in The same can be done
give to you.
looking at you - and you will be in you, or you may feel disoriented, with trees and the stars and with
a very strange space. Just try it for a because your whole orientation up people. The best way to do it is
few minutes; you will be very alive, to now has been extroversion. with the woman orman you love.
and something of immense power Introversion has to be learned Just look into each other's eyes.
will start entering you. You may slowly, slowly. But the circle is First begin looking at the other and
even become frightened because complete. If you do it for a few then start feeling the other return-
you have never known it; you have days you will be surprised how ing the energy to you; the gift is
never seen the complete circle of much more alive you feel the coming back. You will feel replen-
energy. whole day - just a few minutes ished, you will feel showered,
Although it is not mentioned in standing before the mirror and let- bathed, basked in a new kind of en-
Taoist scriptures this seems to me ting the energy come back to you ergy. You will come out of it reju-
the most simple experiment any- so the circle is complete - and venated, vitalized. *
118
'
MEDITATIONS ON LIGHT
Meditations on Light
T n your heart a flame is burning.
Your body is just a light around the flame.
119
THE MEDITATIONS
DO -
the
this at least
the best time

twice a day
is
morning, just before

early in
you get out of bed. The moment

you feel you are alert, awake, do it
for twenty minutes. Do k first thing

in the morning! - don't get out of
bed. Do it there, then and there, im-
mediately! - because when you are

coming out of sleep you are very
very delicate, receptive. When you
are coming out of sleep you are
very fresh, and the impact will go
very deep. When you are just com-
ing out of sleep you are less in the
nund than ever. Hence some gaps
Golden Light Meditation

are there through which the method is the rising of all the energies in when you are half-asleep, half-
will penetrate into your innermost existence. In that moment you can awake. And the process is so
core. And early in the morning, simply ride on the rising energy simple. It needs no posture, no
when you are awakening and the wave; it will be easier. By the yogasana, no bath is needed,
whole earth is awakening, there is evening it will be difficult, energies nothing.
a great tide of awakening energy will be falling back; then you will You simply lie down, as you are
all over the world. Use that tide; be fighting against the current. In lying down in your bed, on your
don't miss that opportunity. the moming you will be going with back. Keep your eyes closed.
All ancient religions used to pray the current. When you breathe in, just visual-
early in the moming when the sun So the best time to begin is in the ize great light entering from your
rose, because the rising of the sun early moming, immediately, just head into your body, as if a sun
121
THEME DITATI ONS
has risen just close to your head - golden light come into you through And then the second best time is
golden light pouring into your head. your head, because it is there that when you are going back to sleep,
You are just hollow and the golden the Golden Flower is waiting. That in the night.
light is pouring into your head, and golden light will help. It will Lie down on the bed, relax for a
going, going, going, deep, deep, cleanse your whole body and will few minutes. When you start feel-
and going out through your toes. make it absolutely full of creativity. ing that now you are wavering be-
When you breathe in, do it with this This is male energy. tween sleep and waking, just in that
visualization. Then when you exhale, let dark- middle, start the process again, and
And when you breathe out, visual- ness, the darkest you can conceive, continue for twenty minutes. If you
ize another thing: darkness entering like a dark night, river-like, come fall asleep doing it, that is the best,
through your toes, a great dark river from your toes upward - this is because the impact will remain in
entering through your toes, coming feminine energy: it will soothe you, the subconscious and will go on
up, and going out through the head. it will make you receptive, it will working.
Do slow, deep breathing so you can calm you, it will give you - and
rest After a three-month period you will
visualize. Go very slowly. And just let it go out of the head. Then in- be surprised: the energy that was
out of sleep you can have very deep hale again, and golden light enters constantly gathering at the mulad-
and slow breaths because the body in. har, at the lowest, the sex center, is
is rested, relaxed. Do it for twenty minutes early in no more gathering there. It is going
Let me repeat: breathing in, let the morning. upwards. 2
122
'hiva said: Waking, sleeping,

dreaming, know you as
light.
While "waking," moving, eating,

working, remember yourself as
light, as if in your heart a flame is
burning, and your body is nothing

but the aura around the flame.
Imagine it: in your heart a flame is
burning, and your body is nothing

but a light aura around the flame;
your body is just a light around the
flame. Allow it to go deep within
your mind and your consciousness.
Imbibe it.
Heart of Light
It will take time, but if you go on be at ease. Don't say anything to When you come near them, they
thinking about it, feeling it, imag- anyone. Simply imagine a flame, will feel a different warmth. If you
ining it, within a certain period you and your body as just the aura touch them, they will feel a fiery
will be able to remember it the around it - not a physical body, but touch. They will become aware
whole day. While awake, moving an electric body, a light body. Go that something strange is happen-
on the street, you are a flame mov- on doing it. ing to you. Don't tell anyone.
ing. No one else will be aware of it If you persist, within three months, When others become aware, then
in the beginning, but if you contin- or somewhere nearabout then, oth- you can feel at ease, and then you
ue it, after three months others will ers will become aware that some- can enter the second step, not be-
also become aware. Only when thing has happened to you. They fore it.
others become aware can you then will feel a subtle light around you. The second step is to take it into
123
THE M E D I TAT IONS
dreaming. Now you can take it into is revealed - that you are light, a be aware that you are a flame, a
dreaming. It has become a reality. flame, a burning flame - all dreams light, that sleep is not happening to
Now it is not an imagination. will disappear. Only when dreams you, you are conscious. You are
Through imagination you have un- disappear can you carry this feeling carrying a conscious effort; now
covered a reality. It is real. Every- into sleep, never before. Now you you are crystallized around that
thing consists of light. You are light are at the door. When dreams have flame. The body is asleep, you are
- unaware of the fact - because ev- disappeared and you remember not.
ery particle of matter is light. yourself as a flame, you are at the This is what Krishna says in the
The scientists say it consists of door of sleep. Now you can enter Gita: that yogis never sleep. While
electrons; it is the same thing. with the feeling. And once you en- others are asleep, they are awake.
Light is the source of all. You are ter sleep with the feeling that you Not that their bodies never sleep,
also condensed light: through are a flame, you will be aware in it their bodies sleep - but only bod-
imagination you are simply uncov- - the sleep will now happen only to ies. Bodies need rest, conscious-
ering a reality. Imbibe it - and your body, not to you. ness needs no rest; because bodies
when you have become so filled Yoga and Tantra divide the life of are mechanisms, consciousness is
with it, you can carry it into man's mind into three divisions - not a mechanism. Bodies need fuel,
dreams, not before. the life of the mind, remember they need rest. That's why when
Then, while go on
falling asleep, They divide mind into three divi- they arebom, they are young, then
thinking of the flame, go on see- sions: waking, sleeping, dreaming. they become old, and then they die.
ing it, feeling you are the light. These are not the divisions of your Consciousness is never bom, never
Remembering it. . .remembering. . consciousness, these are the divi- becomes old, never dies. It needs
remembering you fall into sleep, sions of your mind, and conscious- no fuel, it needs no rest. It is pure
and the remembrance continues. ness is the fourth. energy, perpetual eternal energy. If
In the beginning you will start They have not given any name to you can carry this image of flame
having some dreams in which you it in the East; they call it simply and light through the doors of
will feel you have a flame within, the fourth, turiya. The first three sleep, you will never sleep again,
thatyou are light. By and by, in have names; these are the clouds. only the body will rest. And while
the dreams also you will move They can be named - a waking the body is sleeping, you will know
with the same feeling. And once cloud, a sleeping cloud, a dream- Once this happens, you have be-
it.
this feeling enters the dreams, ing cloud. They are all clouds, and come the fourth. Now the waking
dreams will start disappearing. the space in which they move - the and the dreaming and the sleeping
There will be fewer and fewer sky - is unnamed, left simply as are parts of the mind. TTiey are
dreams and more and more deep the fourth. parts, and you have become the
sleep. This technique is to help you go be- fourth - one who goes through all
When in your dreaming, this reality yond these three states. If you can of them and is none of them.
124
hiva said: Kind Devi, enter
S
form.
etheric presence pervading
far above and below your
This method can be done only if
you have done 'Touching as a

Feather". It can be done separately
also, but then it will be very diffi-
cult. But if you do the other first,
then it is good to do the second

and very easy.
Whenever it happens that you feel
light, levitating, as if you can fly,
suddenly you will become aware

that around your body form there
Seeing
Etheric Presence
is a bluish light. But that you can toes and their form, and the legs Do it with closed eyes in the be-
see only when you feel that you and their form, and then the form ginning. And when this light goes
can levitate, that your body can fly, of the whole body. If you are sitting on spreading and you feel an
that it has become light, complete- in siddhasana, just like a Buddha, aura, a bluish aura, all around the
ly free of any burden, completely then feel the form while sitting like form, then sometimes while doing
free of any gravitation towards the a Buddha. Inside just try to feel the it at night with no light in a dark
earth. form of your body. It will become room, open your eyes and you
Whenever you feel this weightless- apparent, it will appear before you, will see it exactly around your
ness, just with closed eyes become and you will simultaneously be- body - a bluish form, just light,
aware of the form of your body. come aware that just around the blue light, all around your body.
Just with closed eyes, feel your form there is a bluish light. If you actually want to see it, not
125
THE MED ITATI ON S
with closed eyes, but with open hazy light, a blue light, hanging all the bluish form around you; not
eyes, do it in a dark room with no around like a loose robe. doing anything, just looking at it -
light at all. Whenever someone loves you, you will feel it is increasing,
This bluish form, this bluish light, whenever someone touches you spreading, becoming bigger and
is the presence of the etheric body. with deep love, he touches your bigger. Because when you are not
You have many bodies. This tech- etheric body. That's why you feel it doing anything, the whole energy
nique is concerned with the etheric as such a soothing thing. It has even goes to the etheric. Remember
body, and through the etheric body been photographed. Two lovers in this. When you are doing any-
you can enter into the highest ecsta- deep love, making love: if their in- thing, the energy is taken out of
sy. Tliere are seven bodies, and ev- tercourse can continue beyond a the etheric.
ery body can be used to enter into certain limit, beyond forty minutes, When you are not doing anything,
the divine; every body is just a and there is no ejaculation, around your energy is not moving out. It
door. both the bodies, deep in love, a blue goes to the etheric. It is accumulated
This technique uses the etheric light appears. It has even been pho- there. Your etheric body becomes an
body, and the etheric body is the tographed. electric reservoir. And the more it
easiest to realize. TTie deeper the First you will have to become grows, the more you become silent.
body, the more difficult; but the aware of the form that surrounds The more you become silent, the
etheric body is just near you, just your physical form, and when you more it grows. And once you know
near the physical. It is just near. The have become aware, then help it to how to give energy to the etheric
second form is of the etheric - just grow, help it to increase and ex- body and how not to waste it unnec-
around you, just around your body. pand. What can you do? essarily, you have come to realize;
It penetrates your body and it is Just sitting silently, looking at it; you have come to know about a
*
also around your body just like a not doing anything, just looking at secret key.
126
hiva said: Feel the cosmos

as a translucent ever-living
presence.
This technique is based on inner

sensitivity. First grow in sensitiv-
ity. Just close your doors, make

the room dark, and light a small
candle. Sit near the candle with a
very loving attitude - rather, with
a prayerful attitude. Just pray to
the candle, "Reveal yourself to
me." Take a bath, throw cold wa-
ter on your eyes, then sit in a
very prayerful mood before the
candle. Look at it and forget
Translucent Presence
everything else. Just look at the just go on looking at the candle and TTiose tears will help your eyes to
small candle - the flame and the the flame. Then you will discover be more fresh.
candle. Go on looking at it. After new colors around the flame, new Sometimes you may feel that the
five minutes you will feel that shades which you were never flame, the candle, has become
many things are changing in the aware were there. They are there: mysterious. It is not the ordinary
candle. They are not changing in the whole rainbow is there. Wher- candle you brought with you. It
the candle - remember. Your ever light is, the rainbow is there has taken on a new glamour. A
eyes are changing. because light is all color. You need subtle divineness has come into it.
With a loving attitude, with the a subtle sensitivity. Just feel it and Go on doing this. You can also do
whole world closed out, with total go on looking at it. Even if tears this with many other things.
concentration, with a feeling heart. start flowing, go on looking at it. Sensitivity must grow. Your every
127
THEME DITATI ON S
sense must become more alive. Wait silently with anything, and training it will be helpful.
Then you can experiment with this you will discover a new phe- You can try many ways. Just take
technique. "Feel the cosmos as a nomenon which was always there, someone's hand into your hand.
translucent ever-living presence." but to which you were not alert - Close your eyes and feel the life
Everywhere light is - in many, not aware of it. in the other. Feel it, and allow it
many shapes, forms, light is hap- "Feel the cosmos as a translucent tomove toward you. Feel your
pening everywhere. Look at it! ever-living presence," and your own life and allow it to move to-
And light is everywhere, because mind will become completely ward the other. Sit near a tree and
the whole phenomenon is based on silent as you feel the presence of touch the bark of the tree. Close
the foundation of light. Look at a the ever-living existence. You will your eyes and feel the life arising
leaf or a flower or a rock, and be just a part in it, just a note in the in the tree, and you change imme-
sooner or later you will feel rays great symphony. No burden, no diately.
coming out of it. Just wait patient- tension: the drop has fallen into the If this method is done for three
ly. Don't be in a hurry because ocean. But great imagination will months, you will be living in a dif-
nothing is revealed when you are be needed in the beginning, and if ferent world because now you will
in a hurry. In a hurry you are dull. you are also trying other sensitivity be different.
"^
128 n
MEDITATIONS ON DARKNESS
Meditations
on Darkness
Just like the seed that starts its life in the darkness of
the soil, or the child that starts its life in the darkness
of the womb, all beginnings are in the dark, because
darkness is one of the most essential things for anything
to begin.
The beginning is mysterious, hence darkness is needed.

And the beginning is so delicate, that's also why dark-
ness is needed. The beginning is also very intimate,
that's also why darkness is needed. Darkness has depth
and a tremendous power to nourish. The day tires you;
the night rejuvenates.
The morning will come, the day will follow, but if you
are afraid of the darkness then the day will never come.
If one wants to skip darkness then the day is impossible.
One has to go through the dark night of the soul to reach
to the dawn. Death is first, then life is.
In the ordinary sequence of things birth is first, then is
life, but in the inner world, in the inner journey, it is just

the opposite: death is first, then is life. '
129
THEM EDITATI ON S
hiva said: In rain during
s
forms.
a black
blackness as
night,
the
enter
form of
that
How can you enter blackness?

Three things.
Stepl:
Stare into blackness. Difficult. It
is easy to stare at a flame, at any

source of light, because it is there
as an object, pointed; you can di-
rect your attention to it. Darkness

is not an object; it is everywhere.
Inner Darkness
it is all around. You cannot see it mental; it is not real. Really, it is a darkness. It is not real, it won't
as an object. Stare into the vacu- negative part; it is not positive do.
um. All around it is there; you just darkness. Open your eyes, remain with open
look into it. Feel at ease and look Here is light: you close your eyes eyes in darkness, and you will
into it. It will start entering your and you can have a darkness, but have a different darkness - the
eyes. And when the darkness en- that darkness is simply the nega- positive darkness that is there.
ters your eyes, you are entering tive of the light. Just as when you Stare into it. Go on staring into
into it. look at the window and then you darkness. Your tears will start,
Remain with open eyes when do- close your eyes, you have a nega- your eyes will get sore, they will
ing this technique in the dark tive figure of the window. All our hurt. Don't get worried, just go on.
night. Don't close your eyes, be- experience is of light, so when we And the moment the darkness, the
cause with closed eyes you have a close our eyes we have a negative real darkness which is there, enters
different darkness that is your own. experience of light which we call in your eyes, it will give you a
131
THE MED ITATI ON S
very deep soothing feeling. When and if you give way for any cosmic Every night, for one hour remain
real darkness enters in you, you will realm to enter in you, then only will with darkness. Don't do anything,
be filled by it. you enter into it. It is always mutu- just stare into darkness. You will
And this entering of darkness will al. You cannot force it; you can have a melting feeling, and you
empty you of all negative darkness. only allow it. will feel that something is entering
This is a very deep phenomenon. It is difficult to find real darkness in you and you are entering into
The darkness that you have within cities now; difficult in our houses to something.
is a negative thing; it is against the find real darkness. With the unreal Staying, living with darkness for
light. It is not the absence of light; light we have made everything un- three months, for one hour a day,
it is against the light. It is not the real. Even our darkness is polluted, you will lose all feeling of individ-
darkness that Shiva is speaking of it is not pure. So it is good to move uality, of separation. Then you will
as the form of all forms - the real to some remote place only to feel not be an island; you will become
darkness that's there. darkness. Just go to a very remote the ocean. You will be one with
We are so afraid of it that we have village where there is no electricity, darkness. And darkness is so
created many sources of light just as or move to a mountain peak. Just oceanic: nothing is so vast, nothing
protection, and we live in a lighted be there for one week to experience is so eternal. And nothing is so near
world. Then we close our eyes and pure darkness. you, and of nothing are you so
the lighted world retlects negatively You will come back a different scared and afraid. It is just by the
inside. We have lost contact with the man, because in those seven days corner, always waiting.
real darkness that is there - the dark- of absolute darkness, all the fears,
ness of the Essenes, or the darkness all the primitive fears, will come Step 2:
of Shiva. We have no contact with up. You will have to face monsters,
it. We have become so much afraid you will have to face your own un- Lie down and feel as if you are
of it that we have turned ourselves conscious. The whole humanity near your mother The darkness is
completely away. We are standing will... it will be as if you are pass- the mother, the mother of all.
with our backs to it. ing through the whole passage that Think: when there was nothing,
So this will be difficult, but if you has passed, and deep from your un- what was there? You capnot think
can do it, it is miraculous, it is mag- conscious many things will arise. of anything other than darkness. If
ical. You will have a different being They will look real. You may get everything disappears, what will
altogether When darkness enters afraid, scared, because they will be still be there? Darkness will be
you, you enter into it. It is always so real - and they are just your there.
reciprocal, mutual. You cannot en- mental creations. Darkness is the mother, the womb,
ter into any cosmic phenomenon You have come to terms with
to so lie down and feel that you are ly-
without the cosmic phenomenon your unconscious. And this medita- ing in the womb of your mother.
entering into you. You cannot rape tion on darkness will absorb all And it will become real, it will be-
it, you cannot force any entry. If your madness completely. Try it. come warm, and sooner or later you
you are available, open, vulnerable, Even in your home you can try it. will start feeling that the darkness,
132
the womb, is enveloping you from whole day will help you very much, for two years. 1 became so lazy that
everywhere, you are in it. because then when you contem- even to get out of bed in the morn-
plate and meditate on darkness in ing was difficult. My professors be-
Step 3: the night, the inner darkness that came very much disturbed about it,
you have carried the whole day will and they thought something had
Moving, going to work, talking, help you to meet - the inner will gone wrong with me - either I was
eating, doing whatsoever, carry a come to meet the outer. ill, or 1 had become absolutely in-
patch of darkness within you. The And just by remembering that you different. One professor who loved
darkness that has entered in you, are carrying darkness - you are me very much, the head of my de-
just carry it. As we were discussing filled with darkness, every pore of partment,became so worried that
about the method of carrying a the body, every cell of the body is on my examination days he would
flame, carry darkness. As I said to filled with darkness - you will feel come to fetch me from the hostel in
you, if you carry a flame and feel so relaxed. Try it. You will feel so the morning just to lead me to the
you are light, your body will start relaxed. Everything in you will be examination hall so that 1 would be
radiating a certain strange light and slowed down. You will not be able there on time. Every day he would
those who are sensitive will start to run, you will walk, and that walk see that I had entered the hall, and
feeling it; the same will happen will be slowed down also. You will only then would he feel okay and
with darkness. walk slowly, just as a pregnant go home.
If you carry darkness within you, woman You will walk slow-
walks. Try it. It is one of the most beauti-
your whole body will become so re- ly, very carefully. You are carrying ful experiences in life to carry
laxed and calm, so cool, that it will something. darkness in your womb, to become
be felt. And
when you carry light
as And quite the opposite will happen dark. Walking, eating, sitting, do-
within you some people will be- when you are carrying a flame: your ing whatsoever, remember, the
come attracted to you, when you walk will become faster; rather, you darkness is filled in you; you are
carry darkness within you, some would like to run. There will be filled with it. And then see how
people will simply escape from more movement, you will become things change. You cannot get ex-
you. They will become afraid and more active. Carrying darkness you cited, you cannot be very active,
scared. They will not be able to will be relaxed. Others will start you cannot be tense. Your sleep
bear so silent a being; it will be- feeling that you are lazy. will become so deep that dreams
come unbearable to them. In the days when I was at the uni- will disappear and the whole day
Carrying darkness within for the versity, I was doing this experiment you will move as if intoxicated. -
133
THE ME DITATI ON S
^^hiva said: When a moonless

^k rainy night is not present,
kJ close eyes and find black-
ness before you. Opening eyes,
see blackness. So faults disappear
forever
This is a little bit more difficult. In
the previous meditation, you carry

the real darkness within. In this one
you carry the false out - go on car-
rying it. Close your eyes, feel dark-
ness; open your eyes, and with

open eyes see the darkness out.
This is how you throw the inner

false darkness out - go on throwing
Carry Out
Inner Darkness
it. It will take at least three to six carry it out, and a patch of darkness sunny day. The sun is there, but
weeks, and then one day suddenly spreads before you. The experience you can spread the darkness. The
you will be able to carry the inner is very weird, because the room is darkness is always there; even
darkness out. The day you can car- lighted.Or even in sunlight... if you while the sun is there the dark-
ry the inner darkness out, you have have come to the inner darkness you ness is there. You cannot see it; it
come upon the real inner darkness. can bring it out Then a patch of is covered by the sunlight. Once
The real can be carried; the false darkness comes before your eyes. you know how to uncover it, you
cannot be carried. You can go on spreading it. can uncover it.
And it is a very magical experience. Once you know that it can hap- That's the method. First feel it in-
If you can carry the inner darkness pen, you can have darkness, dark side; feel it deeply so you can per-
out, even in a lighted room you can as the darkest night, in the full ceive it out. Then open the eyes I
134
'
suddenly and feel it out. It will take violent, you can kill, you can do beautiful woman or a man - you
time. what only a madman can do. Any- get excited. Feel that you are filled
And if you can bring the inner thing is possible - you are now with darkness; suddenly the pas-
darkness outside, faults disappear mad. Someone praises you: you sion will disappear. You try it. This
forever, because if the inner dark- again go mad to the other extreme. is absolutely experimental, there is
ness is felt, you have become so All around you there are situations, no need to believe it.
cool, so silent, so unexcitable, that and you are not capable of absorb- When you feel that you are filled
faults cannot remain with you. ing. Insult a buddha: he can absorb with passion or desire or sex, sim-
Remember this: faults can exist it, he can simply swallow it, digest ply remember the inner darkness.
only if you are prone to be excited, it. Who digests that insult? An in- For a single moment close your
if you tend to be excited. They ner pool of darkness, silence. You eyes and feel darkness and see -
don't exist in themselves; they exist throw anything poisoned; it is ab- the passion has disappeared, the de-
in your capacity to get excited. sorbed. No comes out of it.
reaction sire is no more there. The inner
Someone insults you, and you have Try this, and when someone insults darkness has absorbed You have
it.
no darkness within to absorb the in- you, just remember that you are become an infinite vacuum into
sult: you become inflamed, you get filled with darkness, and suddenly which anything can fall and it will
angry, you get fiery, and then you will feel there is no reaction. not return. You are now like an
everything is possible. You can be You pass through a street; you see a abyss.
135
THE ME DITATI ON S
MOVING ENERGY UPWARDS
Moving
Energy Upwards
The first thing is to feel one's energy. The first thing is
not the question, "How to use it?" The first thing is:
how to feel it and how to feel it intensely, passionately,
totally. And the beauty is that once you have felt your
energy, out of that very feeling the insight arises: how to
use it.
The energy starts directing you. It is not that you direct

the energy: on the contrary, the energy starts moving on
its own accord and you simply follow it. Then there is
spontaneity and then there is freedom. '
137
THE MEDITATIONS
138
I
^^hiva said: Consider your

^k essence as light rays rising
^t^J from center to center up the
vertebrae,and so rises 'living-
ness ' in you.
Many yoga methods are based on

this. First understand what it is,
then the application. The verte-
brae, the spine is the base of both

your body and mind. Your mind,
your head, is the end part of your
spine. TTie whole body is rooted in
the spine. If the spine is young,
you are young. If the spine is old,
you are old. If you can keep your
The Ascent
of Life Energy 1
spine young, it is difficult to be- end is sahasrar (the seventh center divine. These are the two poles of
come old. Everything depends on at the top of the head). The begin- your existence: first is sex and the
your spine. If your spine is alive, ning of the spine is attached to the other is the sahasrar There is no
you will have a very brilliant mind. earth, and sex is the most earthly word for 'sahasrar' in English.
If the spine is dull and dead, you thing in you. From the beginning These are the two poles - either
will have a very dull mind. The center in your spine you are in con- your life will be sex-oriented or
whole of yoga tries in many ways tact with nature, with what has sahasrar-oriented. Either your ener-
to make your spine alive, brilliant, been called prakrati - the earth, the gy will be flowing down from the
filled young and fresh.
with light, material. From the last center, or sex center back to the earth, or your
The spine has two ends. The be- the second pole, sahasrar, in the energy will be released from the sa-
ginning is the sex center and the head, you are in contact with the hasrar into the cosmos. From the
139
THE ME DITATION S
sahasrar you flow into the Brahman, is pulling it back. Everything goes you are sitting by the side of a
into the absolute existence. From to its source. And if it continues to buddha, you can feel this. Suddenly
sex you flow down into the relative move in this way, life energy going you feel an upsurge of energy with-
existence. These are the two flows, back again and again, you are mov- in you, and your energy starts mov-
the two possibilities. Unless you ing in a circle; you will go on moving upward. Only then do you
start flowing upward, your misery ing for lives and lives. You can go know that something has happened.
will never end. You may have on moving this way infinitely un- Just by being in contact with a bud-
glimpses of happiness, but only less you take a jump just like the dha your energy begins to move
glimpses - and very illusory ones. astronauts. Like the astronauts you upward toward the sahasrar. A
When the energy starts moving up- have to take a jump and move be- buddha is so powerful that even the
ward, you will have more and more yond the circle. Then the pattern of earth is less powerful, it cannot pull
real glimpses. And once it reaches earth's gravitation is broken. It can your energy downwards. Those
the sahasrar and is released from be broken! who have felt this around a Jesus, a
there, you will have absolute bliss The techniques for how it can be Buddha, a Krishna, have called
with you - that Thenis nirvana. broken are here - for how the ener- them God. They have a different
there is no glimpse: you become the gy can move vertically and rise up source of energy which is stronger
bliss itself. So the whole thing for within you, reaching new centers; than the earth.
yoga and tantra is how to move en- for how new energies can be re- How can the pattern be broken? This
ergy upward through the vertebrae, vealed within you, making you a technique is very useful for break-
through the spinal column, how to new person with every move. And ing the pattern. First understand
help it move against gravity. Sex is the moment the energy is released something basic. One, if you have
very easy because it follows gravi- from your sahasrar, the opposite observed at all, you must have ob-
tation. The earth is pulling every- pole of sex, you are no more man. served that your sex energy moves
thing down, back; your sex energy Then you don't belong to this earth; with imagination. Just through
is pulled by the earth. You may not you have become divine. That is imagination your sex center starts
have heard it, but astronauts have what is meant when we say Krishna functioning. Really, without imagi-
felt this - the moment they move is God or Buddha is God. Their nation it cannot function. That is
beyond the earth's gravity, they bodies are just like yours. Their why if you are in love with someone
don't feel much sexuality. As the bodies will have to fall ill and they it functions better: because with love
body loses weight, sexuality dis- will have to die. Everything hap- imagination enters. If you are not in
solves, disappears. pens in their bodies as it happens to love it is very difficult. It will not
The earth is pulling your life energy you. Only one thing is not happen- function.
down and this is natural, because ing in their bodies which is happen- Since the sex center functions
the life energy comes from the ing to you - the energy has broken through imagination, you can get
earth. You eat food and you are cre- the gravitation pattern. erections and ejaculations even in
ating life energy within you; it That you cannot see; it is not visible dreams - they are real; dreams are
comes from the earth, and the earth to your eyes. But sometimes when just imagination. It has been
140
M \' I N G ENERGY L' P WA R D S
observed that every man, if physi- ful.You can make your own divi- smaller divisions will be of help. If
cally fit, will have at least ten erec- sion. Just five centers areenough to you can connect, no divisions are
tions in the night. With every work with: the first is the sex cen- needed. You can just drop all divi-
movement of the mind, with only a ter, the second is just behind the sions from your sex center on-
slight thought of sex, an erection navel, the third is just behind the wards, and the energy, the life force
will come. Your mind has many en- heart, the fourth is behind your two will rise up as light toward the sa-
ergies, many faculties, and one is eyebrows, just in between, in the hasrar. But divisions will be more
will. But you cannot will sex. For middle of the forehead. And the helpful because your mind can con-
sex, will is impotent. If you try to fifth, sahasrar, is just on the peak of ceive of smaller fragments more
love someone, you will feel you your head. TTiese five will do. easily.
have gone impotent. So never try. This sutra says, "Consider your- So just feel that the energy, the
Will never functions with sex; only self: which means imagine your- light rays, are rising up from your
imagination will function. Imagine, self - close your eyes and imagine sex center to your navel like a river
and the center will start to function. yourself just as if you are light. of light. Immediately you will feel
Why am I emphasizing this fact? - This is not just imagination. In the a warmth rising in you. Soon your
because if imagination helps the en- beginning it is, but it is a reality navel will become hot. You can
ergy to move, then you can move it also because everything consists feel the hotness; even others can
upward or downward just by imagi- of light. Science says now that feel that hotness. Through your
nation. You cannot move your everything consists of light; science imagination the sex energy will
blood by imagination; you cannot says that everything consists of have started to rise. When you feel
do anything else in the body by electricity. Tantra has always said that now the second center at the
imagination. But sex energy can be that everything consists of light navel has become a source of light,
moved by imagination, you can particles - and you also. That is that the rays are coming and being
change its direction. why the Koran says that God is collected there, then start to move
This sutra says, "Consider your light. You are light! to the heart center As the light
essence as light rays..." Think of Imagine first that you are just light reaches the heart center, as the rays
yourself, your being, as light rays rays; then move your imagination are coming, your heartbeat will be
. . ."from center to center up the ver- to the sex center Concentrate your changed. Your breathing will be-
tebrae," up your spine, "and so rises attention there and feel that light come deeper, and a warmth will
'livingness' in you." rays are rising upward from the sex come to your heart. Go on up-
Yoga has divided your spine into center, as if the sex center has be- wards.
seven centers. The first is the sex come a source of light and light And as you feel warmth, just side
center and the last is sahasrar, and rays are moving in an upsurge - up- by side you will feel a 'livingness',
between these two there are five ward toward the navel center a new life coming to you, an inward
centers. Some systems divide into Division is needed because it will light rising up. Sex energy has two
nine, some into three, some into be difficult for you to connect your parts: one is physical and one is
four: division is not very meaning- sex center with the sahasrar. So psychic. In your body everything
141
THE ME DITATI ON S
has two parts. Just like your body But the therapist said, "No, this is tioning; only then will these tech-
and mind, everything within you not your feeling. This is just your niques be of any help. Otherwise
has two parts - one material and the thinking, your inference. I have put you will go on thinking that energy
other spiritual. Sex energy has two my hand in your hand; you say you is rising, but there will be no feel-
parts. The material part is semen. It are feeling my hand. But you are ing. And if there is no feeling,
cannot rise upwards; there is no pas- not. This is inference. What do you imagination is impotent, futile.
sage for it. Because of this, many feel?" So she said, "I feel your fin- Only a feeling imagination will
physiologists of the West say that gers." give you a result. You can do many
tantra and yoga methods are non- The therapist again said, "No, this other things and there is no need
sense and they deny them complete- is not feeling. Don't infer anything. to make a specific effort to do
ly. How can sex energy rise up? Just close your eyes and move to them. When you go to sleep just
There is no passage and sex energy the place where my hand is; then feel your bed, feel the pillow - the
cannot They are right and still
rise. tell me what you feel." Then she coldness. Just turn on to it: play
wrong. Semen, the material part, said, "Oh! I was missing the whole with the pillow.
cannot rise, but that is not the whole thing. I feel pressure and warmth." Close your eyes and listen to the
of it - it is only the body of sex en- When a hand touches you, a hand is noise of the air conditioner, or of
ergy; it is not the sex energy. The not felt. Pressure and warmth are the traffic or of the clock or any-
sex energy is the psychic part of it, felt. The hand is just inference, it is thing. Just listen. Don't label, don't
and the psychic part can rise. And intellect, not feeling. Warmth and say anything. Don't use the mind.
for that psychic part, the spinal pas- pressure, that is feeling. Now she Just live in the sensation. In the
sage is used - the spinal passage was feeling. We have lost feeling morning, moment of
in the first
and its centers. But that has to be completely. You will have to devel- waking, when you feel that now
felt and your feelings have gone op feeling. Only then can you do sleep has gone, don't start thinking.
dead. such techniques. Otherwise, they For a few moments you can again
I remember somewhere that a cer- will not function. You will just in- be a child - innocent, fresh. Don't
tain psychotherapist wrote about a tellectualize. You will just think start thinking. Don't think about
patient, a woman. He was telling that you are feeling, and nothing what you are going to do and when
her to feel something but the psy- will happen. That is why people you are starting for the office and
chotherapist felt that whatever she come to me and say, "You tell us what train you are going to catch.
did she was not feeling, but think- this technique is so significant, but Don't start thinking. You will have
ing about feeling, and that is a dif- nothing happens." They have tried, enough time for all that nonsense.
ferent thing. So the therapist put his but they are missing a dimension - Just wait.
hand on the woman's hand and the feeling dimension. So first you For a few moments just listen to
pressed it, telling her to close her will have to develop that, and there the noises. A bird is singing or the
eyes and relate what she felt. She are some methods which you can wind is passing through the trees or
said immediately, "I feel your try. a child is crying or the milkman
hand." The feeling center must start func- has come and is making sounds or
142
MO \' 1 N G ENERGY L' P WA R D S
the milk is being poured. With any- you meet the lowest. Even while know life's functioning. It is a good
thing that happens, feel it. Be sensi- actually in the sex act, you can do sign. It shows that energy is now
tive to it, open to it. Allow it to hap- this exercise: both the partners can there alive. Now it needs move-
pen to you and your sensitivity will do this. Move the energy upwards, ment. So don't become scared and
grow. and then the sex act becomes tantra don't think that something is
Create sensitivity and feeling. Then sadhana: becomes meditation.

it wrong. It is a good sign.
it will be easy for you to do these But don't leave the energy some- When you start meditation the sex
techniques, and then you will feel where in the body at some center. center will become more sensitive,
'livingness' arising in you. Don't Someone may come and you will alive, excited, and in the beginning
leave this energy anywhere. Allow have some business, or some phone the excitement will be just the same
it to come to the sahasrar. Remem- call will come and you will have to as any sexual excitement - but only
ber this: whenever you do this ex- stop. So do it at such a time that no in the beginning. As your medita-
periment, don't leave it in the mid- one will disturb you, and don't tionbecomes deeper, you will feel
dle. You have to complete it. Take leave the energy in any center. Oth- energy flowing up. As the energy
care that no one disturbs you. If you erwise that center where you leave flows, the sex center becomes
leave this energy somewhere in the the energy will become a wound, silent, less excited.
middle, it can be harmful. It has to and you maycreate many mental When the energy really moves to
be released. So bring it to the head illnesses. So be aware; otherwise the sahasrar, there will be no sen-
and feel as if your head has become don't do this. This method needs sation at the sex center It will be
an opening. absolute privacy and no distur- totally still and silent. It will have
In India we have pictured the sahas- bance, and it must be done com- become completely cool, and the
rar as a lotus - as a thousand- pletely. The energy must come to warmth will have come to the head.
petaled lotus. 'Sahasrar' means the head, and it should be released And this is physical. When the sex
thousand-petaled, an opening of a from there. center is excited, it becomes hot.
thousand petals. Just conceive of You will have various experiences. You can feel that hotness; it is
the lotus with a thousand petals, When you will feel that the rays are physical. When the energy moves,
opened, and from every petal this starting to come up from the sex the sex center will become cooler
light energy is moving into the cos- center, there will be erections or and cooler and cooler, and the hot-
mos. Again, this is a love act - not sensations at the sex center. Many, ness will come to the head. You
with nature now, but with the ulti- many people come to me very will feel dizzy.
mate. Again, it is an orgasm. afraid and scared. They say that When the energy comes to the head,
There are two types of orgasms: one whenever they start meditation, you will feel dizzy. Sometimes you
is sexual and the other spiritual. The when they start to move deep, there may even feel nausea because for
sexual comes from the lowest center is an erection. They wonder, "What the first time energy has come to
and the spiritual from the highest is this?" They are afraid because the head and your head is not ac-
center. From the highest you meet they think that in meditation sex quainted with it. It has to become
the highest and from the lowest should not be there. But you don't tuned. So don't become afraid.
143
THE MED ITATI ON S
Sometimes you may become un- It cannot be more that that. It never center. But don't be afraid. And if
conscious immediately, but don't has been in thousands of years of your head becomes hot, it is a good
be afraid. This happens. If so experiments, so don't be afraid. If sign. Release the energy. Feel as if
much energy moves suddenly and you do become unconscious, it is your head is opening like a lotus
explodes in the head, you may okay. After that unconsciousness flower, as if energy is being released
become unconscious. But that un- you will feel so fresh that it is as if into the cosmos. As the energy is re-
consciousness cannot remain for you have been in sleep for the first leased, you will feel a coldness
more than one hour. Within one time, in the deepest sleep. coming to you. You have never felt
hour the energy automatically falls Yoga calls it by a special name: the coldness that comes after this
back or is released. 1 say one hour, 'yoga tandra' - yogic sleep. It is hotness. But do the technique com-
but in fact it is exactly 48 minutes. very deep: you move to your deef)est pletely; never do it incompletely. 2
144
hiva said: Or in the spaces

between, feel this as light-
ning.
This is a very similar method with

a sHght difference: "Or in the
spaces between, feel this as light-

ning." Between one center and an-
other, as the rays are coming, you
can feel it like lightning - just a
jump of light. For some people the

second will be more suitable and
for others the first. This is why
there is a modification. There are
people who cannot imagine things
gradually and there are people who
The Ascent
of Life Energy 2
cannot imagine in jumps. If you real because light really jumps. female mind has a gradual pro-
can think and imagine gradually, TTiere is no gradual step-by-step cess. It is not jumpy. That is why
then the first method is good. But growth. Light is a jump. female and male logic are very
if you try the first method and you For women the first technique will different. A man goes on jumping
suddenly feel that from one center be easier and for men the second. from one thing to another, and for
the rays jump directly to the sec- TTie feminine mind can conceive of women this in inconceivable. For
ond, then don't do the first method. gradualness more easily and the them there must be growth - grad-
The second is better for you. "Feel male jumps more easily. The male ual growth. But choose. Try these,
this as lightning" - like a spark of mind is "jumpy": it jumps from one and choose whichever you feel is
light jumping from one center to thing to another. There is a subtle good for you.
the next. And the second is more uneasiness in the male mind. The Two or three things more about
145
THE MEDITATIONS
this methcxi. With hghtning you never be able to do it again. Then instead of feeling warmth you will
may feel such hotness that it may fear enters. feel a coldness with everything.
seem unbearable. If you feel that, So one has to be aware always not That too will be effective. So you
don"t try it. Lightning can give you to become afraid of anything. If can decide: try and decide. Re-
much heat. If you feel this, that it is you feel that fear will come and it is member, with this technique, and
unbearable, then don't try this. too much for you, don't try it. Then with others also, if you feel very
Then with the first method, if you the first method with light rays is uneasy or anything unbearable,
are at ease, thenit is good. Other- best. If you feel that even with light don't do it. There are other meth-
wise - with uneasiness - don't try rays too much hotness is coming to ods, and this one may not be for
it. Sometimes the explosion can be you, and it depends because people you. With unnecessary disturbance
so great that you may become differ, then conceive of the rays as inside, you will create more prob-
afraid of it, and once afraid you will cool, imagine them as cool. Then lems than you will solve. -^
146
'
LISTENING TO THF SOUNDLESS SOUND
Listening to
the Soundless Sound
The meditations concerned with ear energy
passive - you have
nine meditations,
are femi-
just to listen,
not to do anything. Listening to the birds, the wind
passing through the pine trees, or to some music, or to
the noise of the traffic - just Hstening, doing nothing -
great silence comes in, and great peace starts falhng and
showering on you. It is easier through the ear than
through the eye. It is easier through the ear because the
ear is passive, non-aggressive. It cannot do anything to
existence, it can only let it happen. The ear is a door: it
allows.
147
THE ME DITATION S
LISTENING TO THF SOL'NDL. FSS SOUND
"m "Yodabrahma is an old Ti-
/\/ betan technique which

X âs originally done in
the early hours

of the morning. It
can be done at any time of the
day, alone or with others, but
have an empty stomach and re-
main inactive for at least 15 min-

utes afterwards. For music to sup-
port the meditation, see back
page.
First Stage: 30 minutes
Sit in a relaxed position with eyes

closed and lips together Start
humming, loudly enough to be
heard by others and create a
Nadabrahma Meditation
vibration throughout your body. Second Stage: 15 minutes movement should be so slow that
You can visualize a hollow tube or at times there will appear to be
an empty vessel, filled only with The second stage is divided into no movement at all. Feel that you
the vibrations of the humming. A two 7 ih minute sections. For the are giving energy outwards to the
point will come when the hum- first half, move the hands, palms universe.
ming continues by itself and you up, in an outward circular motion. After 7 ih minutes turn the hands,
become the listener There is no Starting at the navel, both hands palms down, and start moving
special breathing and you can al- move forwards and then divide to them in the opposite direction.
ter the pitch or move your body make two large circles mirroring Now the hands will come to-
smoothly and slowly if you feel it. each other left and right. The gether towards the navel and
149
THE MEDITATION S
divide outwards to the sides of the each other's crossed hands. It is
body. Feel that you are taking en-

Nadabrahma best to wear no other clothing.
ergy in. As in the first stage, don 't
for couples Light the room only by four small
inhibit any soft, slow movements candles and bum a particular in-
of the rest of your body. cense, kept only for this medita-
rhe Master has given a beautiful

variation of this technique for
tion.
Close your eyes and hum together

Third Stage: 15 minutes couples. for thirty minutes. After a short
Partners sit facing each other, while the energies will be felt to
5/r or lie absolutely quiet and still. - covered by a bedsheet and holding meet, merge and unite. '
150
LISTENING TO THE SOUNDLESS SOUND
hiva said: Intone a sound
s
you.
as AUM slowly.
enters soundfulness, so
As sound
do
"Intone a sound as AUM slowly":

for example, take AUM. This is
one of the basic sounds. A-U-M:

these three sounds are combined in
it. A-U-M are three basic sounds.

All sounds are made of them or
derived from them; all sounds
are combinations of these three
sounds. So these three are basic.
They are as basic as the claim of
physics that the electron, neutron
Aum
and proton are basic. This has to Whenever you are talking you are easy to become the sound because
be deeply understood. talking to others, and you hear sound can vibrate through your
The intoning of a sound is a very yourself talk only when you are body, through your mind, through
subtle science. First you have to talking to others. So start from the your whole nervous system. Feel
intone it loudly, outwardly. Then natural habit. the reverberation of Aum. Intone it
others can hear it. and it is good Intone the sound 'Aum", then by and feel it as if your whole body is
to start loudly. Why? Because and by, feel altunement with the being filled with it, every cell is
you can also hear it clearly when sound. When you intone the sound vibrating with it.
you intone it loudly: because Aum, be filled with it. Forget Intoning is also "in-tuning." Tune
whatsoever you say, it is to others everything else. Become the Aum, yourself with the sound, become
- and this has become a habit. become the sound. And it is very the sound. And then, as you feel a
151
THE MEDITATIONS
deep harmony between you and the with it. You will feel that your If a sound is musical, harmonious,
sound and you develop a deep af- whole body is undergoing a cleans- subtle, then you will have to listen
fection for it (and the sound is so ing bath; every pore is being to it inside and you will have to be
beautiful and so musical - Aum), cleansed. But as you feel it more in- very alert to listen to it. If you are
then the more you intone it the tensely and as it penetrates you not alert, you will go to sleep and
more you will feel yourself filled more, go on becoming more and miss the whole point. That is the
with a subtle sweetness. There are more slow because the slower the problem with mantra, with any
sounds which are bitter, there are sound, the deeper it can go. It is just chanting, with any use of sound: it
sounds which are very hard. Aum is like homeopathy. The smaller the can create sleep. It is a subtle tran-
a very sweet sound, the purest. In- dose, the deeper it penetrates - be- quilizer. If you continuously repeat
tone it and be filled with it. cause if you want
go deeper, you to any sound without being alert
And when you begin to feel harmo- have to go more subtly, more sub- about it, you will fall asleep be-
nious with it, you can drop intoning tly, more subtly. cause then the repetition becomes
loudly. Then close your lips and in- Crude, coarse sounds cannot enter mechanical. 'Aum-Aum-Aum' be-
tone it inwardly, but inwardly also your heart. They can enter your comes mechanical, and then repeti-
first try loudly. Intone inwardly, but ears, but they cannot enter your tion creates boredom.
loudly so that the sound spreads all heart. The passage is very narrow So two things have to be done:
over your body, touches every part, and the heart is so delicate, that sound has to be slowed down and
every cell of your body. You will only very slow, very rhythmic, very you have become more alert.
to
feel vitalized by it, you will feel re- atomic sounds are allowed to enter The more sound becomes subtle,
juvenated, you will feel a new life it. And unless a sound enters your the more alert you are. To make
entering you because your body is a heart, the mantra is not complete. you more alert the sound has to be
musical instrument. It needs harmo- The mantra is complete only when made more subtle, and a point
ny, and when the harmony is dis- the sound enters your heart - the comes when sound enters sound-
turbed you are disturbed. deepest, most central core of your lessness, or soundfulness, and you
That is why, when you hear music, being.Then go on being more slow, enter total awareness. When the
you feel good. Why do you feel more slow, more slow. sound enters soundlessness or
good? What is music but just some And there are also other reasons for soundfulness, by that time your
harmonious sounds! Why do you making these sounds slower and alertness must have touched the
feel such a well-being when there is more subtle: the more subtle a peak. When the sound reaches the
music around you? And when there sound is, the more intense an valley, when it goes to the down-
is chaos, noise, why do you feel so awareness you will need to feel it most, deepest center in the valley,
disturbed? You yourself are deeply inside. The more coarse the sound, your alertness has gone to the very
musical. You are an instrument, and the less need there is of any aware- peak, to the Everest. And there,
that instrument re-echoes things. ness. The sound is enough to hit sound dissolves into soundfulness
Intone 'Aum' inside, and you will you; you will become aware of it. or soundlessness, and you dissolve
feel that your whole body dances But then it is violent. into total awareness.
152
'
before you go
Every night
you can do a small
sleep,
to
technique that will help

tremendously. Put the lights out, sit
in your bed ready to sleep, but sit
for fifteen minutes. Close your

eyes and then start any mono-
tonous nonsense sound, for exam-
ple: la, la, la - and wait for the
mind to supply new sounds. The
only thing to be remembered is
that those sounds or words should

not be of any language that you
know. If you know English, Ger-
man, and Italian, then they should
not be of Italian, German, or En-
glish. Any other language that you
Devavani
don't know is allowed - Tibetan, When the unconscious speaks, the will feel it a little difficult. Once it
Chinese, Japanese. But if you unconscious knows no language. It comes, you know the knack of it.
know Japanese then it is not al- is a very, very old method. It comes Then for fifteen minutes, use the
lowed, then Italian is wonderful. from the Old Testament. Itwas language that is coming to you,
Speak any language that you don't called in those days glossolalia, and use it as a language; in fact
know. You will be in a difficulty and a few churches in America still you are talking in it. This fifteen
for a few seconds only for the first use it. They call it 'talking in minutes will relax the conscious
day, because how do you speak a tongues'. And it is a wonderful mind so deeply and then you just
language you don't know? It can method, one of the most deep and simply lie down and go to sleep.
be spoken, and once it starts, any penetrating into the unconscious. Your sleep will become deef)er.
sounds, nonsense words, just to put You start with Ma, la, la,' and then Within weeks you will feel a depth
the conscious off and allow the un- you can go on with anything that in your sleep, and in the morning
conscious to speak .... comes. Just for the first day you you will feel completely fresh.
153
THE MED ITATI ON S
Têvavani is the Divine Voice

Instructions for words were learned. Allow a gen-
J-^ which moves and speaks
Devavani Meditation tle conversational intonation; do
through the meditator, who be- not cry or shout, laugh or scream.
comes an empty vessel, a channel. First stage: 15 minutes
This meditation is a Latihan of the Sit quietly, preferably with gentle Third stage: 15 minutes
tongue. music playing. Stand up and continue to speak,
It relaxes the conscious mind so allowing your body to move softly

deeply that, when done last thing at Second stage: 15 minutes in harmony with the sounds. If
night, it is sure to be followed by a Start making nonsense soundsrfor your body is relaxed the subtle
profound sleep. example "la.. .la. ..la," and con- energies will create a Latihan
tinue until unfamiliar word-like outside your control.
There are four stages of 15 minutes sounds arise. These sounds need to
each. come from the unfamiliar part of Fourth stage: 15 minutes

Keep your eyes closed throughout. the brain used as a child, before Lie down, be silent and still. <>
154
£^hiva said: While listening to

^k stringed instruments, hear
î^J their composite central
sound; thus omnipresence.
You are hearing an instrument - a

sitar, or anything. Many notes are
there. Be alert and listen to the
central core, the backbone of it
around which all the notes are

flowing, the deepest current which
holds all the notes together - that
which is central, just like your

backbone. The whole body is held
by the backbone. Listening to the
music, be alert, penetrate the mu-
sic, and find the backbone of it -
Music as Meditation
the central thing which goes on deep meditation, and for the audi- thing. While playing on his sitar,
flowing, holding everything to- ence also it was a deep meditation. one is not only playing on his sitar:
gether Notes come and go and dis- A dancer or a musician can be a he is also playing on his alertness
appear, but the central core flows technician. If there is no meditation inside. The sitar goes on outwardly
on. Become aware of it. in it, he is a technician. He can be a and his intense awareness moves
Basically, originally, music was great technician. He can be a great inside. The music flows outwardly,
used for meditation; in particular, technician, but then the soul is not but he is aware, constantly alert of
Indian music developed as a there - only the body. The soul the innermost core of it. And that
method for meditation, Indian comes only when the musician is a gives samadhi! That becomes ec-
dancing developed as a method of deep meditator stasy! That becomes the highest
meditation. For the doer it was a And music is just the outward peak!
155
THE MEDITATIONS
But what are you doing when you This sutra says while listening to Right now. you are "somewhere" -
listen to music? You are not medi- stringed instruments, hear their a point which we call 'ego".
tating. On the contrary, you are complete central sound, com- their TTiat is the point where you are. If
using music as something like posite central sound; "thus om- you can become awake, this point
alcohol. You are using it to be nipresence." And then you will will disappear. You will not be any-
relaxed, you are using it for self- know what is to be known or what where then: you will be even-
forgetfulness. is worth knowing. You will become where - as if you have become the
This is the misfortune, the misery: omnipresent. all. You will have become the
the techniques which were devel- With that music, finding the com- ocean, you will have become the
oped for awareness are being used posite central core, you will become infinite. The finiteness is with the
for sleep. And this is how man goes awake, and with that awakening you mind: the infiniteness enters with
on doing mischief with himself. will be everywhere. meditation. ^
156
'hiva said: Bathe in the cen-
oV
fall,
ter of sound, as
tinuous sound of a water-
or by putting the fingers
in the con-
in
the ears, hear the sound of

sounds.
This technique can be done in
many ways. One way is to begin by

just sitting anywhere. Sounds are
always present It may be in a mar-
ket or it may be at a Himalayan re-
treat: sounds are there. Sit silently,
and with sound there is somediing

very special. Whenever there are
sounds, you are the center. All the
The Center of Sound

sounds come to you from every- Every sound is coming to you, peace. The whole universe be-
where, from all directions. moving toward you, in circles. comes the circumference, and you
With sight, with eyes, this is not This technique says, "Bathe in the are the center and everything is
so. Sight is linear. I see you, then center of sound." Wherever you moving toward you, falling toward
there is a line toward you. Sound is are, if you are doing this technique, you.
circular, it is not linear. So all just close your eyes and feel the "As in the continuous sound of a
sounds come in circles and you are whole universe filled with sound. waterfall" - if you are sitting by
the center. Wherever you are, you Feel as if every sound is moving the side of a waterfall, close your
are always the center of sound. For toward you and you are the center. eyes, and feel the sound all around
sounds, you are always "God," the Even this feeling that you are the you, falling on you, from every
center of the whole universe. center will give you a very deep side, creating a center in you from
157
THE ME DITATI ON S
every side. Why this emphasis on But do not start thinking about they say that man thinks not
feeHng that you are in the center? sounds - that this is good and this is through the head, but through the
Because in the center there is no bad and this is disturbing and that is belly - because they were working
sound. The center is without sound; very beautiful and harmonious. You with sounds since long ago.
that is why you can hear sounds. are not supposed to think about You have seen in every temple a
Otherwise, you could not hear sounds. You are simply supposed to gong. That was placed there to cre-
them. A sound cannot hear another think of the center. You are not sup- ate sounds around a seeker. Some-
sound. Because you are soundless posed to think about every sound one would be meditating, and the
at your center, you can hear sounds. moving toward you - whether it is gong would be sounded or a bell
The center is absolute silence: that good, bad, beautiful. You are just to would be rung. TTie very distur-
is why you can hear sounds enter- remember that you are the center bance seems to have been created
ing you, coming to you, penetrating and all the sounds are moving to- by the sound of the bell. Someone
you, encircling you. ward you - every sound, whatso- is meditating, and this bell or gong
If you can find out where the center ever the sort. seems disturbing. This seems dis-
is, where in you the field is to Sounds are not heard in the ears. turbing! In a temple, every visitor
which every sound is coming, sud- They are not heard in the ears; ears who comes will hit the gong or ring
denly sounds will disappear and cannot hear them. They only do a the bell. With someone meditating
you will enter into soundlessness. If transmission work, and in the trans- there, this would seem to be a con-
you can feel a center where every mission they cut out much which is stant disturbance. It is not - be-
sound is being heard, there is a sud- useless for you. They choose, they cause the person is waiting for this
den transference of consciousness. select, and then those sounds enter sound.
One moment you will be hearing you. Now find out within where So every visitor is helping. Again
the whole world filled with sounds, your center is. Ears are not the cen- and again the bell is hit, and the
and another moment your aware- ter. You are hearing from some- sound is created and the meditator
ness will suddenly turn in and you where deep down. The ears are again enters himself. He looks at
will hear the soundlessness, the simply sending you selected the center where this sound goes
center of life. sounds. Where are you? Where is deep. There is one hit on the bell:
Once you have heard that, then no your center? the visitor has done that. Now the
sound can disturb you. It comes to If you are working with sounds, second hit will be inside the medi-
you, but it never reaches you. It then sooner or later you will be sur- tator, somewhere inside. Where is
comes to you, it is always coming prised - because the center is not in it? The sound always hits at the
to you, but it never reaches you. the head. TTie center is not in the belly, at the navel, never in the
There is a point where no sound en- head! It app>ears in the head because head. If it hits in the head, you can
ters. That point is you. you have never heard sounds: you understand well that it is not sound:
Do it in a market: there is no other have heard words. With words the it is words. Then you have started
place like a market. It is so much head is the center; with sounds it is thinking about the sound. Then the
filled with sounds - mad sounds. not the center. That is why in Japan purity is lost.
158
»
"Bathe in the center of sound, as in natural sound because it is not cre- That is why silence was practiced
the continuous sound of a waterfall, ated by anything. so much. In it, all the bridges for
or, by putting the fingers in the ears, "Putting the fingers in the ears, hear moving to the other are broken.
hear the sound of sounds." You can the sound of sounds" - this absence "Or, by putting the fingers in the
create the sound just by using your of sound is a very subtle experi- ears, hear the sound of sounds" - in
finger, or with anything which clos- What will it give to you? The
ence. one technique two opposites have
Then a certain
es your ears forcibly. moment there are no sounds, you been shown. "Bathe in the center of
sound is What is that sound
heard. fall back upon yourself With sound, as in the continuous sound
and why do you hear it when the sounds we move away; with sounds of a waterfall" - this is one ex-
ears are closed, when the ears are we move to the other. Try to under- treme; "or, by putting the fingers in
plugged? stand this: with sounds we are relat- the ears, hear the sound of sounds":
Just as there are negatives of pho- ed to the other, we communicate this is another extreme. One part is
tographs, there are negative sounds. with the other. to hear the sounds coming to your
Not only can the eyes see the nega- If sound is the vehicle to move to center, another part is to stop all
tive: the ears can even hear the neg- the other, then soundlessness be- sounds and feel the soundless cen-
ative. So when you close your ears, comes the vehicle to move to one- ter. These both have been given in
you hear the negative world of self With sound you communicate one technique for a special purpose
sounds. All the sounds have with the other, with soundlessness - so that you can move from one to
stopped. Suddenly a new sound is you fall down into your own abyss, another.
heard. This sound is the absence of into yourself That is why so many The "or" is not a choice to do this
sound. A gap has come in. You are techniques use soundlessness to or that. Do both! That is why both
missing something, and then you move within. have been given in one technique.
hear this absence. "Or, by putting Become absolutely dumb and deaf First do one for a few months, then
the fingers in the ears, hear the - even if only for a few moments. do the other for a few months. You
sound of sounds" - that negative And you cannot go anywhere else will be more alive, and you will
sound is known as the sound of than to yourself so suddenly you know two extremes. And if you can
sounds - because it is not really a will find that you are standing with- move to the two extremes easily,
sound, but its absence. Or, it is a in; no movement will be possible. you can remain young forever.
159
THE MED ITATI ON S
^^hiva said: In the beginning

^k and gradual refinement of
As^ the sound of any letter,
awake.
How can you do it? Go to a tem-

A bell is there or a gong. Take
ple.
the bell in your hand and wait.

First become totally alert. The
sound is going to be there and you
are not to miss the beginning. First
become totally alert, as if your life
depends on this, as if someone is
going to kill you this moment

very
and you will be awake. Be alert -
The Beginning
and End of Sound
as if this is going to be your death. then move with the sound. The side - Aum or any other - and
And if there is thought, wait, be- sound will become slower and then do the same experiment with
cause thought is sleepiness. With slower, subtler and subtler and sub- it. It is difficult; that is why we do
thought you cannot be alert. When tler, and then it will not be there. it outwardly first. When you can
you are alert, there is no thought. Then go on with the sound. Be do it outwardly, then you will be
So wait! When you feel that now aware, alert. Move with the sound able to do it inwardly. TTien do it.
the mind is without thought, that to the very end. See both the poles Wait for the moment when the
there is no cloud and you are alert, of the sound, both the beginning mind is vacant, then create the
thenmove with the sound. and the end. sound inside. Feel it, move with it,
Look when the sound is not there, Try it with some outer sound like a go with it, until it disappears com-
then close your eyes. Then look gong or a bell or anything, then pletely.
when the sound is created, struck; close your eyes. Utter any letter in- It will take time until you can do
160
this. A few months will be needed. The pre-sound state and the after- the beginning and the end of a
at least three months. In these three sound state have to be watched, sound, through this process you
months, you will become more and Nothing is to be missed. Once you will have become a totally different
more alert, more and more alert, become so alert that you can watch person. ^
161
THE ME DITATION S
FINDING THE SPACE WITHIN
Finding
the Space Within
mptiness is your innermost center. All activity is on
the periphery: the innermost center is just a zero. '
163
THE ME DITATl ON S
164
^^hiva said: In summer when

^k you see the entire sky end-
^^J lessly clear, enter such

clarity.
Meditate on the sky: a summer sky

with no clouds, endlessly empty
and clear, nothing moving in it, in
its total virginity. Contemplate on

it, meditate on it, and enter this
clarity. Become this clarity, this
space-like clarity.
To meditate on the sky is beautiful.
Just lie down so you forget the

earth; just lie down on your back
on any lonely beach, on any
Enter the Clear Sky

ground, and just look at the sky. A one with it - is one of the most Try this technique, it will be help-
clear sky will be helpful - un- practiced. Many traditions have ful, remember
but three things.
clouded, endless. Just looking, used this. And particulariy for the One: don't blink - stare. Even if
staring at the sky, feel the clarity of modem mind it will be very useful, your eyes start to feel pain and
it - the uncloudedness, thebound- because nothing is left on earth to tears come down, don't be wor-
less expanse - and then enter that meditate on - only the sky. If you ried. Even those tears will be a
clarity, become one with it. Feel as look all around, everything is man- part of unloading; they will be
if you have become the sky, the made, everything is limited, with a helpful. Those tears will make
space. boundary, a limitation. Only the your eyes more innocent and
This technique - to look into the sky is still, fortunately, open to fresh-bathed. You just go on star-
clarity of the sky and to become meditate on. ing.
165
THE MEDITATIONS
The second point: don't think about is no more, close the eyes and re- cause of thought the outer is outer
the sky, remember. You can start main in the sky within. and the inner is inner. When
thinking about the sky. You can re- The clarity will help the third point: thought is not there, the outer and
member many px>ems, beautiful po- "enter such claritv." The clarity will the inner lose their boundaries, they
ems about the sky - then you v.ill help - the uncontaminated. un- become one. Boundaries never re-
miss the point. You are not to think clouded sky. Just be aware of the ally existed there. TTiey appeared
about it - you are to enter it, you clarity that is all around you. Don't only because of the thought, the
are to be one with it - because if think about it; just be aware of the barrier.
you start thinking about it. again a clarity, the purity, the innocence. But if it is not summer what will
barrier is created. You are missing These words are not to be repeated. you do? If the sky is clouded, not
the sky again, and you are enclosed You have to feel them rather than clear, then close your eyes and just
in your own mind again. Don't think. And once you stare into the enter the inner sky. Just close your
think about the sky. Be the sky. Just sky the feeling will come, because it eyes, and if you see some thoughts,
stare and move into the sky, and al- is not on your part to imagine these just see them as if they are clouds
low the sky to move into you. If things - they are there. If you stare floating in the sky. Be aware of the
you move into the sky, the sky will they will start happening to you. background, the sky, and be indif-
move into you immediately. If you meditate on open unclouded ferent to thoughts.
How can you do it? How will you sky, suddenly you will feel that the We are too much concerned with
do it - this moving into the sky? mind is disappearing, the mind is thoughts and never aware of the
Just go on staring further and fur- dropping away. There will be gaps. gaps. One thought passes, and be-
ther away. Go on staring - as if you Suddenly you will become aware fore another enters there is a gap -
are trving to find the boundary. that it is as if the clear sky has en- in that gap the sky is there. Then,
Move deep. .Move as much as you tered in you also. There will be in- whenever there is no thought, what
can. That verv' movement will tervals. For a time, thoughts will is there? The emptiness is there. So
break the barrier. And this method cease - as if the traffic has ceased if the sky is clouded - it is not sum-
should be practiced for at least forty and there is no one moving. mertime and the sky is not clear -
minutes; less than that will not do. In the beginning it will be only for close your eyes, focus your mind
will not be of much help. moments, but even those moments on the background, the inner sky in
When you really feel that you have are transforming. By and by the which thoughts come and go.
become one, then you can close the mind will slow down, bigger gaps Don't pay much attention to
eyes. When the sky has entered in will appear. For minutes together thoughts; pay attention to the space
you, you can close the eyes. You there will be no thought, no cloud. in which they move.
will be able to see it within also. So And when there is no thought, no For example, we are sitting in this
only after forty minutes, when you cloud, the outer sky and the inner room. 1 can look at this room in two
feel that the oneness has happened become one, because only the ways. Either 1 can look at you, so
and there is a communion and you thought is the barrier; only the that 1 am indifferent to the space
have become part of it and the mind thought creates the wall. Only be- you are in. the roominess, the room
166
you are in - I look at you, I focus Then the total perspective changes. is moving in the street. Look at the
my mind on you who are here, and Just do this in the inner world. street and be indifferent to the traf-
not on the room in which you are - Look at the space. Thoughts are fic. Don't look to see who is pass-
or, I can change my focus: I can looi< moving in it: be indifferent to them, ing; just know that something is
into the room, and I become indif- don't pay any attention to them. passing and be aware of the space
ferent to you. You are there, but my They are there; note it down that in which it is passing. Then the
emphasis, my focus, is on the room. they are there, moving. The traffic summer sky happens within. 2
167
THE MEDITATIONS
hiva said: Beloved, at this
s moment
breath,
let
form be
mind, knowing,
included.
This technique is a httle difficult,

but if you can do it, then it is very
wonderful, beautiful. Sitting, don't
divide. Sitting in meditation, be in-
clusive of all - your body, your
mind, your breath, your thinking,
your knowing, everything. Be in-
clusive of all. Don't divide, don't

create any fragmentation. Ordinari-
ly we are fragmenting; we go on
fragmenting. We say, 'The body is
not me." There are techniques
Include Everything
which can use that also, but this centered anywhere - be uncentered. You can feel this increasing and
technique is totally different, rather The breath comes and goes, the decreasing of the form. Just close
it is the opp»osite. thought comes and moves. The your eyes and sit and you will feel
Don't divide. Don't say, "1 am not form of your body will go on that sometimes the body is very
the body." Don't say, 'i am not the changing. You have not observed big - filling the whole room;
breath." Don't say, "I am not the this. sometimes it is so small - just
mind." Just say, "I am all" - and be If you sit with closed eyes, you will atomic. Why does this form
all. Don't create any fragmentation feel that sometimes your body is change? As your attention chan-
within you. This is a feeling. With big, sometimes your body is small; ges, the form of the body changes.
closed eyes include everything that sometimes it is very heavy, some- If you are inclusive, it will become
exists in you. Don't get yourself times just light, as if you can fly. big; if you exclude - "this is not I,
168
'
this is not I" - then it will become the key for this sutra - inclusive- in the same existence. So when you
very minute, very small, atomic. ness, include. Include and grow. In- feel that the tree is within you, the
Include everything in your being clude and expand. Try it with your tree is within you - this is not
and don't discard anything. Don't body, and then try it with the out- imagination - and immediately you
say, "This is not I." Say, "I am," side world also. will feel the effect. The tree's alive-
and include everything in it. If you Sitting under a tree, look at the tree, ness, the greenery, the freshness,
can do this just sitting, wonderful, then close your eyes and feel that the breeze passing through it, will
absolutely new happenings will the tree is within you. Look at the be felt within you in your heart. In-
happen to you. You will feel there sky, then close your eyes and feel clude more and more existence and
is no center; in you there is no cen- that the sky is within you. Look at don't exclude.
ter. And with the center gone, there the rising sun, then close your eyes So remember this: make it a style
is no self, no ego; only con-
there is and feel that the sun is rising within of life to include - not only medita-
sciousness remains - consciousness you. Fe^l more inclusive. tion, but a style of life, a way of
like a sky covering everything. And A tremendous experience will hap- living. Try to include more and
when it grows, not only your own pen to you. When you feel that the more. The more you include, the
breath will be included, not only tree is within you, immediately you more you expand, the more your
your own form will be included; ul- will feel more young, more fresh. boundaries recede to the very cor-
timately the whole universe be- And this is not imagination, because ners of existence. One day only
comes inclusive to you. the tree and you both belong to you are; the whole existence is in-
The basic point is to remember in- the earth. You are both rooted in cluded. TTiis is the ultimate of all
clusiveness. Don't exclude. Tliis is the same earth and ultimately rooted religious experience.
169
THEM EDITATIONS
YOU cannot find a better

uation in which to medi-
sit-
tate than while flying at a

high altitude. The higher the alti-
tude, the easier is the meditation.
Hence, for centuries, meditators
have been moving to the Hima-
layas to find a high altitude.
A Meditation
for the Jet-Set
When gravitation is less and the that vastness, and do it in three step: feel that you have expand-
earth is very far away, many steps. The first step is: for a few ed into the whole sky. Now these
pulls of the earth are far away. minutes just think that you are clouds that are moving, and the
You are far away from the cor- becoming bigger... you are filling moon and the stars - they are
rupted society that man has built. the whole plane. Then the second moving in you; you are huge,
You are surrounded by clouds step: start feeling that you are unlimited.
and the stars and the moon and becoming even bigger, bigger This feeling will become your
the sun and the vast space. So do than the plane, in fact the plane is meditation, and you will feel com-
one thing: start feeling one with now inside you. And the third pletely relaxed and non-tense. •
170
"râtanjali says: On attaining
m-^ the utmost purity of the

M nirvichara stage ofsamadhi,
there is a dawning of the spiritual
light.
Your innermost being is of the na-

ture of light. Consciousness is light,
consciousness is the only light. You

are existing very unconsciously:
doing things, not knowing why; de-
siring things, not knowing why;
asking things, not knowing why;
drifting in an unconscious sleep.
Feel the
Absence of Things
You are all sleepwalkers. Somnam- alert, the tree is different: it is more Look at the face of your husband,
bulism is the only spiritual disease green, it is more alive, it is more your wife, your friend, your
- walking and living in sleep. Be- beautiful. The tree is the same, only beloved, with alertness; meditate
come more conscious. you have changed. on it, and suddenly you see not
Start being conscious with objects. Lxx)k at a flower as if your whole only the body, but that which is
Look at things with more alertness. existence depends on this look. beyond the body, which is coming
You pass by a tree; look at the tree Bring all your awareness to the out of the body. There is an aura of
with more alertness. Stop for a flower and suddenly the flower is the spiritual around the body. The
while, look at the tree; rub your transfigured - it is more radiant, it face of the beloved is no more the
eyes, look at the tree with more is more luminous. It has something face of your beloved; the face of
alertness. Collect your awareness, of the glory of the eternal, as if the the beloved has become the face
look at the tree, and watch the dif- eternal has come into the temporal of the divine. Look at your child.
ference. Suddenly when you are in the shape of a flower. With full alertness, awareness,
171
THE MED ITATIONS
watch him playing and suddenly when he has left, watch the ab- the fragrance was just a moment be-
the object is transfigured. sence; he has left something. His fore, and it is no longer there. That
For example, a bird sings in the energy has changed the room; it is is the other part of its being, the ab-
tree: be alert, as if in that moment no more the same room. sent part, the dark part. If you can
you exist and the song of the bird - If you have a good nose - very few smell the absence of the smell, if
the whole doesn't exist, doesn't people have; humanity has almost you can feel it, that it makes a differ-
matter Focus your being towards lost the nose completely. Animals ence - it makes a difference - then
the song of the bird and you will are better; their smell is far more the object has become very subtle.
see the difference. TTie traffic noise more capable than man's.
sensitive, You can do it with incense. Bum
exists no more, or exists at the very Something has happened to man's incense, meditate on it, feel it,
periphery of existence, far away, nose, something has gone wrong; smell it. be filled with it, and then
distant. The small bird and its song very few people have a capable move backwards, away from it.
fill your being completely - only nose, but if you have - then be near And go on, go on meditating on it
you and the bird exist. And then a flower, let the smell fill you. Then, and let it become more and more
when the song has stopp>ed, listen to by and by, move away from the subtle. A moment comes when you
the absence of the song. Then the flower, very slowly, but continue can feel the absence of a certain
object becomes subtle. being attentive to the smell, the fra- thing. TTien you have come to a
Remember always: when a song grance. As you move away, the fra- very deep awareness.
stops it leaves a certain quality to grance will become more and more But when the object completely
the atmosphere - the absence. It is subtle, and you will need more disappears, and the presence of the
no more the same. The atmosphere awareness to feel it. Become the object disapp>ears, and the absence
has changed completely because nose. Forget about the whole body, of the object disappears, thought
the song existed and then the song bring all your energy to the nose, as disappears and the idea of no-mind
disappeared. Now the absence of if only the nose exists. If you lose disappears, only then have you at-
the song - watch it, the whole exis- track of the smell by and by, go a tained to the utmost. Now this is
tence is filled by the absence of the few steps further ahead. Again catch the moment when suddenly grace
song. It is more beautiful than any hold of the smell, then move back, descends on you. This is the mo-
song because it is the song of si- move backward. By and by, you will ment when flowers shower. This is
lence. A song uses sound, and when be able to smell a flower from a the moment when you are connect-
the sound disappears the absence very, very great distance - nobody ed with the source of life and be-
uses the silence. After a bird has else will be able to smell that flower ing. This is the moment when you
sung, the silence is deeper. If you from there. Then go on moving. In a are no more a beggar; you have be-
can watch it, if you can be alert, very simple way you are making the come the emperor TTiis is the mo-
you are now meditating on a very object subtle. Then a moment will ment when you are crowned. Be-
subtle object, a very subtle object. come when you will not be able to fore it you were on a cross; this is
A person moves, a beautiful person smell the smell: now smell the ab- the moment the cross disappears
moves - watch the person. And sence. Now smell the absence where and vou are crowned. ^
172
ilopa said: Like a hollow
T bamboo
vour body.
rest at ease with
This is one of Tilopa's special

methods. Every master has his
own method through which

special
he has attained, and through which
he would like to help others. This
is Tilopa's specialty: "Like a hol-
low bamboo rest at ease with your
body."
A bamboo - inside completely
hollow. When you rest, you just
feel that you are like a bamboo -

inside completely hollow and
Hollow Bamboo
empty. And in fact this is the case: ing for anything in particular, feel beautiful meditations, the medita-
your body is just like a bamboo, like a hollow bamboo - and sud- tion of becoming a hollow bam-
and inside it is hollow. Your skin, denly infinite energy starts pouring boo. You need not do anything
your bones, your blood, all are part within you, you are filled with the else. You simply become this -
of the bamboo, and inside there is unknown, with the mysterious, and all else happens. Suddenly
space, hollowness. with the divine. A hollow bamboo you feel something is descending
When you are sitting with a com- becomes a flute and the divine in your hollowness. You are like a
pletely silent mouth, inactive, starts playing it. Once you are womb and a new life is entering in
tongue touching the roof and empty then there is no barrier for you, a seed is falling. And a mo-
silent, not quivering with thoughts, the divine to enter in you. ment comes when the bamboo
mind watching passively, not wait- Try this; this is one of the most completely disappears. *
173
THE ME DITATI ON S
J
ENTERING INTO DEATH
Entering into Death
Life is a pilgrimage towards death. From the very be-

ginning, death is coming. From the moment of birth,
death has started coming towards you; you have started
moving towards death.
And the greatest calamity that has happened to the
human mind is that it is against death. Being against
death means you will miss the greatest mystery. And be-
ing against death also means that you will miss life itself
- because they are deeply involved in each other; they

are not two. Life is growing, death is the flowering of it.
The journey and the goal are not separate - the journey
ends in the goal, i
175
THE MEDITATIONS
ENTERING INTO DEATH
f^hiva said: Focus on fire ris-
^k ing through your form, from

i^J the toes up, until the body
burns to ashes but not you.
Buddha liked this technique very

much; he initiated his disciples
into this technique.
Whenever someone was initiated
by Buddha, the first thing was this:
he would tell him just to go to the
burning place and observe a body

being burned, a dead body being
burned. For three months he was
not to do anything, but just sit
there and watch.
Entering into Death

Buddha said, "Don't think about start seeing himself being burned. In life, nothing is certain except
it. Just look at it." And it is diffi- If you are very much afraid of death. Everything is uncertain;
cult not to come upon the thought death you cannot do this technique, only death is a certainty. All else is
that sooner or later your body is because the very fear will protect accidental - it can happen, it may
going to be burned. TTiree months you. You cannot enter into it. Or, not happen - only death is not ac-
is a long time, and continuously, you can just imagine on the sur- cidental. And look at the human
day and night, whenever there was face, but your deep being will not mind. We always talk about death
a body to be burned, the seeker be in it. Then nothing will happen as if it is an accident. Whenever
was to meditate. Sooner or later he to you. someone dies we say his death
would start seeing his own body Remember, whether you are afraid was untimely. Whenever someone
on the burning pyre. He would or not, death is the only certainty. dies we start talking as if it has
177
THE ME DITATI ON S
been an accident. Only death is not man, while dying, will do the last body to inhale; you simply exhale
an accident - only death. Every- act, which will be exhalation. Dy- deeply. You will feel a deep peace,
thing else is accidental. Death is ab- ing, you cannot inhale - or can because death is peace, death is si-
solutely certain. You have to die. you? When you are dying, you can- lence. And if you can pay attention,
And when I say you have to die, it not inhale. The last act cannot be more attention, to exhalation, you
seems in the future, very far away. inhalation; the last act will be exha- will feel egoless. With inhalation
It is not so - you have already died. lation. The first act is inhalation and you will feel more egoistic; with
The moment you were bom, you the last is exhalation. Inhalation is exhalation you will feel more ego-
died. With birth, death has become birth and exhalation is death. But less. Pay more attention to exhala-
a fixed phenomenon. One part of it every moment you are doing both - tion. The whole day, whenever you
has already happened - the birth; inhaling, exhaling. Inhalation is remember, exhale deeply and don't
now only the second, later part has life, exhalation is death. inhale. Allow the body to inhale;
to happen. So you are already dead, You may not have observed, but try you don't do anything.
half-dead, because once one is to observe it. Whenever you exhale, This emphasis on exhalation will
born, one has come into the realm you more at peace. Exhale
are help you very much to do this ex-
of death, entered into it. Now noth- deeply and you will feel a certain periment, because you will be
ing can change it, now there is no peace within. Whenever you inhale, ready to die. A readiness is needed,
way to change it. You have entered you become intense, you become otherwise the technique will not be
into it. You are half-dead with birth. tense. TTie very intensity of inhala- of much help. And you can be
Secondly: death is not going to hap- tion creates a tension. And the nor- ready only if you have tasted death
pen in the end; it is already happen- mal, ordinary emphasis is always in a certain way. Exhale deeply and
ing. It is a process. Just as life is a on inhalation. If I tell you to take you will have a taste of it. It is
process, death is a process. We cre- deep breaths, you will always start beautiful.
ate the dualism - but life and death with inhalation. Death is just beautiful, because
are just like your two feet, your two Really, we are afraid of exhaling. nothing is like death - so silent, so
legs. Life and death are both one That's why breathing has become relaxing, so calm, so unperturbed.
process. You are dying every mo- shallow. You never exhale, you go But we are afraid of death. And why
ment. on inhaling. Only the body goes on are we afraid of death? Why is there
Let me put it this way: whenever exhaling, because the body cannot so much fear of death? We are
you inhale, it is life, and whenever exist with inhalation alone. It needs afraid of death not because of death
you exhale, it is death. both: life and death. - because we don't know it. How
The first thing a child does is to in- can you be afraid of something you
hale. A child cannot exhale. The Step 1: have never encountered? How can
first thing is inhalation. He cannot you be afraid of something that you
exhale, because there is no air with- Try one experiment. The whole day, don't know? At least you must
in his chest; he has to inhale. The whenever you remember, exhale know it to be afraid of it. So really
first act is inhalation. And the old deeply and don't inhale. Allow the you are not afraid of death; the fear
178
ENTERING INTO DEATH
is something else. You have never out. It is just the opposite: when the Your ego exists in the head. You
really lived - that creates the fear of air goes out, you go in; when the air cannot start from the head, it will
death. goes in, you go out. be very difficult, so start from the
The fear comes because you are not When you exhale, space is created faraway point - the toes are the
living, so you are afraid - "1 have within, because breath is life. When most faraway point from the ego.
not lived yet, and if death happens, you exhale deeply, you are vacant, Start the fire from there. Feel that
then what? Unfulfilled, unlived, 1 life has gone out. In a way you are the toes are burned, only ashes re-
will die." The fear of death comes dead, for a moment you are dead. In main, and then move slowly, burn-
only to those who are not really that silence of death, enter within. ing everything that the fire comes
alive. If you are alive, you will wel- Air is moving out: you close your across. Every part, the legs, the
come Then there is no fear.
death. eyes and move within. The space is thighs, will disappear.
You have known life; now you there and you can move easily. Just go on seeing that they have be-
would like to know death also. But Before doing the following tech- come ashes. The fire is rising up-
we are so afraid of life itself that we nique, do this experiment for fifteen ward, and the parts it has passed
have not known it, we have not en- minutes so that you are ready - not are no longer there; they have be-
tered deep into it. That creates the only ready, but welcoming, recep- come ashes. Go on upward, and
fear of death. tive. The fear of death is not there, lastly the head disappears. You will
If you want to enter this technique because now death appears like re- remain just a watcher on the hill.
you must be aware of this deep fear. laxation, death appears like a deep The body will be there - dead,
And this deep fear must be thrown rest. burned, ashes - and you will be the
away, purged, only then can you en- watcher, you will be the witness.
ter the technique. This will help: pay Step 3: This witness has no ego.
more attention to exhalation. The This technique is very good to
whole day you will feel relaxed, and Just lie down. First conceive of reach the egoless state. Why? - be-
an inner silence will be created. yourself as death; the body is just cause so many things are implied
like a corpse. Lie down, and then in it. It appears simple; it is not
Step 2: bring your attention to the toes. so simple. The inner mechanism is
With closed eyes move inward. very complex. First thing: your
You can deepen this feeling more if Bring your attention to the toes and memories are part of the body.
you do another experiment. Just ex- feel that the fire is rising from there Memory is matter, that's why it can
hale deeply for fifteen minutes a upward, everything is being burned. be recorded - it is recorded in the
day. Sit in a chair or on the ground, As the fire rises, your body is dis- brain cells. They are material, part
exhale deeply, and while exhaling appearing. Start from the toes and of the body. Your brain cells can be
close the eyes. When the air goes move upwards. operated on, and if certain brain
out, you go in. And then allow the Why start from the toes? It will be cells are removed, certain memo-
body to inhale, and when the air easier, because the toes are very far ries will disappear from you.
goes in, open the eyes and you go away from your I, from your ego. Remember, this is the point to
179
THE ME DITATI ON S
understand: if the memory is still separate yourself from the body - every day, within three months, one
there, then the body remains and this technique is just a method to day suddenly your imagination will
you have been playing tricks. If you separate yourself from the body, have helped and the gap will be
go really deep into feeling that the just to create a gap between you created, and you will actually see
body is dead, burning, and the fire and the body, just for a few mo- the body gone to ashes. Then you
has completely destroyed it, you ments to be out of the body. If you can watch.
will not have any memory in that can do this, then you can remain in In that watching you will realize a
moment. In that moment of watch- the body and you will not be in the deep phenomenon - that the ego is
ing, there will be no mind. Every- body. You can go on living as you a false entity. It was there because
thing will have stopped - no move- were living before, but you will not you were identified with the body;
ment of thought, just watching, just be the same again. with the thoughts, with the mind.
seeing what has happened. This technique will take at least You are neither - neither the mind
And once you know this, you can three months. Go on doing it. It is nor the body. You are different
remain in this state continuously. not going to happen in one day, but from all that surrounds you; you
Once you have known that you can if you go on doing it for one hour are different from your periphery. 2
180
ENTERING INTO DEATH
lar, but simply laughing, as if they when the dead monk's body was
Celebrating Death had understood the cosmic joke. put on the funeral pyre, then the
They spread so much joy all over village realized that not only these
have heard about three monks. China without using a single word. two were joking - the third who
I No name is mentioned, because People would ask their names, but was dead was also laughing. Be-
they never told their names to any- they would simply laugh, so that cause the third man who was dead
body, they never answered any- became their name - 'the three had told his companions, "Don't
thing. So in China they are only laughing monks'. change my dress!" It was conven-
known simply as 'the three laugh- Then they became old, and in one tional that when a man died, they
ing monks'. village one of the three monks died. changed the dress and gave a bath
They did only one thing: they The whole village was very expec- to the body, so he had said, "Don't
would enter a village, stand in the tant, very filled with expectations, give me a bath, because I have nev-
marketplace, and start laughing. because now at least when one of er been unclean. So much laughter
Suddenly people would become them has died, they must weep. has been in my no impurity
life that
aware, and they would laugh with This would be something worth can accumulate near me, can even
their whole being. Then others seeing, because no one could even come to me. I have not gathered
would also get the infection, and conceive of these people weeping. any dust; laughter is always young
then a crowd would gather, and just The whole village gathered. The and fresh. So don't give me a bath
looking at them the whole crowd two monks were standing by the and don't change my clothes."
would start laughing. What is hap- side of the corpse of the third and So, just to pay him respect, they
pening? Then the whole town laughing, such a belly laugh. So the had not changed his clothes. And
would get involved, and they would villagers asked, "At least explain when body was put on the
the fire,
move They were

to another town. this!" suddenly they became aware that
loved very much. That was their So for the first time they spoke, and he had hidden many things under
only sermon, the only message - they "We are laughing be-
said, his clothes and those things started
that laugh. And they would not cause man has won. We were
this ... Chinese fireworks!! So the
teach, they would simply create the always wondering who would die whole village laughed, and those
situation. first, and this man has defeated us. two said, "You rascal! You have
Then it happened that they became We are laughing at our defeat, at his died, but again you have defeated
famous all over the country - 'the victory.And then, he lived with us us. Your laughter is the last."
three laughing monks'. The whole for many years, and we laughed to- There is a cosmic laughter, when
of China loved them, respected gether and we enjoyed each other's the whole joke of this cosmos is
them. Nobody had preached that togetherness, presence. There can understood. That is the highest,
way - that life must be just a laugh- be no other way of giving him the only a buddha can laugh like that.
ter and nothing else. And they were last send-off. We can only laugh." These three monks must have been
not laughing at anybody in particu- The whole village was sad, but three buddhas. -^
181
THE ME DITATI ON S
182
WATCHING WITH THE THIRD EYE
Watching
with the Third Eye
t is one of the contributions of the East to the world:
Ithe understanding that between these two eyes, there is
a third eye inside which normally remains dormant.

One has to work hard, bring his whole sexual energy up-
ward, against gravitation, and when the energy reaches
the third eye, it opens. Many methods have been tried to
do that, because when it opens there is suddenly a flash

of light, and things which have never been clear to you
suddenly become clear.
When I emphasize watching, witnessing... that is the

finest method to bring the third eye into action, because
that watching is inside. These two eyes cannot be used,
they can only look outward. They have to be closed. And
when you try to watch inside, that certainly means there
is something like an eye which sees. Who sees your
thoughts? Not these eyes. Who sees that anger is arising
in you? TTiat place of seeing is called symbolically 'the
third eye'. '
183
THE ME DITATI ON S
184
technique consists of
r'his
four stages of 15 minutes
each. The first two stages
prepare the meditator for the
spontaneous Latihan of the third
stage. Osho has said that if the
breathing is done correctly in the
first stage the carbon dioxide

formed in the bloodstream will
make you feel as high as Gouri-
shankar (Mt. Everest).
Music for this technique has been

composed with Osho's guidance.
For availability see back page.
Gourishankar Meditation
First stage: 15 minutes with a gentle gaze look at a candle Fourth stage: 15 minutes
flame or a flashing blue light.
Ue down with closed eyes, silent
Sit with closed eyes. Inhale deeply Keep your body still.
and still.
through the nose, filling the lungs.
Third stage: 15 minutes
Hold the breath for as long as
possible, then exhale gently With closed eyes, stand up and let The first three stages should be
through the mouth and keep the your body be loose and receptive. accompanied by a steady rhyth-
lungs empty for as long as possi- The subtle energies will be felt to mic beat, preferably combined
ble. Continue this breathing cycle move the body outside your nor- with a soothing background mu-
throughout the first stage. mal control. Allow this Latihan to sic. The beat should be seven
happen. Don you do the moving:
't times the normal heartbeat and,
Second stage: 15 minutes
let moving happen, gently and if possible, the flashing light
Return to normal breathing and gracefully. should be a synchronized strobe. '
185
THE ME DITATI ON S
m cathartic technique that
_A. creates a circle of energy

that results in a natural centering.
See back page for music to sup-
port the meditation.
First stage: 15 minutes
With open eyes run on the spot,

starting slowly and gradually,
getting faster and faster Bring
your knees up as high as possible.
Breathing deeply and evenly will
move the energy within. Forget
TV /f r^-^Â /I r^/X^'i-iî- ^ r\ 1 r-\

•
-4 y^v-tf/^
ivianaaicI Meciitation
the mind and forget the body. around and around. This will second hand of a vast clock, but
Keep going. bring your awakened energies to as fast as possible. It is important

the navel center. that the mouth remains open and
Second stage: 15 minutes the jaw relaxed, with the breath
Third stage: 15 minutes soft and even. This will bring
Sit with your eyes closed and your centered energies to the
mouth open and loose. Gently Lie on your back, open your eyes third eye.
rotate your body from the waist, and, with the head still, rotate
like a reed blowing in the wind. them in a clockwise direction. Fourth stage: 15 minutes
Feel the wind blowing you from Sweep them fully around in the
side to side, back and forth sockets as if you are following the Close your eyes and be still. 2
186
£~^hiva said: Attention between

^k eyebrows, let mind be be-
i<J fore thought. Let form fill
with breath essence to the top of

the head and there shower as
light.
This was the technique given to

Pythagoras. Pythagoras went with
this technique to Greece. And, re-
ally, he became the fountainhead,
the source, of all mysticism in the
West. He is the father of all mysti-

cism in the West.
This technique is one of the very
deep methods. Try to understand
Finding the Witness

this: "Attention between the eye- You have to do something about it This is one of the simplest methods
brows..." Modem physiology, sci- to open it. It is not blind. It is sim- of being attentive. You cannot be
entific research, says that between ply closed. This technique is to attentive to any other part of the
the two eyebrows is the gland open the third eye. body so easily. This gland absorbs
which is the most mysterious part "Attention between the eyebrows..." attention like anything. If you give
in the body. This gland, called the Close your eyes, then focus both of attention to it, both your eyes be-
pineal gland, is the third eye of the your eyes just in the middle of the come hypnotized with the third
Tibetans - Shivanetra: the eye of two eyebrows. Focus just in the eye. They become fixed; they can-
Shiva, of tantra. Between the two middle, with closed eyes, as if you not move. If you are trying to be
eyes there is a third eye existing, are looking with your two eyes. attentive to any other part of the
but ordinarily it is non-functioning. Give total attention to it. body, it is difficult This third eye
187
THE ME DITATI ON S
catches attention, forces attention. It like a film screen: thoughts are run- Secondly, vice versa is also the
is magnetic for attention. So all the ning and you are a witness. Once case. If you are focused in the
methods all over the world have your attention is focused at the third third eye, you will become a wit-
used it. It is the simplest to train at- eye center, you become immediate- ness. These two things are part of
tention because not only are you ly the witness of thoughts. one. So the first thing: by being
trying to be attentive: the gland it- Ordinarily you are not the witness: centered in the third eye there will
self helps you; it is magnetic. Your you are identified with thoughts. If be the arising of the witnessing
attention is brought to it forcibly. It anger is there, you become anger. If self. Now you can encounter your
is absorbed. a thought moves, you are not the thoughts. This will be the first
It is said in the old tantra scriptures witness - you become one with the thing. And the second thing will
that attention is food for the third thought, identified, and you move be that now you can feel the sub-
eye. It is hungry; it has been hungry with it. You become the thought; tle, delicate vibration of breathing.
for lives and lives. If you pay atten- you take the form of the thought. Now you can feel the form of
tion to becomes alive. It be-
it, it When sex is there you become sex; breathing, the very essence of
comes alive! The food is given to it. when anger is there you become breathing.
And once you know that attention anger; when greed is there you be- First try to understand what is
is food, once you feel that your come greed. Any thought moving meant by 'the form', by 'the
attention is magnetically drawn, becomes identified with you. You essence of breathing'. While you
attracted, pulled by the gland itself, do not have any gap between you are breathing, you are not only
attention is not a difficult thing and the thought. breathing air. Science says you are
then. One has only to know the But focused at the third eye, sud- breathing only air - just oxygen,
right point. So just close your eyes, denly you become a witness. hydrogen, and other gases in their
let your two eyes move just in the Through the third eye, you become combined form of air. They say
middle, and feel the point. When the witness. Through the third eye, you are breathing "air!" But tantra
you are near the point, suddenly you can see thoughts running like says that air is just the vehicle, not
your eyes will become fixed. When clouds in the sky or people moving the real thing. You are breathing
it will be difficult to move them, on the street. prana - vitality. Air is just the
then know you have caught the Try to be a witness. Whatsoever is medium; prana is the content. You
right point. happening, try to be a witness. You are breathing prana, not only air.
"Attention between the eyebrows, are ill, the body is aching and By being focused in the third eye,
let mind be before thought..." If at- painful, you have misery and suf- suddenly you can observe the very
tention is between the eyebrows, fering, whatsoever: be a witness to essence of breath - not breath, but
for the first time you will come to it. Whatsoever is happening, do not the very essence of breath, prana.
exf)erience a strange phenomenon. identify yourself with it. Be a wit- And if you can observe the essence
For the first time you will feel ness - an observer. Then if witness- of breath, prana, you are on the
thoughts running before you; you ing becomes possible, you will be point from which the jump, the
^
will become the witness. It is just focused in the third eye. breakthrough happens.
li
£^hiva said: Touching eye-

^k balls as a feather, lightness
^k^ between them opens into
heart and there permeates the
cosmos.
Use both your palms, put them on

your closed eyes, and allow the
palms to touch the eyeballs - but
just like a feather, with no pressure.
If you press you miss the point,
you miss the whole technique.

Don't press; just touch like a feath-
er. You will have to adjust, because

in the beginning you will be press-
ing. Put less and less pressure until
Touching
as a Feather
you are just touching with no pres- the energy that is flowing through Don't press - like a feather, just
sure at all - just your palms touch the eyes is very subtle: a small your palm is touching, as if not
the eyeballs. Just a touch, just a pressure and it starts fighting and a touching. Touching as if not touch-
meeting with no pressure, because resistance is created. If you press, ing, no pressure; just a touch, a
if the pressure is there, then the then the energy that is flowing slight feeling that the palm is
technique will not function. So - through the eyes will start a resis- touching the eyeball, that's all.
like a feather. tance, a fight; a struggle will ensue. What will happen? When you sim-
Why? - because a needle can do So don't press; even a slight pres- ply touch without any pressure,
something which a sword cannot sure is enough for the eye energy to the energy starts moving within. If
do. you press, the quality has
If judge. you press, it starts fighting with
changed - you are aggressive. And It is very subtle, it is very delicate. the hand, with the palm, and
189
THE ME DITATI ONS
moves out. Just a touch and the en- not move; they get frozen. They Your mind will be totally there,
ergy starts moving within. The door need frenzy and fever, they need alert, near the eyes, and the energy
is closed; simply the door is closed tension to move. They live through will be flowing constantly. In the
and the energy falls back. The mo- tension. When the eyes are silent, beginning it will be just dropping
ment energy falls back, you will relaxed, and the energy ismoving in drops. Within months you will
feel a lightness coming all over backwards, thoughts will stop. You feel it has become a river-like
your face, your head. TTiis energy will feel a certain quality of eupho- thing, and within a year you will
moving back makes you light. ria, and that will deep>en daily. feel it hasbecome a flood. And
And just between these two eyes is So do it many times in the day. when it happens - "touching eye-
the third eye, the wisdom-eye, the Even for a single moment, touching balls as a feather, lightness be-
prajna-chakshu. Just between the will be good. Whenever your eyes tween them" - when you touch
two eyes is the third eye. The ener- feel exhausted, dry of energy, ex- you will feel lightness. You can
gy falling back from the eyes hits ploited - after reading, seeing a feel it right now. Immediately, the
the third eye. That's why one feels film, or watching TV - whenever moment you touch, a lightness
light, levitating, as if there is no you feel it, just close the eyes and comes.And that "lightness be-
gravitation. And from the third eye touch. Immediately there will be tween them opens into the heart";
the energy falls on the heart. It is a the effect. But if you want to make that lightness penetrates, opens
physical process: just drip, drip, it it a meditation, then do it for at into the heart. In the heart, only
drops, and you will feel a very light least forty minutes. And the whole lightness can enter; nothing heavy
feeling entering in your heart. The thing is not to press. It is easy for a can enter. Only very light things
heartbeats will slow down, the single moment to have a feather- can happen to the heart.
breathing will slow down. Your like touch; it is difficult for forty This lightness between the two
whole body will feel relaxed. minutes. Many times you will for- eyes will start dropping into the
Even if you are not entering deep get and you will start pressing. heart, and the heart will open to re-
meditation, this will help you phys- Don't press. For forty minutes, just ceive - "and there permeates "the
it
ically. Any time during the day, re- remain aware that your hands have cosmos." As the falling energy be-
lax on a chair - or if you don't have no weight; they are just touching. comes a stream and then a river
a chair, when just sitting in a train - Go on being aware that you are not and then a flood, you will be
close your eyes, feel a relaxed be- pressing, only touching. This will washed completely, washed away.
ing in the whole of your body, and become a deep awareness, just like You will not feel that you are. You
then put both your palms on your breathing. As Buddha says to will feel simply the cosmos is.
eyes. But don't press - that's the breathe with full awareness, the Breathing in, breathing out, you
very significant thing. Just touch same will happen with touching, will feel you have become the cos-
like a feather. because you have to be constandy mos. The cosmos comes in and the
When you touch and don't press, mindful that you are not pressing. cosmos goes out. The entity that
your thoughts will stop immediate- Your hand should just be a feather, you have always been, the ego, will
^
ly. In a relaxed mind thoughts can- a weightless thing, simply touching. not be there.
190
u-tsu said: One should
L look
nose.
at the tip of one's
Why? - because this helps, it
brings you in line. with the third

eye. When both your eyes are
fixed on the tip of the nose it does
many things. The basic is that your
third eye is exactly in line with the
tip of the nose - just a few inches
above, but in the same line. And
once you are in the line of the third
eye, the attraction of the third eye,
the pull, the magnetism, of the
third eye is so great that if you
Looking at
the Tip of the Nose
have fallen in line with it, you will thought, and the single eye between tip of the nose but very relaxed so
be pulled even against yourself. the two eyes creates the gaps. This that the third eye can pull you. If
You just have to be exactly in line is a simple method of changing the you are too concentrated on the tip
with it so that the attraction, the gestalt. of the nose, rooted, focused, fixed
gravitation, of the third eye starts The mind can distort it - the mind there, your third eye will not be
functioning. Once you are exactly can say, "Okay, now look at the tip able to pull you in, because your
in line with it there will be no need of the nose. Think of the tip of the third eye has never functioned be-
to make any eftort. nose, concentrate on it." If you fore. Its pull cannot be very great
Suddenly you will find the gestalt concentrate too much on the tip of in the beginning. Slowly slowly it
has changed, because the two eyes the nose you will miss the point, grows more and more. Once it
create the duality of the world and because you have to be there at the starts functioning and the dust that
191
THE MEDITATIONS
has gathered around it disappears look at the tip of the nose - a sim- can you push light in? All that is
with use, and the mechanism is ple device, but the result is almost needed is that you should be open
humming well, then even if you are magical. and vulnerable to it.
fixed on the tip of the nose you will And this is not only so with the One looks with both eyes at the tip
be pulled in. But not in the begin- Taoists. Buddhists know it, Hindus of the nose.
ning. You have to be very very know it. Down the ages all the Remember, you have to look with
light, not a burden, without any meditators have somehow stumbled both eyes at the tip of the nose so
stress and strain. You have to be upon the fact that if your eyes are that at the tip of the nose, your two
simply there, present, in a kind of just half open, in a very miraculous eyes lose their duality. So, on the
let-go .... way you escape two pitfalls. One is tip of the nose the light that is
If one is not guided by the nose, ei- being distracted by the outside streaming out from your eyes be-
ther one opens wide the eyes and world, the other is being distracted comes one; it falls on a single
looks into the distance, so that the by the inside dream world. You re- point. Where your two eyes meet,
nose is not seen, or the lids shut main exactly on the boundary of the that is the place where the window
too much, so that the eyes close, inner and the outer. And that's the opens. And then all is well. Then
and again the nose is not seen. point: to be on the boundary of the let it be, then simply enjoy, then
Another function of looking very inner and the outer means you are simply celebrate, delight, rejoice.
lightly at the tip of the nose is this: neither male nor female in that mo- Then nothing has to be done.
that it doesn't allow you to open ment. Your vision is free of duality; One looks with both eyes at the tip
your eyes wide. If you opjen your your vision has transcended the di- of the nose, sits upright....
eyes wide the whole world becomes vision in you. Only when you are It is helpful to sit upright. When
available, and there are a thousand beyond the division in you do you your spine is straight, the energy
and one disU"actions. A beautiful fall into the line of the magnetic from your sex center also becomes
woman passes by and you start fol- field of the third eye. available to the third eye. Just sim-
lowing - at least in the mind. Or The main thing is to lower the eye- ple devices, nothing complex
somebody is fighting; you are not lids in the right way, and then to about them ... it is just that when
concemed, but you start thinking. allow the light to stream in of it- your two eyes meet at the tip of
"What is going to happen?" Or self the nose, you are available to the
somebody is crying and you become That is very important to remem- third eye. Make your sex energy
curious. A thousand and one things ber: you are not to pull the light in, also available to the third eye.
are continuously moving around you are not to force the light in. If Then the effect will be double, the
you. If the eyes are wide open, you the window is open, the light comes effect will be forceful, because
become masculine energy, yang. in of its own accord. If the door is your sex center has all the energy
If the eyes are completely closed open, the light floods in. You need that you have. When the spine is
you fall into a kind of reverie, you not bring it in, you need not push it erect, straight, the sex center is
start dreaming; you become femi- in, you need not drag it in. And also available to the third eye. It is
nine energy, yin. To avoid both just how can you drag light in? How better to attack the third eye from
192
both dimensions, to try to pene- Fixating contemplation is indis- you change the gestalt you look at
trate the third eye from both direc- pensable. one interval, another interval, an-
tions. What is contemplation? A moment other interval. Your emphasis is no
One... sits upright and in a com- of no-thought. A state of no- longer on the thoughts but on the
fortable position. thought, an interval. And it is al- interval.
The master is making things very ways happening, but you are not One must not stay sitting rigidly if
clear. Upright, certainly, but don't alert about it; otherwise there is no worldly thoughts come up, but one
make it uncomfortable; otherwise problem in it. One thought comes, must examine where the thought
again you will be distracted by your then another comes, and between is, where it began, and where it
discomfort. That is the meaning of these two thoughts there is always a fades out.
a yoga posture. The Sanskrit word small gap. And that gap is the door This is not going to happen in the
asana means a comfortable posture. to the divine, that gap is contempla- first try. You will be looking at the
Comfort is the basic quality of it. If tion. If you look into that gap tip of the nose and thoughts will
it is not comfortable then your mind deeply, it starts becoming bigger come. They have been coming for
will be distracted by the discomfort. and bigger so many lives, they cannot leave
It has to be comfortable. The mind is like a road full of traf- you alone so easily. They have be-
It does not necessarily mean the fic; one car passes by. then another come part of you, they have
middle of the head. car passes by, and you become so become almost built-in. You are
And by centering it is not meant concerned with the cars that you living almost a programmed life.
that you have to be centered in the don't see the gap that is always This happens: when people sit
middle of the head. there between two cars. Otherwise silently in meditation more thoughts
The center is omnipresent; every- they would collide. They don't col- come than ordinarily, than usually
thing is contained in it; it is con- lide; something is there between come - unusual explosions. Mil-
nected with the release of the them that keeps them separate. lions of thoughts rush in, because
whole process of creation. Your thoughts don't collide, they they have some investment in you -
And when you have reached the don't run over each other, into each and you are trying to get out of their
third eye point and you are centered other They don't even overlap in power? They will give you a hard
there and the light is flooding in, any way. Each thought has its own time. So thoughts are bound to
you have reached the point from boundary, each thought is defin- come. What are you going to do
which the whole creation has able, but the procession of thoughts with thoughts? You cannot just go
arisen. You have reached the form- is so fast, so speedy, that you can- on sitting there, you will have to do
less, the unmanifest. Call it God if not see the gap unless you are real- something. Fighting is not going to
you will. This is the point, this is ly waiting for it, searching for it. help because if you start fighting
the space, from which all has Contemplation means changing the you will forget to look at the tip of
arisen. This is the very seed of the gestalt. Ordinarily we look at the nose, the awareness of the third
whole existence. It is omnipotent, it thoughts: one thought, another eye, the circulation of the light; you
is omnipresent, it is eternal. thought, another thought. When will forget all and you will be lost
193
THE MEDITATIONS
in the jungle of thoughts. If you That's what Freudian psychoanaly- again immediately move back to
start chasing thoughts you are lost, sis is: the free association of contemplation.
if you follow them you are lost, if thoughts. One thought comes, and When the flight of the thoughts
you fight them you are lost. Then then you wait for another thought, keeps extending further, one
what is to be done? and then another, and the whole should stop and begin contemplat-
And this is the secret. Buddha has chain.... TTiat's what all kinds of ing. Let one contemplate and then
also used the same secret. In fact, psychoanalysis do - you start mov- start fixating again.
the secrets are almost the same being backwards into the past. One So, whenever the thought comes,
cause man is the same - the lock is thought is connected with another, fixate. Whenever the thought goes,
the same, so the key has to be the and so on and so forth, ad infini- contemplate.
same. This is the secret: Buddha tum. There is no end to it. If you go That is the double method of mak-
calls it sammasati, right remem- into it you will be moving into an ing fast the enlightenment. It
brance. Just remember: this thought eternal journey that will be a sheer means the circulation of the light.
has come, see where it is. with no wastage. .Mind can do that. So be- The circulation is fixation. The
antagonism, with no justification, ware of it. light is contemplation.
with no condemnation. Just be ob- You cannot go with mind beyond Whenever you contemplate you will
jective as a scientist is objective. mind, so don't trv' the futile, the see light flooding in, and whenever
See where it is. from where it is unnecessary; otherwise one thing you fixate you will create the circu-
coming, where it is going. See the will lead you to another and so on lation, you will make the circulation
coming of it, see the staying of it and so forth, and you will com- possible. Both are needed.
see the going of it. And thoughts pletely forget what you were try- The light is contemplation. Fixa-
are very mobile; they don't stay ing to do there. The up of the tion without contemplation is cir-
long. You simply have to watch the nose will disappear, the third eye culation without light.
arising of the thought, the staying will be forgotten, the circulation That's what has happened; that
of the thought, and the going of the of the light will be miles away calamity has happened to hatha
thought. Don't tr>' to fight, don't try from you. yoga. They fixate, they concen-
to follow, just be a silent observer. So these two things have to be re- trate, but they have forgotten the
And you will be surprised: the more membered, these are two wings. light. They have completely for-
settled observation becomes, the One: when there is an interval, no gotten about the guest. They only
less thoughts will come. When ob- thought is coming, contemplate. go on preparing the house, they
servation is perfect, thoughts disap- When a thought comes then just have become so engrossed in
pear. There is only a gap left, an look at these three things: where the preparing the house that they have
interval left. thought is. from where it has come, forgotten the purp>ose for which
But remember one more point: the where it is going. For a moment they are preparing the house, for
mind can again play a trick. stop looking into the gap, look at whom. The hatha yogi continu-
Nothing is gained by pushing the thought, watch the thought, say ously prepares his body, purifies
reflection further. good-bye to it. When it leaves, his body, does yoga postures,
194
breathing exercises, and goes on the so-called yogis. The other kind the guest, but their house is not
doing it ad nauseam. He has com- of calamity happens to psychoana- ready. Both miss.
pletely forgotten what he is doing lysts, philosophers. Take note of that!
it for. And the light is standing Contemplation without fixation is Don't fall into either of these two
there but he won't allow it because light without circulation. fallacies. If you can remain alert, it
the light can come in only when he They think about the light, but they is a very simple process and im-
is completely in a let-go. have not made the preparation for it mensely transforming. In a single
Fixation without contemplation is to flood in; they only think of light. moment, a man who understands
circulation without light. They think of the guest, they imag- rightly can enter into a separate
This is the calamity that happens to ine a thousand and one things about kind of reality.
**
195
THEM EDITATI ON S
JUST SITTING
Just Sitting
You are simply sitting there, doing nothing ... and all
is silence and all is peace and all is bliss. You have

entered God, you have entered truth. '
197
THE MEDITATIONS
JUST SITTING
Zen people say

The don't do anything.
just sit,
The
most difficult thing in the
world is just to sit doing nothing.
But once you ha\e got the knack
of it if you go on sitting for a few
months doing nothing for a few
hours every day, slowly, slowly
many things will happen. You will
feel sleepy, you will dream. Many

thoughts will crowd your mind,
many things. The mind will say,
'Why are you wasting your time?

You could have earned a little
money. At least you could have

gone to a film, entertained your-
Zazen
self or you could have relaxed and it will dream, it will become sleepy. lucination, no dream, no thought
gossiped. You could have watched It will do all that is possible to drag You are simply sitting there, doing
the TV or listened to the radio, or you out of just sitting. But if you go nothing ... and all is silence and
at least you could have read the on. if you persevere, one day the all is peace and all is bliss. You
newspaper you have not seen. sun rises. have entered God. you have en-
Why are you wasting your time?" One day it happens, you are not tered truth. -
Mind will give you a thousand and feeling sleepy,mind has be-
the You can sit anywhere, but what-
one arguments, but if you just go come tired of you. is fed up with soever you are looking at should
on listening without being both- you. has dropped the idea that you not be too exciting. For example
ered by the mind... it will do all can be trapped, is simply finished things should not be moving too
kinds of tricks: it will hallucinate. with you! There is no sleep, no hal- much. They become a distraction.
199
THE MEDITATIONS
You can watch the trees - that is not remain as immobile as possible. Instructions
a problem because they are not First find a good posture - you can
moving and the scene remains con- sit on a pillow or mattress or what- Sit facing a plain wall, approxi-
stant. You can watch the sky or just soever you feel to, but once you mately at your arm 's length away.
sit in the comer watching the wall. settle, remain immobile, because if Eyes should be half-open allow-
The second thing is, don't look at the body does not move, the mind ing the gaze to rest softly on the
anything in particular - just empti- automatically falls silent. In a mov- wall. Keep your back straight,
ness, because the eyes are there and ing body, the mind also continues and restone hand inside the other
one has to look at something, but to move, because body-mind are with thumbs touching to form an
you are not looking at anything in not two things. TTiey are one ... it is oval. Stay as still as possible for
particular. Don't focus or concen- one energy. 30 minutes.
trate on anything - just a diffuse In the beginning itseem a little
will
image. Thai relaxes very much. difficult but after a few days you While sitting, just allow a choice-
And the third thing, relax your will enjoy it tremendously. You will less awareness, not directing the
breathing. Don't do it, let it happen. see, by and by, layer upon layer of attention anywhere in particular,
Let it be natural and that will relax the mind starting to drop. A mo- but remaining as receptive and
even more. ment comes when you are simply alert as possible, moment to
moment. "
The fourth thing is, let your body there with no mind. ^
200
JUST SITTING
Buddha was to give a special

talk one day, and thousands
of followers had come from
miles around.
When Buddha appeared he was
holding a flower. Time passed, but
Buddha said nothing. He just
looked at the flower. The crowd

grew restless, but Mahakashyap,
who could restrain himself no
longer, laughed.
Buddha beckoned him over, hand-
ed him the flower, and said to the
crowd: "I have the eye of the true

teaching. All that can be given
with words I have given to you;
The Laughter of Zen

but with this flower, 1 give to from where the whole tradition - anything in his hand. People
Mahakashyap the key to this one of the most beautiful and alive thought that someone must have
teaching." that exists on earth, the tradition of presented it.
This story is one of the most sig- Zen - started. Buddha came; he sat under the
nificant ones, because from this Try to understand this story. tree. The crowd waited and waited
was passed the tradition of Zen. Buddha came one moming, and as and he would not speak. He
Buddha was the source, and Maha- usual a crowd had gathered. Many wouldn't even look at them. He
kashyap was the first, the original people were waiting to listen to just went on looking at the flower.
master of Zen. Buddha was the him. But one thing was unusual - Minutes passed, then hours, and
source, Mahakashyap was the first he was carrying a flower in his the people became very restless,
master, and this story is the source hand. Never before had he carried it is said thatMahakashyap couldn't
201
THE MEDITATIONS
contain himself- he laughed loudly. traveling. The key is still there; truth cannot be spoken, and still ev-
Buddha called him, gave him the somebody is still holding it. The erybody expected him to speak.
flower and said to the gathered river has not dried. The second dimension - he
crowd, "Whatsoever can be said We require even a Buddha to talk, laughed at Buddha also, at the
through words, I have said to you, because that's all we understand. whole dramatic situation he had
and that which cannot be said This is foolish. You should learn to created, sitting there with a flower
through words,I give to Maha- be silent with a Buddha, because in his hand, looking at the flower,
kashyap. The key cannot be com- only then can he enter you. creating so much uneasiness, rest-
municated verbally. I hand over the Through words he can knock at lessness, in everybody. At this dra-
key to Mahakashyap." your door, but can never enter; matic gesture of Buddha, he
But for Zen this is the origin. Ma- through silence he can enter you, laughed and he laughed.
hakashyap became the first holder and unless he enters, nothing will The third dimension - he laughed
of the key. TTien six holders in suc- happen to you. His entry will bring at his own self. Why couldn't he
cession existed in India, up to Bod- a new element to your world; his understand up to now?
TTie whole
hidharma. He was the sixth holder entry into the heart will give you a thing was easy and simple. And the
of the key, and then he searched new beat and a new pulse, a new day you understand, you will
and searched all over India, but he release of life, but only his entry. laugh, because there is nothing to
couldn't find a man of the capabili- Mahakashyap laughed at the fool- be understood. There is no difficul-
ty of Mahakashyap - a man who ishness of man. Tliey were restless ty to be solved. Everything has al-
could understand silence. He had to and thinking: When will Buddha ways been simple and clear. How
leave India just in search of a man stand up and drop this whole si- could you miss it?
to whom the key could be given; lence so that we can go home? He With Buddha sitting silent, the
otherwise the key would be lost. laughed. birds singing in the trees, the
Buddhism entered China with Bod- Laughter started with Mahakashyap, breeze passing through the trees,
hidharma in search of a man to and has been going on and on in and everybody restless, Maha-
whom the key could be given, a Zen tradition. There is no other tra- kashyap understood.
man who could understand silence, dition which can laugh. In Zen What did he understand? He under-
who could talk heart to heart with- monasteries, they have been laugh- stood that there is nothing to be un-
out being obsessed in the mind, ing and laughing and laughing. derstood, there is nothing to be
who had no head. Mahakashyap laughed, and this said, there is nothing to be ex-
This communication beyond words laughter carried many dimensions plained. The whole situation is
is possible only from heart to heart. in it. One dimension was at the simple and transparent. Nothing is
So, for nine years, Bodhidharma foolishness of the whole situation, hidden in it. TTiere is no need to
searched in China, and then he at a Buddha silent and nobody un- search, because all that is. is here
could find only one man. derstanding him, everybody expect- and now, within you.
A Chinese became the seventh ing him to speak. His whole life He laughed at his own self also, at
master. And up to now it has been Buddha had been saying that the the whole absurd effort of many
202
'
JUST SITTING
lives just to understand this silence These two are the parts. Tlie inner This is the key - the inner part of it
- at so much thinking. silence - the silence so deep that is silence, and the outer part of the
Buddha called him, gave him the there is no vibration in your being; key is celebration, laughter. Be fes-
flower and said: "Hereby, 1 give you are, but there are no waves; tive and silent. Create more and
you the key." you are just a p)Ool, without waves, more possibility around you -
What is the key? Silence and laugh- not a single wave arises; the whole don't force the inner to be silent,
ter is the key - silence within, being silent, still; inside, at the cen- just create more and more possibil-
laughter without. And when laughter, silence - and on the periphery, ity around you so that the inner
ter comes out of silence, it is not of celebration and laughter. And only silence can flower in it.
this world, it is divine. silence can laugh, because only si- Meditation doesn't lead you to si-
When laughter comes out of silence lence can understand the cosmic lence. Meditation only creates the
you are not laughing at anybody's joke. situation in which the silence hap-
cost. You are simply laughing at the I tell you, the silence that exists pens. And this should be the criteri-
whole cosmic joke. And it really is with sadness cannot be true. Some- on - that whenever silence hap-
a joke. That's why 1 go on telling thing has gone wrong. You have pens, laughter will come into your
jokes to you, because jokes carry missed the path; you are off the life. A vital celebration will happen
more than any scriptures. It is a joke track. Only celebration can give all around.
because inside you, you have every- proof that the real silence has hap- When silence is too much, it be-
thing, and you are searching every- pened. comes laughter. It becomes so
where. What else should a joke be? What is the difference between a overtlooded that it starts overflow-
You are a king, and acting like a real silence and a false silence? A ing in all directions. He laughed. It
beggar in the streets; not only act- false silence is always forced. must have been a mad laughter,
ing, not only deceiving others, but Through effort it is achieved. It is and in that laughter there was no
deceiving yourself that you are a not spontaneous, it has not happened Mahakashyap. Silence was laugh-
beggar. You have the source of all to you. You have made it happen. ing. Silence had come to a blos-
knowledge and are asking ques- You are sitting silently and there is soming.
tions; you have the knowing self much inner turmoil. You suppress it Your enlightenment is perfect only
and think that you are ignorant; you and then you cannot laugh. You will when silence has come to be a cele-
have the deathless within you and become sad because laughter will bration. Hence my insistence that
are afraid and fearful of death and be dangerous - if you laugh you after you meditate, you must cele-
disease. This really is a joke, and if will lose silence, because in laugh- brate. After you have been silent,
Mahakashyap laughed, he did well. ter you cannot suppress. Laughter is you must enjoy it, you must have a
Mahakashyap has remained silent, against suppression. If you want to thanksgiving. A deep gratitude
and silently the inner river has been suppress, you should not laugh; if must be shown towards the whole
flowing. To others the key has been you laugh, everything will come just for the opportunity that you
given, and the key is still alive, still out. The real will come out in are, that you can meditate, that you
opens the door. laughter, and the unreal will be lost. can be silent, that you can laugh.
203
THE ME DITATl ON S
204
RISING IN LOVE
Rising in Love:
A Partnership in
Meditation
'
here are a few very fundamental things to be under-
t: stood.
First, a man and a woman are on the one hand halves of
the other, and on the other hand, opposite polarities.
Their being opposites attracts them to each other. The
fartheraway they are, the deeper will be the attraction;
the more different from each other they are, the more
will be the charm and beauty and attraction. But there
lies the whole problem.

When they come close, they want to come closer, they
want to merge into each other, they want to become one,

a harmonious whole - but their whole attraction depends
on opposition, and the harmony will depend on dissolv-
ing the opposition.
Unless a love affair is very conscious, it is going to cre-
ate great anguish, great trouble. All lovers are in trouble.
The trouble is not personal; it is in the very nature of
things. They would not have been attracted to each other
- they call it falling in love - they cannot give any reason
why they have such a tremendous pull towards each other.
They are not even conscious of the underlying causes;
205
THE MEDITATIONS
hence a strange thing happens: the tions, that there is no need to make sible with me, why is it not possi-
happiest lovers are those who never it a conflict, then it is a great oppor- ble with the man you love?
meet. tunity to understand the totally op- The difference has to be under-
Once they meet, the same opposi- posite point of view and absorb it. stood.
tion that created the attraction be- Then the life of a man and woman You love me, but you don't love
comes a conflict. On each small together can become a beautiful me in the same way you love your
point, their attitudes are different, harmony. Otherwise, it is a continu- husband, your wife. Your love to-
their approaches are different. Al- ous fight. wards me is not biological; with
though they speak the same lan- There are holidays. One cannot me your love is a totally different
guage, they cannot understand each continue to fight twenty-four hours phenomenon - it is of the spirit, not
other. a day, one needs a litde rest too - a of the body.
The way a man looks at the world rest to get ready for a new fight. And secondly, you are connected
is different from a woman. For ex- But it is one of the strangest phe- with me because of your search for
ample, a man is interested in far- nomena that for thousands of years truth. My relationship with you is
away things - in the future of men and women have been living that of meditation. Meditation is
humanity, in the faraway stars, together, yet they are strangers. the only bridge between me and
whether there are living beings on They go on giving birth to children, you. Your love will deepen as your
other planets or not. but still they remain strangers. The meditation deepens, and vice-versa:
A woman simply giggles at the feminine approach and the mascu- as your meditation blossoms, your
whole nonsense. She is only inter- line approach are so opposed to love will also blossom. But it is on
ested in a very small, closed circle each other that unless a conscious a totally different level.
- in the neighbors, in the family, in effort is made, unless it becomes With your husband, you are not
who is cheating his wife, whose your meditation, there is no hope of connected in meditation. You never
wife has fallen in love with the having a peaceful life. sit silently for one hour together
chauffeur. Her interest is very local It is one of my deep concerns: how just to feel each other's conscious-
and very human. She is not worried to make love and meditation so in- ness. Either you are fighting or you
about reincarnation; neither is she volved in each other that each love are making love, but in both cases,
concerned about life after death. affair automatically becomes a part- you are related with the body, the
Her concern is more pragmatic. She nership in meditation - and each physical part, the biology, the hor-
is concerned with the present, here meditation makes you so conscious mones. You are not related with the
and now. that you need not fall in love, you innermost core of the other. Your
Man is never here and now. He is can rise in love. You can find a souls remain separate. In the tem-
always somewhere else. He has friend consciously, deliberately. ples and in the churches and in the
strange preoccupations - reincarna- You feel a deep harmony with me, courts, only your bodies are mar-
tion, life after death. moments of peace, love and si- ried. Your souls are miles apart.
If both partners are conscious of the lence, and naturally the question If you want a harmonious relation-
fact that it is a meeting of opposi- has arisen in you that if this is pos- ship with your man, you will have
206
RISING IN LOVE
to learn to be more meditative. in deep friendship, in a loving, All the conflict in the world is be-
Lx)ve alone is not enough. meditative relationship, as organic cause of misunderstanding. You
Lx)ve alone is blind; meditation wholes, can reach the goal any mo- say something, your wife under-
gives it eyes. Meditation gives it ment they want. Because the goal is stands something else. Your wife
understanding. And once your love not outside you; it is the center of says something, you understand
is both love and meditation, you be- the cyclone, it is the innermost part something else.
come fellow travelers. Then it is no of your being. But you can find it I have seen couples who have lived
longer an ordinary relationship be- only when you are whole, and you together for thirty or forty years;
tween husband and wife. Then it cannot be whole without the other still, they seem to be as immature
becomes a friendliness on the path Man and woman are two parts of as they were on their first day to-
towards discovering the mysteries one whole. gether. Still the same complaint:
of life. So rather than wasting time in "She doesn't understand what I am
Man alone, woman alone, will find fighting, try to understand each oth- saying." Forty years being together
the journey very tedious and very er. Try to put yourself in the place and you have not been able to fig-
long, as they have found it in the of the other; try to see as a man ure out some way that your wife
past: seeing this continuous con- sees, try to see as a woman sees. can understand exactly what you
flict, all the religions decided that And four eyes are always better are saying, and so you can under-
those who wanted to seek should than two eyes - you have a full stand exactly what she is saying.
renounce the other - the monks view; all four directions are avail- I think there is no possibility for it
should be celibate, the nuns should able to you. to happen except through medita-
be celibate. But in five thousand But one thing has to be remem- tion, because meditation gives you
years of history, how many monks bered: that without meditation, the qualities of silence, awareness,
and how many nuns have become love is destined to fail; there is no a patient listening, a capacity to put
realized You cannot even
souls? possibility of its being a success. yourself in the other's position.
give me enough names to count on You can pretend and you can It is possible with me: I am not
ten fingers. And millions of monks deceive others, but you cannot concerned with the trivia of your
and nuns of all religions - Buddhist, deceive yourself. You know deep life. You are here basically to listen
Hindu, Christian, Mohammedan - down that all the promises love and understand. You are here to
what has happened? has given to you have remained grow spiritually. Naturally there is
The path is not so long. The goal is unfulfilled. no question of conflict, and the har-
not that far away. But even if you Only with meditation does love mony arises without any effort.
want to go to your neighbor's start taking on new colors, new You can love me with totality, be-
house, you will need both your music, new songs, new dances - cause with me your relationship is
legs. Just jumping on one leg, how because meditation gives you the of meditation. With any other man
far can you go? insight to understand the polar or with any other woman, if you
I am introducing a totally new vi- opposite, and in that very under- want to live in harmony you will
sion, that men and women together standing the conflict disappears. have to bring the same atmosphere
207
THE MED ITATI ON S
and the same climate that you have the Kohinoor, the world's largest di- That is the misery of Western man.
brought here. amond, is nothing; meditation will Western man is missing the flower-
Tilings are not impossible, but we be a far more precious gift - and it ing of life because he knows noth-
have not tried the right medicine. 1 will make your life sheer joy. ing about meditation, and Eastern
would like to remind you that the We are potentially capable of sheer man is missing because he knows
word 'medicine' comes from the joy, but we don't know how to nothing of love.
same root as 'meditation'. Medicine manage it. Alone, we are at the And to me, just as man and woman
cures your body; meditation cures most sad. Together, it becomes are halves of one whole, so are love
your soul. Medicine heals the mate- really hell. and meditation. Meditation is man;
rial part of you; meditation heals the Even a man like Jean-Paul Sartre, a love is woman. In the meeting of
spiritual part of you. man of great intelligence, has to meditation and love is the meeting
People are living together and their say that the other is hell, that to be of man and woman. And in that
spirits are full of wounds; hence, alone is better, you cannot make it meeting, we create the transcen-
small things hurt them so much. with the other. He became so dental human being - which is nei-
People are living without any un- pessimistic that he said it is impos- ther man nor woman.
derstanding. Hence, whatsoever sible to make it with the other, the Unless we create the transcendental
they do is going to end in disaster. other is hell. Ordinarily, he is right. man on the earth, there is not much
If you love a man, meditation will With meditation the other becomes hope. But I feel my people are
be the best present that you can give your heaven. But Jean-Paul Sartre capable of doing the apparently
to him. If you love a woman, then had no idea of meditation. impossible, i
208
RISING IN LOVE
£^hiva said: Feel the fine

^k qualities of creativity per-
^^J meating your breast and
assuming delicate configurations.
Just concentrate on the breasts,

become one, forget the whole
body. Move your total conscious-
ness to the breasts and there will
be many phenomena happening to
you. If you can do this, concen-

trate totally near the breasts, the
whole body will lose weight, and
a very sweet, deep sweetness will
envelop you. It will pulsate
around you, within you, above.
Circle of Love
below, everywhere - a deep feel- Really if a man tries to concentrate women concentrate near the
ing of sweetness. near the breasts he will become breasts, they will feel very happy,
Really, all the techniques that have very uneasy. Try it. Even within very blissful, a sweetness will per-
been developed have been devel- five minutes you will feel perspira- vade all over their being and the
oped more or less by men, so they tion, you will become very uneasy, body will lose gravity. They will
always give centers which are easi- because male breasts are negative, feel light, as if they can fly. And
er for men to follow. As far as I they will give you negativity. You with this concentration many
know, only Shiva has given some will feel uneasy, uncomfortable, things will change: you will be-
techniques which are basically for feel that something is going wrong come more You may not
motherly.
women. in the body, unhealthy, ill. be a mother but you will become
A man cannot do this technique. But female breasts are positive. If more motherly. To everyone your
209
THE ME DITATI ON S
relationship will become motherly wards sex, and so repelled also. the feminine body and she will act
- more compassion, more love will You feel so much for it, you need and the male will remain passive.
happen. But this concentration near so much, you ask so much, but And this will go on. Ordinarily you
the breasts should be done very re- when it is when it is there,
given, are man, woman. In deep love, in
laxedly, not tensely. If you are tense you feel frustration - nothing hap- deep orgasm, it will happen that for
about it there will be a division be- pens. This is possible only when moments you will become woman,
tween you and the breasts. Relax both the bodies are so relaxed and and the woman will become man.
and melt into them, and feel that so open to each other without any And this will be felt, absolutely felt
you are no more, only the breasts fear, without any resistance. The and recognized, that the passivity
are there. let-go is so complete that the elec- changes.
If man has to do the same he will tricities can merge and meet and In life there is rhythm; in every-
have to do it with the sex center, not become a circle. thing there is rhythm. You take a
with the breasts. Hence the impor- Then there is a very strange phe- breath, the breath goes in - then for
tance of the first chakra in all kun- nomenon... tantra has recorded it a few seconds it stops, there is no
dalini yogas. He has to concentrate and you may not have heard of that movement. Then again it moves,
just at the root of the penis - there phenomenon. This is the phe- out it goes - then again there is a
he has the creativity, there he is pos- nomenon, the very strangest one - stop, a gap, no movement, then
itive. And remember this always: when two lovers really meet and again movement. Movement, no
never concentrate on anything nega- become a circle, then a flickering movement, movement. Your heart
tive because with the negative ev- happens. For a moment the lover is beating, one beat, gap, another
erything negative will follow. With becomes the beloved and the beat, gap.The beat means activity,
the positive, everything positive beloved becomes the lover, and the the gap means passivity. TTie beat
will follow. next moment, again the lover is means male, the non-beat means
When man and woman meet, these lover and the beloved is beloved. female.
two poles - negative is in the upper The male becomes the female for a Life is rhythm. While two persons
part of man, and positive in the moment, then the female becomes meet, male and female, it becomes
lower; negative is in the lower part the male for a moment - because a circle: there will be gaps - for
of woman and positive in the upper the circle is moving, the energy is both. You will be a woman and sud-
- these two poles of positive and moving, it has become one circle. denly there will be a gap, you are
negative meet and a circle is creat- So it will happen that the male will no more a woman, you have be-
ed. That circle is blissful, but it is be active for a few minutes and come a man. You will be man and
not ordinary. In ordinary sexual then he will relax and the female woman and man. And when these
acts, the circle is not happening - will become active. TTiat means gaps are felt, then you can feel that
that is why you feel so attracted to- now the male energy has passed to you have achieved a circle. -
210
RISING IN LOVE
^^hiva said: When in such

^k embrace your senses are
î^J shaken as leaves, enter this
shaking.
"When in such embrace," in such

deep communion with the beloved
or the lover, "your senses are
shaken as leaves, enter this shaking."
We have even become afraid:
while making love you do not al-
low your bodies to move much,

because if your bodies are allowed
much movement the sex act
spreads all over your body. You
can control it when it is localized
Shaking in Sex
at the sex center. The mind can re- dead bodies. You are doing some- cannot. A man can have only
main in control. When it spreads thing to them; they are not doing one orgasm; a woman can have
all over your body, you cannot anything to you. They are just pas- chain orgasms. There are cases of
control it. You may start shaking, sive partners. Why is this happen- multiple orgasms reported. Any
you may start screaming, and you ing? Why all over the world do woman can have at least three or-
will not be able to control your men suppress women in such a gasms in a chain, but man can
body once the body takes over. way? There is fear - because once have only one. And with man's
We suppress movements. Particu- a woman's body becomes pos- orgasm, the woman is aroused
larly, all over the world, we sup- sessed, it is very difficult for a and is ready for further orgasms.
press all movements, all shaking man to satisfy her because a wom- Then it is difficult. Then how to
for women. They remain just like an can have chain orgasms; a man manage it!
211
THE ME DITATI ON S
Shake! Vibrate! Allow every cell of posite cell. This shaking shows it. mind is lost, the division is lost.
your body to dance, and this should It will look animal like, but man is You have a oneness.
be for both. TTie beloved is also an animal and there is nothing This is adwaita: this is non-duality.
dancing, every cell vibrating. Only wrong in it. And if you cannot feel this non-
then can you both meet, and then Enter this shaking, and while shak- duality, then all the philosophies
that meeting is not mental. It is a ing don't remain aloof. Don't be a of non-duality are useless. They
meeting of your bio-energies. spectator, because mind is the spec- are just words. Once you know
Shaking is just wonderful because tator. Don't stand aloof! Be the this non-dual existential moment,
when you shake in your sex act the shaking, become the shaking. For- then only can you understand the
energy starts flowing all over the get everything and become the Upanishads. Then only you can
body, the energy vibrates all over shaking. It is not that your body is understand the mystics - what
the body. Every cell of the body is shaking: it is you, your whole be- they are talking about when they
involved then. Every cell becomes ing.You become the shaking itself. talk of a cosmic oneness, a whole-
alive because every cell is a sex Then there are not two bodies, two ness. Then you are not separate
cell. minds. In the beginning, there are from the world, not alien to it.
When you were two sexborn, two shaking energies, and in the Then existence becomes your
cells met and your being was cre- end just a circle - not two. home. And with that feeling that
ated, your body was created. What will happen in this circle? "Now I am at home in existence,"
Those two sex cells are every- One, you will be part of an existen- all worries are lost. Then there is
where in your body. They have tial force - not a societal mind, but no anguish, no struggle, no con-
multiplied and multiplied and an existential force. You will be flict. This is what Lao Tzu calls
multiplied, but your basic unit re- part of the whole cosmos. In that Tao, what Shankara calls adwaita.
mains the sex cell. When you shaking you will be part of the You can choose your own word
shake all over your body, it is not whole cosmos. That moment is of for it, but through a deep love em-
only a meeting of you with your great creation. You are dissolved as brace, it is easy to feel it. Be alive,
beloved. Within your body also, solid bodies. You have become liq- shaking, and become the shaking
each cell is meeting with the op- uid - flowing into each other. The itself. ^
212
RISING IN LOVE
hiva said: Even remember-

ing union, without the em-
brace, the transformation!
Once you know these previous two

meditations, even the partner is not
needed. You can simply remember
the act and enter into it. But first
you must have the feeling. If you

know the feeling, you can enter
into the act without the partner.
This is a little difficult, but it hap-
pens. And unless it happens, you
go on being dependent: a depen-
dency is created. For so many rea-
sons it happens.
Circle of Love Alone

If you have had the feeling, if you for women to have this feeling be- begin to shake and vibrate. Allow
have known the moment when cause they are always making love it! Forget completely that the other
you were not there but only a vi- with closed eyes. is not there. Move as if the other is
brating energy - you had become During the technique, it is good if present. Only in the beginning is it
one and there was a circle with the you have your eyes closed. Then 'as if". Once you know, then it is
partner - in that moment there was only an inner feeling of a circle is not 'as if. Then the other is there.
no partner In that moment only there, only an inner feeling of one- Move as if you are actually going
you are, and for the partner you are ness. Then just remember it. Close into the love act. Do whatsoever
not: only he or she is. That oneness your eyes; lie down as if you are you would have done with your
is centered within you; the partner with your partner. Just remember partner. Scream, move, shake.
is no more there. And it is easier and start feeling it. Your body will Soon the circle will be there, and
213
THE ME DITATION S
this circle is miraculous. Soon you and one can remain in constant someone. And this feeling of one-
will feel that the circle is created, communion with existence. And ness can then be detached from the
but now this circle is not created then you can do it in other dimen- partner and it can be used with the
with a man and woman. If you are sions also. Walking in the morning, whole universe. You can be in a sex
man, then the whole universe has you can do it. Then you are in com- act with a tree, with the moon, with
become woman; if you are woman, munion with the air, with the rising anything. Once you know how to
then the whole universe has become sun and the stars and the trees. Star- create this circle, it can be created
man. Now you are in a deep coming at the stars in the night, you can with anything - even without any-
munion with existence itself, and do it. Looking at the moon, you can thing.
the door, the odier, is no more there. do it. You can be in the sex act with You can create this circle within
The other is simply a door. While the whole universe once you know yourself because man is both man
making love to a woman, you are how it happens. and woman, and woman is both
really making love to existence it- But it is good to start with human woman and man. You are both be-
self. The woman is just a door, the beings because they are nearest to cause you were created by two.
man is just a door. The other is just you - the nearest part of the uni- You were created by man and
a door for the whole, but you are in verse. But they are dispensable. woman both, so half of you re-
such a hurry you never feel it. If You can take a jump and forget the mains the other. You can forget
you remain in communion, in deep door completely. "Even remember- everything completely, and the cir-
embrace for hours together, you ing union, the transformation." And cle can be created within you.
will forget the other and the other you will be transformed: you will Once the circle is created within
will just become an extension of the become new. you - your man is meeting your
whole. Once this technique is Tantra says move in it totally. Just woman; the inner woman is meet-
known you can use it alone, and forget yourself, your civilization, ing the inner man - you are in an
when you can use it alone it gives your religion, your culture, your embrace within yourself. And only
you a new freedom - freedom from ideology. Forget everything. Just when this circle is created is real
the other. move in the sex act: move in it to- celibacy attained. Otherwise all
Really, it happens that the whole tally; don't leave anything out. Be- celibacies are just perversions, and
existence becomes the other - your come absolutely non-thinking. Then then they create their own prob-
beloved, your lover - and then this only does the awareness happen lems. When this circle is created
technique can be used continuously. that you have become one with inside, you are freed. ^
214
PART FOUR
Obstacles
to Meditation
215
OBSTACLES TO MEDITATION
He
The Two
the country." starts the journey
with these ideas, and his ego goes
on becoming bigger and bigger as
he succeeds.
In every way the ego is the great-
can happen
to man.
Difficulties est disease that
If
big
you succeed, your ego becomes
- that is a danger, because then
you will have to remove a big rock
There are only two difficulties on the path of meditation: one which is blocking the path. Or if
is the ego. You are continuously prepared by the society, by the ego is small, you have not
the family, by the school, by the church, by everybody around been successful, you have proved
you, to be egoistic. Even modem psychology is based on to be a failure, then your ego will
strengthening the ego. become a wound. Then it hurts,
then it creates an inferiority com-

may be business, it may be politics, plex - then too it creates a prob-
The ego it may be any profession - you need lem. You are always afraid to enter
a very assertive personality, and our into anything, even meditation, be-
whole idea of modem psy-
The whole society is geared to produce cause you know you are a failure,
-
chology, modem education, is the assertive personality in the child. that you are going to fail that has
that unless a person has a very From the very beginning we start become your mind. Everywhere
strong ego he will not be able to telling him, "Come first in your you have failed, and meditation is
struggle in life where there is so class"; when the child does come such a great thing... you cannot
much competition that, if you are a first in the class, everybody praises succeed.
humble man, anybody will push him. What are you doing? You are If you enter into meditation with
you aside; you will always remain feeding his ego from the very be- this idea - that failure is bound to
backward. You need a very steely, ginning. You him a cer-

are giving be, that it is your destiny, that it is
strong ego to fight in this competi- tain ambition: "You can become your fate - then of course you
tive world; then only can you be- the president of the country, you cannot succeed. So if the ego is
come a success. In any field - it can become the prime minister of big it prevents you. And if the ego
216
THE TWO DIFFICULTIES
is very small it becomes a wound the mother. The child is never out sometimes not fulfilled; sometimes
which also prevents you. In each of tune with the mother. The child he is hungry and crying and there is
case the ego is one of the prob- does not know that he is separate no sign of mother anywhere; some-
lems. I
from the mother. If the mother is times he is on the mother's breast,
healthy the child is healthy; if the again enjoying oneness with the
the mother's womb each child mother is ill the child is ill. If the mother. Butnow there are many
In is profoundly blissful. Of course mother is sad the child is sad; if the moods and many climates, and he
he is unaware of it, not knowing mother is happy the child is happy. will start, by and by, to feel the sep-
anything about it. He is so one If the mother is dancing the child is aration. A divorce has happened;
with his bliss that there is no dancing; if the mother is sitting the marriage is broken.
knower left behind. Blissfulness is silently the child is silent. TTie child He was absolutely married to the
his being, and there is no distinc- has no boundaries of his own yet. mother; now he will always be sep-
tion between the knower and the This is the purest bliss, but it has to arate. And he has to find out who
known. So of course the child is be lost. he is. For the whole life one goes
not aware that he is blissful. You The child is bom, and suddenly he on trying to find out who one is.
become aware only when you have is thrown off-center Suddenly he is This is the most fundamental ques-
lost something. uprooted from the earth, from the tion.
It is so. It is very dilTicult to know mother He loses his moorings and First the child becomes aware of
something without losing it, be- know who he is. There
he does not 'mine', then of 'me', then of 'you',
cause when you have not lost it you was no need to know it when he then of T. This is how it proceeds.
are so totally one with it. There is was with the mother. There was no This is precisely the procedure, ex-
no distance: the observer and the need to know - he was all, and actly in this order First he becomes
observed are one; the known and there was no need to know, there aware of 'mine'. Watch it, because
the knower are one. was no distinction. There was no this is your construction, the struc-
Every child is in a profoundly bliss- 'you', so there was no question of ture of your ego. First the child be-
ful state. Psychologists also agree T. The reality was undivided. It comes aware of 'mine' - this toy is
with this. They say that the whole was adwaita - pure adwaila, pure mine, this mother He starts
is mine.
search of religion is nothing but a non-duality. possessing. The possessor enters
way to again find the womb of the But once the child is bom, the um- first; possessiveness is very basic.
mother. They u.se it as a criticism of bilical cord is cut and he starts Hence all the religions say: become
religion, but to me it is not criticism breathing on his own; suddenly his non-possessive, because with pos-
at all. It is simply true. Yes, the whole being becomes a quest to session hell starts.
search for religion is again a search know who he is. It is natural. Now Watch small children: very jealous,
for the womb. The search for reli- he becoming aware of his
starts possessive, each child trying to
gion is again a search to make this boundaries - his body, his needs. snatch everything from everybody
whole existence a womb. Sometimes he is happy, sometimes else and trying to protect his own
The child is absolutely in tune with unhappy; sometimes he is fulfilled. toys. And you will see children
:i7
who are very violent, almost indif- you are connected with the stars; ide; the trees breathe in carbon
ferent to others' needs. If a child is stars are connected with you, stars dioxide and breathe out oxygen -
playing with his toy and another are connected with the trees, with there is a continuous communion.
child comes you can see an Adolf the rivers, with the mountains. Every- We are in tune. TTie reality is a uni-
Hitler, a Genghis Khan, a Nadir- thing is interconnected. Nothing is ty, and with the idea of 'me', 'you',
shah. He will cling to his toy; he is separate; nothing can be separate. we are falling out of reality. And
ready to hit. he is ready to fight. It Separation is not possible. once a wrong conception settles in-
is a question of territory, a question Each moment you are breathing - side, your whole vision becomes
of domination. you breathe in, you breathe out - upside down....
Possessiveness enters first; that is continuously there is a bridge with 'Me', then 'you', and then as a re-
the basic poison. And the child existence. You eat, existence enters flection arises '
I'. T is the subtlest,
starts saying, 'This is mine." into you; you defecate, it becomes the most crystallized form of the
Once the 'mine' enters then you are manure - the apple on the tree will possessiveness. Once you have ut-
a competitor with everybody. Once become part of your body tomor- tered T, you have committed sac-
the 'mine' enters, your life will row, and some part of your body rilege. Once you have said T, you
now be a life of competition, strug- will go and become manure, will are broken completely from exis-
gle, conflict, violence, aggression. become food for the tree. .a contin- . tence - not really broken, otherwise
The next step after 'mine' is 'me'. uous give-and-take. Not for a single you would die; but in your ideas
When you have something to claim moment does it stop. When it stops, you are completely broken from re-
as yours, suddenly through that you are dead. ality. Now you will be in a continu-
claim arises the idea that now you What is death? - separation is ous fight with reality. You will be
are the center of your possessions. death. To be in unity is to be alive, fighting your own roots. You will
The possessions become your terri- to be out of unity is to be dead. So be fighting with yourself.
tory, and through those possessions the more you think, "1 am sepa- That's why Buddha says: "Be a
arises a new idea: 'me'. rate," the less sensitive you will be, driftwood." You can be a driftwood
Once you are settled with 'me', you more dead, dragging, dull. The only if you have dropped the idea
can see clearly that you have a more you feel you are connected, of T - otherwise you cannot be a
boundary, and those who are out- the more this whole existence is driftwood; struggle will persist.
side the boundary are 'you'. The part of you and you are part of this That'swhy it becomes so difficult
other becomes clear; now things whole existence. Once you under- when you come to meditate. If I
start falling apart. stand that we are members of each say to just sit silently, you cannot
The universe is one, it is a unity. other, then suddenly the vision do that - such a simple thing. One
Nothing is divided. Everything is changes. Then these trees are not would think it is the most simple
connected with everything else; it is alien; they are continuously prepar- thing; there should be no need to
a tremendous connectedness. ing food for you. When you breathe teach it. One should simply sit and
You are connected with the earth, in, you take oxygen in, when you be. But you cannot sit because the
you are connected with the trees. breathe out, you give carbon diox- T cannot allow you a moment of
2\i
THE TWO DIFFICULTIES
relaxation. Once a moment of relax- trap. And this trap creates misery, Out of all that people say about
ation is allowed, you will be able to neurosis, madness. you, you gather a certain image.
see reality. Once reality is known, Now the problem is: the child has to You never look into yourself, at
the T will have to be dropped. go through it, because he does not who you are. This image is going to
Then it cannot persist. So the T know who he is and he needs some be false - because nobody else can
never even allows you a holiday. sort of identity - maybe a false know who you are, and nobody else
Even if you go to the hills, to the identity, but it is better than no iden- who you are. Your inner re-
can say
summer resorts, the T never allows tity. He needs some identity. He ality is not available to anybody
you a holiday even there. You take needs to know exactly who he is, so else except you. Your inner reality
your radio, you take your TV set; a false center is created. The T is is impenetrable to anybody else ex-
you take all your problems and you not your real center. It is a false cen- cept you. Only you can be there.
remain occupied. You had gone ter - utilitarian, make-believe, just The day you realize that your iden-
there to relax, but you continue your manufactured by you. It has nothing tity is false, put together, that you
whole pattern in the same way. You to do with your real center. have collected opinions from peo-
don't relax. Your real center is the center of all. ple... sometime just think; just sit
The *r cannot relax. It exists Your real self is the self of all. At silently and think who you are.
through tensions. It will create new the center, the whole existence is Many ideas will arise. Just go on
tensions, it will create new wor- one - just as at the source of light, watching from where they come
ries; it will constantly manufacture the sun, all rays are one. The farther and you will be able to find the
new problems, it won't allow you away they go, the farther away they source. Some
things come from
any rest. Even a minute's rest and are from each other. your mother - much, about eighty
the whole house of the T starts Your real center is not only your to ninety percent. Something
toppling down - because the reali- center, it is the center of the whole. comes from your father, something
ty is so beautiful and the T is so But we have created small centers comes from your schoolteachers,
ugly. of our own, homemade, manufac- something comes from your
One continues to fight his way un- tured by ourselves. There is a need friends, something from the soci-
necessarily. You are fighting for ...because the child is bom without ety. Just watch: you will be able to
things which are going to happen of any boundary, with no idea of who divide from where it comes. Noth-
their own accord. You are unneces- he is. It is a survival necessity. How ing comes from you, not even one
sarily fighting. You are desiring will he survive? He has to be given percent comes from you. What
things which are going to be yours a name; he has to be given an idea type of identity is this, in which
if you don't desire. In fact, by desir- of who he is. Of course this idea you have not contributed at all?
ing you will lose them. comes from the outside: somebody And you are the only one who
That's why Buddha says: "Float says you are beautiful, somebody could have contributed, in fact, the
with the stream. Let it take you to says you are intelligent, somebody whole hundred percent.
the ocean." says you are so vital. You gather the The day you understand this, reli-
'Mine', 'me', 'you', T - this is the things that people say. gion becomes important. The day
219
you realize this you start seeking It is not going to be your reality. Before you can come to your cen-
for some technique, some method And the sooner you find out who ter, you will have to pass through a
to enter into your being; how to you are, the better. The sooner you very chaotic state. That's why there
know exactly, really, existentially, can drop this idea, the better - be- is fear. Nobody wants to go in.
who you are. No more collections cause from that very moment you People go on teaching: "Know thy-
of images from the outside, no will really be bom, and you will be self; we listen, but we never listen.
more asking others to mirror your really real, authentic. You will be- We never bother about it. There is a
reality - but to face it directly, im- come an individual. very certain idea in the mind that
mediately; to enter into your nature, The ideas that we gather from oth- chaos will be let loose and you will
to feel it What is the need to
there. ers give us a personality, and the be lost in it, you will be engulfed in
ask anybody? And whom are you knowledge that we come to know it. Because of the fear of that chaos,
asking? They are as ignorant about from within gives us individuality. we go on clinging to anything from
themselves as you are about your- Personality is false, individuality is the outside. But this is wasting your
self. They don't know themselves; real. Personality is borrowed; reali- life. 2
how can they know you? ty, individuality, your authenticity,

Just see how things are functioning, can never be borrowed. Nobody
how go on functioning, how
things can say who you are. The chattering mind
things go on happening: one falsity At least one thing can never be done
by anybody else -
leads to another falsity. You are al-
most swindled, You you answer
that
who you
is, to give
No,
rhe second hindrance
path meditation
on the
your
duped. are the to are. of is
conned, and those who have swin- you have to go, you have to dig constantly chattering mind. You
dled you may not have done it deep into your own being. Layers cannot sit even for a single min-
knowingly. They may have been and layers of identity, false identity, ute, the mind goes on chattering:
swindled by others. Your father, have to be broken. There is fear relevant, irrelevant, meaningful,
your mother, your teachers, have when one enters into oneself, be- meaningless thoughts go on. It is a
been duped by others - their fa- cause chaos comes in. Somehow constant traffic and it is always
thers, their mothers, their teachers. you have managed with your false rush-hour ?
And they have duped you in turn. You

identity. have settled with it.
Are you going to do the same to You know your name is this or that;
You see a flower and you
see a man
ver-
your children too? you have certain credentials, certifi- balize it; you
In a better world, where people are cates, degrees, universities, colleges, crossing the street and you verbal-
more intelligent, more aware, they prestige, money, You have
heritage. ize it. The mind can translate ev-
will teach the child that the idea of certain ways to define yourself. You ery existential thing into a word,
identity is false: "It is needed, we have a certain definition - howsoev- everything is being transformed.
are giving it to you, but it is only for er workable, but it works. Going in These words create a barrier, these
the time being, before you yourself means dropping this workable defi- words become an imprisonment.
discover who you are." nition... there will be chaos. This constant flow toward the
220
THR TWO DIFFICULTIES
transformation of things into existence (the existential) and con- surrounds you. If you can be in
words, of existence into words, is sciousness. love with any situation, then you
the barrier. It is an obstacle to a Meditation means living without are in meditation....
meditative mind. words, living non-linguistically. Society gives you language, it can-
So the first requirement toward a Then these piled up memories, these not exist without language; it needs
meditative growth is to be aware of linguistic memories, become ob- language. But existence does not
your constant verbalizing, and to stacles towards meditative growth. need it. I am not saying that you
be able to stop it. Just see things; Meditation means living without should exist without language. You
do not verbalize. Be aware of their words, living in a situation non- will have to use it, but the mecha-
presence, but do not change them linguistically. Sometimes it hap- nism of verbalization must be a
into words. pens spontaneously. When you are mechanism that you can turn on
Let things be without language; in love with someone it happens. If and off. When you are existing as a
let persons be without language; you are really in love, then pres- social being, the mechanism of lan-
let situations be without lan- ence is felt - not language. When- guage is needed; without it you
guage. It is not impossible, this is ever two lovers are intimate with cannot exist in the society. But
natural and possible. It is the situ- one another they become silent. when you are alone with existence,
ation as it now exists that is artifi- It is not that there is nothing to the mechanism must be turned off;
cial, it is a created situation, but express; on the contrary, there is an you must be able to turn it off. If
we have become so habituated to overwhelming amount to be ex- you can't turn it off the mechanism
it, it has become so mechanical, pressed. But words are never there; has gone mad. If you can't turn it
that we are not even aware of the they cannot be. They come only off - if it goes on and on, and you
transformation, of the translation when love has gone. are incapable of turning it off, then
of experience into words. If two lovers are never silent, if the mechanism has taken hold of
The sunrise is there. You are never they are always talking, it is an in- you. You have become a slave to it.
aware of the gap between seeing it dication that love has died. Now Mind must be an instrument, not
and verbalizing. You see the sun, they are filling the gap with words. the master. But it has become the
you feel it, and immediately you When love is alive, words are not master.
verbalize it. The gap between see- there, because the very existence of When mind is the master, a non-
ing and verbalizing is lost; it is love is so overwhelming, so pene- meditative state exists. When you
never felt. In that interval, in that trating, that the barrier of language are the master, your consciousness
gap, one must become aware. One and words is crossed. And ordinari- is the master, a meditative state ex-
must be aware of the fact that the ly, it is only crossed in love. ists.So meditation means master-
sunrise is not a word. It is a fact, a Meditation is the culmination of ing the mechanism, becoming a
presence, a situation. The mind au- love: love not for a single person, master to the mechanism.
tomatically changes experiences but love for the total existence. To Mind, and the linguistic function-
into words. These words are accu- me, meditation is a living relation- ing of the mind, is not the ultimate.
mulated and then come between ship with the total existence that You are beyond it and existence is
221
beyond it. Consciousness is beyond So meditation is a growing process, involved you are with language, the
linguistics; existence is beyond lin- not a technique. A technique is al- more you are being deadened by it.
guistics. When consciousness and ways dead; it can be added to you, A pundit is completely dead be-
existence are one, they are in but a process is always living. It cause he is language, words and
communion. This state is called grows, it expands. nothing else. Sartre has written his
meditation. The communion be- Language is needed, it is necessary, autobiography. He calls it: Words.
tween consciousness and existence but you must not always remain in Meditation means living, living to-
is meditation. it. There must be moments when tally, and you can live totally only
Language must be dropped. I don't you are existential and there is no when you are silent. By being silent
mean that you must push it aside, verbalizing. When you just exist, it I do not mean unconscious. You can
that you must suppress it or elimi- is not that you are just vegetating - be silent and unconscious but that
nate it. What 1 mean is that some- consciousness is there, and it is would not be a living silence -
thing which is needed in society has more acute, more alive, because again, you would have missed. *
become a twenty-four-hour-a-day language dulls consciousness. Lan-

bound do? The question
habit for
such.
you and is not needed as guage
existence
is
is never
to be repetitive but
repetitive. So
So what relevant.
to
Watch - don't try
is
to
When you walk, you need to move language creates boredom. The stop. There is no need to do any ac-
your legs but they must not move more important language is to you, tion against the mind. In the first
when you are sitting. If your legs the more linguistically-oriented the place, who will do it? It will be
go on moving while you are sitting mind is - the more bored you will mind fighting mind itself You will
then you are mad, then the legs be. Language is a repetition, exis- divide your mind into two: one that
have gone insane. You must be able tence is not. is trying to boss over, the top-dog,
to turn them off. In the same way, When you see a rose, it is not a rep- trying to kill the other part of itself
when you are not talking with any- etition. It is a new rose, altogether - which is absurd, it is a foolish
one, language must not be there. It new. It has never been and it will game. It can drive you crazy. Don't
is a talking instrument, a technique never be again. For the first time try to stop the mind or the thinking
to communicate; when you are and the last time, it is there. -just watch it, allow it. Allow it to-
communicating something, lan- But when we say this is a rose, the tal freedom. Let it run as fast as it
guage should be used; but when word 'rose' is a repetition: it has al- wants. You don't try in any way to
you are not communicating with ways been there; it will always be control it. You just be a witness. It
anybody it should not be there. there. You have killed the new with is beautiful!
If you are able to do this - and it is an old word. Mind is one of the most beautiful
possible if you understand it - then Existence is always young, and mechanisms. Science has not yet
you can grow into meditation. I say language is always old. Through been able to create anything paral-
"you can grow" because life pro- language you escape existence, lel to mind. Mind still remains the
cesses are never dead additions, through language you escape life, masterpiece - so complicated, so
they are always a growing process. because language is dead. The more tremendously powerful, with so
222
THK TWO DIF-FICULTIES
many potentialities. Watch it! Enjoy jections that it creates. Watch! would like only the intervals." That
it! Standing there, aloof, distant, not is stupid - because once you be-
And don't watch like an enemy, be- involved, by and by you will start come attached to wanting only the
cause if you look at the mind like feeling.... intervals, you have decided again
an enemy, you cannot watch. You As your watchfulness becomes against thinking. And then those in-
are already ptiejudiced; you are al- deeper, your awareness becomes tervals will disappear. They happen
ready against. You have already de- deeper, gaps start arising, intervals. only when you are very distant,
cided that something is wrong with One thought goes, another has not aloof.They happen, they cannot be
themind - you have already con- come; there is a gap. One cloud has brought. They happen, you cannot
cluded.And whenever you look at passed, another is coming; there is force them to happen. They are
somebody as an enemy you never a gap. spontaneous happenings.
look deep. You never look into the In those gaps, for the first time you Go on watching. Let thoughts
eyes; you avoid. will have glimpses of no-mind, you come and go - wherever they want
Watching the mind means: look at will have the taste of no-mind. Call to go - nothing is wrong! Don't try
it with deep love, with deep respect, it the taste of Zen, or Tao, or Yoga. to manipulate and don't try to di-
reverence - itis God's gift to you! In those small intervals, suddenly rect; let thoughts move in total free-
Nothing is wrong in mind itself. the sky is clear and the sun is shin- dom. And then bigger intervals will
Nothing is wrong in thinking itself. ing. Suddenly the world is full of be coming. You will be blessed
It is a beautiful process as other mystery because all barriers are with small satoris, mini-satoris.
processes are. Clouds moving in the dropped. The screen on your eyes is Sometimes minutes will pa.ss and
sky are beautiful - why not no longer there. You see clearly, no thought will be there; there
thoughts moving in the inner sky? you see penetratingly; the whole will be no traffic - a total silence,
Flowers coming to the trees are existence becomes transparent. undisturbed.

beautiful - why not thoughts flow- In the beginning, these will be just When the bigger gaps come, you
ering in your being? The river run- rare moments, few and far in be- will not only have clarity to see
ning to the ocean is beautiful - why tween. But they will give you into the world - with the bigger
not this stream of thoughts running glimpses of what samadhi is. Small gaps you will have a new clarity
somewhere to an unknown destiny? pools of silence - they will come arising; you will be able to see into
Is it not beautiful? and they will disappear. But now the inner world. With the first gaps
Look with deep reverence. Don't be you know that you are on the right you will see into the world: trees
a fighter, be a lover. Watch the sub- track - you start watching again. will be more green than they look
tle nuances of the mind; the sudden When a thought passes, you watch right now. You will be surrounded
turns, the beautiful turns; the sud- it; when an interval passes, you by an infinite music - the music of
den jumps and leaps; the games that watch it. Clouds are beautiful; sun- the spheres. You will be suddenly
mind goes on playing; the dreams shine also is beautiful. Now you are in the presence of God - ineffable,
that it weaves - the imagination, the not a chooser. Now you don't have mysterious, touching you although
memory; the thousand and one pro- a fixed mind: you don't say, "I you cannot grasp it; within your
223
I
reach and yet beyond. With the big- enjoying those blissful moments, run you use them; if you don't
ger gaps, the same will happen in- your capacity to retain them for want to run you simply rest - legs
side. God will not only be outside, longer periods arises. are there. In the same way, mind is
you will be suddenly surprised - he Finally, eventually, one day, you always there.
is inside also. He is not only in the become master. Then when you No-mind is not against mind; no-
seen; he is in the seer also - within want to think, you think; if thought mind is beyond mind. No-mind
and without. But don't get attached is needed, you use it; if thought is does not come by killing and de-
to that either. not needed, you allow it to rest. Not stroying the mind; no-mind comes
Attachment is the food for the mind thatmind is simply no longer there when you have understood the
to continue. Non-attached witness- - mind is there, but you can use it mind so totally that thinking is no
ing is the way to stop it without any or not use it. Now it is your deci- longer needed. Your understanding
effort to stop it. And when you start sion. Just like legs: if you want to has replaced it. ^
224
FALSE METHODS
"I have brought a frog," said a sci-
False entist,
beaming
a
at
professor
the pond, in order that

his class, "fresh
of zoology,
from
we might
study its outer appearance and later
Methods dissect
He
it."
carefully unwrapped
age he carried and inside was a
the pack-
neatly prepared ham sandwich.
Meditation is not concentration The good professor looked at it
with astonishment.
"Odd!" he said, "I distinctly re-
Meditations can be wrong. For example, any meditation that
member having eaten my lunch."
leads you deep into concentration is wrong. You will become
That goes on happening to scien-
more and more closed rather than becoming open. If you nar-
tists. They become one-pointed
row down your consciousness, concentrate on something, and
and their whole mind becomes
you exclude the whole of existence and become one-pointed, narrow. Of course, a narrow mind
it will create more and more tension in you. Hence the word has its use: it becomes more pene-
'attention. It means 'at-tension' Concentration,
. the very
trating, it becomes like a sharp
sound of the word, gives you a feeling of tenseness.
needle; exactly
it hits the right
point, but it misses the great life
Concentration has its uses Only the problem that you are that surrounds it.
but it is not meditation. In concentrating upon is your world. A buddha is not a man of concen-
scientific work - in scien- That's why scientists become tration; he is a man of awareness.
tific research, in the science lab - absent-minded. People who con- He has not been trying to narrow
you need concentration. You have centrate too much always become down his consciousness; on the
to concentrateon one problem and absent-minded because they don't contrary, he has been trying to drop
exclude everything else - so much know how to remain open to the all barriers so that he becomes to-
so that you almost become un- whole world. tally available to existence. Watch
mindful of the remaining world. I was reading an anecdote. ...existence is simultaneous. I am
225
speaking here and the traffic noise be done. It is exactly concentration simply relax and you enjoy the
is simultaneous. The train, the and not meditation, so it is compre- feeling of relaxation. Relax into
birds, the wind blowing through the hensible for the scientific mind. In yourself, just close your eyes, and
trees - in this moment the whole of the universities, in the science labo- listen to all that is happening all
existence converges. You listening ratories, in psychological research around. No need to feel anything as
to me, I speaking to you, and mil- work, much is being done about a distraction. The moment you feel
lions of things going on - it is TM, because it is not meditation. It it is a distraction, you are denying
tremendously rich. is concentration, a method of con- God.
Concentration makes you one- centration. It falls under the same This moment God has come to you
pointed at a very great cost: ninety- category as scientific concentration; as a bird - don't deny. He has
nine percent of life is discarded. If there is a link between the two. But knocked at your door as a bird.
you are solving a mathematical it has nothing to do with medita- The next moment he has come as a
problem, you cannot listen to the tion. dog barking, or as a child crying
birds - they will be a distraction. Meditation is so vast, so tremen- and weeping, or as a madman
Children playing around, dogs dously infinite, that no scientific re- laughing. Don't deny; don't reject
barking in the street - they will be a search is possible. Only if a man - accept, because if you deny you
distraction. Because of concentra- becomes compassion will it show will become tense. All denials
tion, people have tried to escape whether he has achieved or not. Al- create tension - accept. If you want
from life - to go to the Himalayas, pha waves won't be of much help to relax, acceptance is the way.
to go to a cave, to remain isolated, because they are still of the mind Accept whatsoever is happening all
so that they can concentrate on and meditation is not of the mind, it around; let it become an organic
God. But God is not an object, God is something beyond. whole. It is - you may know it or
is this wholeness of existence, this So, let me tell you a few basic you may not know it - everything
moment; God is the totality. That's things. One, meditation is not con- is interrelated. These birds, these
why science will never be able to centration but relaxation - one sim- trees, this sky, this sun, this earth,
know God. The very method of sci- ply relaxes into oneself. The more you, me, all are related. It is an
ence is concentration and because you relax, the more you feel your- organic unity.
of that method, science can never self open, vulnerable, the less you If the sun disappeairs, the trees will
know God. are rigid. You are more flexible, disappear; if the trees disappear, the
So what to do? Repeating a mantra, and suddenly existence starts pene- birds will disappear; if the birds
doing transcendental meditation, is trating you. You are no longer like a and trees disappear, you cannot be
not going to help. Transcendental rock, you have openings. here, you will disappear. It is an
meditation has become very impor- Relaxation means allowing yourself ecology. Everything is deeply re-
tant in America because of the ob- to fall into a state where you are not lated with each other.
jective approach, because of the doing anything, because if you are So don't deny anything, because
scientific mind - it is the only med- doing something, tension will con- the moment you deny, you are
itation on which scientific work can tinue. It is a state of non-doing: you denying something in you. If you
226
FALSE METHODS
deny these singing birds then some- thinking about anger, how it is tered. You don't dissect it. You
thing in you is denied. caused. You start analyzing why it is don't bother to go to its source, be-
If you relax, you accept; acceptance caused. You start judging whether it cause the source is in the pa.st. You
of existence is the only way to re- is good or bad. You start rationaliz- don't judge it, because the moment
lax. If small things disturb you then ing that you had been angry because you judge it, thinking starts. You
it is your attitude that is disturbing the situation was such. You brood don't take any vow that "I will not
you. Sit silently; listen to all that is about anger, you analyze anger, but do it," because that vow leads you
happening all around, and relax. the focus of attention is on the into the future. In awareness you
Accept, relax, and suddenly you anger, not on the self. Your whole remain with the feeling of anger,
will feel immense energy arising in consciousness is focused on the exactly herenow. You are not inter-
you. anger: you are watching, analyzing, ested in changing you are not in-
it,
And when I say watch, don't fry to associating, thinking about it, trying terested in thinking about it - you
watch; otherwise you will become to figure out how to avoid, how to are interested to look at it directly,
tense again, and you will start con- get rid of it, how not to do it again. face to face, immediate. Then it is
centrating. Simply relax, remain re- This is a thinking process. You will self-remembering.
laxed, loose, and look... because judge it "bad" because it is destruc- And this is the beauty of it: that if
what else can you do? You are tive.You will take a vow that "I will you can look at anger it disappears.
there, nothing to be done, every- never commit the same mistake It not only disappears in that mo-
thing accepted, nothing to be de- again." You will try to control this ment - the very disappearance of it
nied, rejected. No struggle, no fight, anger through will. That's why by your deep look gives you the key
no conflict. You simply watch. Re- Westem psychology has become - there is no need to use will, there
member, simply watch. <*

analytical: analysis, dissection. is no need to make any decision for
Eastem psychology says, "Be the future, and there is no need to
aware. Don't try to analyze anger, go to the original source from

Meditation there is no need. Just look at it, but which it comes. It is unnecessary.
is not introspection look with awareness. Don't start You have the key now: look
thinking." In fact if you start think- at anger, and anger disappears.
Introspection is thinking about ing then thinking will become a And this look is available forever.
yourself. Self-remembering is barrier to looking at the anger. Then Whenever anger is there you
not thinking at all: it is becoming thinking will garb it. Then thinking can look; then this looking grows
aware of yourself. The difference is will be like a cloud surrounding it; deeper.
subtle, but very great. the clarity will be lost. Don't think There are three stages of looking.
Westem psychology insists on intro- at all. Be in a state of no thought, First, when the anger has already
spection, and Eastern psychology and look. happened and gone; as if you look
insists on self-remembering. When When there is not even a ripple of at a tail disappearing - an elephant
you introspect, what do you do? For thinking between you and the has gone; only the tail is there.
example, you are angry: you start anger, the anger is faced, encoun- When the anger was there, you
227
were so deeply involved in it you awareness - good, but not enough. - not the tail but the head. It is just
could not really be aware. When The second state is when the ele- entering your area of conscious-
the anger has almost disappeared, phant is there - not the tail - when ness and you become aware, then
ninety-nine percent gone - only the situation is ripe. You are really the elephant never materializes.
one percent, the last part of it, is angry to the peak, boiling, burning You killed the animal before it
still going, disappearing into the - then you become aware. was bom. Thai is birth control.
far horizon - then you become Tlien there is still a third stage: the The phenomenon has not hap-
aware. This is the first state of anger has not come, is still coming pened; then it leaves no trace. ^
228
"
TRICKS OF THE MIND
content. You can experience si-
Tricks lence; then silence

You can experience
is the content.
is
bliss;
the content.
So you go on chang-
then bliss
ing the content - you can go on
of the Mind changing ad infinitum - but

not the real thing. The real
one whom these experiences
to
this is
is the
happen - to whom boredom hap-

pens, to whom bliss happens.
Don't be fooled by experiences
The spiritual search is not what
happens, but to whom it happens.
All experiences are just tricks of the mind, all experiences are
Then there is no possibility for the
just escapes. Meditation is not an experience, it is a realiza-
ego to arise.
tion. Meditation is not an experience; rather, it is a stopping
of all experience.
Mind can enter again
Experience is something out- you will not move on these by-
side you. The experiencer is paths. You will go on moving meditation sometimes you feel
In
your being. And this is the towards the inner center where a sort of emptiness that is not
distinction between true spirituali- nothing remains except you in your really emptiness. I call it just "a
ty and false: if you are after experi- total aloneness. Only the conscious- sort of emptiness." When you are
ences, the spirituality is false; if ness remains, without content. meditating, for certain moments,
you are after the experiencer, then Content is the experience; whatso- for a few seconds, you will feel as
it is true. And then you are not ever you experience is the content. if the thought process has stopped.
concerned about kundalini, not I experience misery; then the mis- In the beginning these gaps will
concerned about chakras, not con- ery is the content of my conscious- come. But because you are feeling
cerned about all these things. They ness. Then I experience pleasure; as if the thought process has
will happen, but you are not con- the pleasure is the content. I experi- stopped, this is again a thought pro-
cerned, you are not interested, and ence boredom; then boredom is the cess, a very subtle thought process.
229
What are you doing? You are saying you can move in activity, then you he simply takes it away and puts
inside, "The thought process has can do whatsoever you like, then you back into your ignorant state.
stopped." But what is this? This is a you can live an ordinary worldly For example, it was happening to a
secondary thought process which life but the emptiness will remain German disciple continually - he
has started. And you say, "This is with you. You cannot forget it. It would get the feeling that he had
emptiness." You say, "Now some- will go inside. The music of it will become enlightened. And the force
thing is going to happen." What is be heard. Whatsoever you are do- of the illusion was so much that he
this? Again a new thought process ing, the doing will be only on the could not keep it to himself, he
has started. periphery; inside you will remain would tell others.
Whenever this happens again, don't empty. ^ He was so certain. This happened
become a victim of it. When you three times, and because of his cer-
feel a certain silence is descending, tainty he came to India to get my
don't start verbalizing it, because Mind can deceive you blessings. Naturally, it shows his
you are destroying it. Wait - not for certainty that he came for my bless-
something - simply wait. Don't do There are patterns the seeker ings.
anything. Don't say, "This is empti- gets entangled with. Each time I had to tell him, "You
ness." The moment you have said The first thing is: most seekers get are just being deceived by your
that, you have destroyed it. Just lost in an illusory feeling that they own mind. Nothing has happened
look at it, penetrate into it, en- have arrived. It is like the kind of to you, you are simply the old man
counter it - but wait, don't verbal- dream in which you feel you are - the new man has not arrived. And
ize it. What is the hurry? Through awake. You are still dreaming - all that you are doing - writing let-
verbalization the mind has again your feeling of being awake is part ters to the U.N., to other govern-
entered from a different route, and of the dream. The same kind of ments - are just ways of the ego.
you are deceived. Be alert about thing happens to the seeker. You are in the grip of the ego."
this trick of the mind. The mind is capable of creating the It is very easy to live in a beautiful
In the beginning it is bound to hap- illusion that "now there is nowhere dream. It is hard to see your dreams
pen, so whenever this happens, just to go, you have arrived." The mind shattered by reality.
wait. Don't fall in the trap. Don't is a deceiver, and the function of In the ancient scriptures of the East
say anything, remain silent. Then the master for one in this condition it is called the power of maya.
you will enter into emptiness, and is to make him alert that this is not Mind has the hypnotic power to
then it will not be temporary, be- the reality but only a dream, that he create any illusion. If you are after
cause once you have known the real has not arrived. a certain thing, desperately, it is
emptiness you cannot lose it. The This can happen many points,
at one of the functions of the mind to
real cannot be lost; that is its quality. again and again. And one can get create the illusion to stop your des-
Once you have known the inner very irritated and annoyed with the perateness. It happens every day to
treasure, once you have come in master for the simple reason that everybody in their dreams, but peo-
contact with your deepest core, then whenever you feel you have got it. ple don't leam things.
230
TRICKS OF THR MIND
If at night you go to bed hungry, toilet, come back and gone to sleep work without bothering, because it
that night you are going to have a again, then your sleep will be dis- has no way of checking whether it
dream about eating delicious food. turbed - and sleep is a great neces- is ordinary sleep or spiritual sleep,
The mind is trying to help you so sity for the body. The mind is tak- ordinary awakening or spiritual
that your sleep is not disturbed; oth- ing care that you are not disturbed awakening.
erwise you are hungry and you are again and again; you can have a To the mind it is all the same. Its
bound to be awakened by your long sleep, rest, so in the morning function is to keep your sleep in-
hunger. The mind gives you a you are rejuvenated. tact and create a barrier for any-
dream that you are eating delicious This is the ordinary function of the thing that disturbs your sleep. If
food of your choice, which satisfies mind; on a higher plane the same you are hungry it gives you food; if
your mind. The hunger remains but thing happens. One is an ordinary you are desperately in search of
sleep is not disturbed. The hunger is sleep and an ordinary awakening truth, it gives you truth, it gives
covered by the illusion of the that mind prevents. On the path, it you enlightenment You ask for
dream; it protects your sleep. is an extraordinary sleep and an ex- anything, and it is ready to give it
You feel in sleep that your bladder traordinary awakening, but the to you. It can create the illusion of
is full. If the mind does not create mind is programmed - it is just a the real thing - that is its intrinsic
the dream that you have gone to the mechanical thing. It simply does its power. I"
231
PART FIVE
Questions
to the Master
233
QUESTIONS TO THE MASTER
Only a Witness
Can Really Dance
You continuously
to
tell
"be aware,"
us
Mind is bound
question sooner or
to raise this
later,
By becoming a witness you are no
more asleep; you are awake. You
to "be a witness." because mind is very become awareness - so crystal
But can a witnessing much afraid of you becoming a clear, so young and fresh, so vital
consciousness really sing, witness. Why is the mind so much and potent. You become a flame,
dance and taste life? afraid of you becoming a witness? intense, as if burning from both
Isa witness a - because becoming a witness is ends. In that state of intensity,
mere spectator of life the death of the mind. Mind is a light, of consciousness, mind dies,
and never a participant? doer - it wants to do things - and mind commits suicide.
witnessing is a state of non-doing. Hence the mind is afraid, and mind
The mind is afraid that, "If you be- will create many problems for you.
come a witness, I will not be need- It will raise many, many questions.
ed any more." And in a way the It will make you hesitate to take the
mind is right. jump into the unknown; it will try
Once the witness arises in you the to pull you back. It will try to con-
mind has to disappear, just as vince you: "With me is safety, se-
when you bring light into your curity; with me you are living un-
room and the darkness has to dis- der a shelter, well guarded. I take
appear; it is inevitable. Mind can every care of you. With me you are
exist only if you remain fast efficient, skillful. The moment you
asleep because mind is a state of leave me you will have to leave all
dreaming, and dreams can exist your knowledge, and you will have
only in sleep. to leave all your securities, safeties.
234
You will have to drop your armor you sing? The mind creates misery; others living. That's what you are
and you will be going into the un- out of misery there can be no song. doing all your life: somebody else
known. You are unnecessarily tak- When you are in the mind, how can acts in a movie and you see it. You
ing a risk for no reason at all." It you dance? Yes, you can go are a spectator! People are glued to
will try to bring beautiful rational- through certain empty gestures their chairs for hours together be-
izations. This is one of the ratio- called dance, but it is not a real fore their TVs - spectators. Some-
nalizations which almost always dance. body else is singing, you are listen-
happens to every meditator. Only a Meera knows a real dance, ing. Somebody else is dancing, you
It is not you who is asking the ques- or a Krishna, or a Chaitanya; these are just a spectator. Somebody else
tion; it is the mind, your enemy, are the people who know real is loving and you are just seeing,
who is putting the question through dance. Others know only the tech- you are not a participant. Profes-
you. It is mind who is saying nique of dancing, but there is noth- sionals are doing what you should
"Bhagwan, you continuously tell us ing overflowing; their energies are have done on your own.
to 'be aware,' to 'be a witness.' But stagnant. People who are living in A witness is not a spectator.
can a witnessing consciousness re- the mind are living in the ego, and Then what is a witness? A witness
ally sing, dance and taste life?" the ego cannot dance. It can make a is one who participates yet remains
Yes! In fact, only a witnessing con- performance but not a dance. alert. A witness is in the state of
sciousness can really sing, dance The real dance happens only when wei-wu-wei. That is Lao Tzu's
and taste life. It will appear like a you have become a witness. Then word; it means action through inac-
paradox - it is! - but all that is true you are so blissful that the very tion. A witness is not one who has
is always paradoxical. Remember: bliss starts overflowing you; that is escaped from life. He lives in life,
if truth is not paradoxical then it is the dance. The very bliss starts lives far more totally, far more pas-
not truth at all, then it is something singing, a song arises on its own ac- sionately, but yet remains a watcher
else. cord. And only when you are a wit- deep down, goes on remembering,
Paradox is a basic, intrinsic quality ness can you taste life. "I am a consciousness."
of truth. Let it sink into your heart I can understand your question. Try it. Walking on the road, re-
forever: truth as such is paradoxi- You are worried that by becoming a member that you are a conscious-
cal. Although all paradoxes are not witness you will become merely a ness. Walking continues, and a new
truths, all truths are paradoxes. The spectator of life. No, to be a specta- thing is added - a new richness is
truth has to be a paradox because it tor is one thing, and to be a witness added, a new beauty. Something
has to be both poles, the negative is a totally different thing, qualita- interior is added to the outward act.
and the positive, and yet a transcen- tively different. You become a flame of conscious-
dence. It has to be life and death, A spectator is indifferent; he is dull, ness, and then the walking has a
and plus. By 'plus' I mean the tran- he is in a kind of sleep. He does not totally different joy to it: you are on
scendence of both - both, and both participate in life. He is afraid, he is the earth and yet your feet are not
not. That is the ultimate paradox. a coward. He stands by the side of touching the earth at all.
When you are in the mind, how can the road and simply goes on seeing That's what Buddha has said: Pass
235
through a river but don't let the wa- have escaped from life are not true tion does not come from the other's
ter touch your feet. sannyasins. They have simply react; nobody can push his button. If
That's the meaning of the Eastern pressed their desires and they have he feels spontaneously that this is
symbol of the lotus. You must have moved away from the world, the right to do, he does it; if he feels
seen Buddha's statues, pictures, sit- worid of action. Where can you be a nothing is needed he keeps quiet.
ting on a lotus; that is a metaphor. witness if you move away from the He is not repressive; he is always
A lotus is a flower that lives in the world of action? The world of ac- open, expressive. His expression is
water and yet the water cannot tion is the best opportunity to be multi-dimensional: in song, in po-
touch it. The lotus does not escape aware. It gives you a challenge, it etry, in dance, in love, in prayer, in
to the Himalayan caves; he lives in remains constantly a challenge. Ei- compassion, he flows.
the water and yet remains far, far ther you can fall asleep and become If you don't become aware, then
away. Being in the marketplace but a doer - then you are a worldly there are only two possibilities: ei-
not allowing the marketplace to en- man, a dreamer, a victim of illu- ther you will be repressive or indul-
ter into your being, living in the sions; or you can become a witness gent. In both ways you remain in
world and yet not of the world: that and yet go on living in the worid. bondage.
is what is meant by 'witnessing Then your action has a different A nun was raped just outside the
consciousness'. quality to it: it is really action. monastery. When she was finally
That's what mean by saying to
I Those who are not aware, their ac- found, she was carried inside and
you again and again: Be aware! I tions are not real actions but reac- the nearby physician was called.
am not against action, but your actions. They only react. He came, raised his hands and said,
tion has to be enlightened by Somebody insults you and you re- 'This is work for a plastic sur-
awareness. Those who are against act. Insult the Buddha - he does not geon!"
action, they are bound to be repres- react, he acts. Reaction is depien- A plastic surgeon was called. When
sive, and all kinds of repressions dent on the other: he pushes a but- he saw the poor nun he exclaimed.
make you pathological, not whole, ton and you are only a victim, a "Oh, my God! What a mess! '
not healthy. slave; you function like a machine. Where should 1 start?"
The monks living in the monasteries The real person who knows what The Mother Superior replied,
- Catholic or Hindu, the monks of awareness is never reacts; he acts "Well, that is easy. First get that i
the Jains and the Buddhists - who out of his own awareness. The ac- smileoff her face!" '
i
236
The Goose Has

Never Been In!
when dark sides
Sometimes,
The stood
basic thing to be under-
is that you are not the
is there and it
has a bright side - so what?

has a dark side and
What
it
of my mind come up, mind - neither the bright has it to do with you? Why should
it really scares me. one nor the dark one. If you get you be worried about it?
It is very difflcult identified with the beautiful part, The moment you are not choosing,
for me to accept then it is impossible to disidentify all worry disappears. A great ac-
that it is just yourself from the ugly part; they ceptance arises, that this is how the
the polar opposite are two sides of the same coin. You mind has to be, this is the nature of
of the bright ones. can have it whole, or you can throw the mind. And it is not your prob-
I feel dirty and guilty it whole, but you cannot divide it. lem, because you are not the mind.
and not worth And the whole anxiety of man is. If you were the mind, there would
with You in Your
sitting he wants to choose that which have been no problem at all. Then
immaculate presence. looks beautiful, bright. He wants to who would choose and who would
I want to face choose all the silver linings, leav- think of transcending? And who
all facets of my mind ing the dark cloud behind. But he would try to accept and understand
and accept them does not know silver linings cannot acceptance?
because I hear exist without the dark cloud. The You are separate, totally separate.
You often say dark cloud is the background, ab- You are a witness and nothing else,
that acceptance solutely necessary for the silver an observer who gets identified
the condition to
is linings to show. with anything that he finds
transcend the mind. Choosing is anxiety. Choosing is pleasant - and forgets that the un-
Can You please creating trouble for yourself. pleasant is coming just behind it as
talk about acceptance? Being choiceless means: the mind a shadow.
237
You are not troubled by the pleasant ness'. To be even more exact, it is Day in, day out, the disciple medi-
side- you rejoice in it. The trouble 'is-ness', because even in 'am-ness' tates, finds no way, thinks this way
comes when the polar opposite as- some shadow of the i' is still there. and that way - but in fact there is
serts; then you are torn apart. But The moment you know its is-ness, no way. Tired, utterly exhausted, a
you started the whole trouble. it has become universal. With the sudden revelation - suddenly he
Falling from being just a witness, disappearance of the mind disap- understands that the master cannot
you became identified. pears the self And so many things be interested in the bottle and the
The biblical story of the fall is just a disappear which were so important goose; they must represent some-
fiction. But this is the real fall: the to you, so troublesome to you. You thing else. The botde is the mind,
fall from being a witness into get- were trying to solve them and they you are the goose... but with wit-
ting identified with something and were more and more
becoming nessing it is possible. Without be-
losing your witnessing. complicated; everything was a prob- ing in the mind, you can become
Just try once in a while: let the lem, an anxiety, and there seemed identified with it so much that you
mind be whatever it is. Remember, to be no way out. start feeling you are in it!
you are not it. And you are going to I will remind you of the story He runs to the master, to say that
have a great surprise. As you are The Goose is Out. It is concerned the goose is out. And the master
less identified, the mind starts be- with the mind and your is-ness. says, "You have understood it. Now
coming less powerful because its The master says to the disciple to keep it out. It has never been in."
power comes from your identifica- meditate on a koan. A small goose If you go on struggling with the
tion; it sucks your blood. But when is put into a bottle, fed and nour- goose and the bottle there is no
you start standing aloof and away, ished. The goose goes on becoming way for you to solve it. It is the re-
the mind starts shrinking. bigger and bigger and bigger, and alization that "It must represent
The day you are completely uniden- fills the whole bottle. Now it is too something else; otherwise the mas-
tified with the mind, even for a sin- big; it cannot come out of the bot- ter cannot give it to me. And what
gle moment, there is the revelation: tle's mouth, the mouth is too small. can it be?" - because the whole
mind simply dies, it is no longer And the koan is that you have function between the master and
there. Where was so full, where it
it to bring the goose out without de- the disciple, the whole business is
was so continuously - day in, day stroying the bottle, without killing about the mind and awareness.
out; waking, sleeping, it was there - the goose. Awareness is the goose which is
suddenly it is not there. Now it is mind-boggling. not in the botde of the mind. But
You look all around and it is empti- What can you do? The goose is too you are believing that it is in it, and
ness, it is nothingness. And with the big; you cannot take it out unless asking everyone how to get it out.
mind disappears the self you break the bottle, but that is not And there are idiots who will help
Then there is only a certain quality allowed. Or, you can bring it out by you with techniques to get out of it.
of awareness with no T' in it. At killing it; then you don't care I call them idiots because they have
the most you can call it something whether it comes out alive or dead. not understood the thing at all.
similar to 'am-ness', but not 'I- That is not allowed either. The goose is out, has never been in;
238
SO the question of bringing it out you look at a film. But people get raising questions about people's re-
does not arise. identified even with films. actions, then you cannot enjoy the
Mind is just a procession of I have seen, when was young - I I film."
thoughts passing in front of you on have not seen any movie for a long I said, "I can enjoy the film, but I
the screen of the brain. You are an time - but I have seen people don't want to cry, I don't see any
observer. But you start getting iden- weeping, tears falling. It is good enjoyment in it. I can see it as a
tified with beautiful things - those that it is dark in a movie house; it film, but I don't want to become a
are bribes. And once you get caught saves them from feeling embar- part of it. These people are all be-
in the beautiful things you are also rassed - and nothing is hapf)ening! coming part of it."
caught in the ugly things, because I used to ask my father, "Did you You get identified with anything.
mind cannot exist without duality. see? The fellow by your side was People get identified with other
Awareness cannot exist with du- crying!" persons and then they create misery
ality, and mind cannot exist without He 'The whole hall was
said, cry- for themselves. They get identified
duality. ing. The scene was such..." with things, then they get miserable
Awareness is non-dual, and mind is "But," I said, "there is only a screen if that thing is missing.
dual. So just watch. and nothing else. Nobody is killed, Identification is the root cause of
I don't teach you any solutions. 1 there is no tragedy happening -just your misery. And every identifica-
teach you the solution. a projection of a film. Just pictures tion is identification with the mind.
Just get back a little and watch. moving on the screen; and people Just step aside, let the mind pass.
Create a distance between you and laugh, and people weep, and for And soon you will be able to see
your mind. Whether it is good, three hours they are almost lost. that there is no problem at all - the
beautiful, delicious, something that They become part of the movie, goose is out.
you would like to enjoy closely, or they become identified with some You don't have to break the bottle,
it is ugly - you remain as far away character." you don't have to kill the goose
as possible. Look at it just the way My father said to me, "If you are either. -
239
The Watcher
on the Hill
seem
I to
neither totally
be
Then that is
place you should be.

exactly the jection. Hell disappears
appears.
and heaven
Whatsoever you accept
in the world, You go on creating prob- becomes heavenly, and whatsoever
nor the watcher lems. Wherever you are, be there. you reject becomes hell.
on the hill. There is no need to be a watcher on It is said that a saint cannot be
How to be someplace? the hills. There should be no thrown into hell because he knows
I feel like I am 'should'. Once 'should' enters life the alchemy to transform it. You
in between you are already fX)isoned. There have heard that sinnersgo to hell
everything I do. should be no goal. There should be and saints to heaven - but you
no right or wrong. This is the only have heard the wrong thing. The
sin: to think in terms of division, case is just the other way around:
values, condemnation, apprecia- wherever sinners go, they create
tion. hell and wherever saints go, they
Wherever you are... nothing is create heaven. Saints are not sent
wrong in between the watcher on to heaven. There is nobody to send
the hills and a man in the world. and manage all this - there is no-
That's exactly where you should be. body. But wherever they go, this is
And I say: wherever you are, if you the way they are: they create their
can accept it, immediately then and heaven. They carry their heaven
there you have become the watcher with them, within them. And sin-
on the hills. Even in hell, if you ac- ners? - you can send them to heav-
cept it, hell disappears, because hell en: they will create hell. They can-
can remain only through your re- not do otherwise.
240
So what is the definition of a saint being. You are already that which Desiring means becoming. Desir-
or a sinner? My definition is: a saint you can be, which you can ever be ing means to be something else.
is one who has come to know the - you are already that. Nothing Desiring means not to accept the
alchemical secret of transforming more can be done about you; you case as you are, not to be in a total
everything into heaven. And a sin- are a finished product. 'yes' mood - no matter what the
ner is one who does not know the This is the meaning I give to the situation.
secret of transforming things into story that God created the world: To say "yes" to life is to be reli-
beautiful existences. Rather, on the when the perfect creates, the cre- gious; to say "no" to life is to be ir-
contrary, he goes on making things ation is perfect. When God creates, religious. And whenever you desire
ugly. how can you improve upon it? Just something you are saying "no."
Whatsoever you are will be reflect- think of the whole absurdity; the You are saying that something bet-
ed around you. So don't try to be whole idea is absurd. ter is possible.
anything else. And don't try to be You. are trying to improve upon The trees are happy and the birds
some other place. That is the dis- God; you cannot improve. You can are happy and the clouds are happy
ease called man: always to become be miserable, that's all. And you - because they have no becoming.
somebody, to be some other place, can suffer unnecessarily. And you They are simply whatsoever they
always rejecting that which is, and will suffer diseases which are just are.
always hankering for that which is in your imagination and nowhere The rosebush is not trying to be-
not. This is the disease called man. else. God creating means: out of come a lotus. No, the rosebush is
Be alert! Do you see it?! It is a perfection comes perfection. absolutely happy to be a rosebush.
simple fact to be seen. I am not You are perfect! Nothing else is You cannot persuade the rosebush.
theorizing about it; 1 am not a the- needed. Look right now, this very Howsoever you advertise the lotus,
oretician. 1 am simply indicating a moment, within yourself Have a you will not be able to corrupt the
bare, naked fact - you can
that if direct insight. What is needed? Ev- mind of the rosebush to become a
live in this moment wherever you erything is simply perfect and beau- lotus. The rosebush will simply
are and forget about the future, tiful. Not even a cloud can 1 see. laugh - because a rosebush is a
goals, the idea of becoming some- Just look within yourself- not even rosebush is a rosebush. It is simply
thing else, immediately, the whole a cloud in your inner space. Every- settled and centered in its being.
world around you is transformed; thing is full of light. That's why the whole nature is
you have become a transforming But the mind will say, sooner or lat- without any fever: calm and quiet
force. er, to be something else, to be and tranquil. And settled!
Acceptance... a deep, total accep- somewhere else, to become. The Only the human mind is in a chaos,
tance is what religion is all about. mind doesn't allow you to be. The because everybody is hankering to
A wants to become B; B wants mind is becoming, and your soul is be somebody else. This is what you
tobecome C. Then the fever of be- being. That's why Buddhas go on have been doing for a thousand and
coming is created. saying: "Unless you drop all desir- one lives.And if you don't awaken
You are not a becoming; you are a ing you will not attain!" now, when are you thinking to
241
awaken? You are already ripe for Then you will be like birds; listen is to become enlightened. One who
awakening. to them. Then you will be like has found out that he is already that
Just start from this very moment to trees; look - the freshness, the which he always wanted to be is a
live and enjoy and delight. Drop greenery, the flowers. buddha. And you are all buddhas,
desiring! Whatsoever you are, en- Please be where you are. I am not howsoever fast asleep and snoring.
joy it. here to create a new desire in you; I That makes no difference.
Delight in your being. And then am simply here to make you aware Let me be your alarm. Open your
suddenly time disappears, because of the whole absurdity of desiring. eyes. You have slept long enough.
time exists only with desiring. Fu- Desiring is sansar. It is time to awaken. The morning
ture exists because you desire. Understanding the futility of desire is knocking at the door. ^
242
Where Did You

Leave "Vbur Bicycle?
-
During the meditations,
my mind still goes
Your mind Five hundred
is mighty slow.
miles per
of consciousness. Enjoy
play of mind rushing towards the
it! this
five hundred miles hour, only?! And do you stars, moving so fast from here and
per hour. I never think this is speed? Mighty slow there, jumping all over existence.
experience silence, you are. Mind goes so fast it What is wrong in it? Let it be a
and whatever knows no speed. It is faster than beautiful dance. Accept it.
witnessing happens light. Light travels 186,000 miles My feeling is that what you are do-
is very short, like flashes. in one second; mind is faster than ing is trying to stop it - you cannot
Am I wasting my time? that. But nothing to be worried do that. Nobody can stop the mind!
about - that is the beauty of the Yes, mind stops one day, but no-
mind, that is a great quality! body can stop it. Mind stops, but
Rather than taking it negatively, that is not out of your effort. Mind
rather than fighting with it, be- stops out of your understanding.
friend the mind. You just watch and try to see what
You say: "During the meditations, is happening, why this mind is
my mind still goes five hundred rushing. It is not rushing without

miles per hour" - let it go! Let it go any reason. Try to see why this
faster.You be a watcher. You mind is rushing, where it is rushing

watch the mind going around so - you must be ambitious. If it
fast, with such speed. Enjoy this! thinks about money, then try to un-
Enjoy this play of the mind. derstand. Mind is not the question.
In Sanskrit we have a special term You start dreaming about money,
for it; we call it chidvilas - the play that you have won a lottery or this
243
and that, and then you even start "Sir," said the verger, "1 thought standing about why it is going with
planning how to spend it, what to you were going to..." such speed... why in the first place?
purchase and what not. Or, the "I know, Giles, I know. But you The mind cannot go without any
nnind thinks you have become a see,when I got to 'Thou shalt not reason. Without going into the rea-
president, a prime minister, and commit adultery,' I suddenly re- sons, in the layers, deep layers of
then you start thinking what to do membered where I had left my bi- the unconscious, they just try to
now, how to run the country, or the cycle." stop. They can stop, but they will
world. Just watch the mind! - what Just see where you have left your have to pay a price, and the price
mind is going towards. bicycle. The mind is rushing for will be that their intelligence will
There must be a deep seed in you. certain reasons. be lost.
You cannot stop the mind unless that The mind needs understanding, You can go around India, you can
seed disappears. The mind is simply awareness. Don't try to stop it. If find thousands of sannyasins, ma-
following the order of your inner- you try to stop it, in the first place hatmas; look into their eyes - yes,
most seed. Somebody is thinking you cannot succeed; in the second they are good people, nice, but
about sex; then somewhere there is place, if you can succeed - one can stupid. If you look in their eyes
repressed sexuality. Watch where succeed if one makes persevering there is no intelligence, you will
mind is rushing. Look deep into effort for years - if you can suc- not see any lightning. They are un-
yourself, find where the seeds are. ceed, you will become dull. No creative people; they have not cre-
I have heard: The parson was very satori will happen out of it. ated anything. They just sit there.
much worried. "Listen," he said to In the first place, you cannot suc- They are vegetating, they are not
his verger, "somebody has stolen ceed; and it is good that you cannot alive people. TTiey have not helped
my bicycle." succeed. If you could succeed, if the world in any way. They have
"Where have you been on it. Rec- you managed to succeed, that not even produced a painting or a
tor?" inquired that worthy. would be very unfortunate - you poem or a song, because even to
"Only around the parish on my would become dull, you would lose produce a poem you need intelli-
calls." intelligence. With that speed there gence, you need certain qualities of
The verger suggested that the best is intelligence, with that speed there the mind.
plan would be for the rector to di- is continuous sharpening of the I would not suggest that you stop
rect his Sunday sermon to the ten sword of thinking, logic, intellect. the mind, rather, that you under-
commandments. "When you get to Please don't try to stop it. I am not stand it. With understanding a mir-
'Thou shalt not steal,' you and 1 in favor of dullards, and I am not acle happens. TTie miracle is that
will watch the faces - we will soon here to help anybody to become with understanding, by and by,
see." stupid. when you understand the causes

Sunday came, the rector started in In thename of religion, many peo- and those causes are looked into
fine flow about the commandments, ple have become stupid, they have deeply, through looking deeply
then lost his thread, changed his almost become idiots - just trying into those causes, those causes dis-
subject, and trailed off lamely. to stop the mind without any under- appear, mind slows down. But in-
244
telligence is not lost, because mind of tremendous value. Those flashes, anything, time is going. You cannot
is not forced. they are not ordinary flashes. Don't save time so how can you waste
What are you doing if you don't re- just take them for granted! Tliere time? You can waste only some-
move the causes by understanding? are millions of people for whom thing which you can save. You
You are driving a car, for example, even those small glimpses have not don't possess time. Forget about it!
and you go on pressing the acceler- happened. They will live and die And the best use you can have of
ator and at the same time you try to and they will never know what wit- time is to have these small
press the brake. You will destroy nessing is - even for a single mo- glimpses - because finally you will
the whole mechanism of the car. ment. You are happy, you are fortu- come to see only those moments
And there is every possibility you nate. have been saved which were mo-
will have some accident. Tliis can- But you are not feeling grateful. If ments of witnessing, and all else
not be done together. If you are you don't feel grateful, those flash- has gone down the drain. The
pushing the brake, then leave the es will disappear; feel grateful, they money that you earned, the pres-
accelerator alone; don't push it any will grow. With gratitude, every- tige that you earned, the re-
more. If you are pushing the accel- thing grows. Feel happy that you spectability that you earned, is all
erator, then don't push the brake. are blessed - they will grow. With gone down the drain. Only those
Don 't do both the things together, that positivity, things will grow. few moments that you had some
otherwise you will destroy the "And whatever witnessing happens flashes of witnessing, only those
whole mechanism; you are doing is very short." moments are saved. Only those
two contradictory things. Let it be very short! If it can happen moments will go with you when
You carry ambition - and you try to for a single split moment, it is hap- you leave this life - only those mo-
stop the mind? Ambition creates pening; you will have the taste of it. ments can go. because those mo-
the speed, so you are accelerating And with the taste, by and by, you ments belong to eternity, they don't
the speed - and putting a brake on will create more and more situa- belong to time.
the mind. You will destroy the tions in which it happens more and Feel happy it is happening. It al-
whole mechanism of the

subtle more. ways happens slowly, slowly.
mind, and mind is a very delicate "Am I wasting my time?" One drop by one drop, a great
phenomenon, the most delicate in You cannot waste time, because ocean can become full. It happens
the whole of existence. So don't be you don't possess time. You can in drops; in drops the ocean is
foolish about it. waste something that you possess. coming. You just receive it with
TTiere is no need to stop it. Time you don't possess. Time will gratitude, with celebration, with
You say: "I never experience si- be wasted anyway whether you thankfulness.
lence, and whatever witnessing meditate or not - time will be wast- And don't try to stop the mind. Let
happens is very short, like flashes." ed. Time is rushing by. Whatsoever the mind have its speed - you
Feel happy! Even that is something you do, do anything or don't do watch. *
245
Just a
180° Turn
Two Polacks were driving is not, because as far as your witnessing, no 1 am not witnessing,
along in the front seat of Itwitnessing is concerned, it may yes 1 am witnessing, no 1 am not
their car. As they ap- be coming and going, and your witnessing," then you have to re-
proached a corner, the one answer may be perfectly the same member that there is something
who was driving said to his as the Polack who said that the in- more behind these witnessing mo-
friend, "Will you dicator is working, "Yes - no - yes ments which is witnessing all this
look out of the window again..." process. Who is witnessing that
and see if the indicator, the That is the function of the indica- sometimes you are witnessing and
turn signal, is working?" tor; to be, not to be; to be, not to be. sometimes you are not witnessing?
He promptly leaned out of But don't laugh at the poor Polack. Something is constant.
the window and looked at As far as his awareness is con- Your witnessing has become just
the indicator light and cerned, he is fully aware. Whenev- an indicator; don't be bothered by
shouted back at his friend,
er it is working he says "yes"; it. Your emphasis should be on the
"Yes it is - no it's not,
whenever it is not working he says eternal, the constant, the continu-
yes it is - no it's not,
"no." His awareness of the indica- um - and it is there. And it is in
yes it is - no it's not."
tor is continuous. The indicator everyone, we have just forgotten
Bhagwan, if anybody were
goes on changing, but the Polack
to ask me whether I was it.
remains fully aware of when But even times when we have

witnessing or not, my an- it is in
working, when it is not working, forgotten it, it is there in its abso-

swer would have to be the
same: Yes I am, no I'm not; when it is on, when it is off. His lute perfection. It is like a mirror
yes I am, no I'm not. awareness is a continuity. which is able to mirror everything,
Is it like that If you can give the same answer is still mirroring everything, but
all the way home? about your witnessing: "Yes I am you are standing with your back
246
U F. S T I ON S TO THE M A S T R R
towards the mirror. The poor mirror You may not have looked at the reflecting the changing process of
is mirroring your back. joke in this light. If you tell the joke what you think is your witness, is
Turn, it will mirror your face. to anybody he is going to laugh be- behind. It is not the true witness, it
Open your heart, it will mirror your cause the Polack is so stupid, be- is only the indicator.
heart. cause that is the function of the in- Forget the indicator.
F*ut everything on the table, don't dicator - to be on, off, on, off. But Remember the constant mirroring
hide even a single card and it will you have brought me a joke - I can- that goes on twenty-four hours
reflect your whole reality. not simply laugh at it because I see within you, silently watching every-
But if you go on standing with your something more in it which perhaps thing. Slowly, slowly clean it
-
back to the mirror looking all nobody will see. there is much dust on it, cen-
so
around the world asking people, The Polack is constant, alert. He turies of dust. Remove the dust.
"Who am 1?" then it is up to you. does not miss a single point, a sin- And one day. when the mirror is
Because there are idiots who will gle moment. completely clean, those moments
come and teach you that 'This is And when you say "witnessing, of witnessing and not-witnessing
the way. Do this and you will know yes" and then it disappears and you will disappear; you will be simply a
who you are." say "no" - again it appears, you say witness.
No method is needed, just a ISO- "yes"... it simply shows that there And unless you fmd that eternity of
degree turn - and that is not a is something behind all these mo- witnessing, all other kinds of wit-
method. ments of witnessing and not witnessing are part of mind. They
And the mirror is your very being. nessing. The true witness, which is have no value. ^
247
All Paths Merge

on the Mountain
Is awareness I
he highest peak is the cul- jealousies, ego trips, possessive-
a higher value than love? mination of values: truth, ness, anger, sexuality. more
Ti
ity, totality. At
all
love, awareness, authentic-

the highest peak
physical, more
nothing deeper than
chemical;
It
that. It is
is
it has
very
they are indivisible. They are sepa- superficial, not even skin deep.
rate only in the dark valleys of our As you go higher, things become
unconsciousness. They are separate deeper; they start having new di-
only when they are jwlluted, mixed mensions. That which was only
The moment they
with other things. physiological starts having a psy-
become pure they become one; the chological dimension to it. That
more pure, the closer they come to which was nothing but biology
each other. starts becoming psychology. We
For example, each value exists on share biology with all the animals;
many planes; each value is a lad- we don't share psychology with all
der of many rungs. Love is lust - the animals.

the lowest rung, which touches When love goes still higher - or
hell; and love is also prayer- the deeper, which is the same - then it
highest rung, which touches par- starts having something of the spir-
adise. And between these two itual in it. It becomes metaphysical.

there are many planes easily dis- Only Buddhas, Krishnas, Christs,
cernible. know that quality of love.
In lust, love is only one percent: Love is spread all the way and so
ninety-nine percent are other things: are other values. When love is one
248
hundred percent pure you cannot values at all. There are two paths lacks love then it is still impure; it
make any distinction between love from the valley leading to the peak. has not yet known one hundred
and awareness; then they are no One path is of awareness, medita- percent purity. It is not yet really
more two. You cannot make any tion: the path of Zen. The other is awareness; it must be mixed with
distinction even between love and the path of love, the path of the unawareness. It is not pure light;
God; they are no more two. Hence devotees, the bhaktas, the Sufis. there must be pockets of darkness
Jesus' statement that God is love. These two paths are separate when inside you still working, function-
He makes them synonymous. There you start the journey; you have to ing, influencing you, dominating
is great insight in it. choose. Whichever you choose is you. If your love is without
On the periphery everything ap- going to lead to the same peak. And awareness, then it is not love yet.
pears separate from everything as you come closer to the peak you It must be something lower,
else; on the periphery existence is will be surprised: the travelers on something closer to lust than to
many. As you come closer to the the other path are coming closer to prayer.
center, the manyness starts melt- you. Slowly slowly, the paths start So let it be a criterion: if you fol-
ing, dissolving, and oneness starts merging into each other. By the low the path of awareness, let love
arising. At the center, everything time you have reached the ultimate, be the criterion. When your aware-
is one. they are one. ness suddenly blooms into love,
Hence your question is right only if The person who follows the path of know p>erfectly well that awareness
you don't understand the highest awareness finds love as a conse- has happened, samadhi has been
quality of love and awareness. It is quence of his awareness, as a by- achieved. If you follow the path of
absolutely irrelevant if you have product, as a shadow. And the per- love, then let awareness function as
any glimpse of Everest, of the high- son who follows the path of love a criterion, as a touchstone. When
est peak. finds awareness as a consequence, suddenly, from nowhere, at the
You ask: "Is awareness a higher as a by-product, as a shadow of very center of your love, a flame of
value than love?" love. They are two sides of the awareness starts arising, know per-
There is nothing higher and nothing same coin. fectly well.... Rejoice! You have
lower; in fact, there are not two And remember: if your awareness come home. ^
249
Celebrating
Consciousness
After working with the First, for hundreds of lives But if you sit silendy as Patanjali
cathartic techniques for a you have Hved in a chaos. It suggests... Patanjali had no cathar-
few years, I feel that a is nothing new. It is very tic methods; it seems they were not
deep inner harmony, old. Secondly, the dynamic meth- needed in his time. People were
balance and centering ods of meditation which have naturally very silent, peaceful,
is happening to me. catharsis as their foundation allow primitive. The mind was not yet
But you said that before all chaos within you to be thrown functioning too much. People slept
entering into the final out. That is the beauty of these well, lived like animals. They were
stage of samadhi, techniques. You cannot sit silently, not very much thinking, logical, ra-
one passes through but you can do the dynamic or the tional, they were more centered in
a great chaos. chaotic meditations very easily. the heart, as primitive people are
How do I know Once the chaos is thrown out, a si- even now. And life was such that it
if I am finished lence starts happening to you. Then allowed many catharses automati-
with the chaotic stage? you can sit silently. If rightly done, cally.
continuously done, then the cathar- For example, a woodcutter: he

tic techniques of meditation will need not have any catharsis be-
simply dissolve all your chaos into cause just by cutting wood, all his
the outside world. You will not murderous instincts are thrown out.
need to pass through a mad stage. Cutting wood is like murdering a

That's the beauty of these tech- tree. A stone breaker need not do
niques. The madness is being cathartic meditation. He is doing it
thrown out already. It is in-built in the whole day. But for modem man
the technique. things have changed. Now you live
250
mill
in such comfort that there is no pos- who are working with their hands ple hanker for silence, and when it
sibility of any catharsis in your hfe, don't need catharsis. But people starts happening, they can't believe
except that you can drive in a mad who work with their heads need it. It is too good to be true, and par-
way. much catharsis because they accu- ticularly people who have always
That's why in the West more people mulate much energy, and there is no condemned themselves cannot be-
die every year through car accidents way in their body, no opening for it lieve that it is hapf>ening to them:
than by anything else. That is the to go out. It goes on and on inside "Impossible! Itmay have happened
greatest disease. Neither cancer nor the mind; the mind goes mad. to a Buddha or a Jesus, but to me?
tuberculosis nor any other disease In our culture and society - in the No, it is not possible." They come
takes such a toll of lives as car driv- office, in the factory, in the market to me; they are so disturbed by si-
ing. In one year of the second world - people who work with heads are lence, that it is happening: "Is it
war, millions of people died; more known as heads: head clerk, or true, or am I imagining it?" WTiy
people die every year around the head superintendent, and people bother? Even if it is imagination, it
earth just because of mad automo- who work known as

with hands are is better than imagining anger, it is
bile drivers. hands. It is condemnatory. The very better than imagining sex, lust.
You may have observed if you are a word 'hands' has become condem- And I tell you, nobody can imagine
driver, that whenever you are angry natory. silence. Imagination needs some
you go fast. You go on pushing the When Patanjali was working on form; silence has no form. Imagi-
accelerator, you simply forget about these sutras, the world was totally nation means thinking in images,
the brake. When you are very hate- different. People were 'hands'. and silence has no image. You can-
ful, irritated, the car becomes a There was no need for catharsis not imagine it. There is no possibil-
medium of expression. Otherwise specifically; life was itself a cathar- ity. You cannot imagine enlighten-
you live in such comfort, doing less sis. Then they could sit silently very ment, you cannot imagine satori,
and less with the body, living more easily, but you cannot sit. Hence, I samadhi, silence, no. Imagination
and more in the mind. have been inventing cathartic meth- needs some base, some form, and
Those who know about the deeper ods. Only after them can you sit silence is formless, indefinable.
centers of the brain say that people silently, not before. Nobody has ever painted a picture
who work with their hands have "After working with the cathartic of it; nobody can paint one. No-
less anxiety, less tension; they sleep techniques for a few years, I feel body has carved an image of it;
well because hands are connected that a deep inner harmony, balance, nobody could do it.
with the deepest mind, the deepest and centering is happening to me." You cannot imagine silence. The
center of the brain - your right hand Now don't create trouble; let it hap- mind is playing tricks. The mind
with the left brain, your left hand pen. Now the mind is poking in its will say, "It must be imagination.
with the right brain. When you nose. The mind says, "How can it How can it be possible for you,
work with the hands, energy is happen? First 1 must pass through such a stupid man as you, and si-
flowing from the head into the chaos." This idea can create chaos. lence happening to you? - must be
hands and being released. People This has been my observation: peo- you are imagining," or, "This guy
251
Osho has hypnotized you. You Worry is just the opposite of cele- is going to be bom out of this mo-
must be deceived somehow." bration, it is just like cutting the ment. If I am happy this moment,
Don't create such problems. Life roots. Feel happy! Dance with your how can I be unhappy in the next
has enough problems. When silence silence. This moment is there - moment?
is happening, enjoy it, celebrate it. enough. Why ask for more? Tomor- If you want the next moment to be
It means the chaotic forces have row will take care of itself. This unhappy, you will have to become
been thrown out. The mind is play- moment is too much; why not live unhappy in this moment, because
ing its last game. It plays to the it, celebrate it, share it, enjoy it? Let out of unhappiness, unhappiness is
very end; to the very, very end it it become a song, a dance, a poetry; bom; out of happiness, happiness is
goes on playing. At the last mo- let it be creative. Let your silence bom. Whatsoever you want to reap
ment, when enlightenment is just be creative; do something with it. in the next moment, you will have
about to happen, then too the mind Millions of things are possible be- to sow right now. Once the worry is
plays the last game, because it is cause nothing is more creative than allowed and you start thinking that
the last battle. silence: no need to become a very chaos will come, it will come; you
Don't worry about it, whether it is great painter, world famous, a Pi- have already brought it. Now you
real or unreal, or whether chaos will casso; no need tobecome a Henry will have to reap it; it has already
come after it or not, because by Moore; no need to become a great come. No need to wait for the next
thinking in this way you have al- poet. Those ambitions of being moment; it is already there.
ready brought the chaos. It is your great are of the mind, not of the si- Remember this, and this is really
idea which can create chaos, and lence. something strange: when you are
when it is created, the mind will In your own way, howsoever small, sad you never think that itmay be
say, "Now listen, I told you so." paint. In your own way, howsoever imaginary. Never have come
I
Mind is very self-fulfilling. First it small, make a haiku. In your own across a man who is sad and who
gives you a seed, and when it way, howsoever small, sing a song, says to me that maybe it is just
sprouts the mind says, "Look, I was dance a little, celebrate, and you imaginary. Sadness is perfectly
telling you beforehand that you are will find the next moment brings real. But happiness? - immediately
deceived." The chaos has come, more silence. Once you know that something goes wrong and you
and it has been brought by the idea. the more you celebrate, the more is start thinking, "Maybe it is imagi-
So why bother about whether the given to you; the more you share, nary." Whenever you are tense, you
chaos is still to come in the future the more you become capable of re- never think it is imaginary. If you
or not, or whether it has passed or ceiving it, each moment it goes on can think that your tension and an-
not? Right this moment, you are growing, growing. guish are imaginary, they will dis-
silent - why not celebrate it? And I The next moment is always bom appear. And if you think your si-
tell you, if you celebrate, it grows. out of this moment, so why worry lence and happiness are imaginary,
In this world of consciousness, about it? If this moment is silent, they will disappear.
nothing is so helpful as celebration. how can the next moment be Whatsoever is taken as real,
Celebration is like watering a plant. chaos? From where will it come? It becomes real. Whatsoever is taken
252
as unreal, becomes unreal. You are there is a happy moment, let it grip exist. And there are a few people
the creator of your whole world you, possess you. Enjoy it so total- who exist without time - those who
around you; remember this. It is so ly; how could the next moment be have attained to no-mind. They
rare to achieve a moment of happi- different? From where would it be have no time because they don't
ness, bliss - don't waste it in think- different? From where would it think about the past; it is gone, so
ing. But if you don't do anything, come? only fools think about it. When
the fHDSsibility of worry is there. If Your time is created within you. something is gone, it is gone.
you don't do anything - if you Your time is not my time. There ex- There is a Buddhist mantra: Gate
don't dance, you don't sing,

if if ist as many parallel times as there gate, para gate - swaha; "Gone,
you don't share - the possibility is are minds. There is no one time. If gone, absolutely gone; let it go to
there. The very energy that could there were one time, then there the fire." The past is gone, the fu-
have been creative will create the would be diftlculty. Then amidst ture has not yet come. Why worry
worry. It will start creating new ten- the whole miserable humankind, about it? When it comes, we will
sions inside. nobody could become a buddha see. You will be there to encounter
Energy has to be creative. If you because we belong to the same time. it, so why worry about it?
don't use it for happiness, the same No, it is not the same. My time The gone is gone, the not-come has
energy will be used for unhappiness. comes from me - it is my creativity. not come yet. Only this moment
And for unhappiness you have such If thismoment is beautiful, the next is left, pure, intense with energy.
deep-rooted habits that the energy moment is bom more beautiful - Live it! If it is silence, be grateful.
flow is very loose and natural. For this is my time. If this moment is If it is blissful, thank God, trust it.
happiness it is an uphill task. sad for you, then a sadder moment is And if you can trust, it will grow.
So the first few days you will have bom out of you - that is your time. If you distrust, you have already
to be constantly aware. Whenever Millions of parallel lines of time poisoned it.
^
253
Tune In to
Uncertainty
The more I watch myself, happens;
This happen. this is bound an uneasiness, because you feel
the more I experience toAnd remember lost, a stranger to yourself, not

the falseness of my ego. that one should be happy knowing who you are. Before, you
I have started to feel that it has happened; it is a good knew who you were: your name,
like a stranger to myself, indication. When one starts on the your form, your address, your bank
no longer knowing inner journey everything seems to balance - everything was certain,
what is false. be clear, rooted, because the ego is this was you. You had an identifi-
This leaves me with in control and the ego has all the cation with the ego. Now the ego is
an uncomfortable feeling guidelines. The ego has all the evaporating, the old house is
of having no guidelines, maps, the ego is the master. falling and you don't know who
as I sensed I had before. When you move a little further into you are, where you are. Everything
the journey, the ego starts evapo- is murky, cloudy, and the old cer-
rating, seems to be more and more tainty is lost.
false, seems to be more and more a This isgood because the old cer-
deception, a hallucination. When tainty was a false certainty. It was
one starts awakening out of the not a certainty, in fact. Deep be-
dream, then guidelines are lost. hind it there was uncertainty.
Now the old master is no more the That's why, when the ego evapo-
master, and the new master has not rates, you feel uncertain. Now the
yet arisen. There is a confusion, a deeper layers of your being are re-
chaos. This is a good indication. vealed to you - you feel a stranger.
Half the journey is over, but there You were always a stranger, only
will be an uncomfortable feeling. the ego deceived you into feeling
254J
that you knew who you were. The Many have turned back from that yourself. You will never attain to
dream was too much, it looked too point just to feel comfortable again, your being.
real. at ease, at home. They have missed. Becoming is not being. All becom-
In the morning when you are com- They were just coming nearer the ing, and all effort to become some-
ing out of a dream, suddenly you goal, and they turned back. Don't thing, will force something on you.
don't know who or where you are. do that; go ahead. Uncertainty is It is a violent effort. You may be-
Have you felt this feeling some- good, nothing is wrong with it. You come a saint, but in your saintliness
times in the morning? - when sud- have only to be tuned, that's all. there will be ugliness. I tell you,
denly you are awakened out of a You are tuned with the certain and I emphasize it: to live life
dream, and for some moments you universe of the ego, the secure uni- without any guidelines is the only
don't know where you are, who verse of the ego. Howsoever false saintliness possible. Even then, you
you are and what is happening? The on the surface, everything seems to may become a sinner; but in being
same happens when one comes out be perfectly as it should be. You a sinner, there will be a holiness, a
of the dream of the ego. Discom- need a little tuning with the uncer- saintliness.
fort, uneasiness, uprootedness will tain existence. Life is holy; you need not force
be felt, but one should be happy Existence is uncertain, insecure, anything upon it, you need not
about it. If you become miserable dangerous. It is a flux - things mold it, you need not give it a pat-
about it, you will fall back to the moving, changing. It is a strange tern, a discipline and an order. Life
old state of affairs where things world; get acquainted with it. Have has its own order, it has its own
were certain, where everything was a little courage and don't look discipline. You simply move with
mapped, charted, where you knew, backwards, look forward; soon the it, you float with it, you don't try to
where guidelines were clear. uncertainty itself will become beau- push the river. Tlie river is flowing
Drop uneasiness. Even if it is there, tiful, the insecurity itself will be- - you become one with it and the
don't be too impressed by it. Let it come beautiful. river takes you to the ocean. This is
be there, watch, and that too will In fact, only insecurity is beautiful, the life of a sannyasin: a life of
go. Soon uneasiness will disappear. because insecurity is life. Security happening, not of doing. TTien your
It is just there because of the old is ugly, it is a part of death - that's being reaches, by and by, above the
habit of certainty. You don't know why it is secure. To live without clouds, beyond the clouds and con-
how to live in an uncertain uni- guidelines is the only way to live. flicts. Suddenly you are free. In the
verse. You don't know how to live When you live with guidelines, you disorder of life you find a new or-
in insecurity. The uneasiness is live a false life. Ideals, guidelines, der. But the quality of the order is
there because of the old security. It disciplines - you force something totally different now. It is nothing
is just because of the old habit, a on your life, you mold your life, imposed by you, it is intimate to
hangover. It will go. One just has to you don't allow it to be, you try to life itself.
wait, watch, relax, and feel happy make something out of it. Guide- Trees also have an order, as do
that something has happened. And I lines are violent and all ideals are rivers, mountains, but those are
tell you, it is a good indication. ugly. Through them you will miss not orders imposed by moralists.
255
puritans, priests. They don't go to lives in the world, mountains are certainty is not against uncertainty.
somebody to find the guideHnes. mountains, rivers are rivers. When Ahead is the real security, but that
Order is intrinsic; it is in hfe itself. a person moves into meditation, security is not against insecurity.
Once the ego is not there to manip- now mountains are no more moun- That security is so vast that it con-
ulate, to push and pull here and tains, rivers are no more rivers. Ev- tains insecurity within itself. It is so
there - "Do this and that" - when erything is a confusion and a chaos. vast that it is not afraid of insecuri-
you are completely freed from the But when a man has attained to ty. It absorbs insecurity into itself, it
ego, a discipline comes to you, an satori, to samadhi, again rivers are contains all So contradictions.
inner discipline. It is unmotivated. rivers and mountains are moun- somebody can call it insecurity and
It is not seeking something, it sim- tains. somebody can call it security. In
ply happens: as when you breathe, There are three stages: in the first, fact it is neither, or both. If you feel
as when you feel hungry and you you are certain with the ego, in the that you have become a stranger to
eat, as when you feel sleepy and third you are absolutely certain yourself, celebrate it, feel grateful.
you go to bed. It is an inner order, with the non-ego, and just in be- Rare is this moment; enjoy it. The
an intrinsic order. That will come tween the two, the chaos; when the more you enjoy, the more you will
when you become tuned with inse- certainty of the ego disappears and find that the certainty is coming
curity,when you become tuned the certainty of life has not yet nearer to you, coming faster and
with your strangeness, when you come. This is a very, very potential faster towards you. If you can
become tuned with your unknown moment, very pregnant. If you be- celebrate your strangeness, your
being. come afraid and turn back, you will uprootedness, your homelessness,
In Zen they have a saying, one of miss the possibility. suddenly you are at home - the
the most beautiful: when a person Ahead is the real certainty. That real third stage has come.
256
Count the Moments

of Awareness
You tell us to be aware is one of the basic problems you can be aware that you are
of everything - which Itfor anybody who is trying to walking - each step can be full of
means to be a witness be aware while at work - be- awareness. Eating ... just the way
to everything, every act. cause work demands that you they drink tea in Zen monasteries -
When I decide should forget yourself completely. they call it the 'tea ceremony', be-
to be aware work,
in You should be involved in it so cause sipping the tea, one has to re-
I forget about awareness, deeply ... as if you are absent. main alert and aware.
and when I become Unless such total involvement is These are small actions but to be-
aware that I was there, the work remains superfi- gin with they are perfectly good.
not aware, cial. One should not start with some-
I feel guilty; All that is great, created by man - thing like painting, dancing - those
I feel that I have in painting, in poetry, in architec- are very deep and complex phe-
made a mistake. ture, in sculpture, in any dimension nomena. Start with small actions
Could You please explain? of life - needs you to be totally in- life. As you be-
of daily routine
volved. And if you are trying to be come more and more accustomed
aware at the same time, your work to awareness, as awareness be-
will never be first rate, because you comes just like breathing - you
will not be in it. don't have to make any effort for
So awareness while you are work- it, it has become spontaneous -
ing needs a tremendous training then in any act, any work, you can
and discipline, and one has to start be aware.
from very simple actions, for ex- But remember the condition: it has
ample, walking. You can walk, and to be effortless; it has to come out
257
of spontaneity. Then painting or spontaneously; you are not to call gap of forgetfuJness will become
composing music, or dancing, or it, you are not to force it. smaller and smaller. If you can
even fighting an enemy with a "And when I become aware that I avoid guilt, which is basically
sword, you can remain absolutely was not aware, I feel guilty." That Christian, your gaps of unaware-
aware. But that awareness is not the is absolute stupidity. When you be- ness will become shorter, and one
awareness you are trying for. It is come aware that you were not day they will simply disappear.
not the beginning; it is the culmina- aware, feel happy that at least now Awareness will become just like
tion of a long discipline. Sometimes you are aware. For the concept of breathing or heartbeat, or the blood
it can happen without discipline guilt, there is no place in my teach- circulating in you - day in, day out.
too. ings. So be watchful that you don't feel
But this can happen only rarely - in Guilt is one of the cancers of the guilty. There is nothing to feel
extreme conditions. In everyday soul. And all the religions have used guilty about. It is immensely signif-
life you should follow the simple guilt to destroy your dignity, your icant that the trees don't listen to
course. First become aware about pride, and to make you just slaves. Catholic priests. Otherwise, they
actions which do not need your in- There is no need to feel guilty, it is would make the roses feel guilty:
volvement. You can walk and you natural. Awareness is such a great "Why do you have thorns?" And
can go on thinking; you can eat and thing that even if you can be aware the rose, dancing in the wind, in the
you can go on thinking. Replace for a few seconds, rejoice. Don't rain, in the sun, would suddenly be-
thinking by awareness. Go on eat- pay attention to those moments come sad. TTie dance would disap-
ing, and remain alert that you are when you forgot. Pay attention to pear; the joy would disappear; the
eating. Walk, replace thinking by that state when you suddenly re- fragrance would disappear. Now
awareness. Go on walking; perhaps member, "1 was not aware." Feel the thorn would become his only
your walking will be a little slower fortunate that at least, after a few reality, a wound - "Why do you
and more graceful. But awareness hours, awareness has returned. have thorns?"
is |X>ssible with these small acts. Don't make it a repentance, a guilt, But because there are no rosebush-
And as you become more and more a sadness - because by being guilty es so foolish as to listen to any
articulate, use more complicated ac- and sad, you are not going to be priest of any religion, roses go on
tivities. helped. You will feel, deep down, a dancing, and with the roses, thorns
A day comes that there is no activi- failure. And once a feeling of fail- also go on dancing.
ty in the world in which you cannot ure settles in you, awareness will The whole existence is guiltless.
remain alert at the same time, doing become even more difficult. And the moment a man becomes
the act with totality. Change your whole focus. It is guiltless, he becomes part of the
You are saying, "When 1 decide to great that you became aware that universal flow of life. That is en-
be aware in work, I forget about you had forgotten to be aware. Now lightenment, a guiltless conscious-
awareness." It has not to be your don't forget for as long as possible. ness, rejoicing in everything that
decision, it has to be your long dis- Again, you will forget; again, you life makes available: the light is
cipline. And awareness has to come will remember - but each time, the beautiful; so is darkness.
258
When you cannot find anything to I say, 'To err is human and to for- priestsapproached him and said,
be guilty about, to me you have be- give is also human." And to forgive "What kind of things are you writ-
come a religious man. To the so- oneself is one of the greatest ing? You will destroy people's reli-
called religions, unless you are virtues, because if you cannot for- giousness! Create fear in people,
guilty you are not religious; the give yourself, you cannot forgive tell people that God is very just: if
more guilty you are, the more reli- anybody else in the world - it is im- you have committed a sin, you will
gious you are. possible. You are so full of wounds, be punished. There will be no com-
People are torturing themselves as of guilt, how can you forgive any- passion."
punishment, as penance. People are body? Your so-called saints go on Omar Khayyam's book was burned
fasting; people are beating their saying that you will be thrown into in his day.Whenever a copy was
chests with their fists till blood hell. The reality is, they are living found, was burned by the priests,
it
oozes from their chests. These peo- in hell! They cannot allow even because this man was teaching
ple, to me, are psychopaths; they God to forgive you! such a dangerous idea.
are not religious. Their so-called re- One great Sufi poet, Omar If it spreads among human beings
ligions have taught them that if you Khayyam, has written in his and everybody starts rejoicing in
commit anything wrong, it is better Rubaiyat, his world-famous collec- life, what will happen to the priests?
to punish yourself than to be pun- tion of poetry: "1 am going to drink, What will happen to the saints?
ished by God on Judgment Day - to dance, to love. I am going to What will happen to their mytholo-
because that punishment is to be commit every kind of sin because I gies of hell and heaven and God?
thrown into the abysmal darkness trust God is compassionate - he All will disappear into thin air.
of hell for eternity. There is no es- will forgive. My sins are very At least with me, Omar Khayyam is
cape, no exit - once you enter hell, small; his forgiveness is immense." one of the enlightened Sufi mystics,
you have entered. When the priests came to know and what he immense
is saying has
The whole humanity has been made about his book - because in those truth in it. He does
mean that not
guilty in some measure or other. It days books were written by hand, you should commit sin. What he
has taken away the shine from your there were no printing presses.... means simply is that you should not
eyes; it has taken away the beauty The priests discovered that he was feel guilty. Whatever you do - if it
from your face; it has taken away writing such sacrilegious things, is not right, don't do it again. If you
the grace of your being. It has re- that he was saying, "Don't be wor- feel it hurts somebody, don't do it
duced you to a criminal - unneces- ried, go on doing anything you again. But there is no need to feel
sarily. want because God is nothing but guilty, there is no need to be repen-
Remember: man is frail and weak, pure compassion and love. How tant, there is no need to do penance
and to err is human. And the people much sin can you commit in seven- and torture yourself.
who invented the proverb, 'To en- ty years of life? - in comparison to 1 want to change your focus com-
is human," have also invented the his forgiveness, it is nothing." pletely. Rather than counting how
proverb, 'To forgive is divine." 1 He was a famous mathematician many times you forgot to remem-
don't agree with the second part. too, renowned in his country. Tlie ber to be aware, count those few
259
beautiful moments when you were that it is not only possible, it is very And once you fail in something
crystal clear and aware. Those few easily possible. Just begin in the like awareness - it is not a small
moments are enough to save you, right way. Just don't start from failure - perhaps you will not try it
are enough to cure you, to heal you. XYZ; start from ABC. again, ever. The failure hurts.
And if you pay attention to them, In life, we go on missing many So anything that is as valuable as
they will go on growing and things because of wrong starts. Ev- awareness - because it can open all
spreading in your consciousness. erything should be started from the the doors of the mysteries of exis-
Slowly, slowly the whole darkness very beginning. Our minds are im- tence, it can bring you to the very
of unawareness will disappear. patient; we want to do everything temple of God - you should start
In the beginning you will also find quickly. We want to reach the high- very carefully and from the very
many times that perhaps it is not est point without passing through beginning and move very slowly.
possible to be working and to be every rung of the ladder. Just a little patience and the goal is
aware together. But I say unto you But that means an absolute failure. not far away. '^
260
Make Things as
Simple as Possible
How can I tell the One has to start watching your moods, the watcher is so
difference between one the body walking, sitting, strong that it can remain itself -
part of the mind watching going to bed, eating. One watching itself, just as a candle in
another part of the mind, should start from the most solid be- the dark night not only lights ev-
and the watcher. Can the cause is easier.
it And then one erything around it, it also lights it-
watcher watch itself? should move to subtler exp)eri- self.
One time, I thought I had ences. One should start watching To find the watcher in its purity is
got and then that same

it, thoughts. And when one becomes the greatest achievement in spiritu-
day I heard you say in an expert in watching thoughts, ality, because the watcher in you is
discourse, "If you think then one should start watching your very soul, the watcher in you
you've got the watcher, feelings. After you feel that you is your immortality. But never for a
you've missed." can watch your feelings, then you single moment think, "1 have got
Since then, I've tried should start watching your moods, it," because that is the moment
watching feelings in the which are even more subtle than when you miss.
body, thoughts and
your feelings, and more vague. Watching is an eternal process; you
emotions. Mostly, I'm
The miracle of watching is that as always go on becoming deeper and
just caught in them,
you are watching the body, your deeper, but you never come to the
but, once in a while,
watcher is becoming stronger; as end where you can say "I have got
rarely, I feel
you are watching the thoughts, it." In fact, the deeper you go, the
tremendously relaxed,
your watcher becoming stronger; more you become aware that you
and nothing stays - it just is
as you are watching the feelings, have entered into a process which
keeps moving. Is there
the watcher is becoming even more is eternal - without any beginning
anything to do?
strong. When you are watching and without any end.
261
But people are watching only oth- 'Then why did you bring it in the Watch your body, and you will be
ers; they never bother to watch first place?" surprised. I can move my hand
themselves. Everybody is watching "I did not think it would rain." without watching, and I can move
- that is the most superficial watch- You can laugh very easily about my hand with watching. You will
ing - what the other person is do- ridiculous acts of people, but have not see the difference, but I can feel
ing, what the other person is wear- you ever laughed about yourself? the difference. When move I it with
ing, how he looks. Everybody is Have you ever caught yourself do- watchfulness, there is a grace and
watching; watching is not some- ing something ridiculous? No, you beauty in it, a peacefulness, and a
thing new to be introduced in your keep yourself completely un- silence. You can walk watching
life. It has only to be deepened, tak- watched; your whole watching is each step, it will give you all the
en away from others and arrowed about others, and that is not of any benefit that walking can give you
towards your own inner feelings, help. as an exercise, plus it will give you
thoughts, moods - and finally, the Use this energy of watchfulness for the benefit of a great simple medi-
watcher itself. a transformation of your being. It tation.
A Jew is sitting in a train opposite a can bring you so much bliss and so TTie temple in Bodhgaya where
priest. much benediction that you cannot Gautam Buddha became enlight-
'Tell me, your worship, why do even dream about it. A simple pro- ened has been made in memory of
you wear your collar back to cess, but once you using it on
start two things - one is a Bodhi tree un-
front?" yourself, it becomes a meditation. der which he used to sit. Just by the
"Because I am a father," answers One can make meditations out of side of the tree there are small
the priest. anything. stones for a slow walk. He was
"Iam also a father, and don't wear 1 Anything that leads you to yourself meditating, sitting, and when he
my collar like that," says the Jew. is meditation. And it is immensely would feel that sitting had been too
"Ah," says the priest, "but am a I significant to find your own medi- much - a little was needed
exercise
father to thousands." tation, because in the very finding for the body - he would walk on
"Then maybe," replies the Jew, "it you will find great joy. And be- those stones. That was his walking
is your trousers you should wear cause it is your own - not
finding meditation.
back to front." some ritual imposed upon you - When was 1 in Bodhgaya, having a
you will love to go deeper into it. meditation camp there, I went to
People are very watchful about ev- The deeper you go into it, the hap- the temple. I saw Buddhist lamas
erybody else. pier you will feel - peaceful, more from Tibet, from Japan, from Chi-
Two Polacks went out for a walk silent, more together, more digni- na. They were all paying their re-
when suddenly it began to rain. fied, more graceful. spect to the tree, and I saw not a
"Quick," said one man, "open your You all know watching, so there is single one paying his respect to
umbrella." no question of learning it, it is just a those stones on which Buddha had
"It won't help," said his friend, "my question of changing the objects of walked miles and miles. I told
umbrella is full of holes." watching. Bring them closer. them, 'This is not right. You
262
should not forget those stones. will sharpen your consciousness. the Buddhist scriptures there are
They have been touched by Gau- This is the essential religion - all thirty-three thousand principles to
tam Buddha's feet millions of else is simply talk. But you ask me, be followed by a Buddhist monk;
times. But I know why you are not "Is there something more?" No, if even to remember them is impossi-
paying any attention to them, be- you can do only watchfulness, ble. Just the very number thirty-
cause you have forgotten complete- nothing else is needed. three thousand is enough to freak
ly that Buddha was emphasizing My effort here is to make religion you out: "I am finished! My whole
that you should watch every act of as simple as possible. All the reli- life will be disturbed and de-
your body: walking, sitting, lying gions have done just the opposite: stroyed." I teach you: just find a
down." they have made things very com- single principle that suits you, that
You should not let a single moment plex - so complex that people have feels in tune with you - and that is
go by unconsciously. Watchfulness never tried them. For example, in enough, lo
263
Witnessing Like Is
Sowing Seeds
How does watching Meditation covers a very You can prepare the whole ground,
lead to no-mind? long pilgrimage. When I but the flowers will come on their
I am more and more able say "Meditation is wit- own accord.You cannot manage to
to watch my body, nessing," it is the beginning of force them to come. The spring is
my thoughts and feelings meditation. And when I say "Medi- beyond your reach. But if your
and this feels beautiful. tation is no-mind," it is the comple- preparation is perfect, spring
But moments of tion of the pilgrimage. Witnessing comes. That is absolutely guaran-
no thoughts is the beginning, and no-mind is teed.
are few and far between. the fulfillment. Witnessing is the The way you are moving is per-
When I hear you saying method to reach to no-mind. fectly good. Witnessing is the path
"Meditation Naturally you will feel witnessing and you are starting to feel a
is witnessing," easier. It is close to you. But wit- thoughtless moment once in a

understand.
I feel I nessing is only like seeds and then while. These are glimpses of no-
But when you talk about is the long waiting period - not mind, but just for a moment.
'no-mind', only waiting, but trusting that this Remember one fundamental law:
it doesn't sound easy at seed is going to sprout, that it is that which can exist just for a mo-
all. Would you going to become a bush, that one ment, can also become eternal, be-
please comment? day the spring will come and the cause you are given always one
bush will have flowers. No-mind is moment - not two moments to-
the last stage of flowering. And if you can transform
gether.
Sowing the seeds is of course very one moment into a thoughtless

easy. It is within your hands. But state, you are learning the secret.
bringing the flowers is beyond you. Then there is no hindrance why
264
you cannot change. The second anger flashing on the screen of the you lustful, because there is no dis-
moment will also come alone with mind within me," you are not giv- tance at all. They are so close that
the same potential and the same ca- ing any life, any juice, any energy you are bound to think that you and
pacity. to anger any more. You will be able your thoughts are one.
If you know the secret, you have to see that because you are not Watching destroys this oneness and
the master key which can open ev- identified. The anger is absolutely creates a separation. The more you
ery moment into a glimpse of no- impotent, has no impact on you, watch, the bigger is the distance;
mind. No-mind is the final stage, does not change you, does not af- the bigger the distance, the less en-
when mind disappears forever, and fect you. It is absolutely hollow and ergy your thoughts are getting from
gap becomes your
the thoughtless dead. It will pass on and it will you and they don't have any other
intrinsic reality. If these few leave the sky clean and the screen source.
glimpses are coming, they show of the mind empty. Soon they start dying, disappear-
you are on the right path and you Slowly, slowly, you Start getting out ing. In these disappearing moments
are using the right method. of your thoughts. That's the whole you will have the first glimpses of
But don't be impatient. Existence process of witnessing and watching. no-mind - as you are experiencing.
needs immense patience. The ulti- In other words, George Gurdjieff You say, "1 am more and more able
mate mysteries are opened only to used to call it 'non-identification'. to watch my body, my thoughts and
those who have immense patience. You are no more identifying with feelings. And this feels beautiful."
Once a man is in a state of no- your You are

thoughts. simply This is only just the beginning.
mind, nothing can distract him from standing aloof and away - indiffer- Even the beginning is immensely
his being. There is no power bigger ent, as if they may be anybody's beautiful. Just to be on the right
than the power of no-mind. No thought. You have broken your path, even without taking a single
harm can be done to such a person. connections with them. Only then step, will give you immense joy for
No attachment, no greed, no jeal- can you watch them. no reason at all.
ousy, no anger, nothing can arise in Watching needs a certain distance. And once you start moving on the
him. No-mind is absolutely a pure If you are identified, there is no dis- right path, your blissfulness, your
sky without any clouds. tance, they are too close. It is as if beautiful experiences are going to
You say, "How does watching lead you are putting the mirrors too become more and more deep, more
to no-mind? " There is an intrinsic close to your eyes - you cannot see and more wide with new nuances,
law: thoughts don't have their own your face. A certain distance is with new fiowers. with new fra-
life. They are parasites. They live needed, only then can you see your grances.
on your identification with them. face in the mirror. You say, "But moments of no-
When you say, "1 am angry," you If thoughts are too close to you, you thoughts are few and far between."
are pouring life energy into anger, cannot watch, you become im- It is a great achievement, because
because you are getting identified pressed and colored by your people don't know even a single
with anger thoughts. Anger makes you angry, gap. Their thoughts are always in a
But when you say, "1 am watching greed makes you greedy, lust makes rush hour Thoughts upon thoughts.
265
bumper to bumper. The line contin- path without any fear that you can simply means that the mind is put
ues - whether you are awake or go wrong. aside. You can bring it into action
asleep. What you call your dreams These inner experiences will keep any moment you need to communi-
are nothing but thoughts in the form you always on the right path. Just cate with the world, then it will be
of pictures, because the uncon- remember that they are growing. your servant. Right now, it is your
scious mind does not know alpha- That means you are moving. Now master. Even when you are sitting
betical languages. you have only a few moments of alone, it goes on: yakkety-yak,
What you are feeling is a great indi- thoughtlessness. It is not a simple yakkety-yak, and you cannot do
cation that you are on the right path. attainment, it is a great achievement anything. You are so utterly help-
It is always a question for the seeker because people in their whole life less.
whether he is moving in the right di- know not even a single moment No-mind simply means that the
rection or not. There is no security, when there is no thought. These mind has been put in its right place.
no insurance, no guarantee. All the gaps will grow. As you will become As a servant, it is a great instru-
dimensions are open; how are you more and more centered, more and ment. As a master, it is very unfor-
going to choose the right one? more watchful, these gaps will start tunate. It is dangerous. It will de-
These are the ways and the criterion growing bigger and the day is not stroy your whole life.
ofhow one has to choose. If you far if you go on moving without Mind is only a medium when you
move on any path, any methodolo- looking back, without going astray. want to communicate with others.
gy, and it brings joy to you, more If you keep going straight, the day But when you are alone, there is no
sensitivity,more watchfulness and is not far away, when you will feel need of the mind. So whenever you
gives a feeling of immense well-be- for the first time that the gaps have want to use it, you can use it. And
ing, this is the only criterion that become so big that hours pass and remember one thing more: when
you are going on the right path. If not even a single thought arises. the mind remains silent for hours, it
you become more miserable, more Now you are having bigger experi- becomes fresh, young, more cre-
angry, more egoist, more greedy, ences of no-mind. ative, more sensitive, rejuvenated
more lustful, those are the indica- The ultimate achievement is when through rest.
tions you are moving on a wrong you are surrounded with no-mind Ordinary people's minds start
path. for twenty-four hours. That does somewhere around three or four
On the right path your blissfulness not mean that you cannot use your years of age and then they go on
is going to grow more and more ev- mind. That is a fallacy propounded continuing for seventy years,
ery day. And your experiences of by those who know nothing about eighty years without any holiday.
beautiful feelings will become no-mind. Naturally they can not be very cre-
tremendously psychedelic, more No-mind does not mean that you ative. They are utterly tired, and
colorful, colors that you have never cannot use the mind. It simply tired with rubbish. Millions of peo-
seen in the world, fragrances that means that the mind cannot use ple in the world live without any
you have never experienced in the you. No-mind does not mean that creativity. And creativity is one of
world. Then you can walk on the the mind is destroyed. No-mind the greatest blissful experiences.
266
But their minds are so tired. They will feel it in your heart: the self- moving immediately towards lower
are not in a state of overflowing en- evident truth. spaces and finally they are bound
ergy. You say, "When I hear you say to find the ocean.
The man of no-mind keeps the 'meditation is witnessing,' I feel I Just the reverse is the process of
mind in rest, full of energy, im- understand. But when you talk meditation - it moves upwards to
mensely sensitive, ready to jump about no-mind, it doesn't sound higher peaks. And the ultimate
into action the moment it is ordered. easy at all." How can it sound easy? peak is no-mind. No-mind is a sim-
It is not a coincidence that the peo- It is your future possibility. Medita- ple word, but it exactly means en-
ple who have experienced no-mind tion you have started, it may be in lightenment, liberation, freedom
...their words start having a magic the beginning stages, but you have from all bondage, the experience of
of their own. When they use their a certain experience of it that makes deathlessness and immortality.
mind, it has a charisma, it has a you understand me. But if you can Those are big words and I don't
magnetic force. It has tremendous understand meditation, don't be want you to be frightened. So I
spontaneity and the freshness of the worried at all. Meditation surely use a simple word: no-mind. You
dew-drops in the early moming be- leads to no-mind, just as every river know the mind. You can conceive a
fore the sun rises. And the mind is moves towards the ocean without state when this mind will be non-
nature's greatest evolved medium any maps, without any guides. functioning.
of expression and creativity. Every river without exception final- Once this mind is non-functioning,
So the man of meditation, or in oth- ly reaches to the ocean. Every med- you become part of the mind of the
er words, the man of no-mind, itation, without exception finally cosmos, the universal mind. When
changes even his prose into poetry. reaches to the state of no-mind. you are part of the universal mind
Without any effort - his words be- But naturally when the Ganges is in your individual mind functions as a
come so full of authority that they the Himalayas wandering in the beautiful servant. It has recognized
don't need any arguments, they be- mountains and in the valleys, it has the master. And it brings news from
come their own arguments. The no idea what the ocean is, cannot the universal mind to those who are
force that they carry becomes a conceive the existence of ocean, but still chained by the individual mind.
self-evident truth. There is no need it is moving towards the ocean be- When I am speaking to you, it is in
for any other support from logic or cause water has the intrinsic capaci- fact the universe using me. My
from scriptures. The words of a ty of always finding the lowest words are not my words. They be-
man of no-mind have an intrinsic place, and the oceans are the lowest long to the universal truth. That is
certainty about them. And if you place. So the rivers are bom on the their power, that is their charisma,
are ready to receive and listen, you peaks of the Himalayas and start that is their magic, n
267
ti
QUESTIONS TO THE NiAS:"ER
Witnessing
Is Enough
I have always heard You There is nothing else to do not the time to enter into the house.
say. "Stop doing. ^^ atch." \\i\b this unruly servant \M>en the lights are off. thieves are
Several times lately but just to watch. Appar- attracted to the house. Darkness
I've heard You say ently it ap^>ears too simple a solu- becomes an invitation. As Gautam
that the mind tion for too complex a problem. Buddha used to say. the same is the
should be the servant But this is p>art of the mysteries of situation about your thoughts,
instead of our master. existence. The problem ma> be too imaginations, dreams, anxieties.
It feels that comple.x. the solution can be ^ en \our whole mind.

there is nothing If the witness is there, the witness
to do except watch. -. •;"..•'.;>>..-. ^. being aware is almost like the light These
But the question seem to be small \vords to solve thieves start dispersing. And if
still arises: the whole complexit\ of mind. these thieves find there is no wit-
is there anything to do Millions of years of heritage, tradi- ness, they Stan calling their broth-
with this unruly servant tion, conditioning, prejudice, how ers, and cousins and evervbody
but to watch? will the\ disappear just b> watch- saying. "Come on." It is as simple
ing? But they disappear. a phenomenon as the light The
As Gautam Buddha used to say. if nwmeni >ou bring the light in. the
the lights of the house are on. darkness disappears. You don"i
thieves don't come close to that ask, "Is just light enough for dark-
house - knowing that the master is ness to disappear?" Or. "'When we
awake because the light is showTi have brought the light will we
from the window s. from the doors. ha\ e to do something more for the
vou can see that the lieht is on. It is darkness to disappear "i^"
268
No, just the presence of the hght is the servant. Then things are in har- "Well," said the other tramp, "if
the absence of the darkness and the mony. Then the mind cannot go that is how you feel about it, why
absence of the Hght is the presence wrong. Then everything is existen- don't you go and find yourself a
of darkness. The presence of the tialiy relaxed, silent, flowing to- job?" "What!" said the first tramp
witness is the absence of the mind wards its destiny. in amazement, "and admit that I'm
and the absence of the witness is You don't have to do anything else a failure?"
the presence of the mind. but to watch. Mind has become accustomed to
So the moment you start watching, Paddy bought a parrot at an auc- being a master. It will take a little
slowly, slowly as your watcher be- tion. He asked the auctioneer: "I time to bring it to its senses. Wit-
comes sU"onger, your mind will behave spent a great deal of money nessing is enough. It is a very
come weaker. moment it real-
TTie for this parrot - are you sure he can silent process, but the conse-
izes that the watcher has come to talk?" The auctioneer replied, "Of quences are tremendously great.
maturity, the mind immediately sub- course I am sure; he was bidding There is no other method which
mits as a beautiful servant. It is a against you." can be better than witnessing as
mechanism. If the master has ar- Such is the unawareness of the far as dispersing the darkness of
rived, then the machine can be used. mind and such are the stupidities of the mind is concerned. In fact,
If the master is not there or is fast the mind. I have heard that the Irish there are one hundred twelve
asleep, then the machine goes on atheists - seeing that the theists methods of meditation. I have
working things, whatsoever it can have started a dial-a-prayer service gone through all those methods -
do on its own. There is nobody to - also started one although they are not intellectually. It took me years
give orders, there is nobody to say: atheists. The competitive mind... to go through each method and to
"No, stop. That thing has not to be they have also started a dial-a- find out its very essence.
done." Then the mind is slowly prayer service. When you phone And after going through one hun-
convinced that it itself is the master them up, nobody answers. dred twelve methods, I was amazed
and for thousands of years, it has Two tramps were sitting by a camp that the essence is witnessing; the
remained your master. fire one night. One of them was methods' non-essentials are differ-
So when you try to be a witness, it very depressed. "You know Jim," ent, but the center of each is wit-
fights, because it is a question of he mused, "the life of a tramp is not nessing.

survival of the mind. It has com- as great as it is made out to be. Hence I can say to you, there is
pletely forgotten that it is only a Nights on park benches, or in a cold only one meditation in the whole
servant. You have been so long ab- bam. Traveling on foot and always woHd and that is the art of witness-
sent - it does not recognize you. dodging the police. Being kicked ing. It will do everything - the
Hence the struggle between the wit- from one town to another Wonder- whole transformation of your being
ness and the thoughts. But final vic- ing where your next meal is coming - and it will open the doors of
tory is going to be yours, because from; being sneered at by your fel- Satyam. Shivam. Sundram: the
nature and existence both want you low man...." His voice trailed off truth, the godliness and the beauty
to be the master and the mind to be and he sighed heavily. of it all. I-
269
270
..
. . . .
REFERENCES
INTRODUCTION 1 Philosophia Ultima, Session 2.
NOTES TO THE READER 2. Hsin Hsin Ming, Session 3.
3. Philosophia Ultima, Session I.
4. Unio Mystica, Vol. I, Session 4.
5. The Guest, Session 6.
6. The Dhammapada. Vol. I, Session 2.
ABOUT MEDITATION 1 The Orange Book, p. 94.

2. The Rajneesh Bible, Vol. iV, Session 2.
3. The Rajneesh Upanishad, Session 3.

4. Light on the Path: Talks in the Himalayas.
5. The Search, Session 7.
6. The Book, Series I, pp. 87-88.
7. Beyond Enlightenment, Session 9.
8. The Psychology of the Esoteric, Session 2.
9. The Golden Future, Session 1.

1 1 The Search, Session 7.
12. Guida Spirituale, Session 15.
13. The Book, Series I, p. 230.
1 4. The Secret of Secrets, Vol. II, Session 3.

1 6. The Book, Series I, p. 28, 30.
17. Ibid., p. 30.
18. Ibid., p. 31.
1 9. The Book of the Books, Vol. II, Session 8.
THE SCIENCE OF MEDITATION 1 The Book of the Secrets, Vol. Ill, Session 15.
2. Tantra: The Supreme Understanding, Se.ssion 1
3. The Book of the Secrets, Vol. IV, Session 2.

4. The Book of the Secrets, Vol. Ill, Session 9.
6. The Book of the Secrets, Vol. I, Session I
7. The Book of Wisdom, Vol. I, Session 1
8. The Book of the Secrets, Vol. V, Session 1 1
9. The Book of the Secrets, Vol. V, Session 7.
271
REFERENCES
THE SCIENCE OF MEDITATION 10. The Secret of Secrets, Vol. 11. Session 1
11. Ibid.
1 2. Yoga: The Alpha and the Omega, Vol. Vi, Session 7.
1 3. Meditation:The Art of Ecstasy, Session 4.

14. The Great Zen Master Ta Hui, Session 20.
15. Ibid., Session 14.
16. Ancient Music in the Pines, Session 7.
17. A Cup of Tea, Letter 72.

18. The Book of Wisdom, Vol. 1, Session 9.
19. Yoga: The Science of the Soul, Vol 111, Session 10.
20. YAA-HOO! The Mystic Rose, Session 8.
21. The Hidden Splendor, Session 10.
22. The Book of Wisdom, Vol. II, Session 7.
23. Sermons in Stones, Session 4.
24. What Is, Is, What Ain't, Ain't, Session 10.
THE MEDITATIONS
Two Powerful Methods for Awakening
1 My Way: The Way of the White Clouds, Session 4.
2. Instructions currently in use at Osho Commune International, Poona, India.
3. Meditation: The Art of Ecstasy.
4. The Orange Book, pp. 29-30.
5. Ibid., pp. 132-136.
Dancing as a Meditation
2. Ibid., pp 143-145.
The Meditative Therapies

1 YAA-HOO! The Mystic Rose, Session 30.
3. Live Zen, Session 17.
4. The Supreme Doctrine, Session 1.
Anything Can Be a Meditation

1. The Orange Book, p. 64.
2. Ibid., pp. 23-26.
3. A Sudden Clash of Thunder, Session 9.
272
. ..
REFERENCES
THE MEDITATIONS 4. The Orange Book, p. 16.

5. The Secret of Secrets, Vol. II, Session 4.
Breath - a Bridge to Meditation

1. The Book of the Secrets, Vol. I, Session 3.
2. The New Dawn, Session 16.
6. Ibid.
7. Yoga: The Science of the Soul, Volume II, Session 95.
Opening the Heart

1, The Book, Series I, p. 634.
5, The Book of the Secrets, Vol. 1, Session 1 1
6. The Book of Wisdom, Vol. 1, Session 1
Inner Centering
1. Unio Mystica, Vol. I, Session 2.
2. The Book of Wisdom, Vol. II, Session 2.

3. The Book of the Secrets. Vol. III. Session 1.
4, Ibid., Session 5.
Looking Within
1. The Book of the Secrets, Vol. II. Session 5.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. The Secret of Secrets. Vol. I. Session 7.
Meditations on Light
1. The Book of the Secrets, Vol. IV, Session 1
2. The Secret of Secrets, Vol. II, Session 3. 1
3. The Book of the Secrets, Vol. IV. Session 1
5. The Book of the Secrets, Vol. III. Session 15.
273
REFERENCES
THE MEDITATIONS Meditations on Darkness

1. The Shadow of the Bamboo, Session 1 1
2. The Book of the Secrets. Vol. IV. Session 3.

3. Ibid.
Moving Energy Upwards

1. You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet, Session 7.
2. The Book of the Secrets, Vol. III. Session 15.
3. Ibid.
Listening to the Soundless Sound

1. The Secret of Secrets, Vol. I, Session 13.
2. The Orange Book, pp. 153-154
3. Ibid.
4. The Book of the Secrets, Vol. II, Session 1 1
5. Yoga: The Science of the Soul, Vol. Ill, Session 6.

7. The Book of the Secrets, Vol. II, Session 1 1
Finding the Space Within


4. The Orange Book p. 62-63.
5. Yoga: The Science of the Soul, Vol. Ill, Session 7.
6. Tantra: The Supreme Understanding, Session 4.
Entering into Death

1. The Revolution, Session 9.
3. Vedanta - Seven Steps to Samadhi, Session 15.
Watching with the Third Eye

2. Ibid., pp. 26-37
4. The Book of the Secrets, Vol. IV. Session 15.
5. The Secret of Secrets, Vol. I, Session 1 1
274
. .
REFERENCES
THE MEDITATIONS Just Sitting

1 . The Book of the Books. Vol. 1, Session 9.
2. Ibid.
3. The Omnge Book, pp. 114-115.
5. Roots and Wings, Session 10.
Rising in Love: A Partnership in Meditation

3. The Book of the Secrets, Vol. Ill, Session 1.
4. Ibid.
OBSTACLES TO MEDITATION 1 Light on the Path: Talks in the Himalayas.

2. The Discipline of Transcendence, Vol. IV, Session 3.

4. The Psychology of the Esoteric, Session 2.
5. A Sudden Clash of Thunder, Session 2.

6. Ancient Music In the Pines. Session 3.
7. Yoga: The Alpha and the Omega. Vol. VI. Session 6.
9. Ibid.
11. TheRebel, Session 17.
QUESTIONS TO THE MASTER 1 The Book of the Books, Vol. IV, Session 10.
2. Beyond Psychology, Session 8. 1
3. The True Sage, Session 5.

4. The Tantra Vision, Vol. I, Session 8.
5. The Rajneesh Upanishad, Session 10.
6. Ah, This!, Session 8.
7. Yoga: The Science of the Soul, Vol.111, Session 4.
8. Yoga: The Alpha and the Omega. Vol. IV, Session 10.
9. The Hidden Splendor, Session 1 1
10. The GoJden Future, Session 19.

1 1 Satyam-Shivam-Sundram. Session 7.
12. Ibid. Session 22.
275
COMPLETE LIST OF MED ITATI ONS
MEDITATION PAGE
Abdullah 97
Ascent of lifeenergy 1 139
Ascent of life energy 2 145
Atisha's heart meditation 91
Aum 151
Beginning and end of sound 160

Bom Again 53
Carry out inner darkness 134
Celebrating death 181
Center of sound 157
Center of the cyclone 100
Circle of love 209
Circle of love alone 213
Devavani 153
Dream mastery 76
Dynamic Meditation 33
Enter the clear sky 165

Entering into death 177
Feel 'I am' 105

Feel the absence of things 171
Finding the witness 187
Finding the real source 98
From head to heart 81
Golden Light Meditation 121

Gourishankar 185
Heart centering 89
Heart of light 123
Heart of peacefulness 85
Hollow Bamboo 173
Include everything 168

Inner circle 117
276
COMPLETE LIST OF MEDITATIONS
MEDITATION PAGE
Inner darkness 131
Jet-set, a meditation for the 170

Kundalini Meditation 43
Laughing Meditation 63
Looking as a whole 115
Looking at the tip of the nose 191
Mandala 186
Music as meditation 155
Mystic Rose Meditation 47
Nadabrahma Meditation 149
Nadabrahma for couples 150
Nataraj Meditation 57
No-Mind Meditation 53
Prayer Meditation 84
Running, Jogging and Swimming 61
Seeing etheric presence 125

Seeing within 113
Shaking in sex 211
Smoking Meditation 65
Throwing things out 78
To the very center of being 108
Touching as a feather 189
Translucent presence 127
Vipassana 69
Vipassana walk 71
Watching the gap in the breath 72

Watching the gap in the marketplace 74
Whirling 58
Who am I? 107
Zazen 199
277
OSHO
Most of US live out our lives in
the world of time, in memo-

ries of the past and anticipation of
the future. Only rarely do we
touch the timeless dimension of
the present - in moments of sud-
den beauty, or sudden danger, in
meeting with a lover or with the

surprise of the unexpected. Very
few people step out of the world
of time and mind,
and competitiveness, and begin to
live in the
its
world of the timeless.

ambitions
About Osho
And of those who do, only a few
have attempted to share their ex-
perience. Lao Tzu, Gautam Buddha,

Bodhidharma...or more recently, the world of past and future and and entered school, he was firmly
George Gurdjieff, Ramana Ma- discover for themselves the world grounded in a clarity and sense of
harshi, J. Krishnamurti.... They of eternity. himself that gave him the courage
are thought by their contem- From his earliest childhood in In- to challenge all attempts by his
poraries to be eccentrics or mad- dia, it was clear that Osho was not elders to shape his life according
men; after their death they are going to follow the conventions of to their own ideas of who he
called "philosophers". And in the world around him. He spent should be.
time they become legends - not the first seven years of his life He has never shied away from
flesh-and-blood human beings, with his maternal grandparents, controversy. For Osho. truth can-
but perhaps mythological repre- who allowed him a freedom to be not compromise, or it is no longer
sentations of our collective wish himself which few children enjoy. the truth. And truth is not a belief
to grow beyond the smallness and He was a solitary child, preferring but an experience. He never asks
trivia, the meaninglessness of our to spend long hours sitting quietly people to believe what he says,
everyday lives. by a lake, or exploring his sur- but rather to experiment and see
Osho is one who has discovered roundings on his own. The death for themselves whether what he is
the door to living his life in the of his maternal grandfather, he saying is true or not. And at the
timeless dimension of the present says, had a profound effect on his same time, he is relentless in find-
- he has called himself a "true ex- inner life, provoking in him a de- ing ways and means to expose be-
istentialist" - and he has devoted termination to discover that in life liefs for what they are - mere
his life to provoking others to which IS deathless. By the time he consolations to soothe our anxi-
seek this same door, to step out of joined his parents' growing family eties in the face of the unknown.
279
OSHO
and barriers to encountering a around Osho in Poona, India, and and witnessing known as medita-
mysterious and unexplored reality. the trickle of visitors from the tion.
After his enlightenment at the age West was soon to become a flood. By the end of the 1970s the com-
of twenty-one, Osho completed Many of the first Westerners who mune in Poona housed the largest
his academic studies and spent came were therapists who had therapy and growth center in the
several years teaching philosophy found themselves facing the limi- world, and thousands of people
at the University of Jabalpur. tations of Westem therapies and were coming to participate in ther-
Meanwhile, he traveled through- were seeking an approach that apy groups and meditations, to sit
out India giving talks, challenging could reach and transform the with Osho in his daily moming
orthodox religious leaders in pub- more profound depths of the discourse, and to contribute to the
lic debate, and meeting people human psyche. Osho encouraged life of the commune or to retum to
from all walks of life. He read ex- them to contribute their skills their countries and set up medita-
tensively, everything he could find to the commune, and worked tion centers there.
to broaden his understanding of closely with them to develop Between 1981 and 1985, the com-
the belief systems and psychology their therapies in the context of munal experiment found itself
or contemporary man. By the late meditation. in the United States, on a 126-

1960s Osho had begun to develop The problem with therapies devel- square-mile section of high desert
his uniquedynamic meditation oped in the West, he said, is that in eastern Oregon. Here, Osho was
techniques. Modem man, he said, they confine themselves to treating in a period of silence and isolation
was so burdened with the outmod- the mind and its psychology, while from the world, except for his
ed traditions of the past and the the East has long understood that daily drives into the surrounding
anxieties of modem-day living mind itself, or rather, our identifi- countryside. The primary empha-
that he must go through a deep cation with it, is the problem. The sis of commune life was the work
cleansing process before he could therapies can be useful - like the of building the City of Rajneesh-
hope to discover the thought-less, cathartic stages of the meditations puram. an "oasis in the desert". In
relaxed state of meditation. He be- he has developed - in unburdening a miraculously short time the com-
gan to hold meditation camps people of their repressed emotions mune had built housing for 5000
around India, giving talks to the and fears, and in helping people to people and had begun to reverse
participants and personally con- see themselves more clearly. But decades of damage to the abused
ducting sessions of the medita- unless we begin to detach our- and overgrazed earth, restoring
tions he had developed. selves from the mechanism of the creeks, building lakes and reser-
In the early 1970s, the first West- mind and its projections, desires voirs, developing a self-sufficient
emers began to hear of Osho, and and fears, we will climb out of one agriculture and planting thousands
joined the growing numbers of ditch only to fall into another of of trees.
Indians who had been initiated by our own invention. Therapy, there- Meditations and therapy programs
him into neo-sannyas. By 1974 a fore, must go hand in hand with in Rajneeshpuram were carried
commune had been established the process of disidentification on by Rajneesh International
280
m
OSHO
Meditation University. The modem them with a murderous zeal and Osho's whereabouts were kept se-
facilities built for the university, ruling the commune with an iron cret from his attorneys and he was
and its protected environment, en- hand. registered into an Oklahoma
abled a depth and expansion of its Around this time, Osho resumed prison under a false name. A pro-
programs which had not been pos- public speaking. He turned his at- gressive deterioration in his health
sible before. Longer courses and tention to Christianity, and its fun- following this period eventually
trainings were developed and at- damental values of obedience and led doctors to believe that he
tracted a broader range of partici- blind faith, its methods of guilt was poisoned during the two
pants, including many who were and repression, its manifestations days in Oklahoma, probably with
already established in the world of fanaticism and violence. He thallium.
and wanted to expand their profes- talked about freedom and respon- On the advice of his attorneys,
sional skills and understanding of sibility, and reverence for life. And who feared for his life, Osho al-
themselves. The annual festivals he sharply challenged the com- lowed himself to be deported from
held in July to celebrate "Master's mune's opponents to come and see the U.S. on minor immigration vi-
Day" drew as many as 20,000 the experiment for themselves, olations. He embarked on a world
people, to sit in Osho's presence and to pay more attention to up- tour, but pressure from the U.S.
and greet him on his daily drives. holding their own Constitution. State Department resulted in twen-
But the United States did not take Osho's secretary finally left the ty-one countries either denying
kindly to this new experiment commune, leaving behind a trail him entry altogether, or deporting
within its borders, and soon a vast of crimes and misdeeds, some him without explanation after a
array of government agencies, pri- against her enemies outside, but short stay. He returned to India in
vately-funded lobbying organiza- most against the residents of the mid- 1986, where he was immedi-
tions and fundamentalist Chris- commune itself. Local, state and ately joined by hundreds of disci-
tians had joined forces to try to federal officials used the opportu- ples and friends from around the
prevent Rajneeshpuram's contin- nity to move against the city world.
ued existence. Its residents were and commune structures, filing By January, 1987, Osho was back
subjected to verbal and physical charges against the corporations in Poona, giving talks twice a day.
abuse when they traveled outside and threatening to seize all their Within a few months the Poona
the city's boundaries, and the city assets. Osho was arrested and held commune had begun a full pro-
and various corporations within without bail and, in an attempt to gram of activities and was expand-
it were constantly engaged in discredit him and link him with ing far beyond its previous scope.
lengthy court battles and appeals. the crimes of his secretary, he was The standard of modem, air-con-
Osho's personal secretary, who taken across country on a prisoner ditioned facilities had been set in
had managed affairs during his pe- transport plane, shackled and in America, and Osho made it clear
riod of retirement from public life, chains. The five-hour journey was that the new Poona commune
began to take on the characteris- extended into five days, including should be a 21st-century oasis,
tics of her opponents, attacking a period of two days in which even in developing India. More
281
OSHO
and more people were coming discourses, and the periods of his am saying, it will survive.... The
from the East - from Japan, partic- absence grew longer. In mid- 1988 people who remain interested in
ularly - and their presence brought he introduced a new element into my work will be simply carrying
a corresponding enrichment of the his discourses, guiding his audi- the torch, but not imposing any-
healing and martial arts programs. ence into a three-stage meditation thing on anyone. . ..
The visual and performing arts at the end of each of his talks. In
I will remain a source of inspira-
also flourished, along with the April of 1989 he delivered his last
tion to my people. And that's
new "Mystery School". This di- discourse, answering questions
what most sannyasins will feel. I
versification and expansion was and commenting on Zen sutras.
want them to grow on their own -
reflected in Osho's choice of the For the following months, when-
qualities like love, around which
name "Multiversity" as the um- ever his health permitted he would
no church can be created, like
brella for all the programs. come in the evening to sit with his
awareness, which is nobody's
And the emphasis on meditation disciples and friends in a medita-
monopoly; like celebration, re-
grew even stronger - it was a con- tion of music and silence, after
joicing, and maintaining fresh,
stantly recurring theme in Osho's which he would retire to his room
childlike eyes. . ..
discourses, and he developed and and the assembly would watch

introduced several new medita- one of his videotaped discourses. I want my people to know them-
tion therapies, including No- Osho left his body on January 19, selves, not to be according to
Mind, the Mystic Rose, and Bom 1990. Just a few weeks before that someone else. And the way is in.
Again. time, he was asked what would

In the middle of 1987, Osho grad- happen to his work when he was Before he left his body, Osho
ually began to withdraw from gone. He said: dictated the inscription for his
public activities. His fragile health Samadhi, the marble and mir-
often prevented him from giving My trust in existence is absolute. rored-glass crypt containing his
If there is any truth in what I ashes. It says:
OSHO
Never Bom - Never Died
Only Visited this Planet Earth
between
December 11, 1931 -January 19, 1990
282
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING
AT THE FEET OF THE MASTER THE EMPTY BOAT

TALKS ON THE STORIES OF CHUANC TZU
This handsome volume of Osho's words, illustrated with
black and white photos of Osho and sannyasins in the

Osho revitalizes the 3000-year-old Taoist message of self
realization through the stories of the Chinese mystic,
Commune, is a compilation from thirty published darshan
diaries. Osho speaks directly to individuals, addressing

Chuang Tzu. He speaks about the state of egolessness,
"the empty boat"; about spontaneity, dreams and

issues concerned with their personal growth. What is a
disciple? ^X/llat is a master? What does it mean to take

wholeness; about living life choicelessly and meeting
sannyas ? Tliese and innumerable other aspiects of the death with the same equanimity. Set in a poetic format,
search, as relevant today as ever, are covered.

this series overflows with the wisdom of one who is an
empty boat Himself
THE BOOK OF WISDOM

DISCOURSES ON ATISHA'S SEVEN POINTS OF MIND TRAINING THE HIDDEN HARMONY
2 VOLUMES COMBINED
According to Osho, if Heraclitus had been bom in India
"TTiese Seven Points of Mind Training are the
rather than Greece, he would have been recognized as not
fundamental teaching that he (AtishaJ gave to Tibet,"
simply a philosopher but as a mystic. Further, He says that
Osho states. "They are of immense value. They are the
if Heraclitus had been accorded his rightful status, the
whole of religion condensed. They are like seeds; they
whole course of Western history would have been totally
contain much. The moment you move into them deeply,
different.
when you contemplate and meditate and start
Though only fragments remain of his words, Osho finds in
experimenting with them, you will be surprised - you will
them a poetry that is refreshing in its simplicity and
be going into the greatest adventure of your life."
clarity. Through this series of eleven discourses, Osho acts
COME, COME, YET AGAIN COME
as a via media to this mystic of twenty-five centuries ago.
Osho's invitation echoes the words of the Sufi mystic,
Jalaluddin Rumi: "Come, come, whoever you are; wander-

er, worshiper, lover of learning, it does not matter. Ours is A MUST FOR MORNING CONTEMPLATION
not a caravan of despair. Come, even if you have broken A MUST FOR CONTEMPLATION BEFORE SLEEP
your vow a thousand times. Come, come, yet again come." 2 VOLUMES
Seekers from all over the world bring their questions to Excerpts from talks Osho has given to His disciples and
Osho: "Why do your sannyasins celebrate death?" "What other seekers during darshan, the intimate evening
does it mean when a woman says she is afraid of a man.'" meetings He conducted for many years. These books are
"Why is it so difficult for me to laugh?" And dozens of divided into twelve months, of thirty-one days each, and
others. And Osho, indefatigably loving, just keeps on the passages have been designed to be read
giving. chronologically rather than randomly.
283
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING
Osho's suggestion is, on first awakening, to read the

passage designated for that morning before one's mind
becomes engaged in the day's activities; and similarly, in
the evening, to read the assigned passage just before going
to sleep. As He explains, the words of a mystic are not
theories to accept or reject, they are fingers pointing
towards the transcendental.
MY WAY, THE WAY OF THE WHITE CLOUDS

A comprehensive introduction to the world of Osho. In
an intimate setting He responds directly to spontaneous
questions on happiness and misery, relationship and

aloneness, ego and consciousness, energy and sex, love
and prayer, logic and madness, meditation and surrender,

enlightenment and the master-disciple relationship.
Books by Osho are available from all good bookshops. If you have difficulty
obtaining the book you want, please write to either address listed in the back
for your nearest bookshop or distributor.
For a complete catalog of Osho's books or to have your name added to
our mailing list, just send us your name and address and you will receive
information about forthcoming titles.
284
OSHO COMMUNE INTERNATIONAL
The Osho Commune International in Poona, India, is the world's largest

meditation and growth center. It is the meeting place and spiritual home of
hundreds of thousands of people from nearly every country in the world. Guided by
the vision of the enlightened master Osho, the Commune might be described as a
laboratory, an experiment in creating a "New Man" - who lives in harmony with

himself and his environment, and who is free from all ideologies and belief systems
which now divide humanity.
The Commune's Osho Multiversity offers hundreds of workshops, groups and

trainings, presented by its nine different faculties:
Osho School for Centering

Osho School of Creative Arts
Osho International Academy of Healing Arts
Osho Meditation Academy
Osho School of Mysticism
Osho Institute of Tibetan Pulsing
Osho Center for Transformation

Osho School of Zen Martial Arts
Osho Academy of Zen Sports and Fitness
All these programs are designed to help people to find the knack of
meditation: the passive witnessing of thoughts, emotions, and actions, without
judgment or identification. Unlike many traditional Eastern disciplines, meditation
at Osho Commune is an inseparable part of everyday life - working, relating or just
being. The result is that people do not renounce the world but bring to it a spirit of
awareness and celebration, in a deep reverence for life.
For information about visiting the Commune or participating in its programs,

see our overleaf.
285
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Music to support and guide many of Osho's meditations has been composed with
His guidance, and is available on cassette and CD. For information about
where to order this music, and for more information about Osho,
His meditations, books and tapes, contact:
Osho America
P.O. Box 12517 • Scottsdale, Arizona 85267-2517
1-800-777-7743 • E-mail: osho_america@osho.org
Osho International
24 St. James's Street, London, SWIA IHA

Osho Commune International
17 Koregaon Park, Poona 41 1 001, India
Also see:
http://www.osho.org
286
j
\^6no, the philosopher and spiritual leader
who rose to prominence in the sixties and
seventies, continued teaching and guiding

devoted followers up until his death in 1990.
Many of Osho's techniques have been pre-
served by the Osho Foundation, which con-
tinues to practice and spread Osho's teachings.
Cover design by L2 Design
Jacket photography by Susan DaboU
^ I . 1 11 u rt i n J f-^r e S 6
175 Fifth Avenue •New York, NY. looio
Distributed by McClelland <t Stevân Inc. in Canada
PRINTED IN THE U. S. A.
CyjAo J words on tke diiclpClne of meditation
Meditation is an adventure, the greatest adventure the

human mind can undertake. Meditation is just to be,
not doing anything— no action, no thought, no emo-

tion. You just are and it is a sheer delight. From where
does this delight come when you are not doing anything?
It comes from nowhere, or it comes from everywhere.
It is uncaused, because existence is made
of the stuff called joy!
Meditation is not an Indian method; it is not simply a

technique. You cannot learn it. It is a growth: a growth
of your total living, out of your total living. Meditation
is not something that can be added to you as you are.
It cannot be added to you; it can only come to you

through a basic transformation, a mutation. It is a flow-
ering, a growth. Growth is always from the total; it is
not an addition. Just like love, it cannot be added to you.
It grows out of you, out of your totality.

You must grow towards meditation.

Meditation - The First and Last Freedom

Încărcat de

Informații document

Drepturi de autor

Formate disponibile

Partajați acest document

Partajați sau inserați document

Opțiuni de partajare

Vi se pare util acest document?

Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

Meditation - The First and Last Freedom

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

A PRACTICAL GUIDE

THE FIRST AND LAST FREEDOM

^-^-^ The way to understand and experi-

ence these states is through discipline of mind

tude. The construction of the techniques may

to sixty-three meditation techniques, select-

ed by and/ or created by Osho. The techniques

and Hindu practices to Osho's own systems,

the outmoded traditions of the past and dis-

tracted by the particular anxieties of the pre-

sent, must go through a cleansing process

before he can enjoy the states necessary for

true meditation. So, in addition to classical

techniques, Osho guides the initiate through

This truly instructional and inspirational

ness in all activities.

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO MEDITATION

ST. MARTIN'S PRESS

Compilation by Swami Deva Wadud

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Osho compiled by Swami Deva Wadud.

BP605.R34M432 1996 %-9227

First Published by the Rebel Publishing House GmbH in Germany

ABOUT MEDITATION 2 What Is Meditation?

6 The Flowering of Meditation

18 Suggestions for Beginners

THE SCIENCE 24 Appreciate unawareness

THE MEDITATIONS 33 Two Powerful Methods for Awakening

45 Osho Meditative Therapies

51 The No-Mind Meditation

59 Anything Can Be a Meditation

THE MEDITATIONS 67 Breath - A Bridge to Meditation

79 Opening the Heart

111 Looking Within

119 Meditations on Light

123 Heart of light

129 Meditations on Darkness

THE MEDITATIONS 134 Carry out inner darkness

137 Moving Energy Upwards

145 The ascent of life energy 2

147 Listening to the Soundless Sound

163 Finding the Space Within

175 Entering into Death

183 Watching with the Third Eye

186 Mandala Meditation *

187 Finding the witness

THE MEDITATIONS 197 Just Sitting

205 Rising in Love: A Partnership in Meditation

OBSTACLES 216 The Two Difficulties

225 False Methods

229 Tricks of the Mind

QUESTIONS 234 Only a witness can really dance

COMPLETE LIST OF 276

ABOUT OSHO 279

SUGGESTED FURTHER 283

OSHO COMMUNE 285

The enlightened master Osho

lion for the sake of man's freedom

lated? Yet the subtle connection

when our mind is chattering to it- However, we often are confused by

be around you. yond our imagination. This master

"Your inner being is you can see your dreams,

using this book as a guide in

read it from cover to cover before