| 
Part V : Osho's New Dynamic Meditation Technique
In April 1970 Osho introduces a revolutionary cathartic meditation
technique, which he calls Dynamic Meditation. In May at Nargol
Meditation Camp, Osho leads experiments in this new meditation
to awaken kundalini energy. This becomes a source of controversy.
Osho continues fine-tuning this technique until 1973 (see p.).
Dynamic Meditation becomes his world-famous meditation technique.
There are two ways: either relax directly as Tao implies, or
relax indirectly as the Upanishads say. Create the tension to
its ultimate, and then there will be relaxation. And I think the
Upanishads are more helpful, because we are tense and we understand
the meaning, the language, the ways of tension. Tell someone suddenly
to relax and he cannot....
I was working for ten years continuously with Taoist methods,
so I was continuously teaching direct relaxation. It was simple
for me so I thought it would be simple for everyone. Then, by
and by, I became aware that it is impossible. I was in a fallacy:
it was not possible. I would say, "Relax!" to those
I was teaching. They would appear to understand the meaning of
the word, but they could not relax. Then I had to devise new methods
for meditation which create tension first - more tension.
They create such tension that you become just mad. And then I
say, "Relax."
When you have come up to the climax, your whole body, your whole
mind, becomes hungry for relaxation. With so much tension, you
want to stop, and I go on pushing you to continue, continue to
the very end. Do whatsoever you can do to create tensions, and
then, when you stop you just fall down from the peak into a deep
abyss. The abyss is the end, the effortlessness is the end, but
the Upanishads use tension as the means. ultas107
Osho leads the new meditation technique:
Please sit or stand apart. Keep a little distance from one an
other so that those of you who want to lie down may do so comfortably.
No one will talk, there will be no chit chatting at all.
You will sit quietly and no one will sit close to another. There
is plenty of space here, so don't be miserly. It would unnecessarily
spoil everything if someone falls on you in the midst of meditation.
Keep apart. Sit or lie down... Take your position as is convenient
for you... Close your eyes... And do as I ask you to do.
First Stage: Ten minutes deep breathing
Close your eyes and begin breathing deeply. Inhale as much as
you can, and exhale as much as you can. Put all your energy into
inhaling and exhaling deeply, breathing in and breathing out.
Breathe in deeply and breathe out deeply. Become breathing itself.
And exert yourself fully. The deeper the breathing in and out,
the greater the possibility for the latent energy to awaken. Breathe
in a deep breath and breathe out a deep breath. Breathe in and
breathe out...Take a deep breath in and take a deep breath
out and continue the process for a full ten minutes. You become
a breathing machine, and nothing more. You are only breathing
in and breathing out for ten minutes. Then I will give you the
second sutra, the second stage. It will form the second stage
of today's meditation. So for the first ten minutes work hard
with deep breathing...
Take a deep breath in and throw it out deeply...Exert yourselves
fully. Just become a breathing machine, a bellows that pulls the
air in and throws it out vigorously and continuously...Let
every fiber of your body vibrate with breathing. Breathe in deeply
and breathe out deeply. Deeply and very deeply. Be come a breathing
instrument. Concentrate all of your attention and all of your
energy on breathing and on breathing alone. Take deep breath in
and take deep breath out. And watch that now a deep breath is
coming in and now a deep breath is going out. Breathe and also
observe that you are breathing and breathing deeply. Remain a
witness. Keep witnessing that breath is going in and going out.
Bring all your attention to deep breathing; bring all your energy
to deep breathing. Now I am going to be silent for ten minutes.
In the meantime you continue taking deep breaths in and throwing
deep breaths out. And watch from inside that breaths are going
in and going out regularly and constantly and vigorously....
Second Stage: Ten minutes' catharsis
In this stage you have to let go of your body completely. Breathe
in and breathe out deeply and leave the body free. Let it cry
if it feels like crying. If tears well up let them well up. Let
your eyes shed tears...If your hands and feet tremble, let
them do so. If the body shakes and moves and whirls, let it do
so freely. If it stands up and begins to dance, leave it free
to stand up and dance. Take deep breaths and let go of your body.
Whatever happens to the body let it happen; don't come in its
way...Deep breathing, deep breathing, deep breathing. For
ten minutes continue deep breathing and relax the body. If the
body takes certain postures and gestures - asanas and mudras - allow
it to take them. If it rolls on the ground, allow it to do so.
Leave the body free and just remain a witness, a watcher. Don't
hinder the body in any way...
Continue deep breathing; bring your full energy to breathing,
and leave the body to itself. Whatsoever happens to the body,
let it. Don't hesitate; don't shirk, and don't shrink at all.
Don't resist the body in any way. And don't think of others. And
let go of the body. Many things will happen when the energy will
awaken and ascend. Tears will well up and fill your eyes, the
body will shake, the limbs will move and mudras will be formed.
The body may even rise up. Let everything happen. You are alone
here; there is nobody but you. Let go. Breathe deeply, breathe
deeply, breathe deeply. Work hard for one to two minutes, before
we enter the third stage. Bring it to its climax before we enter
the third stage....
Third Stage: Ask: "Who am I?"
Deep breathing will continue. Bodily movement will continue, and
to them add the third sutra. Ask within yourselves: "Who
am I? Who am I? Who am I?" Ask inside you, "Who am I?"
Let your every breath be filled with this one question, "Who
am I? Who am I?" Let breathing, deep and fast breathing continue,
and ask inside you, "Who am I?" Let the body continue
to move and sway and ask from within "Who am I?"
Keep asking this question without any interruption, let no gaps
occur in between. And pour all your energy into asking: "Who
am I?" For ten minutes squeeze all your strength into asking
it: "Who am I? Who am I? Who am I? Who am I? Who am I? Who
am I?" Madly ask the question, "Who am I? Who am I?
Who am I? Who am I? Who am I?" Ask it with all your being,
let the question reverberate through your whole being, "Who
am I?" Continue deep breathing, and let go of the body. Whatever
happens to it, allow it. And ask, "Who am I? Who am I?"
Exert your utmost for ten minutes; and then we will rest. So apply
your full strength..."Who am l? Who am I? Who am I?...
Use your total energy, don't spare yourselves, don't withhold
yourselves in the least. Exert yourselves totally. Breathe deeply,
breathe deeply, breathe deeply, breathe deeply, breathe deeply.
And now drop all efforts and enter the fourth stage, the stage
of relaxation and rest.
Fourth Stage: 10 minutes' total rest
Now no questions and no deep breathing. Drop everything, abandon
every effort. For these ten minutes keep lying as if you are dead,
as if you are not. Give up everything. For these ten minutes drop
all efforts and lie in waiting for him. Cease to do anything;
neither ask "Who am I?" nor breathe deeply. Just keep
lying - relaxed, restful. Listen to the roar of the sea. Listen
to the wind passing through the pines. If a bird calls, listen
to its sound. For ten minutes feel as if you are dead, as if you
don't exist.
And now open your eyes slowly, slowly. If your eyes don't open,
then cover them with your palms. Those who have fallen down and
who find it difficult to get up should first take deep but slow
breaths and then rise up. Don't be in a hurry, don't rise abruptly.
Get up slowly, very slowly. And if someone cannot rise even after
breathing, then he should stay lying a little longer and breathe
deeply but slowly. Then he should first sit up and then rise very
slowly. Open your eyes...One who cannot get up should further
breathe deeply but slowly, and then rise very gently. mirac103
Another friend has asked: You have talked of four stages of meditation.
Would you please explain them fully?
Firstly, you should know that the first three of them are merely
steps to meditation, not meditation itself. The fourth one is
meditation. The fourth is the door, while the other three are
doorsteps. Steps don't make for the door, they only lead to the
door. The fourth stage is the door to meditation which is relaxation
and rest, emptiness and void, surrender and cessation, dissolution
and death, or whatsoever you call it. That is the door, and the
first three steps take us to it.
And the fundamental principle behind the first three stages is
one. If one is to relax, he will have to pass through a state
of absolute tension; it is then that passage to relaxation becomes
easy enough. If a man works throughout the daytime, he can sleep
well in the night. The harder one works the deeper he sleeps.
One can argue that since sleep is the opposite of work, how can
he sleep who works hard? He should not be able to sleep, because
labor and rest are so opposed to each other. Logically sleep should
be available to one who rests the whole day in bed. But the truth
is that he will not be able to sleep at night if he rests in the
daytime.
That is why, as man's life is becoming increasingly comfortable,
his sleep has been disappearing from the world in the same measure.
The more comforts and leisure we have, the less sleep we will
have. And the irony is that we go on adding to our comforts in
the hope that they will help us sleep undisturbed. But the contrary
is the case. With the growth of civilization and leisure sleep
will disappear, because hard work is a prerequisite of sleep.
As one works so he sleeps. Similarly as one's tension mounts and
reaches its climax he easily slips into deep relaxation.
The first three steps seem to be completely contradictory to
the fourth, which is meditation. One may ask, how can anyone relax
after exerting so hard, after passing through peaks of tension
and turmoil touching on madness? I say, only then he can relax.
The truth is that relaxation follows tension as night follows
day, as the valley follows the peak. The higher the peak the deeper
the valley. The higher the hill you fall from, the deeper the
canyon you enter. Don't forget that every mountain has its valley.
In fact there cannot be a mountain without a valley. As the mountain
grows up it creates deep valleys all around it. That is how when
your tension grows, side by side you are gathering energy to relax
and rest. The higher the summit of tension the deeper the valley
of rest. That is the reason I ask you to bring all your energy
into it, to exert your best, to stake your all and not to withhold
yourself even a little bit. That is how you will reach the height
of tension and then descend into the bottomless pit of relaxation
and rest. And it is in that moment of absolute rest that meditation
happens.
The basic thing is that you should reach the peak of tension and
then drop tension altogether. mirac106
You ask: In your earlier teaching of meditation you always asked
us to be relaxed, still, silent and aware. And now in the course
of intense breathing and asking 'Who am I?" you exhort us
to bring all our efforts into it. So which of the two techniques
would be good?
There is no question of good and bad here. I understand your
point; it is not a question of good and bad. You have only to
find out which of the techniques gives you more peace and adds
to the momentum of your meditation. It cannot be the same for
everybody; they will experience it differently. There are people
who attain to relaxation only after they have run themselves into
the ground. And there are others who can go into relaxation instantly;
but they are few and far between. It is rather difficult to move
straight into silence; only a handful of people can do so. For
the majority of people it is necessary to go through a lot of
exertion and tension before they can relax. But the purpose in
both cases is the same - the final objective is the same.
It is relaxation. mirac109
All of us have suppressed much. We have not allowed ourselves
to cry and laugh; we have not allowed ourselves to run and play
and dance either. We have suppressed everything. We have closed
all our doors from inside, and we have become our own prisoners
and guards. We will have to open all our doors and windows if
we want to go out and meet God. But then fear will assail us,
because all that we have suppressed will surface. If you have
suppressed tears they will surface, and if you have suppressed
laughter, it will come up. Let them come out, and let them be
washed away.
We are here, in this solitary place, so that fear of people
will not affect us. And these pine trees will not be offended,
they will not say a thing. Rather they will be pleased with you.
And the waves of the ocean too will not take any offense. They
are not afraid of anything. They roar when they feel like roaring
and they go to sleep when they want to sleep. And so also these
sands here will have no objection whatsoever.
Let go of yourselves completely and let whatsoever happens inside
you happen. Don't resist. Dance if you feel like dancing, and
shout if you feel like shouting. If you feel like running, then
run. And even fall down if you feel like falling. Let go of yourself
in every way. And if you do so you will suddenly find that some
energy inside you has begun ascending in a spiral form, some force
has begun to wake up. And you will also find that all the closed
doors have begun to give way. Do not let any fears assail you
in that moment. Be totally one with that inner movement, with
the dance of that circular energy; lose yourself into them completely.
Then the thing may happen. mirac102
My understanding is that sooner or later, this meditation that
I am giving you is going to be a therapy of great significance,
and it will unavoidably become a way of treating the mentally
ill and restoring them to health. And if it be possible that every
child in the school goes through this meditation, he will be saved
from insanity for the whole of his life. He will never be mad;
he will be immune from this disease, because then he will be his
own master, master of his body mind. mirac111
In the same way the body has its own ways in different states
of meditation.
Try to understand it in this way. If you disturb a particular
position of the body, the corresponding state of the mind will
soon be disturbed accordingly. Or if somebody asks you to be angry
without the fists clenching, without the teeth gnashing and eyes
reddening, can you be angry? You simply cannot be angry. How can
you express anger without the cooperation of its corresponding
bodily organs? You cannot be angry if you are asked to do so without
letting it affect your body in any way. Similarly, if someone
asks you to love without letting your eyes be filled with love's
elixir, without letting its waves pass through your hands, without
your heartbeat quickening, without your breath being any different - in
short, without your body expressing your love in any manner, you
will say, "Excuse me, it is very difficult; I simply can
not do it."
So if during meditation your body begins to turn and twist in
a particular way and if you try to prevent it, you will damage
the inner state of meditation and then it cannot make any headway.
All the yogic asanas, bodily postures, have been made available
to men through different states of meditation. In the same way
the yogic mudras, or what we call gestures, were developed through
meditation. You must have come across many kinds of Buddha statues
wearing different yogic mudras. These mudras also came into being
through some particular state of the mind. And subsequently a
whole science of mudras was developed. Now it can be said from
your exterior, from your bodily mudras - provided you are
not acting and you are allowing yourself to be taken over by meditation.
It is happening to you internally.
Therefore please see that you don't come in their way or try to
stop them.
My understanding is that dance, in the beginning, was born out
of meditation. And I think all that is significant in life has
had its origin in meditation. Meera* did not have to go anywhere
to learn dancing. People are mistaken if they think that Meera
found God through dancing. Meera burst into dancing when she found
God. The fact is otherwise: no one finds God through dancing,
but one can dance if he finds God. What can a drop do but dance
when a whole ocean enters into it? What can a beggar do but dance
when he suddenly comes upon a treasure of infinite wealth?
But man has been so much crushed and crippled by civilization
that he cannot dance. My understanding is that if we have to make
the world once again religious, it would be necessary to regain
the natural state of man's life - his spontaneity, his ease.
So when meditative energy rises and your whole being begins to
dance, don't obstruct your body, don't suppress your bodily movements.
Otherwise all progress will be arrested, and that which was going
to happen will not happen. And we are a fear stricken people.
We say, "If I begin to dance what will my wife say who is
here? What will my son say who is sitting next to me?" We
say, "If I dance what will my husband think of me? He will
say that I have gone mad." If this fear is there, no progress
in the inner journey is possible.
Apart from bodily postures and gestures - asanas and mudras - many
other things happen. mirac102
*Note: Meera, enlightened devotee of the god Krishna, noted for
her dancing and singing
The experience of the awakening of the kundalini*, the primordial
energy, is a new experience greater than the child's, because
while the childbirth happens only at the level of the body, the
awakening of the kundalini happens at the level of the soul. It
is therefore, a totally new birth. It is for this reason that
we call him a brahmin who goes through this experience. Brahmin
is he who is twice born. He is also called dwij - one who
is twice born. *Note: After Nargol Meditation Camp, Osho answered
many esoteric questions about kundalini, chakras, psychic experiences,
the occult, etc. It is not possible to give many excerpts because
they need to be read in full, see: In Search of the Miraculous,
The Psychology of the Esoteric, Hidden Mysteries mirac101
And it is at the junction of the soul and the body, at their
meeting point, where the energy known as kundalini resides. Kundalini,
or whatever name you give it, is the same energy, and it resides
at the junction of the body and soul.
Therefore this energy has two forms. When this energy flows towards
the body, it becomes sex; and when it flows towards the soul,
it becomes kundalini or whatsoever you call it. And this energy
is descendent while moving to the body and it is ascendent while
moving to the soul. So while kundalini is an ascending energy,
sex is a descending one. But the seat of kundalini, the place
of its location, is hammered and moved by breathing, deep and
fast breathing. You will be surprised to know that you cannot
keep your breath tranquil while making love. Love-making brings
about an immediate change in the movement of the breath. No sooner
is one excited sexually, than breathing is stepped up. Because
unless breathing hits this center, sex energy cannot get moving
without being hit and stimulated by breathing, sexual intercourse
is impossible. The same way, samadhi or ecstasy is impossible
unless this kundalini is hit and stimulated by breathing.
Samadhi is the apex, the highest point of the ascending energy,
and the sex act is the nadir, the lowest point of the descending
energy. But the breathing works equally in both directions.
Deep breathing has a profound effect on the kundalini. Pranayama,
the science of yogic breathing, was not discovered unnecessarily.
Through long experiments and investigations and through enduring
experiences it was known that a great deal can be accomplished
with the help of breathing and its hammering on the kundalini.
Really a lot can be done through deep and fast breathing. And
the more intense and strong the hammering, the swifter the movement
of energy. And so far as we ordinary people are concerned, whose
kundalini has been asleep for countless lives, the need for intense
and hard hammering, hammering with all our strength is much greater.
Breathing hits the kundalini, the basic center of energy. And
as your experience will deepen you will clearly see even with
closed eyes the exact spot where it is hit by breathing. So it
often happens that with the hammering through deep breathing one
gets aroused sexually. It so happens because your body is acquainted
only with this experience, the experience of sex being aroused
through deep breathing. So as a matter of habit the body begins
to move in the familiar direction of sex whenever you breathe
deep and fast. And that is the reason why many seekers - both
men and women - have the feeling that deep breathing stimulates
their sex center immediately.
Quite a number of people had similar experiences in the presence
of Gurdjieff, and it was just natural. Many women thought that
as soon as they went up to him, their sex centers were hit and
stimulated. This was only natural. But because of it Gurdjieff
was much misunderstood and maligned; although he was not at all
at fault. The blame should not lie at his door. The fact is that
the vibes around a person whose kundalini is awakened, are such
that they begin to affect your kundalini as soon as you go near
him. And since your own kundalini is asleep near your sex center,
the vibes of the awakened one hit you at your sex center. That
is how it happens at the first contact.
Deep and fast breathing is bound to have a profound effect on
the kundalini. And all the centers, which you call chakras, are
nothing but halting places for the kundalini on its journey's
way. These are the centers through which the kundalini passes.
Ordinarily there are any number of such centers, and there are
different estimates of them. But broadly speaking there are seven
important centers where the kundalini, while moving up and down,
is likely to halt and rest for awhile. And it will have its effect
when it comes in contact with them.
And its first effects will be felt on the center which is your
most active center as such. For instance, if a person constantly
works with his brain, then with deep breathing his head will become
very heavy. It will be so because his brain center happens to
be his most active center. The first impact of breathing will
be felt on his head, his active center, and it will become heavy.
And if a person is sexual, his sex center will be stimulated in
the first instant. Similarly a loving man will find his love stimulated,
enhanced and flowing. And if one is emotional, his emotions will
be heightened.
So the most active center will be hit and stimulated first by
deep and fast breathing. But very soon it will begin to affect
other centers too. And accordingly a change, a transformation
of the personality begins simultaneously. You will begin to know
that you are changing; you are not the same person that you were
up to now.
We don't know that there are very many possibilities within
each one of us. We are familiar with only that center of ours
which is active and dominant and where we exist. So when another
center opens up it seems that our old personality is gone and
a new man has appeared in its place. Or it seems we are now not
the same as we were before. It is like this: I am aware of only
one room in a house where I live, and I carry the imprint of this
room in my mind. And suddenly one day a door opens and another
room appears before me. Then my whole mental map of the house
will undergo a change. Now the house that I had thought to be
mine will be a very different house, and I will need to arrange
it anew.
So as the various centers will be hit and activated, new dimensions
of your life will begin to unfold and manifest themselves. And
when all the centers will be active together - that is, when
energy will flow through them all uniformly - then for the
first time we will live a whole life; we will live totally.
Ordinarily no one lives wholly, totally; we all live fragmentary
lives. All our upper centers remain untouched. So deep breathing
is going to hammer and activate them all.
And the question "Who am I?" does the same thing; but
it hammers the centers from another direction. So try to understand
it, as you now understand the functions of deep and fast breathing.
How does the chant of "Who am I?" work on the kundalini?...
"Who am I?" is a very fundamental question and a very
existential question at that. "Who am I?" is a question
which involves the totality of our existence in all its depth
and heights. This question will take me where I was before I was
ever born, behind all my past lives. This question can take me
where I was in the primeval beginning. The profoundness of this
question is infinite. And so is its journey equally profound.
Therefore, this question will immediately strike the basic center,
the deepest one - the kundalini.
Deep breathing strikes the center physiologically, and the question
"Who am I?" does the same job mentally, psychologically.
This question hammers the kundalini with mind energy and deep
breathing hammers it with body energy. And if both the hammer
strokes are strong enough... Ordinarily there are only two
ways of hammering the center - one through breathing and the
other through asking "Who am I?" There are other ways
as well, but they are a little complicated.
Another person can also be helpful in this matter. If you do
it in my presence the effect will be quicker and greater, because
then there will be hammering from a third direction of which you
have no idea. That is the astral direction whose hammering is
subtler than the physical and mental ones. When you breathe intensely
it hammers the center physically. When you ask "Who am I?"
it does the same thing mentally. And when you do it in the presence
of an other through whom your astral body is hammered, then a
third journey begins. So if fifty people meditate here together,
it will be much more intensive than if only one person meditated.
Because of the longings of fifty persons combined with the vibrations
of their intense breathing, an astral atmosphere will pervade
this room, and a new kind of electrical light waves will begin
to circulate all around, which will hit you from another direction....
With the hammer-strokes of these two things - deep breathing
and "Who am I?" - the kundalini will awaken. And
with its awakening extraordinary experiences will begin to happen;
because all the experiences of all your past lives are associated
with the kundalini - in a way they are deposited there. Your
experiences of infinite lives, including your lives as a tree,
as a fish, as a bird, the experiences that you went through in
the entire course of your evolution are lying strewn on your journey's
path. And this serpentine power known as kundalini has absorbed
them all. Therefore many kinds of things can happen and you can
identify yourself with these experiences. Any kinds of things,
unthinkable things, can happen. You have no idea of the many subtle
experiences with which the kundalini is associated....
And after we have entered the path of the kundalini, after we
have joined its pilgrimage, our story as the story of an individual
comes to an end, and the story of consciousness, the whole consciousness
begins. Aurobindo used to speak in these terms, and it is difficult,
the thing could not be very clear. Then it is not the story of
an individual, it is the story of consciousness itself....
So a vast world of subtle feelings and experiences is linked
with the kundalini. All of it will become alive and awake and
confront you from every direction. That is why, in such a situation,
one often looks like a madman. Because when we are quietly sitting,
he suddenly breaks into laughter for he comes to see something
that we don't see. And he might suddenly begin to scream at a
time when we are all laughing, because something may have happened
to him which will not happen to the rest of us.
So ordinarily there are only two ways of hammering the kundalini.
And the third way is an extraordinary way: the way of shaktipat,
or transmission of energy. This is an astral way, and it needs
a medium, a vehicle. You can achieve intensity in meditation only
if another person helps you. The other person does not have to
do anything; just his presence is enough. He becomes a vehicle,
a catalytic agent.
Infinite energy permeates the world all over. It is just a question
of tapping it. Now we fix an iron rod on our rooftops so that
when lightning strikes the house it passes through the rod and
sinks into the earth, and the house remains unharmed. Lightning
can strike the house even in the absence of the iron rod, but
then it will destroy the whole house. But the iron rod is a recent
discovery, and lightning has been there from time immemorial.
The shaktipat of lightning has been there for long, but we thought
of the rod only recently.
Man is surrounded all over by infinite energy which can be used
for his spiritual growth. Infinite energy is there and all of
it can be utilized for man's spiritual upliftment. To do it, however,
a medium, a vehicle is needed. You can be your own medium, but
initially it can be dangerous. The shaktipat, the fallout of energy,
can be so powerful that you may not with stand it. It is just
possible that some delicate senses of your body are jammed or
they break down. Every energy has a measure, a voltage which has
to be in the right proportion to your capacity to withstand it.
The medium of another person serves as an instrument regulating
the energy in its relation with your capacity to withstand it.
To act as a vehicle for shaktipat it is essential that divine
energy has already descended on the other person. Then only can
he plan and manage the shaktipat according to your capacity. And
he is not required to do anything in this regard; his mere presence
does everything that is needed. Presence is all that is needed.
His presence acts as a catalytic agent; the medium himself does
nothing. So if someone claims that he can do anything, he is utterly
wrong. No one can do shaktipat, but someone's presence can catalyze
it, cause it to happen.
Now I think that when seekers attain some depth in meditation,
shaktipat will begin to happen here with full force. There is
no difficulty about it; there is no difficulty at all. Nobody
need do anything; it will happen on its own. You will suddenly
find that quite a different kind of energy has entered you from
without; it does not come from within you. Whenever you will experience
the rise of kundalini, it will seem to be rising from within you;
and whenever you will experience shaktipat, it will appear to
be coming from the outside, from above. It will be so. It will
be felt as clearly as one feels water falling on him from above
and water rising about him from below.
The experience of kundalini is like drowning, as if you are
standing in the bed of a river and the level of the water is rising
from below and you are being drowned in it. The experience of
kundalini is always like this - one of getting drowned in
a river. You will feel that something from some depth is rising
up and you are being engulfed in it, drowned in it. But the experience
of shaktipat is quite different; it is like rains falling from
the skies, falling from above. That is what Kabir speaks about
when he says, "O monks, nectar is raining," and his
monks ask where. It falls from above and makes you soaking wet.
Now if both these processes take place together, it will at once
step up your progress. Then, simultaneously the rains will be
falling from above and the water of the river rising from below.
Then the events of rainfall and the river being in flood are taking
place simultaneously, and you are being drowned, you are being
destroyed from both ends. Both processes can happen together;
there is no difficulty involved in it. mirac109
There is another way which I have left out so far. I have so
far explained to you what has been done generally to awaken the
kundalini; but the kundalini is not the whole of the kunda or
the pool (at the source of kundalini). There is an other way which
I may have to talk to you about separately. Very few persons in
the world have taken this way. It is not one of awakening the
kundalini, with which we are familiar, but of getting immersed
in the kunda itself. It is not like awakening a small part of
the energy and using it for growth; it is a matter of merging
our entire consciousness in the kunda or the pool of primeval
energy. In that event no new senses will be awakened; in that
case no extrasensory experiences will be availed, and even the
experience of the soul will be missed completely. In that event,
one will directly encounter and experience God, the supreme....
If someone wants the plunge directly into the kunda, the kundalini
does not come in his way. That is why some of the spiritual paths
did not talk about the kundalini; because it was not necessary.
Those who taught direct merger with the kunda did not think it
necessary to talk about the technique of kundalini awakening.
But my own experience says that the direct paths could not work.
They may have worked with one or two rare individuals, but that
does not matter much. One flower does not make a spring. Therefore,
one has to go through the longer route.... mirac110
So in spiritual discipline there are a thousand things belonging
to a thousand levels. And then there are a few things that are
very personal and secret and esoteric. The meditation that I am
teaching you now is such that it can be talked about publicly;
but there are things that I cannot discuss in large groups; I
will not. I will talk about them with only a few chosen individuals
who are deserving.
So although Buddha had said a lot, all of it was not recorded.
The same way, not everything that I will say will be recorded.
All of it cannot be reduced to writing. Firstly I will say only
that much publicly which can be recorded without any risk. Publicly
I will say only that much. And that which needs to be treated
and preserved as secret teachings will never be disclosed to the
public. I will transmit them to deserving individuals who will
save them in their memory....
My difficulty is that there is a gap of twenty five hundred
years between Buddha and our times, and it has made a great difference;
over this period man's consciousness has grown. I now think there
are many things that Buddha thought should remain hidden that
can now very well be made public. Twenty five centuries have made
a basic difference. So I say that a great many of the things that
Buddha thought to be secrets can now be taught openly. Similarly
a great many of the things that I consider to be secret can be
revealed twenty-five hundred years after me, provided man's consciousness
continues to evolve the way it should.
Do you follow what I am saying? Even if Buddha were to come
back, he would like to reveal many things he had held back from
his own times. mirac109
In the afternoon between three and four we will sit here in silence.
I will be sitting here at the same place. You all should arrive
here five minutes before three. And I will be here exactly at
three. There will be no conversations, no chit chats whatsoever.
Not even a word will be uttered. Everybody will sit here in complete
silence. I will be sitting here silently for an hour. In the meantime
if somebody feels like it he will come and sit silently near me
for two minutes and then retire to his place. He will not stay
here longer than two minutes so other friends may have their turn.
For a whole hour just sit in waiting.
Try to spend these three days constantly in meditation. Even when
you go out for a walk by the seashore or anywhere, go alone and
sit there in meditation. mirac103
A few pieces of rock from an unknown quarter fall on the meeting
ground, but Osho continues to speak in his calm and serene voice.
What is the matter? Is it rocks coming? It does not matter. Keep
the rocks with you with care. Someone must have pelted them out
of love.... Those who are talking in the rear should stop
at once. If they wish to stay here they should quietly sit down
or else they may leave the place. No one should be here as a spectator,
and even if one wants to remain here as a spectator he should
observe complete silence. No one will disturb another in any way.
It seems someone has pelted rocks and he has done it more than
a couple of times. If he thinks it is necessary for him to do
so, he should direct them to me and to no one else. mirac105
A little while ago a friend met me on the road and said, "Please
ask these people here not to get so much excited, ask them to
play it on a lower key, otherwise an explosive situation may be
created. Two persons while meditating, went all naked." He
said it rather lovingly: that some people were upset because two
persons had shed their clothes, and so I should restrain them.
Every one is naked behind his clothes and no one gets upset
about it. Inside our clothes all of us are naked and no one is
disturbed. But everyone is disturbed because two persons shed
their clothes during meditation. It is a great irony. It would
be understandable if someone had disrobed you and you got upset.
But why are you upset about someone shedding his own clothes?
It was okay to be upset if someone had robbed you of your clothes,
although that too would be meaningless. Jesus has said, "If
someone deprives you of your coat, give him your shirt too. Maybe,
he could not take more because of his shyness." His protest
was justified if someone had removed his coat. But why should
he lose his head if someone takes off his own coat? It seems that
he was just waiting for an opportunity when someone took off his
coat and he slackened his efforts and put all the blame on him.
It is amazing how somebody going naked should disturb your meditation,
unless you are closely watching him doing so. Were you meditating
or what? In fact, you should not know who sheds his clothes and
what is happening around you. You have to do your meditation and
remain confined to yourself. Or should you be interested in what
others do? Are you a washerman or a tailor that you take so much
interest in others' clothes? Your worries are baseless and meaningless.
And one who sheds his clothes...just think of it. You will
know it if you are asked to strip yourself of your clothes. Then
you will know that one had some great reasons for shedding his
clothes; something must have happened to him to do so. Perhaps
you will not do it even if one offers you a hundred thousand rupees
in reward. And this person has shed his clothes without any such
offer, and you are unnecessarily upset. Some strong reason must
have arisen which prompted him to do so. We have not yet learned
to see and understand life with sympathy and care....
It is amazing that merely discarding of clothes on the part of
one should...What can be the reason? What is the fear behind
it? The fear is really terrible. We are so naked inside, we are
so utterly degraded and poor in our beings, that the sight of
a naked man - nakedness is closely associated with poverty
and squalor - reminds us of our own inner degradation and
poverty. There is no other reason than this.
And remember, nudity is one thing and nakedness quite another.
Looking at Mahavira no one can say that he is naked, he looks
so beautiful. And so far as we are concerned we look naked and
ugly even in the best of our garments.
Did you watch carefully those persons who shed their clothes
during meditation? You dared not, although you must have stolen
a glance at them now and then, otherwise you would not have been
upset about it and thought of an explosive situation arising out
of it. The same friend wrote to me that women are especially disturbed
about this matter. What does it mean? Are they here just to watch
if someone sheds his clothes? They were here to meditate; instead
they were stealthily observing others. They gave up self remembering,
they ceased to observe themselves and instead they busied themselves
with prying and snooping on the naked persons. Then the situation
is bound to be explosive. Who asked you to keep an eye on them?
You had your eyes closed. How did it matter if someone was naked?
So far as the naked person was concerned,he did not watch you
at all. If a naked one had come to me and complained that the
presence of women was very embarrassing to him, it could be understandable.
It is strange that women found themselves in an explosive state
because of him. Your mind would have been gladdened if only you
had seen him carefully. Then you would have known how simple and
innocent it was. There was so much to gain; your mind would have
felt light and unburdened. It would have made a great difference
for you. But it seems we are determined to shun all that is really
gainful. And perhaps we long to court a disaster. And there is
no end to our mad beliefs and concepts.
A time comes in the course of meditation, and it comes irresistibly
to some, when they must shed their clothes. And they shed their
clothes with my permission. So if you want to explode, you had
better explode on me. Everyone who bared their bodies here had
obtained my permission. I had okayed their action. They came to
me and said that in the course of meditation they felt that if
they did not shed their clothes something within them would be
blocked. And I asked them to go ahead without clothes. And it
is a thing that should concern them, not you. So why are you worried
about it? And if anyone has berated them for this, he has done
a very wrong thing. You have no right to do so.
You should understand that there comes a moment of innocence
when many things become hindrances for the innocent mind. Clothes
comprise one of the strongest inhibitions of man; they make for
the deepest of taboos. They represent one of man's oldest and
deeply ingrained customs. And a moment comes in our social life
when our garments become the symbol of our whole civilization.
But it is equally true that a moment comes for some, not for all,
when they feel like unnecessary weight on the mind....
I don't ask you to shed your clothes, but if some one does it
there is no reason whatsoever to prohibit him. If even in a meditation
camp we cannot allow this much freedom - that one can be free
to this extent, if he wills so, then it will be impossible to
find this freedom anywhere else in the world. And a meditation
camp is meant for seekers, not for spectators. Here as long as
one does not come in the way of another, he is entitled to his
absolute freedom. If someone trespasses on your freedom, trouble
begins, and you have a cause for complaint. If someone becomes
naked and knocks you, if he hurts you, there is every reason to
restrain him. But so long as he is doing something with himself,
doing his own thing, you are nobody to meddle in his affairs and
you have no right to raise any objections.
What we treat as disturbances for meditation is very amusing.
If someone is naked, meditation of many others is spoiled. It
is no good trying to save a lame meditation, a weak and feeble
meditation like this. What is its worth? This much, that if one
had not shed his clothes you would have done it. But it is not
possible. No, you have to get rid of such petty matters, exceedingly
petty matters. Sadhana or spiritual pursuits is a matter of greatest
courage. Here we have to uncover ourselves layer by layer, as
we peel an onion. In its deepest sense sadhana is encountering
one's innermost nudity. It is not necessary to shed clothes, but
for some, a situation can arise sometimes when it will be necessary
to do so. And remember that you cannot think of this situation
from outside; neither you have a right to judge if it is right
or not right, nor to speculate about it. Who are you to do so?
How do you come into this matter? And how can you know it? Do
you think people who drove Mahavira out of their villages were
wicked people? No, they were as civilized and cultured as you
are and, like you, they thought that since he was naked he had
no place amongst them.
But it is unfortunate that every time we repeat the same mistakes.
The friend who met me in the street said with love and sympathy
that I should restrain these people from going naked, otherwise
attendance at our meditation in Bombay will sharply fall. Let
it fall; let not a single person come! There is no need at all
for wrong people to come to meditation. For me it will not make
a difference if only one person turns up. The same friend also
said that women would wholly keep away; not one of them will attend
the camp. Let them keep away. Who tells them to attend the camp?
It is for them to decide, and decide for themselves. And if they
choose to attend, they can do so on my conditions. The camp cannot
be held on their conditions. And the day I will hold the camp
on your terms, it would be well if you don't attend it at all.
Then I will have no use whatsoever for you.
The meditation camp will be run on my terms. I do not come for
you, nor can I conduct myself according to your wishes. You cannot
dictate and direct me. Gurus, Masters who are no more, become
popular after they are dead and gone for the very reason that
you can manage and manipulate them as you like, they cannot do
a thing. But if the Master is alive, he is bound to be difficult
for you. That is why an alive Mahavira is beaten and a dead Mahavira
is worshipped all the world over. The living Master is troublesome,
because you cannot shackle him, you cannot control him.
In my eyes no other reasons for your coming have any validity
except one. And who comes and who does not come is of no consequence
to me. I want that whosoever comes should come with full understanding
as to why he comes and for what. mirac108
Osho concludes this historic Meditation Camp:
The last thing I want to say is that what has happened here in
these three days has great significance. Some friends have had
unique experiences and some others had glimpses of them, while
a few others made efforts, but could not make it, although they
did make some progress no doubt. But everybody did his good bit
except a few who have the illusion that they are intellectuals
and who in reality have less of intelligence and more of book
knowledge. Except these few, everybody participated in meditation,
and in spite of many difficulties a special kind of energy was
created here and quite a lot has happened that is significant.
But this is only the beginning.
If you devote one out of your twenty four hours every day to this
meditation, a door can open onto your life. Shut yourself in a
room for one full hour and tell your family not to worry about
what may happen inside for that hour. Then shed your clothes and
be completely naked and do the meditation in a standing position.
Spread a mattress on the floor of the room so that you are not
hurt in case you ever fall down. Stand up and meditate, but before
it inform your family members that many things can happen inside
the room - you may shout and scream, anything can happen - but
they should not disturb you. And carry the experiment daily for
one full hour till we meet together again at the next camp. If
the friends who have taken part in the camp here continue with
this practice in their places then I will take up a separate camp
for them where great progress will be possible.
There is great possibility; the possibility is really infinite.
But you will have to make some efforts...If you take one step
forward, God will take a hundred steps towards you. He is always
ready to come to you. But if you don't take a single step, then
there is no way to help you. So take this meditation home and
continue to do it regularly and enthusiastically.
I know many things will inhibit you. Your children will say,
"What has happened to father? He was never like this; he
was always grave and serious. And now he is dancing and jumping
and shouting. Whenever we made a racket in the house, invariably
he took us to task. What is it all about?" Children will
certainly laugh at you. You should ask their forgiveness for trying
to control them in the past, acknowledge your mistakes openly
and tell them to play and dance freely to keep alive their natural
propensities for dance and play. It will be of great benefit to
them in the future. We force old age on our children much too
prematurely. So tell your family not to be curious and inquisitive
about what you do inside the room for an hour, and not to argue
with you on this score. If you once make it clear, there will
be no trouble in the future. In a few days they will get used
to your affairs, they will leave you to yourself.
And then you will see that meditation has its effects not only
on you but on the whole family.
If possible, have a separate room for meditation, and use it exclusively
for meditation. Don t use that room for any other purpose. It
may be a small room, but keep it under lock and key. If any members
of your family want to join you, allow them on the condition that
they meditate with you and not do anything else. It is different
if a separate room is not available, but a separate room for meditation
will have many advantages. If it is used exclusively for meditation,
it will be charged with meditative energy. And when you will enter
it you will find that it is not an ordinary space.
We radiate our energy all the time all around us; we send out
rays of our mental energy all around us. And the space around
us, even inside a room, absorbs this energy. That is the reason
why a few places remain holy for thousands of years. If a man
like Mahavira, Buddha or Krishna sits in a particular place, it
takes on his extraordinary vibe, his unearthly impact, which can
last for thousands of years. From such a place one's entry into
the other world, the spiritual world, becomes much easier.
Every well to do person - and I have a single criterion
to judge a well to do person and it is that he has a temple in
his house, otherwise he is a pauper - should have a temple
in a part of his house. At least one room in every house should
be reserved and used as a temple, as a door to the other world.
Don't use that room for anything else. Enter it in silence and
use it only for meditation. The other members of the family will
by and by begin to be interested in meditation, because then changes
that it will make for you will begin to show.
Now people have started going to those few people here who have
experienced changes in themselves, changes that are very significant,
and they ask them, "What is it that has happened to you?"
These few people in their turn come to me to ask how they should
answer the inquisitive people. The same way your children, your
parents and others will ask you; they will get so interested in
meditation. And if you persevere long enough with your sadhana,
then the day will not be far away when the greatest of events
will happen in your life - for which we have to pass through
infinite numbers of lives and which we can miss for infinite numbers
of lives.
The coming few years are going to be very significant years
in man's history. Now a handful of people will be of no help in
matters spiritual. Unless a mighty spirituality is born, unless
a mighty and massive spiritual movement sweeps the earth, making
its impact on millions of people, it will be impossible to save
the world from the mire of materialism. It will be a very, very
momentous moment in man's life; the coming fifty years are going
to be fateful and decisive. Either religion will live, or stark
irreligion, all that is against religion, will live. These fifty
years will also decide about Buddha, Mahavira, Krishna, Jesus,
Mohammed, Rama and the rest of them. All these luminaries will
be on one side of the scales while on the other side will be the
large crowd of insane politicians, materialists and other ignorant
people bent on deluding themselves and others too. They are in
huge numbers, while only a handful of people will be on one side
of the arraignment. And in fifty years' time the decision will
be made.
The struggle that has been going on from time immemorial has
reached its moment of decision. And looking at the situation as
it obtains at present, there is not much hope. But I am not disappointed
because it seems to me that very soon a simple and natural and
easy way can be found which will revolutionize the lives of millions
of people spiritually.
A few individuals can be of no help in the present times. In
olden times it was enough if only one person became enlightened.
Now this won't do. In view of the tremendous explosion of population
taking place in the world, a few individuals cannot do a thing.
Now something tangible can be possible only if, commensurate with
the huge population, hundreds of thousands of people are influenced
and involved in spiritualism. And it is possible as I see it.
If a few people form a nucleus and begin the work, then India
can play a significant role in that momentous fight. No matter
how poor and miserable, how degraded and slavish, how misled and
misguided this country has been, yet this land has some well preserved
treasures with it. Down the centuries such people have walked
this land that their light, their fragrance, their longings have
left their vibes in the air, have left their imprint on every
blade of grass here. Man has of course gone wrong, but the dust
of this land still remembers Buddha's feet walking it. Man of
this country has gone wrong, but the trees still cherish the memory
that Mahavira had once stood in their shade. Man has really gone
wrong, but the seas surrounding this country still know a different
voice they had heard in the past. Man has no doubt gone astray,
but the skies of this country are still full of hopes. Everything
is there, only man has to come back home.
Of late, I have been constantly praying with the hope that collective
explosion in the lives of millions of people may be possible.
And you can be of great help in this endeavor. Such explosion
in your own life will have immense. Of late, I have been constantly
praying with the hope that collective explosion in the lives of
millions of people may be possible. And you can be of great help
in this endeavor. Such explosion in your own life will have immense
value not only for you, but for all mankind. With this hope and
prayer that you will not only light your own lamps, but that your
light will help other extinguished lamps to be lighted, I bid
you farewell.
I am grateful to you for having listened to me in peace and
with such love, and I bow down to God sitting within each one
of you. Please accept my salutation. mirac108
|
