OSHO - Baytallaah.com

1 OSHO. THE PATH OF MEDITATION. A S T E P B Y S T E P G U I D E T O. M E D I T A T I O N. by Osho Contents PREFACE. Page viii THE FOUNDATION OF M E D I T A T I O N. Chapter 1. Page 1. B E G I N W I T H THE B O D Y. Chapter 2. Page 25. FINDING QUALITY IN LIFE. Chapter 3. Page 61. U N D E R S T A N D I N G THE MIND. Chapter 4. Page 93. UNDERSTANDING EMOTIONS. Chapter 5. Page 1 1 7. B O D Y AND S O U L : S C I E N C E AND R E L I G I O N. Chapter 6. Page 147. THE LIGHT OF C O N S C I O U S N E S S. Chapter 7. Page 183. TRUTH: YOUR BIRTHRIGHT. Chapter 8. Page 207. ONE STEP AT A T I M E. Chapter 9. Page 23 5. ABOUT THE AUTHOR. Page 2 58. OSHO I N T E R N A T I O N A L M E D I T A T I O N R E S O R T. Page 2 59. M O R E OSHO B O O K S. Page 261. FOR MORE INFORMATION. Page 262. Preface h e n you are not doing anything at all - bodily, mentally, on no level - when all activity has ceased and you simply are, j u s t being, that's what medita- tion is.

2 You cannot do it, you cannot practice it; you have only to understand it. W h e n e v e r you can find time for j u s t being, drop all doing. T h i n k i n g is also doing, concentration is also doing, contemplation is also doing. Even if for a single m o m e n t you are not doing anything and you are j u s t at your center, ut- terly relaxed - that is meditation. And once you have got the k n a c k of it, you can remain in that state as long as you want;. finally you can remain in that state for twenty-four hours a day. O n c e you have b e c o m e aware of the way your being can remain undisturbed, then slowly you can start doing things, keeping alert that your being is not stirred. That is the second part of meditation. First, learning h o w j u s t to b e , and then learning little actions: cleaning the floor, taking a shower, but keeping yourself centered.

3 T h e n you can do complicated things. F o r example, I am speaking to you, but my meditation is not disturbed. I can go on speaking, but at my very center there is not even a ripple; it is j u s t silent, utterly silent. vm PREFACE. So meditation is not against action. It is not that you have to escape from life. It simply teaches you a n e w way of life. You b e c o m e the center of the cyclone. Your life goes on, it goes on really more intensely - with more joy, with more clarity, more vision, more creativity - yet you are aloof, j u s t a watcher on the hills, simply seeing all that is happening around you. You are not the doer, you are the watcher. That's the whole secret of meditation, that you b e c o m e the watcher. Doing continues on its own level, there is no problem: chopping wood, drawing water from the well. You can do all small and big things; only one thing is not allowed and that is, your centering should not be lost.

4 That awareness, that watchfulness, should remain ab- solutely unclouded, undisturbed. Meditation is a very simple p h e n o m e n o n . Osho From Misery to Enlightenment IX. THE PATH OF M E D I T A T I O N. the foundation of meditation Chapter 1. My Beloved Ones, r < <f -IRST, i WOULD like to welcome you, because you have a / longing for the divine; because you desire to rise above / ordinary life towards the life of a seeker and because, despite your worldly desires, you have a thirst for truth. T h e people w h o have felt the thirst for truth are fortunate;. out of the millions of people who are b o r n , only a few ever feel the longing for truth. To k n o w truth is a great blessing - but even to have the longing for it is as great a blessing. Even if you don't attain it that is okay, but to never have experi- enced the thirst at all would be a great misfortune.

5 I would like to say that it is not important to k n o w truth. W h a t is important is that you have the longing for it, that you make every effort towards experiencing it, that you w o r k hard for it and yearn for it, and that you are determined and do everything you can possibly do towards this end. If in spite of this you don't attain it that does not matter. But never to have experienced this thirst at all - that would be the greatest tragedy. I would also like to say that to k n o w truth is not as im- portant as to have an authentic yearning for it. That yearning is a j o y in itself. If the desire is for something insignificant, there will be no j o y even if you get it; but if you long for the significant, the ultimate and you don't get it, then you will be filled with j o y even if you don't get it. I repeat: if you desire a 2. THE FOUNDATION OF MEDITATION.

6 Small thing and you get it, you will still not be as happy as when you long for the ultimate and you don't get i t .. you will still be filled with j o y and happiness. T h e divine will be b o r n in you according to the inten- sity with w h i c h you seek it. That does not mean that some supreme soul or energy from outside will enter your being. T h e seed is already present within you, and it will start grow- ing. But it will grow only if you are able to give some warmth to your thirst, some heat and some fire to your thirst. T h e more you long for the divine, the more is the possibil- ity that the seed which is hidden within your heart will grow, that it will sprout and b e c o m e the divine; that it will break open, that it will blossom. If you have ever thought of experiencing the divine, if you have ever experienced a desire for silence, for truth, then k n o w that the seed within you is longing to sprout.

7 It means that some hidden thirst within you wants to be fulfilled. Try to understand that a very significant struggle is taking place within you; you will have to help this struggle and support it. You will have to support it because it is not enough that the seed has sprouted: a more nourishing environment is also needed. And even if the seed has sprouted, it does not m e a n that it will also b l o o m . F o r that, m u c h more is needed. Out of the many seeds scattered on the ground, only a few will grow into trees. There is this possibility in all of them: they could all sprout and grow into trees and each could in turn produce m a n y more seeds. O n e small seed has the power, the potential to produce a whole forest; it contains the potential to cover the whole earth with trees. But it is also possible that the seed with this immense power and potential will be destroyed and that nothing will c o m e out of it.

8 3. THE PATH OF MEDITATION. And this is only the capacity of a seed - m a n is capable of m u c h more than this. O n e seed can create something so If a small stone can be used to create an atomic ex- .immense energy can be produced out of it. W h e n s o m e o n e experiences this fusion within his being, within his consciousness, this blossoming, this explosion, the energy and light are the experience of the divine. We don't experi- ence the divine from the outside. T h e energy that we produce through this explosion of consciousness, the growth, the flowering of our being, that energy itself is the divine. And you have a thirst for this energy: this is why I w e l c o m e you. But it does not necessarily follow that j u s t b e c a u s e you have c o m e here that you have this thirst. It is possible that you are here merely as a spectator. It is possible that you are here out of s o m e vague curiosity - but no doors c a n be opened through superficial curiosity, and no secrets will be revealed to mere spectators.

9 In life, one has to pay for everything o n e receives, and m u c h has to be sacrificed. Curiosity is of no value; this is why curiosity will not get you anywhere. Curiosity will not help you to enter into m e d - itation. W h a t is needed is an essential thirst for freedom, not curiosity. Last evening I was saying to someone that if you are near an oasis and you are dying of thirst, if your thirst is intense and you reach a state where you feel that soon you will die if you don't get water, and if at that point someone offers you water but with the condition that after drinking the water you will die - that the price of the water will be your life - you will even be willing to accept this condition. W h e n death is certain, then why not die with your thirst quenched? If you carry this intense longing and h o p e within you, 4. THE FOUNDATION OF MEDITATION.

10 Then under this tremendous pressure the seed within you will break open and start growing. T h e seed will not sprout on its own, it needs certain conditions. It needs m u c h pressure, m u c h warmth for its hard outer skin to crack and the tender sprout inside to grow. E a c h of us has this hard covering, and if we want to c o m e out of it, j u s t curiosity will not do. So re- m e m b e r this: if you are here simply out of curiosity you will leave with that curiosity, and nothing can be done to help you. And if you are here as a spectator you will leave as one, and nothing can be done for you. So it is necessary that each one of you look within h i m - self to see whether or not he has an authentic longing for the divine. E a c h of you should ask himself this question: "Do I. want to k n o w truth?" Be very clear if your thirst for the di- vine is authentic, whether you have a yearning for truth, for silence, for bliss.