The Perfect Way. Osho

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      I remember a sutra of Mahavira’s. He said: “Unconsciousness is possession.” He did not say that possession was unconsciousness. Why? It is because of our ignorance, because of our inner unconsciousness that we are attached to worldly objects. Inside we are empty and impoverished, so we want to fill ourselves with outward objects. That way we delude ourselves into believing we are important. If one gives up attachment under these conditions while ignorance remains within, can one really get rid of attachment? One will get rid of things but not of attachment.

      One may leave his home for an ashram, but the attachment will shift to the ashram. One may leave his family, but his attachment will shift to the sect. As long as the attachment is there on the inside, it will find ways to manifest itself under any new condition. Hence, those who know have advised renunciation of unawareness, of ignorance, not of material objects. Once knowing dawns, the things that are futile do not have to be abandoned, they drop away on their own.

      Osho,

       Do we need to concentrate the mind in order to attain thoughtlessness?

      I do not ask you to concentrate your mind. Concentration is a kind of forcing, a kind of tension. If one concentrates on some idea, on some form or image or on some word, it will lead neither to thoughtlessness nor to the awakening of consciousness but to an unconscious state of auto-hypnotic mental stupor. Forced concentration leads to unconsciousness. And it is an error to mistake this unconsciousness for samadhi, for no-mind. Samadhi is neither a state of unconsciousness nor of stupor. Samadhi is the realization of total consciousness. Samadhi is thoughtlessness plus total consciousness.

      Osho,

       How are we to watch the processes of incoming and outgoing breath in meditation?

      Keep the spine erect. Make sure it is not bent. The body is in a state of natural balance when the spine is held erect. In that position the gravitational pull of the earth has a uniform effect on the body and it is easy to free oneself from that pull. When the force of gravity is at its minimum the body does not interfere in one’s becoming empty, in one’s becoming devoid of thoughts. Keep the spine erect, but without causing any tension or rigidity in the body. Allow the body to be naturally relaxed as if it were hung on the spine like a piece of cloth on a peg.

      Leave the body relaxed. Then breathe slowly and deeply. The inhaling and the exhaling will move the naval center up and down. Continue to watch this movement. You don’t need to concentrate on it, just watch it, be a witness to it. Bear in mind I am not asking for concentration. I am advising simple watchfulness and awareness. Breathe as children do – their chests do not move; their stomachs move. This is the natural process of inhalation and exhalation. As a result of this natural breathing, peace descends, becoming deeper and deeper.

      Because of the disturbed and tense condition of our minds we have gradually lost the ability to breathe deeply and fully. By the time we grow to adolescence, superficial and artificial breathing becomes a habit. You must have noticed yourself that the more your mind is disturbed the more your breathing loses its natural and rhythmic movement. Breathe in a natural way – rhythmically, effortlessly. The harmony of natural breathing helps dispel the restlessness of your mind.

      Osho,

       Why do you advise us to observe the breathing process?

      I do so because breathing, inhaling and exhaling, is the bridge between the body and the soul. The soul resides in the body through breathing and because of breathing. By becoming aware of your breath, by direct perception of breathing, you will gradually experience that you are not the body: “I am in the body but I am not the body alone. It is my abode but not my foundation.”

      As the direct perception of breathing deepens, more and more one experiences the presence, the proximity of the one who is not the body. There will come a moment when you will clearly see the separateness of your self and body. Then the three layers of your existence will be realized – the body, the breath and the soul. The body is the shell; the breath is the bridge, the connecting link; the soul, the self, is the foundation.

      The role of the breath on the path to self-realization is the most important one, because breathing is the midpoint. On one side of it we have the body; on the other, the soul. We already exist on the body level; what we yearn for is to be in the realm of the soul. Before this can be done it is essential to be at the level of prana, the breath. The transition is through the breath.

      Watching at the level of the breath, we can look both ways. From there the paths leading to the body and to the soul become clear. The path is one and the same, but the two directions stand out clearly. It then becomes easier to go on following the breath. I hope you now understand why my emphasis is on breathing.

      Osho,

       Why do you call meditation a non-doing? Is it not an act as well?

      Look here, please. My fist is closed. To close my fist I must make a positive action. Closing is an action, a doing. But when I wish to open it, what must I do? I don’t have to do anything to open it. If I simply drop the effort of closing the fist it will open on its own and the hand will return to its natural and normal state. Therefore I won’t call opening one’s fist a “doing.” It is a “non-doing,” or if you like you can call it “negative action.” But that makes no difference; it is the same thing. I have no insistence about words, just that you can understand my point, my intent.

      By calling meditation a non-doing, I wish to indicate that you should not regard meditation as a task or an occupation. Meditation is a state of non-occupation. It is a naturalness and you do not have to turn it into some kind of mental tension. If meditation were also a mental tension, a “doing,” it would not lead you into your self-nature, into peace. Tension itself is a restlessness. And in order to enter the realm of peace one has to begin with peace. If there is no peace at the very first step, there will certainly be none at the last. The last is just the culmination of the first.

      I see people going to temples and I see them worshipping gods and goddesses there. I also see them sitting in meditation, but it is all an activity, a tension, a sort of restlessness for them. And if they expect flowers of peace to bloom in this restlessness, they are utterly mistaken.

      If you want peace, if you wish to be peaceful, it is essential that you start out in peace from the very first moment.

      Chapter: 5

       Stop and See

      Do not search for truth. In searching there is ego. And it is the ego itself that is the obstacle. Just lose yourself, disappear. When the “I” as the ego disappears, that which really is, is seen. When the “I-ness” disappears, the isness of “I” is seen. Only by losing oneself does one attain one’s self. Just as new life sprouts from a seed only when the seed breaks apart and ceases to be, the shoot of immortal life springs up only when the seed called “I,” which is a covering over the soul, breaks apart and ceases to be.

      Remember this sutra: You have to disappear if you want to attain to self. Deathlessness is attained at the cost of death. A drop becomes the ocean when it loses itself in the ocean.

      You are the soul, but if you search for it within yourself you will find nothing but desire. Our whole lives are desire. Desire means wanting to become something, to attain something. Everyone wants to become somebody, to attain something. This race goes on every moment of our lives. Nobody wants to be where he is. Everybody wants to be where he is not. Desire means a blind dissatisfaction with what is and a blind longing for what is not. There is no end to this mad race because as soon as one gets something СКАЧАТЬ