What is meditation?
"Meditation is a single lesson of awareness, of no-thought, of spontaneity, of being total in your action, alert, aware. It is not a technique, it is a knack. Either you get it or you don't." - Osho
Meditation is an experience which is not easily described, like the taste of cheese or falling in love - you have to try it to find out. Osho has spoken volumes on the subject of meditation. Virtually all his talks include the importance of meditation in everyday life. And despite the fact that he says meditation is not a technique, he has invented dozens of meditation techniques, and spoken on dozens more from other traditions. But ultimately, for anyone interested in meditation, they must remember what Osho says - that he can try and be of help to you, but in the end each individual has to create his own path by walking it.
Meditation is not concentration
Meditation is not concentration. In concentration there is a self that is concentrating and there is an object being concentrated upon. There is duality. In meditation there is nobody inside and nothing outside. It is not concentration. There is no division between the In and the Out. The In goes on flowing into the Out, the Out goes on flowing into the In. The demarcation, the boundary, the border, no longer exists. The In is Out, the Out is In; it is a no-dual consciousness.
Concentration is a dual consciousness; that's why concentration creates tiredness; that's why when you concentrate you feel exhausted. And you cannot concentrate for twenty-four hours; you will have to take long holidays to rest. Concentration can never become your nature. Meditation does not tire, meditation does not exhaust you. Meditation can become a twenty-four hour thing - day in, day out, year in, year out. It can become eternity. It is relaxation itself. Concentration is an act, a willed act. Meditation is a state of no will, a state of inaction. It is relaxation. One has simply dropped into one's own being, and that being is the same as the being of All.
In concentration, the mind functions out of a conclusion: you are doing something. Concentration comes out of the past. In meditation there is no conclusion behind it. You are not doing anything in particular, you are simply being. It has no past to it, it is pure of all future, it is what Lao Tzu has called wei-wu-wei, action through inaction. It is what Zen masters have been saying; sitting silently doing nothing, the spring comes and the grass grows by itself - nothing is being done. You are not pulling the grass upwards; the spring comes and the grass grows by itself. That state - when you allow life to go on its own way, when you don't want to give any control to it, when you are not manipulating, when you are not enforcing any discipline on it - that state of pure, undisciplined spontaneity, is what meditation is.
Meditation is in the present, pure present. Meditation is immediacy. You cannot meditate, you can be in meditation. You cannot be in concentration, but you can concentrate. Concentration is human, meditation is divine.
Creating a space for meditation
If you can create a special place - a small temple or a corner in your home where you can meditate every day - then don't use that corner for any other purpose, because every purpose has its own vibration. Use that corner only for meditation and nothing else. Then the corner will become charged and it will wait for you every day. Choosing a corner will help you; the milieu will create a particular vibration, a particular atmosphere in which you can go deeper and deeper more easily. That's the reason why temples, churches and mosques were created - just to have a place that existed only for prayer and meditation.
If you can choose a regular hour to meditate, that's also very helpful because your body, your mind, is a mechanism, it gets used to habits, like having lunch at a particular hour. Sometimes you can even play tricks on it. If you usually have your lunch at one o'clock, you will be hungry when the clock shows one o'clock, - even if it is only eleven or twelve. You look at the clock, it says one o'clock, and suddenly you feel hunger within. Your body is a mechanism.
Your mind is also a mechanism. Meditate every day in the same place, at the same time, and you will create a hunger for meditation within your body and mind. Every day at that particular time your body and mind will ask you to go into meditation. It will be helpful in achieving your goal, especially in the beginning. A space is created in you which will become a hunger, a thirst. Until you come to a point where meditation has become natural and you can meditate anywhere, in any place, at any time, use these mechanical resources of the body and the mind to help you on. They create an atmosphere; you put off the light, you have your favourite incense burning in the room, you have your comfortable clothes, a certain height, a certain softness, a certain posture. This ritual helps but does not cause your meditative process. And each person’s ritual will be different. If somebody else follows your ritual, they may find it to be a hindrance. One has to find one's own ritual. A ritual is simply to help you to be at ease and wait. And when you are at ease, the thing you are waiting for happens; just like sleep, god comes to you… just like love, god comes to you. You cannot will it, you cannot force it.
Be flexible and natural
One can be obsessed with meditation. And obsession is the problem; you were obsessed with money and now you are obsessed with meditation. You were obsessed with the market, now you are obsessed with god. Money or the market are not the problems, obsession is the problem. One should let oneself stay flexible and natural and not obsessed with anything, neither mind nor meditation. Only then, unoccupied, unobsessed, when you are simply flowing, the ultimate happens to you.
Purposes and effects of meditation
The purposes for which people meditate vary almost as widely as practices. Meditation may serve; as a technique for cultivating mental discipline, as a means towards gaining insight into the nature of reality, or of communing with one's god, or simply as a means of relaxation from a busy daily routine. Many report improved concentration, awareness, self-discipline and equanimity through meditation. Many authorities avoid emphasizing the effects of meditation - sometimes out of modesty, sometimes for fear that the expectation of results might interfere with one's meditation. For theists, the effects of meditation are considered a gift of god or from the Holy Spirit, and not something that is ‘achieved’ by the meditator alone, just as some say that a person will not convert to Christianity without the influence of the Holy Spirit's presence.
Commonly reported results from meditation
- An increase in patience, compassion, and other virtues and morals or the understanding of them
- Feelings of calm or peace, and/or moments of great joy
- Consciousness of sin, temptation, and remorse, and a spirit of contrition
- Sensitivity to certain forms of lighting, such as fluorescent lights or computer screens, and sometimes heightened sense-perception
- Surfacing of buried memories
- Experience of spiritual phenomena such as kundalini, extra-sensory perception, or visions of deities, saints, demons, etc
TYPES OF MEDITATION
Dynamic Meditation
Dynamic Meditation lasts one hour and is in five stages. It can be done alone, but will be even more powerful if it is done with others. It is an individual experience so you should remain oblivious of others around you and keep your eyes closed throughout, preferably using a blindfold. It is best to have an empty stomach and wear loose, comfortable clothing.
“This is a meditation in which you have to be continuously alert, conscious, aware, whatsoever you do. Remain a witness. Don’t get lost. While you are breathing you can forget. You can become one with the breathing so much so that you can forget the witness. But then you miss the point.
Breathe as fast as possible, as deep as possible; bring your total energy to it but still remain a witness. Observe what is happening as if you are just a spectator, as if the whole thing is happening to somebody else, as if the whole thing is happening in the body and the consciousness is just centred and watching.
This witnessing has to be carried in all the three steps. And when everything stops, and in the fourth step you have become completely inactive, frozen, then this alertness will come to its peak.” - Osho
First stage: 10 minutes
Breathe chaotically through the nose, concentrating always on exhalation. The body will take care of the inhalation. The breath should move deeply into the lungs. Be as fast as you can in your breathing, making sure the breathing stays deep. Do this as fast and as hard as you possibly can – and then a little harder, until you literally become the breathing. Use your natural body movements to help you to build up your energy. Feel it building up, but don’t let go during the first stage.
Second stage: 10 minutes
Explode! Express everything that needs to be thrown out. Go totally mad. Scream, shout, cry, jump, shake, dance, sing, laugh; throw yourself around. Hold nothing back; keep your whole body moving. A little acting often helps to get you started. Never allow your mind to interfere with what is happening. Be total, be whole-hearted.
Third stage: 10 minutes
With raised arms, jump up and down shouting the mantra, ‘Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!’ as deep as possible. Each time you land, on the flats of your feet, let the sound hammer deep into the sex centre. Give it all you have; exhaust yourself totally.
Fourth stage: 15 minutes
Stop! Freeze wherever you are, in whatever position you find yourself. Don’t arrange the body in any way. A cough, a movement – anything will dissipate the energy flow and the effort will be lost. Be a witness to everything that is happening to you.
Fifth stage: 15 minutes
Celebrate through dance, expressing your gratitude towards the whole. Carry your happiness with you throughout the day.
If where you meditate prevents you from making a noise, you can do this silent alternative: Rather than throwing out the sounds, let the catharsis in the second stage take place entirely through bodily movements. In the third stage, the sound ‘Hoo’ can be hammered silently inside.
Kundalini Meditation
This meditation lasts for one hour and has four stages - three with music, and the last without.
Kundalini acts like an energetic shower, softly shaking you free of your day and leaving you refreshed and mellow.
First stage: 15 minutes
Let yourself stay loose and let your whole body shake, feeling the energies moving up from your feet. Let go everywhere and become the shaking. Your eyes may be open or closed.
“Allow the shaking; don’t do it. Stand silently, feel it coming and when your body starts trembling, help it but don’t do it. Enjoy it, feel blissful about it, allow it, receive it, welcome it, but don’t will it.
If you force it, it will become an exercise, a bodily, physical exercise. Then the shaking will be there but just on the surface; it will not penetrate you. You will remain solid, stone-like, rock-like within. You will remain the manipulator, the doer, and the body will just be following. The body is not the question – you are the question.
When I say shake, I mean your solidity, your rock-like being should shake to the very foundations so that it becomes liquid, fluid, melts, flows. And when the rock-like being becomes liquid, your body will follow. Then there is no shake, only shaking. Then nobody is doing it; it is simply happening. Then the doer is not.” - Osho
Second stage: 15 minutes
Dance, any way you feel, letting the whole body move as it wishes. Again, your eyes can be open or closed.
Third stage: 15 minutes
Close your eyes and be still, sitting or standing, observing, witnessing, whatever is happening inside and out.
Fourth stage: 15 minutes
Keeping your eyes closed, lie down and be still.
Nadabramha Meditation
Nadabrahma meditation lasts for one hour and has three stages. It is a sitting method, in which humming and hand movements create an inner balance, a harmony between mind and body. Suitable for any time of the day, have an empty stomach and remain inactive for at least fifteen minutes afterwards.
“In Nadabrahma, remember this: let the body and mind be totally together, but remember that you have to become a witness. Get out of them, easily, slowly, from the back door, with no fight, with no struggle.” - Osho
First stage: 30 minutes
Sit in a relaxed position with eyes closed. With lips together, start humming, loud enough so that if you are doing it with others, you can be heard by them. This will create a vibration in your body. You can visualize a hollow tube or vessel filled only with the vibrations of the humming. A point will come when the humming continues by itself and you become the listener. There is no special breathing, and you can alter the pitch, and move your body smoothly and slowly, if you feel like it.
Second stage: 15 minutes
This stage is divided into two segments, of seven and a half minutes each. For the first part, move the hands, palms upwards, in an outward, circular motion. Starting at the navel, both hands move forward, and then divide to make two large circles, mirroring each other left and right. The movement should be so slow that at times there will appear to be no movement at all. Imagine that you are giving energy outwards to the universe. After seven and a half minutes, the music will change and you turn your hands palm downwards, and start moving them in the opposite direction. Now the hands will come together towards the navel and divide outwards towards the side of the body. Feel that you are taking energy in. As in the first stage, don’t inhibit any soft, slow movements of the rest of your body.
Third stage: 15 minutes
Sit absolutely quiet and still.
Gourishankar Meditation
This technique, for night time, consists of four stages of fifteen minutes each. The first two stages are preparation for the spontaneous Latihan of the third stage. If the breathing is done correctly in the first stage, the carbon dioxide formed in the bloodstream will make you feel as high as Gourishankar (Mt. Everest).
First stage: 15 minutes
Sit with closed eyes. Inhale deeply through the nose, filling the lungs. Hold your breath for as long as possible; then exhale gently through the mouth, and keep the lungs empty for as long as possible. Continue this breathing cycle throughout this stage.
Second stage: 15 minutes
Return to normal breathing and with a gentle gaze look at a candle flame or a flashing blue light. Keep your body still.
Third stage: 15 minutes
With closed eyes, stand up and let your body stay loose and receptive. Allow your body to move gently in whichever way it wants. Don't do the moving, just allow it to happen gently and gracefully.
Fourth stage: 15 minutes
Lie down with closed eyes, silent and still. |
