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Showing posts from March, 2014

Imagining

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First thing in the morning, imagine yourself tremendously happy. Get out of bed in a very happy mood — radiant, bubbling, expectant — as if something perfect, of infinite value, is going to happen today. Get out of the bed in a very positive and hopeful mood, with the feeling that this day is not going to be an ordinary day — that something exceptional, extraordinary, is waiting for you; something is very close by. Try and remember it again and again for the whole day. Within seven days you will see that your whole pattern, your whole style, your whole vibration, has changed. When you go to sleep in the night, just imagine that you are falling into divine hands...as if existence is supporting you, that you are in its lap, falling asleep. Just visualize it and fall asleep. The one thing to carry is that you should go on imagining and let sleep come, so that the imagination enters into sleep; they are overlapping. Don’t imagine any negative thing, because if people who have an

The fragrance of a flower

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IF you have a good nose, then be near a flower, let the smell fill you. Then by and by move away from the flower very slowly but continue being attentive to the smell, the fragrance. As you move away the fragrance will become more and more subtle and you will need more awareness to feel it. Become the nose. Forget about the whole body and bring all the energy to the nose as if only the nose exists. If you lose track of the smell, go a few steps further ahead, again catch hold of the smell, then move back, move backwards. By and by you will be able to smell a flower from a very very great distance. Nobody else will be able to smell that flower from there. Then go on moving in a very subtle way, you are making the object subtle, and then a moment will come when you will not be able to smell the smell. Now smell the absence of where the fragrance was just a moment before. It is no longer there. That is the other part of its being – the absent part, the dark part. If you can smel

Simply relax the breathing

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WHENEVER you find time, just for a few minutes relax the breathing system, nothing else – there is no need to relax the whole body. Sitting in the train or plane, or in the car, nobody will become aware that you are doing something. Just relax the breathing system. Let it be as when it is functioning naturally. Then close your eyes and watch the breathing going in, coming out, going in. Don’t concentrate. If you concentrate, you create trouble, because then everything becomes a disturbance. If you try to concentrate sitting in the car, then the noise of the car becomes a disturbance, the person sitting beside you becomes a disturbance. Meditation is not concentration. It is simple awareness. You simply relax and watch the breathing. In that watching, nothing is excluded. The car is humming – perfectly okay, accept it. The traffic is passing – that’s okay, part of life. The fellow passenger snoring by your side, accept it. Nothing is rejected.

The art of listening

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“Your mind is continuously bombarded from all sides by all kinds of thoughts. To protect itself, each mind has created a subtle wall of buffers so those thoughts are turned back, they don’t enter your mind. It is basically good, but then slowly those buffers have grown so much that now they don’t allow anything in. Even if you want, they are no longer in your control. And the only way to break them is the same way as breaking your own thoughts. “Just become a witness of your thoughts. And as your thoughts start disappearing, the need for the buffers to protect those thoughts will not be there; those buffers will start falling. These are all abstract phenomena, so you cannot see them, but their effects are there. “Only the man who knows how to meditate knows how to listen, or vice-versa. The man who knows how to listen knows how to meditate, because it is the same thing.” Step 1:  Sit by the side of a tree, on your bed, anywhere — just try to listen to the traffic noise, but

Peace be to this man’

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WHEN somebody comes to see you or meet you just settle within yourself, become silent. When the man enters, deep down feel peace for him. Feel: 'Peace be to this man’. Don’t just say it, feel it. Suddenly you will see a change in the man as if something unknown has entered into his being. He will be totally different. Try it. Osho gave this tension technique for those who have become aware of a persistent pattern of frustration and anger in their day-to-day affairs. Every day for fifteen minutes, any time that you feel good, choose a time and close the room and become angry – but don’t release it. Go on forcing it ... go almost crazy with anger, but don’t release it – no expression, not even a pillow to hit. Repress it in every way – do you follow me? It is just the exact opposite of catharsis. If you feel tension arising in the stomach as if something is going to explode, pull the stomach in; make it as tense as you can. If you feel the shoulders are becoming tense

Making friends with a tree

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GO to a tree, talk to the tree, touch the tree, embrace the tree, feel the tree, just sit by the side of the tree, let the tree feel that you are a good man and that you are not in the mood to harm. By and by friendship arises and you will start feeling that when you come, the quality of the tree immediately changes. You will feel it, on the bark of the tree you will feel tremendous energy moving when you come. When you touch the tree, she is as happy as a beloved. When you sit by the tree, you will feel many things, and soon you will be able to feel that if you are sad and come to the tree, your sadness will disappear just in the presence of the tree. Then only will you be able to understand that you are interdependent. You can make the tree happy, and the tree can make you happy, and the whole of life is interdependent. This interdependence I call God.

Are you here

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CALL your own name, in the morning, in the night, in the afternoon. Whenever you feel sleepy call your own name. And not only call it, answer it and say it loudly. Don’t be afraid of others. You have been afraid of others enough, they have already murdered you through fear. Don’t be afraid, even in the market place you must remember. Call your own name: ‘Teertha are you here?’ And answer ‘Yes, sir.’

Follow the yes

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FOR one month follow only the yes, the path that says ‘yes’. For one month don’t follow the path that says ‘no’. Give more cooperation to the yes – that is from where you will become united. No never helps to attain unity. It is always yes that helps, because yes is acceptance, yes is trust, yes is prayer. To be able to say ‘yes’ is to be religious. The second thing, the no has not to be repressed. If you repress it, it will take revenge. If you repress it, it will become more and more powerful and one day will explode and destroy your yes. So never repress the no, just ignore it. And there is a great difference between repressing and ignoring. You know it is there and you recognise it. You say “Yes, I know you  are there, but I’m going to follow yes.” You don’t repress it, you don’t fight with it, you don't say “Get out, get lost, I don’t want to do anything with you.” You don’t say anything in anger to it, you don’t want to push it away, you don’t want to throw it into

Four Levels of Relaxing

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Four Levels of Relaxing This particular method is useful for those time when you are sick because it helps build a loving connection, to create a rapport between yourself and your bodymind. Then you can take an active part in your own healing process. Step 1: The Body “Remember as many times as possible to look into the body and see whether you are carrying some tension in the body somewhere – the neck, the head or the legs…. Relax it consciously. Just go to that part of the body, and persuade that part, say to it lovingly ‘Relax!’ You will be surprised that if you approach any part of your body, it listens, it follows you – it is your body! With closed eyes, go inside the body from the toe to the head, searching for any place where there is a tension. And then talk to that part as you talk to a friend; let there be a dialogue between you and your body. Tell it to relax, and tell it, ‘There is nothing to fear. Don´t be afraid. I am here to take care; y

Meditation For Busy People

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1. Watching the Breath Breath-watching is a method that can be done anywhere, at any time, even if you have only a few minutes available. You can simply watch the rise and fall of your chest or belly as the breath comes in and goes out, or try this version…. Step 1: Watch the In Breath Close your eyes and start watching your breath. First, the inhalation, from where it enters your nostrils, right down into your lungs. Step 2: Watch the Gap That Follows At the end of the inhalation there is gap, before the exhalation starts. It is of immense value. Watch that gap. Step 3: Watch the Out Breath Now watch the exhalation. Step 4: Watch the Gap That Follows At the end of the exhalation there is a second gap: watch that gap. Do these four steps for two to three times – just watching the breathing cycle, not changing it in anyway, just watching the natural rhythm. Step 5: Counting In Breaths Now start counting: Inhalation – count 1 (don’t count the exhala

Not two

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THIS is one of the oldest mantras. Whenever you feel divided, whenever you see that a duality is coming into being, simply say inside: ‘Not two’. But say it with awareness; don’t repeat it in a mechanical way. Whenever you feel love arising, say ‘Not two’, otherwise the hate is waiting there – they are one. When you feel hate arising say ‘Not two’. Whenever you feel a clinging towards life say ‘Not two’, whenever you feel a fear of death, say ‘Not two’. Only one is. And this saying should be your understanding. It should be filled with intelligence, penetrating clarity, and suddenly you will feel a relaxation within. The moment you say ‘Not two’ – if you are saying it understandingly, not repeating it in a mechanical way – you will suddenly feel the illumination.  Follow Us

Ponder on the opposite

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THIS is a beautiful method. It will be very useful. For example: if you are feeling very discontented, what to do? Ponder on the opposite. If you are feeling discontented, contemplate about contentment. What is contentment? Bring a balance. If your mind is angry, bring compassion in, think about compassion; and immediately the energy changes, because they are the same. The opposite is the same energy. Once you bring it in it absorbs. Anger is there, contemplate on compassion. Do one thing: keep a statue of Buddha, because that statue is the gesture of compassion. Whenever you feel angry, go into the room, look at Buddha, sit Buddha-like and feel compassion. Suddenly you will see a transformation happening within you. The anger is  changing: excitement gone, compassion arising. And it is not different energy. It is the same energy – the same energy as anger – changing its quality, going higher. Try it! Follow Us

Pillow-beating

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WHEN you feel angry, there is no need to be angry against someone; just be angry. Let it be a meditation. Close the room, sit by yourself, and let the anger come up as much as it can. If you feel like beating, beat a pillow. Do whatsoever you want to do; the pillow will never object. If you want to kill the pillow, have a knife and kill it! It helps, it helps tremendously. One can never imagine how helpful a pillow can be. Just beat it, bite it, throw it. If you are against somebody in particular, write their name on the pillow or stick a picture on it. You will feel ridiculous, foolish, but anger is ridiculous; you cannot do anything about it. So let it be and enjoy it like an energy phenomenon. It is an energy phenomenon. If you are not hurting anybody there is nothing wrong in it. When you try this you will see that the idea of hurting somebody by and by disappears. Make it a daily practice – just twenty minutes every morning. Then watch the whole day. You will be calme

Are you here?

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CALL your own name, in the morning, in the night, in the afternoon. Whenever you feel sleepy call your own name. And not only call it, answer it and say it loudly. Don’t be afraid of others. You have been afraid of others enough, they have already murdered you through fear. Don’t be afraid, even in the market place you must remember. Call your own name: ‘Teertha are you here?’ And answer ‘Yes, sir.’

Pant like a dog

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IT is difficult to work with anger directly because it may be deeply repressed. So work indirectly. Running will help much anger and much fear to evaporate. When you are running for a long time and breathing deeply, the mind stops functioning and the body takes over. And a small exercise will be very helpful. Whenever somebody is not going below the stomach, below the belly, is somehow superficial, he can walk and pant like a dog. He can let his tongue be out and hang down, and go around just like a dog and pant. The whole passage will become open. Whenever somebody has some block there, panting can be very significant. If he pants for half an hour, his anger will flow very beautifully. His whole body will become involved in it. So you can try this in your room sometimes. You can use a mirror and bark and growl at it. Within three weeks you will feel things going very very deeply. Once anger is relaxed, gone, you will feel free.

Follow the yes

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FOR one month follow only the yes, the path that says ‘yes’. For one month don’t follow the path that says ‘no’. Give more cooperation to the yes – that is from where you will become united. No never helps to attain unity. It is always yes that helps, because yes is acceptance, yes is trust, yes is prayer. To be able to say ‘yes’ is to be religious. The second thing, the no has not to be repressed. If you repress it, it will take revenge. If you repress it, it will become more and more powerful and one day will explode and destroy your yes. So never repress the no, just ignore it. And there is a great difference between repressing and ignoring. You know it is there and you recognise it. You say “Yes, I know you  are there, but I’m going to follow yes.” You don’t repress it, you don’t fight with it, you don't say “Get out, get lost, I don’t want to do anything with you.” You don’t say anything in anger to it, you don’t want to push it away, you don’t want to throw it into

Just look at the sky

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MEDITATE on the sky and whenever you have time just lie down on the ground; look at the sky. Let that be your contemplation. If you want to pray, pray to the sky. If you want to meditate, meditate on the sky, sometimes with open eyes, sometimes with closed eyes. Because the sky is within too; as it is big without, within it is the same. We are just standing on the threshold of the inner sky and the outer sky and they are exactly proportionate. As the outside sky is infinite, so is the inner sky. We are just standing on the threshold, either way you can be dissolved. And these are the two ways to dissolve. If you dissolve in the outside sky then it is prayer, if you dissolve into the inside sky then it is meditation, but finally it comes to the same: you are dissolved.  And these two skies are not two. They are two only because you are, you are the dividing line. When you disappear the dividing line disappears, then in is out and out is in. 

Funny Faces

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THERE are many old meditations which make use of making funny faces. You can make it a meditation – in Tibet it is one of the oldest traditions. Keep a big mirror. Stand naked, make faces, do funny things – and watch. Just doing it and watching for 15-20 minutes, you will be surprised. You will start feeling you are separate from this. If you are not separate then how can you do all these things! Then the body is just in your hand, is just something in your hand. You can play with it this way and that.  Find out new ways to make funny faces, funny postures. Do whatsoever you can do and it will give you a great release and you will start looking at yourself, not as the body, not as the face, but as the consciousness. It will be helpful .

Write down your thoughts

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ONE day do this: a little experiment. Close your doors and sit in your room and just start writing your thoughts – whatsoever comes into your mind. Don’t change them because you need not show this piece of paper to anybody! Just go on writing for ten minutes and then look at them. This is what your thinking is. If you look at them you will think this is some madman’s work. If you show that piece of paper to your most intimate friend he will also look at you and think ‘Have you gone crazy?’ 

The Guillotine Meditation

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ONE of the most beautiful tantra meditations: walk and think that the head is no more there, just the body. Sit and think that the head is no more there, just the body. Continuously remember that the head is not there. Visualize yourself without the head. Have a picture of yourself enlarged without the head; look at it. Let your mirror be lowered in the bathroom so when you see, you cannot see your head, just the body. A few days of rememberance and you will feel such weightlessness happening to you, such tremendous silence, because it is the head that is the problem. If you can conceive of yourself as headless – and that can be conceived, there is no trouble in it – then more and more you will be centered in the heart Just this very moment you can visualize yourself headless. Then you will understand what I am saying immediately.

simply disappear

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SITTING under a tree, not thinking of past and future, just being there, where are you? Where is the I? You cannot feel it, it is not there. The ego has never existed in the present. Past is no more, future is yet to be; both are not. Past has disappeared, future has not yet appeared – only the present is. And in the present there is never found anything like the ego. There is one of the most ancient meditations still used in some monasteries of Tibet. The meditation is based on the truth that I am saying to you. They teach that sometimes you can simply disappear; sitting in the garden, you just start feeling that you are disappearing. Just see how the world looks when you have gone from the world, when you are no longer here, when you have become absolutely transparent. Just try for a single second not to be. In your own home be as if you are not. It is really a beautiful meditation. You can try it many times in 24 hours – just half a second will do. For half a seco

Feel, Don't think

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You are sitting in the garden, the traffic is passing by and there are many noises and many sounds. You just close your eyes and try to find the subtlest sound there is around you. A crow is cawing: just concentrate yourself on that crow’s noise. The whole traffic noise is going on. The sound is such, it is so subtle, that you cannot be aware of it unless you focus your awareness towards it. But if you focus your awareness, the whole traffic noise will go far away and the noise of the crow will become the center. And you will hear it, all the nuances of it ― very subtle, but you will be able to hear it. Grow in sensitivity. When you touch, when you hear, when you eat, when you take a bath, allow your senses to be open. And don't think ― feel. You are standing under the shower: feel the coolness of the water falling on you. Don’t think about it. Don’t immediately say, “It is very cool. It is cold. It is good.” Don’t say anything. Don’t verbalize, because the moment you ver

I am not this

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MIND is rubbish! It is not that you have rubbish and somebody else hasn’t. It is rubbish, and if you go on bringing rubbish out, you can go on and on; you can never bring it to a point where it ends. It is self-perpetuating rubbish, so it is not dead, it is dynamic. It grows and has a life of its own. So if you cut it, leaves will sprout again. Bringing it out doesn’t mean that you will become empty. It will only make you aware that this mind that you thought is you, with which you have been identified up to now, is not you. By bringing it up, you will become aware of the separation, the gulf, between you and it. The rubbish remains but you are not identified with it, that’s all. You become separate, you know you are separate. So you have only to do one thing: don’t try to fight with the rubbish, and don’t try to change it. Simply watch, and just remember one thing, ‘I am not this.’ Let this be the mantra: ‘I am not this.’ Remember it, and become alert and see what happ