Question: What is
Meditation?
Osho: Meditation is not an Indian method; it is not simply a technique. You cannot learn it. It is a growth: a growth of your total living, out of your total living. Meditation is not something that can be added to you as you are. It can come to you only through a basic transformation, a mutation. It is a flowering, a growth. Growth is always out of the total; it is not an addition. You must grow toward meditation. This total flowering of the personality must be understood correctly.
Osho: Meditation is not an Indian method; it is not simply a technique. You cannot learn it. It is a growth: a growth of your total living, out of your total living. Meditation is not something that can be added to you as you are. It can come to you only through a basic transformation, a mutation. It is a flowering, a growth. Growth is always out of the total; it is not an addition. You must grow toward meditation. This total flowering of the personality must be understood correctly.
Otherwise
one can
play
games
with
oneself,
one can
occupy
oneself
with
mental
tricks.
And there
are so
many
tricks!
Not only
can
you be
fooled by
them, not
only will
you not
gain
anything,
but in a
real
sense you
will be
harmed.
The very
attitude
that
there is
some
trick to
meditation
– to
conceive
of
meditation
in terms
of method
– is
basically
wrong.
And when
one
begins to
play with
mental
tricks,
the very
quality
of the
mind
begins to
deteriorate.
As mind
exists,
it is not
meditative.
The total
mind must
change
before
meditation
can
happen.
Then
what is
the mind
as it now
exists?
How does
it
function? The mind
is always
verbalizing.
You can
know
words,
you can
know
language,
you can
know the
conceptual
structure
of
thinking,
but that
is not
thinking.
On the
contrary,
it is an
escape
from
thinking.
You see a
flower
and you
verbalize
it; you
see a man
crossing
the
street
and you
verbalize
it. The
mind can
transform
every
existential
thing
into
words.
Then the
words
become a
barrier,
an
imprisonment.
This
constant
transformation
of things
into
words, of
existence
into
words, is
the
obstacle
to a
meditative
mind.
So the
first
requirement
toward a
meditative
mind is
to be
aware of
your
constant
verbalizing
and to
be able
to stop
it. Just
see
things;
do not
verbalize.
Be aware
of their
presence,
but do
not
change
them into
words.
Let
things
be,
without
language;
let
persons
be,
without
language;
let
situations
be,
without
language.
It is not
impossible;
it is
natural.
It is the
situation
as it now
exists
that is
artificial,
but we
have
become so
habituated
to it, it
has
become so
mechanical,
that we
are not
even
aware
that we
are
constantly
transforming
experience
into
words.
The
sunrise
is there.
You are
never
aware of
the gap
between
seeing it
and
verbalizing.
You see
the sun,
you feel
it, and
immediately
you
verbalize
it. The
gap
between
seeing
and
verbalizing
is
lost. One
must
become
aware of
the fact
that the
sunrise
is not a
word. It
is a
fact, a
presence.
The
mind
automatically
changes
experiences
into
words.
These
words
then come
between
you and
the
experience.
Meditation
means
living
without
words,
living nonlinguistically.
Sometimes
it
happens
spontaneously.
When you
are in
love,
presence
is felt,
not
language.
Whenever
two
lovers
are
intimate
with one
another
they
become
silent.
It is not
that
there is
nothing
to
express.
On the
contrary,
there is
an
overwhelming
amount to
be
expressed.
But words
are never
there;
they
cannot
be. They
come only
when love
has gone.
If two
lovers
are never
silent,
it is an
indication
that love
has died.
Now they
are
filling
the gap
with
words.
When love
is alive,
words are
not there
because
the very
existence
of love
is so
overwhelming,
so
penetrating,
that the
barrier
of
language
and words
is
crossed.
And
ordinarily,
it is
only
crossed
in love. Meditation
is the
culmination
of love:
love not
for a
single
person,
but for
the total
existence.
To me,
meditation
is a
living
relationship
with the
total
existence
that
surrounds
you. If
you can
be in
love
with any
situation,
then you
are in
meditation.
And this
is not a
mental
trick. It
is not a
method of
stilling
the mind.
Rather,
it
requires
a deep
understanding
of the
mechanism
of the
mind. The
moment
you
understand
your
mechanical
habit
of
verbalization,
of
changing
existence
into
words, a
gap is
created.
It comes
spontaneously.
It
follows
understanding
like a
shadow.
The real
problem
is not
how to be
in
meditation,
but to
know
why you
are not
in
meditation.
The very
process
of
meditation
is
negative.
It is not
adding
something
to you;
it is
negating
something
that has
already
been
added.
Society
cannot
exist
without
language;
it needs
language.
But existence does not need it. I am not saying that you should exist without language. You will have to use it. But you must be able to turn the mechanism of verbalization on and off. When you are existing as a social being, the mechanism of language is needed; but when you are alone with existence, you must be able to turn it off. If you can’t turn it off – if it goes on and on, and you are incapable of stopping it – then you have become a slave to it. Mind must be an instrument, not the master.
But existence does not need it. I am not saying that you should exist without language. You will have to use it. But you must be able to turn the mechanism of verbalization on and off. When you are existing as a social being, the mechanism of language is needed; but when you are alone with existence, you must be able to turn it off. If you can’t turn it off – if it goes on and on, and you are incapable of stopping it – then you have become a slave to it. Mind must be an instrument, not the master.
When mind
is the
master,
a
non-meditative
state
exists.
When you
are the
master,
your
consciousness
is the
master, a
meditative
state
exists.
So
meditation
means
becoming
a master
of
the
mechanism
of the
mind.
Mind, and
the
linguistic
functioning
of the
mind, is
not the
ultimate.
You are
beyond
it;
existence
is beyond
it.
Consciousness
is beyond
linguistics;
existence
is beyond
linguistics.
When
consciousness
and
existence
are one,
they are
in
communion.
This
communion
is
meditation.
Language
must be
dropped.
I don’t
mean that
you have
to
suppress
it or
eliminate
it. I
only mean
that it
does not
have to
be a
twenty-four-hour-a-day
habit for
you. When
you walk,
you need
to move
your
legs. But
if they
go on
moving
when you
are
sitting,
then you
are mad.
You must
be able
to turn
them off.
In the
same way,
when you
are not
talking
with
anyone,
language
must not
be there.
It is a
technique
to
communicate.
When you
are not
communicating
with
anybody
it should
not be
there.
If you
are able
to do
this, you
can grow
into
meditation.
Meditation
is a
growing
process,
not a
technique.
A
technique
is always
dead, so
it can be
added to
you, but
a process
is always
alive. It
grows, it
expands.
Language
is
needed,
but you
must not
always
remain in
it. There
must be
moments
when
there is
no
verbalizing,
when you
just
exist. It
is not
that you
are just
vegetating.
Consciousness
is there.
And it is
more
acute,
more
alive,
because
language
dulls it.
Language
is bound
to be
repetitive
so it
creates
boredom.
The more
important
language
is to
you, the
more
bored you
will be.
Existence
is never
repetitive.
Every
rose is a
new rose,
altogether
new. It
has never
been and
it will
never be
again.
But when
we call
it a
rose, the
word
‘rose’ is
a
repetition.
It has
always
been
there; it will
always be
there.
You have
killed
the new
with an
old word.
Existence
is always
young,
and
language
is always
old.
Through
language,
you
escape
existence,
you
escape
life,
because
language
is dead.
The more
involved
you are
with
language,
the more
deadened
you will
be by it.
A pundit
is
completely
dead
because
he is
nothing
but
language,
words.
Sartre
has
called
his
autobiography
’Words’.
We live
in words.
That is,
we don’t
live. In
the end
there is
only a
series of
accumulated
words and
nothing
else.
Words are
like
photographs.
You see
something
that is
alive and
you take
a picture
of it.
The
picture
is dead.
Then you
make an
album of
dead
pictures.
A person
who has
not lived
in
meditation
is like a
dead
album.
Only
verbal
pictures
are
there,
only
memories.
Nothing
has been
lived;
everything
has just
been
verbalized.
Meditation
means
living
totally,
but you
can live
totally
only when
you are
silent.
By being
silent I
do
not mean
unconscious.
You can
be silent
and
unconscious
but it is
not a
living
silence.
Again,
you
have
missed.
Through
mantras
you can
autohypnotize
yourself.
By simply
repeating
a word
you can
create so
much
boredom
in the
mind that
the mind
will go
to sleep.
You drop
into
sleep,
drop into
the
unconscious.
If you go
on
chanting
”Ram Ram
Ram” the
mind will
fall
asleep.
Then the
barrier
of
language
is not
there,
but you
are
unconscious.
Meditation
means
that
language
must not
be there,
but you
must be
conscious.
Otherwise
there is
no
communion
with
existence,
with all
that is.
No mantra
can help,
no
chanting
can help.
Autohypnosis
is not
meditation.
On the
contrary,
to be in
an
autohypnotic
state is
a
regression.
It is not
going
beyond
language;
it is
falling
below it.
So drop
all
mantras,
drop all
these
techniques.
Allow
moments
to exist
where
words are
not
there.
You
cannot
get rid
of words
with a
mantra
because
the very
process
uses
words.
You
cannot
eliminate
language
with
words; it
is
impossible.
So what
is to be
done? In
fact, you
cannot do
anything
at all
except to
understand.
Whatever
you
are able
to do can
only come
from
where you
are. You
are
confused,
you are
not in
meditation,
your
mind is
not
silent,
so
anything
that
comes out
of you
will only
create
more
confusion.
All that
can
be done
right now
is to
begin to
be aware
of how
the mind
functions.
That’s
all –
just be
aware.
Awareness
has
nothing
to do
with
words. It
is an
existential
act, not
a mental
act.
So the
first
thing is
to be
aware. Be
aware of
your
mental
processes,
how your
mind
works.
The
moment
you
become
aware of
the
functioning
of your
mind, you
are not
the mind.
The very
awareness
means
that you
are
beyond:
aloof, a
witness.
And the
more
aware you
become,
the
more you
will be
able to
see the
gaps
between
the
experience
and the
words.
Gaps are
there,
but
you are
so
unaware
that they
are never
seen.
Between
two words
there is
always a
gap,
however
imperceptible,
however
small.
Otherwise
the
two words
cannot
remain
two; they
will
become
one.
Between
two notes
of music
there is
always a
gap, a
silence.
Two words
or two
notes
cannot be
two
unless
there is
an
interval
between
them. A
silence
is always
there but
one has
to be
really
aware,
really
attentive,
to feel
it.
The more
aware you
become,
the
slower
the mind
becomes.
It is
always
relative.
The less
aware
you are,
the
faster
the mind
is; the
more
aware you
are, the
slower
the
process
of the
mind is.
When
you are
more
aware of
the mind,
the mind
slows
down and
the gaps
between
thoughts
widen.
Then
you can
see them.
It is
just like
a film.
When a
projector
is run in
slow
motion,
you see
the gaps.
If I
raise my
hand,
this has
to be
shot in a
thousand
parts.
Each part
will be a
single
photograph.
If these
thousands
of single
photographs
pass
before
your eyes
so fast
that you
cannot
see the
gaps,
then you
see the
hand
raised as
a
process.
But in
slow
motion,
the gaps
can be
seen.
Mind is
just like
a film. Gaps are
there.
The more
attentive
you are
to your
mind, the
more you
will
see them.
It is
just like
a gestalt
picture:
a picture
that
contains
two
distinct
images at
the same
time.
One image
can be
seen or
the other
can be
seen, but
you
cannot
see both
simultaneously.
It can
be a
picture
of an old
lady, and
at the
same time
a picture
of a
young
lady. But
if you
are
focused
on
one, you
will not
see the
other;
and when
you are
focused
on the
other,
the first
is lost.
Even if
you
know
perfectly
well that
you have
seen both
images,
you
cannot
see them
simultaneously.
The same
thing
happens
with the
mind. If
you see
the words
you
cannot
see the
gaps, and
if you
see the
gaps you
cannot
see the
words.
Every
word is
followed
by a gap
and every
gap is
followed
by a
word, but
you
cannot
see both
simultaneously.
If you
are
focused
on the
gaps,
words
will be
lost and
you will
be thrown
into
meditation.
A
consciousness
that is
focused
only on
words is
non-meditative
and a
consciousness
that is
focused
only on
gaps is
meditative.
Whenever
you
become
aware of
the gaps,
the words
will be
lost. If
you
observe
carefully,
you will
not find
words;
you will
only find
a gap.
You can
feel the
difference
between
two
words,
but you
cannot
feel the
difference
between
two gaps.
Words are
always
plural
and the
gap is
always
singular:
”the”
gap. They
merge and
become
one.
Meditation
is a
focusing
on the
gap.
Then, the
whole
gestalt
changes.
Another
thing is
to be
understood.
If you
are
looking
at the
gestalt
picture
and your
concentration
is
focused
on the
old lady,
you
cannot
see the
other
picture.
But if
you
continue
to
concentrate
on the
old lady
– if you
go on
focusing
on her,
if you
become
totally
attentive
to her –
a moment
will come
when the
focus
changes
and
suddenly
the old
lady has
disappeared
and the
other
picture
is there.
Why does
this
happen?
It
happens
because
the mind
cannot be
focused
continuously
for a
long
time. It
has to
change or
it will
go to
sleep.
These are
the only
two
possibilities.
If you go
on
concentrating
on one
thing,
the mind
will fall
asleep.
It cannot
remain
fixed; it
is a
living
process.
If
you let
it become
bored it
will go
to sleep
in order
to escape
from the
stagnancy
of your
focus.
Then
it can
continue
living,
in
dreams.
This is
meditation
Maharishi
Mahesh
Yogi
style.
It’s
peaceful,
refreshing,
it can
help your
physical
health
and
mental
equilibrium,
but it is
not
meditation.
The same
thing can
be done
by
autohypnosis.
The
Indian
word
‘mantra’
means
suggestion,
nothing
else. To
take this
as
meditation
is a
serious
mistake.
It is
not. And
if you
think of
it as
meditation,
you will
never
search
for
authentic
meditation.
That is
the real
harm that
is done
by such
practices
and
propagandists
of such
practices.
It is
just
drugging
yourself
psychologically.
So don’t
use any
mantra to
push
words out
of the
way. Just
become
aware of
the words
and the
focus of
your mind
will
change
automatically
to the
gaps.
If you
identify
with
words,
you will
go on
jumping
from one
word to
another
and you
will miss
the
gap.
Another
word is
something
new to
focus on.
The mind
goes on
changing;
the focus
changes.
But if
you are
not
identified
with
words, if
you are
just a
witness –
aloof,
just
watching
the words
as
they go
by in a
procession
– then
the whole
focus
will
change
and you
will
become
aware of
the gap.
It is
just as
if you
are on
the
street,
watching
people as
they pass
by. One
person
has
passed
and
another
has not
yet come.
There is
a gap;
the
street is
vacant.
If you
are
watching,
then you
will
know the
gap.
And once
you know
the gap,
you are
in it;
you have
jumped
into it.
It is an
abyss –
so
peace-giving,
so
consciousness-creating.
It is
meditation
to be in
the gap;
it is
transformation.
Now
language
is
not
needed;
you will
drop it.
It is a
conscious
dropping.
You are
conscious
of the
silence,
the
infinite
silence.
You are
part of
it, one
with it.
You are
not
conscious
of the
abyss as
the
other;
you are conscious
of the
abyss as
yourself.
You know,
but now
you are
the
knowing.
You
observe
the gap, but now
the
observer
is the
observed.
As far as words and thoughts are concerned, you are a witness,
separate, and words are the other.
But when
there are
no words,
you are
the gap –
yet still
conscious
that you
are.
Between
you and
the gap,
between
consciousness
and
existence,
there is
no
barrier
now. Only
words are
the
barrier.
Now you
are in an
existential
situation.
This is
meditation:
to be one
with
existence,
to be
totally
in
it and
still
conscious.
This is
the
contradiction,
this is
the
paradox.
Now you
have
known a
situation
in which
you were
conscious,
and yet
one with
it.
Ordinarily,
when we
are
conscious
of
anything,
the thing
becomes
the
other. If
we are
identified
with
something,
then it
is not
the
other,
but then
we are
not
conscious
– as in
anger, in
sex. We
become
one only
when we
are
unconscious.
Sex has
so much
appeal
because
in sex
you
become
one for a
moment.
But in
that
moment,
you
are
unconscious.
You seek
the
unconsciousness
because
you seek
the
oneness.
But the
more you
seek it,
the more
conscious
you
become.
Then you
will not
feel the
bliss of
sex,
because
the bliss
was
coming
from the
unconsciousness.
You could
become
unconscious
in a
moment of
passion.
Your
consciousness
dropped.
For a
single
moment
you were
in the
abyss –
but
unconscious.
But the
more you
seek it,
the more
it is
lost.
Finally a moment
comes
when you
are in
sex and
the
moment of
unconsciousness
no longer
happens.
The
abyss is
lost, the
bliss is
lost.
Then the
act
becomes
stupid.
It is
just a
mechanical
release;
there is
nothing
spiritual
about it.
We have
known
only
unconscious
oneness;
we have
never
known
conscious
oneness.
Meditation
is
conscious
oneness.
It is the
other
pole of
sexuality.
Sex is
one pole,
unconscious
oneness;
meditation
is the
other
pole,
conscious
oneness.
Sex is
the
lowest
point of
oneness
and
meditation
is the
peak, the
highest
peak of
oneness.
The
difference
is a
difference
of
consciousness.
The
Western
mind is
thinking
about
meditation
now
because
the
appeal of
sex has
been
lost.
Whenever
a society
becomes
non suppressive
sexually,
meditation
will
follow,
because
uninhibited
sex will
kill the
charm and
romance
of sex;
it will
kill the
spiritual
side of
it. Much
sex is
there,
but
you
cannot
continue
to be
unconscious
in it.
A
sexually
suppressed
society
can
remain
sexual,
but a
nonsuppressive,
uninhibited
society
cannot
remain
with
sexuality
forever.
It will
have to
be
transcended.
So if a
society
is
sexual,
meditation
will
follow.
To me, a
sexually
free
society
is the
first
step
toward
seeking,
searching.
But of
course,
because
the
search is
there, it
can be
exploited.
It is
being
exploited
by the
East.
Gurus can
be
supplied;
they can
be
exported.
And they
are being
exported.
But only
tricks
can be
learned
through
these
gurus.
Understanding
comes
through
life,
through
living.
It cannot
be given,
transferred.
I cannot
give you
my
understanding.
I can
talk
about it,
but I
cannot
give it
to you.
You will
have to
find
it. You
will have
to go
into
life. You
will have
to err;
you will
have to
fail; you
will have
to pass
through
many
frustrations.
But only
through
failures,
errors,
frustrations,
only
through
the
encounter
of real
living,
will you
come to
meditation.
That is
why I say
it is a
growth.
Something
can be
understood,
but
understanding
that
comes
through
another
can never
be more
than
intellectual.
That is
why
Krishnamurti
demands
the
impossible.
He says,
”Do not
understand
me
intellectually”
– but
nothing
except
intellectual
understanding
can come
from
someone
else.
That is
why
Krishnamurti’s
effort
has been
absurd.
What he
is saying
is
authentic,
but when
he
demands
more than
intellectual
understanding
from the
listener,
it is
impossible.
Nothing
more can
come from
someone
else,
nothing
more can
be
delivered.
But
intellectual
understanding
can be
enough.
If you
can
understand
what I am
saying
intellectually,
you can
also
understand
what has
not been
said. You
can also
understand
the gaps:
what I am
not
saying,
what I
cannot
say. The
first
understanding
is bound
to
be
intellectual,
because
the
intellect
is the
door. It
can never
be
spiritual.
Spirituality
is the
inner
shrine. I
can only
communicate
to you
intellectually.
If you
can
really
understand
it, then
what has
not
been said
can be
felt. I
cannot
communicate
without
words,
but when
I am
using
words I
am also
using
silences.
You will
have to
be aware
of both.
If only
words are
being
understood
then it
is a
communication;
but if
you can
be aware
of the
gaps
also,
then it
is a
communion.
One has
to begin
somewhere.
Every
beginning
is bound
to be a
false
beginning,
but one
has to
begin.
Through
the
false,
through
the
groping,
the door
is found.
One who
thinks
that he
will
begin
only when
the right
beginning
is there
will
never
begin at
all. Even
a false
step is a
step in
the right
direction
because
it is a
step, a
beginning.
You begin
to grope
in the
dark and,
through
groping,
the
door is
found.
That is
why I
said to
be aware
of the
linguistic
process –
the
process
of words
– and to
seek an awareness
of the
gaps, the
intervals.
There
will be
moments
when
there
will be
no
conscious
effort
on your
part and
you will
become
aware of
the gaps.
That is
the
encounter
with the
divine,
the
encounter
with the
existential.
Whenever
there is
an
encounter,
do not
escape
from it.
Be with
it.
It will
be
fearful
at first;
it is
bound to
be.
Whenever
the
unknown
is
encountered,
fear is
created
because
to us the
unknown
is death.
So
whenever
there is
a gap,
you will
feel
death
coming to
you.
Then be
dead!
Just be
in it,
and die
completely
in the
gap. And
you will
be
resurrected.
By dying
your
death in
silence,
life is
resurrected.
You are
alive for
the first
time,
really
alive.
So to me,
meditation
is not a
method
but a
process;
meditation
is not a
technique
but an
understanding.
It cannot
be
taught;
it can
only be
indicated.
You
cannot be
informed
about it
because
no
information
is really
information.
It is
from the
outside,
and
meditation
comes
from your
own inner
depths.
So
search,
be a
seeker,
and do
not be a
disciple.
Then you
will not
be a
disciple
of some
guru, but
a
disciple
of the
total
life.
Then you
will not
just be
learning
words.
Spiritual
learning
cannot
come from
words but
from the
gaps, the
silences
that are
always
surrounding
you. They
are there
even in
the
crowd, in
the
market,
in the
bazaar.
Seek the
silences,
seek the
gaps
within
and
without,
and
one day
you will
find that
you are
in
meditation.
Meditation
comes to
you. It
always
comes;
you
cannot
bring it.
But one
has to be
in search
of it,
because
only when
you are
in search
will you
be open
to it,
vulnerable
to it.
You are a
host to
it.
Meditation
is a
guest.
You can
invite it
and wait
for it.
It comes
to
Buddha,
it comes
to Jesus,
it
comes to
everybody
who is
ready,
who is
open and
seeking.
But do
not learn
it from
somewhere;
otherwise
you will
be
tricked.
The mind
is always
searching
for
something
easier.
This
becomes
the
source
for
exploitation.
Then
there are
gurus and
gurudoms,
and
spiritual
life is
poisoned.
The most
dangerous
person is
the one
who
exploits
someone’s
spiritual
urge. If
someone
robs you
of your
wealth it
is not so
serious,
if
someone
fails you
it is not
so
serious,
but if
someone
tricks
you
and
kills, or
even
postpones,
your urge
toward
meditation,
toward
the
divine,
toward
ecstasy,
then
the sin
is great
and
unforgivable.
But that
is being
done. So
be aware
of it,
and don’t
ask
anybody,
”What is
meditation?
How do I
meditate?”
Instead,
ask what
the
hindrances
are, what
the
obstacles
are. Ask
why we
aren’t
always in
meditation,
where the
growth
has been
stopped,
where we
have been
crippled.
And do
not seek
a guru
because
gurus are
crippling.
Anyone
who gives
you
ready-made
formulas
is not a
friend
but
an enemy.
Grope in
the dark.
Nothing
else can
be done.
The very
groping
will
become
the
understanding
that
will
liberate
you from
darkness.
Jesus
said:
”Truth is
freedom.”
Understand
this
freedom.
Truth is
always
through
understanding.
It is not
something
that you
meet and
encounter;
it is
something
you grow
into. So
be in
search of
understanding,
because
the more
understanding
you
become,
the
nearer
you will
be to
truth.
And in
some
unknown,
expected,
unpredictable
moment,
when
understanding
comes to
a peak,
you are
in the
abyss.
You are
no more,
and
meditation
is.
When you
are no
more, you
are in
meditation.
Meditation
is not
more of
you; it
is always
beyond
you. When
you are
in the
abyss,
meditation
is there.
Then the
ego is
not; then
you are
not. Then
the
being is.
That is
what
religions
mean by
God: the
ultimate
being. It
is the
essence
of all
religions,
all
searches,
but it is
not to be
found
anywhere
ready-made.
So be
aware of
anyone
who makes
claims
about it.
Go on
groping
and don’t
be afraid
of
failure.
Admit
failures,
but do
not
commit
the same
failures
again.
Once is
all; that
is
enough.
The
person
who goes
on erring
in the
search
for truth
is always
forgiven.
It is a
promise
from the
very
depths of
existence.
Source:
“The
Psychology
of the
Esoteric”
Chapter 2 & The Mystery of meditation - Osho
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