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OSHOTHEAPATHS T E PB YOFMEDITATIONS T E PG U I D EM E D I T A T I O Nby OshoT O

ContentsPREFACEPageviiiTHE FOUNDATION OF M E D I T A T I O NChapter1Page 1B E G I N W I T H THE B O D YChapterPage225FINDING QUALITY IN LIFEChapterPage361U N D E R S T A N D I N G THE e 1 1 7B O D Y AND S O U L : S C I E N C E AND R E L I G I O NChapterPage6147

THE LIGHT OF C O N S C I O U S N E S SChapterPage7183TRUTH: YOUR BIRTHRIGHTChapterPage8207ONE STEP AT A T I M EChapterPage923 5ABOUT THE AUTHORPage2 58OSHO 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 TPage2 59M O R E OSHO B O O K SPage261FOR MORE INFORMATIONPage262

Prefaceh e n you are not doing anything at all - bodily,mentally, on no level - when all activity has ceasedand you simply are, j u s t being, that's what meditation is. You cannot do it, you cannot practice it; you haveonly to understand it.W h e n e v e r you can find time for j u s t being, drop alldoing. 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 youare not doing anything and you are j u s t at your center, utterly relaxed - that is meditation. And once you have got thek 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 aday.O n c e you have b e c o m e aware of the way your being canremain undisturbed, then slowly you can start doing things,keeping alert that your being is not stirred. That is the secondpart of meditation. First, learning h o w j u s t to b e , and thenlearning little actions: cleaning the floor, taking a shower, butkeeping yourself centered. T h e n you can do complicatedthings.F o r example, I am speaking to you, but my meditation isnot disturbed. I can go on speaking, but at my very centerthere is not even a ripple; it is j u s t silent, utterly silent.vm

PREFACESo 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 - withmore joy, with more clarity, more vision, more creativity - yetyou are aloof, j u s t a watcher on the hills, simply seeing allthat 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 ethe watcher. Doing continues on its own level, there is noproblem: chopping wood, drawing water from the well. Youcan do all small and big things; only one thing is not allowedand that is, your centering should not be lost.That awareness, that watchfulness, should remain absolutely unclouded, undisturbed.Meditation is a very simple p h e n o m e n o n .OshoFrom Misery to EnlightenmentIX

THE PATH OF M E D I T A T I O Nthefoundationof meditationChapter1

MyBelovedOnes,r f -IRST, i WOULD like to welcome you, because you have a//longing for the divine; because you desire to rise aboveordinary 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 everfeel 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. Evenif you don't attain it that is okay, but to never have experienced the thirst at all would be a great misfortune.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 youmake every effort towards experiencing it, that you w o r k hardfor it and yearn for it, and that you are determined and doeverything you can possibly do towards this end. If in spite ofthis you don't attain it that does not matter. But never to haveexperienced this thirst at all - that would be the greatesttragedy.I would also like to say that to k n o w truth is not as important as to have an authentic yearning for it. That yearningis 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 thesignificant, the ultimate and you don't get it, then you will befilled with j o y even if you don't get it. I repeat: if you desire a2

THE FOUNDATION OF MEDITATIONsmall thing and you get it, you will still not be as happy aswhen you long for the ultimate and you don't get i t . . . youwill still be filled with j o y and happiness.T h e divine will be b o r n in you according to the intensity with w h i c h you seek it. That does not mean that somesupreme soul or energy from outside will enter your being.T h e seed is already present within you, and it will start growing. But it will grow only if you are able to give some warmthto your thirst, some heat and some fire to your thirst.T h e more you long for the divine, the more is the possibility 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 breakopen, that it will blossom.If you have ever thought of experiencing the divine, if youhave ever experienced a desire for silence, for truth, thenk n o w that the seed within you is longing to sprout. It meansthat some hidden thirst within you wants to be fulfilled. Tryto understand that a very significant struggle is taking placewithin you; you will have to help this struggle and supportit. You will have to support it because it is not enough thatthe seed has sprouted: a more nourishing environment is alsoneeded. And even if the seed has sprouted, it does not m e a nthat 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 fewwill grow into trees. There is this possibility in all of them:they could all sprout and grow into trees and each could inturn produce m a n y more seeds. O n e small seed has thepower, the potential to produce a whole forest; it containsthe potential to cover the whole earth with trees. But it is alsopossible that the seed with this immense power and potentialwill be destroyed and that nothing will c o m e out of it.3

THEPATHOFMEDITATIONAnd this is only the capacity of a seed - m a n is capable ofm u c h more than this. O n e seed can create something sovast. If a small stone can be used to create an atomic explosion. .immense energy can be produced out of it. W h e ns o m e o n e experiences this fusion within his being, within hisconsciousness, this blossoming, this explosion, the energyand light are the experience of the divine. We don't experience the divine from the outside. T h e energy that we producethrough this explosion of consciousness, the growth, theflowering of our being, that energy itself is the divine. Andyou 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 youhave c o m e here that you have this thirst. It is possible thatyou are here merely as a spectator. It is possible that you arehere out of s o m e vague curiosity - but no doors c a n beopened through superficial curiosity, and no secrets willbe revealed to mere spectators. In life, one has to pay foreverything o n e receives, and m u c h has to be sacrificed.Curiosity is of no value; this is why curiosity will not getyou 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, notcuriosity.Last evening I was saying to someone that if you are nearan oasis and you are dying of thirst, if your thirst is intenseand you reach a state where you feel that soon you will die ifyou don't get water, and if at that point someone offers youwater but with the condition that after drinking the wateryou will die - that the price of the water will be your life- you will even be willing to accept this condition. W h e ndeath 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 MEDITATIONthen under this tremendous pressure the seed within you willbreak open and start growing. T h e seed will not sprout onits 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 tendersprout inside to grow. E a c h of us has this hard covering, andif we want to c o m e out of it, j u s t curiosity will not do. So rem e m b e r this: if you are here simply out of curiosity you willleave with that curiosity, and nothing can be done to helpyou. 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 thedivine. E a c h of you should ask himself this question: "Do Iwant to k n o w truth?" Be very clear if your thirst for the divine is authentic, whether you have a yearning for truth, forsilence, for bliss. If not, then understand that whatsoever youdo here will have no meaning; it will be meaningless, withoutany purpose. If your meaningless efforts don't bear any fruits,meditation will not be responsible - you will be responsiblefor it.So to begin, it is necessary that you l o o k for an authenticseeker within you. And be clear about it: do you really seeksomething? And if you do, then there is a way to find it.Buddha was o n c e visiting a village. A m a n asked h i m ,Every day you say that everyone can b e c o m e enlightened.T h e n why doesn't everyone b e c o m e enlightened?""My friend," Buddha replied, "do one thing: in the evening m a k e a list of all the people in the village and write downtheir desires next to their names."5

THEPATHOFMEDITATIONT h e m a n went into the village and he asked everyone; itwas a small village with only a few people, and they gaveh i m their answers. He returned in the evening and gave thelist to Buddha. Buddha asked, "How m a n y of these peopleseek enlightenment?"T h e m a n was surprised because not a single person hadwritten that he wanted enlightenment. And Buddha said, "Isay that every m a n is capable of enlightenment, I do not saythat every m a n wants enlightenment."That every m a n is capable of enlightenment is very different from every m a n wanting to be enlightened. If you want it,then consider it to be possible. If your quest is for truth, thereis no power on earth that can stop you. But if you don't longfor truth, then too there is no power w h i c h can give it to you.So first you need to ask if your thirst is a real one. If so,then rest assured that a path is available. If not, then there isno path - your thirst will be your path to truth.T h e s e c o n d thing I would like to say by way of an introduction is that you often have a thirst for something, but youare not hopeful of ever getting what you desire. You have adesire, but you are not optimistic about it. There is the desire, but with a sense of hopelessness.N o w if the first step is taken optimistically, then the laststep will also end optimistically. This too should be understood: if the first step is taken without any optimism, thenthe last step will end in despair. If you want the last step tobe a satisfying and successful one, the first step should betaken with optimism.I am saying that during these three days - and I will be6