ACTIVE MEDITATION

"In Buddha's time, dynamic methods of meditation were not needed. People were more simple, more authentic. They lived a more real life. Now, people are living a very repressed life, a very unreal life. When they don't want to smile, they smile. When they want to be angry, they show compassion. People are false, the whole life pattern is false. People are just acting, not living. Many incomplete experiences go on being collected,
piled up inside their minds.

"Just sitting directly in silence won't help. The moment you will sit silently, you will see all sorts of things moving inside you; you will feel it almost impossible to be silent. First throw those things out so you come to a natural state of rest. Real meditation starts only when you are at rest."

OSHO
The Discipline of Transcendence, Vol. 2, Discourse 5

All of Osho's active meditations involve a beginning stage of activity -- sometimes intense and physical -- followed by a period of silence. All are accompanied by music that has been specially composed to guide the meditator through the different stages. Osho has also recommended different meditations for different times of the day. Follow the links below for details.

1. DYNAMIC MEDITATION
2. KUNDALINI MEDITATION
3.NATARAJ MEDITATION
4. NADABRAHMA MEDITATION
5. NO DIMENSIONS MEDITATION
6. GOURISHANKAR MEDITATION
7. MANDALA MEDITATION
8. WHIRLING MEDITATION

DYNAMIC MEDITATION

"This is a meditation in which you have to be continuously alert, conscious, aware. Whatsoever you do, remain a witness." 
- the daily morning meditation at the ashram

WHEN the sleep is broken, the whole nature becomes alive; the night has gone, the darkness is no more, the sun is coming up, and everything becomes conscious and alert. This is a meditation in which you have to be continuously alert, conscious, aware, whatsoever you do. Remain a witness. Don't get lost.

It is easy to get lost. While you are breathing you can forget. You can become one with the breathing so much that you can forget the witness. But then you miss the point. Breathe as fast, 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 centered and looking. This A woodcutter, a stone-breaker need not do cathartic meditation - the whole day they are doing it. But for the modern man things have changed.

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 alterness will come to its peak. 

The dynamic Meditation lasts one hour and is in five stages. It can be done alone, but the energy will be more powerful if it is done in a group. 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.

First Stage: 10 minutes.

Breathe chaotically through the nose, concentrating always on the exhalation. The body will take care of the inhalation. 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! Let go of 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.

Third Stage: 10 minutes.

With raised arms, jump up and down shouting the mantra 'HOO! HOO! HOO!' as deeply as possible. Each time you land, on the flats of your feet, let the sound hammer deep into the sex centre. Give all you have, exhaust yourself totally. 

Fourth Stage: 15 minutes.

Stop! Freeze where 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 and rejoice with music and dance, expressing your gratitude towards the whole. Carry your happiness with you throughout the day.

If your meditation space prevents you from making a noise, you can do this silent alternative: Rather than throwing out the sound, 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 and the fifth stage can become an expressive dance.

Someone has said that the meditation we are doing here seems to be sheer madness. It is. And it is that way for a purpose. It is madness with a method; it is consciously chosen.

Remember, you cannot go mad voluntarily. Madness takes possession of you. Only then can you go mad. If you go mad voluntarily, that's a totally different thing. You are basically in control, and one who can control even his madness will never go mad.

Osho talks about some of the reactions that can happen in the body as a result of the deep catharsis of the Dynamic Meditation.

If you feel pain, be attentive to it, don't do anything. Attention is the great sword - it cuts everything. You simply pay attention to the pain. 

For example, you are sitting silently in the last part of the meditation, unmoving, and you feel many problems in the body. You feel that the leg is going dead, there is some itching in the hand, you feel that ants are creeping on the body. Many times you have looked and there are no ants. The creeping is inside, not outside. What should you do? You feel the leg is going dead? - be watchful, just give your total attention to it. You feel itching? - don't scratch. That will not help You just give your attention. Don't even open your eyes Just give your attention inwardly, and just wait and watch. Within second, the itching will have disappeared. Whatsoever happens - even if you feel pain, severe pain in the stomach or in the head. It happens because in meditation the whole body changes. It changes it chemistry. New things start happening and the body in a chaos. Sometimes the stomach will be affected, because in the stomach you have suppressed many emotions, and they are all stirred. Some times you feel like vomiting, nauseous. Sometimes you will feel a severe pain in the head because the meditation is changing the inner structure of your brain. Passing through meditation, you are really in a chaos. Soon, things will settle. But for the time being, everything will be unsettled.

So what are you to do? You simply see the pain in the head, watch it. You be a watcher. You just forget that you are a doer, and by and by, everything will subside, and will subside so beautifully and so gracefully that you cannot believe unless you know it. Not only does the pain disappear from the head - because the energy which was creating pain, if watched disappears - the same energy becomes pleasure. The energy is the same.

Pain or pleasure are two dimensions of the same energy. If you can remain silently sitting and paying attention to distractions, all distractions is appear. And when all distractions disappear, you will suddenly become aware that the whole body has disappeared. 

Osho has warned against turning this witnessing approach to pain into another fanaticism. If unpleasant physical symptoms - aches and pains or nausea - persist beyond three or four days of daily meditation, there is no need to be a masochist - seek medical advice. This applies to all Osho's meditation techniques.
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KUNDALINI MEDITATION

"...Allow the shaking, don't do it. Stand silently, feel it coming, and when your body starts a little 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 a manipulator, the doer, and the body will just be following. The body is not the question - you are the question." - Osho

Osho Kundalini Meditation lasts for one hour and has four stages, three with music, and the last without. The music has been composed under Osho's direct guidance specially for this particular meditation. If you would like to try, it is described below. Remember that the last stage is in silence! ... and a gong will signal the end of the silent period -- promise!

First stage: 15 minutes.

Be loose and let your whole body shake, feeling energies moving up from your feet. 
Let go everywhere and become the shaking. 
Your eyes may be open or closed.

Second stage: 15 minutes.

Dance . . . any way you feel, 
and let the whole body move as it wishes.

Third stage: 15 minutes.

Close your eyes and be still, sitting or 
standing . . . witnessing whatever is happening inside and out.

Fourth stage: 15 minutes.

Keep your eyes closed, lie down and be still.

Complete Kundalini Meditation
Begin with shaking, then dancing, and end with stillness and silence, first standing or sitting, then lying. This meditation is usually done in the afternoon to let go of the accumulated stress of the day.

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NATARAJ MEDITATION

"Let the dance flow in its own way; don't force it. Rather, follow it; allow it to happen. It is not a doing but a happening. Remain in the mood of festivity. You are not doing something very serious; you are just playing, playing with your life energy, playing with your bio-energy, allowing it to move in its own way. Just like the wind blows and the river flows, you are flowing and blowing. Feel it. 
And be playful. Remember that word "playful" always with me, it is very basic. In India, we call creation God's Leela God's play. God has not created the world; it is his play."

Natraj is dance as a total meditation. There are three stages, lasting a total of 65 minutes.

First Stage: 40 minutes 

With eyes closed dance as if possessed. Let your unconscious take over completely. Do not control your movements or be a witness to what is happening. Just be totally in the dance. 

Meditation is needed only because you have not chosen to be happy. If you have chosen to be happy there is no need for any meditation. Meditation is medicinal. If you are ill, then the medicine is needed. Buddhas don't need meditation. Once you have started choosing happiness, once you have

Second Stage: 20 minutes 

Keeping your eyes closed, lie down immediately. Be silent and still.

Third Stage: 5 minutes

Dance in celebration and enjoy.

Forget the dancer, the center of the ego. Become the dance. That is the meditation Dance so deeply that you forget completely that 'you' are dancing and begin to feel that you are the dance. The division must disappear. Then it becomes a meditation. If the division is there, then it is an exercise: good, healthy, but it cannot be said to be spiritual. It is just a simple dance. Dance is good in itself. As far as it goes, it is good. After it, you will feel fresh, young. But it is not meditation yet. The dancer must go, until only the dance remains.

So what to do? Be totally in the dance, because division can exist only if you are not total in it. If you are standing aside and looking at your own dance, the division will remain you are the dancer and you are dancing. Then dancing is just an act, something you are doing. It is not your being. So get involved totally; be merged in it Don't stand aside, don't be an observer, Participate!

Let the dance flow in its own way. Don't force it. Rather, follow it: allow it to happen. It is not a doing but a happening. Remain in the mood of festivity. You are not doing something very serious. You're just playing, playing with your life energy, playing with your bioenergy, allowing it to move in its own way. Just like the wind blows and the river flows you are flowing and flowing. Feel it.

And be playful. Remember this word 'playful' always. With me, it is very basic. In this country we call creation God's leela, God's play. God has not created the world. It is his play.

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NADABRAHMA MEDITATION

This is an old Tibetan technique of humming, which creates a healing vibration throughout the body, and a hand movement which centers the energy at the navel. 
Nadabrahma meditation lasts for one hour and has three stages. It can be done at any time of day, alone or with others, but have an empty stomach and remain inactive for at least 15 minutes afterwards. 

First stage: 30 minutes 

Sit in a relaxed position with eyes closed and lips together humming loudly enough to be heard by others and create a vibration throughout your body. You can visualize a hollow tube or an empty 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 or move your body smoothly and slowly if you feel like it. 

Second stage: 15 minutes

The second stage is divided into two 7 1/2 minute sections. For the first half, move the hands, palms up, in an outward circular motion. Starting at the navel, both hands move forwards and then divide to make two large circles mirroring each other left and right. The movements should be so slow that at times there will appear to be no movement at all. Feel that you are giving energy outwards to the universe.

After 71/2 minutes turn the hands, palms down, and start moving them in the opposite direction. Now the hands will come together towards the navel and divide outwards to the sides 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 or lie absolutely quiet and still.

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NO DIMENSIONS MEDITATION

This is a powerful method for centering one's energy in the hara - the area just below the navel. It is based on a Sufi technique of movements for awareness and integration of the body. It is to be done empty stomach and preferably done around mid day. This one-hour meditation has three stages. During the first two stages the eyes are open but not focused on anything. During the third stage the eyes are closed. The music, created especially for this meditation, begins slowly and gradually becomes faster and faster as an uplifting force.

First stage: 30 minutes music.

A continuous dance in a set of six movements. With your eyes open, begin by standing in one place and placing the left hand on the heart and the right hand on the hara. Stand still for a few moments just listening to the music to get centered. When the bell rings, start the sequence as described below. The movements always come from the center, or hara, using the music to keep the correct rhythm. The hips and eyes face the direction of the hand movement. Use graceful movements in a continuous flow. Loud "Shoo" sounds are made from the throat in synchronicity with the sounds from the recording. Repeat this six-movement sequence continuously for 30 minutes.

1) Touch the backs of the hands together pointing downward on the hara. Breathing in through the nose, bring the hands up to the heart and fill them with love. Breathing out make the sound "Shoo" from the throat and send love out to the world. At the same time move the right arm (with fingers extended, palm downward) and right foot straight forward, and move the left hand back down to the hara. Return to the original position with both hands on the hara.

2) Repeat this movement with the left arm and foot. Return to the original position with both hands on the hara.

3) Repeat this movement with the right arm and foot, turning sideways to the right. Return to the original position with both hands on the hara.

4) Repeat this movement with the left arm and foot, turning sideways to the left. Return to the original position with both hands on the hara.

5) Repeat this movement with the right arm and foot, turning directly behind from the right side. Return to the original position with both hands on the hara.

6) Repeat this movement with the left arm and foot, turning directly behind from the left side. Return to the original position with both hands on the hara.

Second stage: 15 minutes music.

Begin by placing the right toe over the left toe. Fold your arms across your chest and embrace yourself. Feel love for yourself. When the music starts bow down to existence for bringing you here for this meditation. When the tempo changes, begin whirling. Turn anticlockwise keeping the eyes open a little, arms stretched out with the right palm turned upward and the left palm facing the ground. Breathe normally and let the whirling take you over. If you feel discomfort from whirling anticlockwise, you can change to clockwise and reverse position of the hands. If a sensation of nausea arises, focusing the eyes on the right hand can be helpful. To end the whirling, slow down and fold the arms over the chest and heart.

Third stage: Silence, 15 minutes.

Lie down on the belly with your eyes closed. Leave your legs open and not crossed to allow all the energy you have gathered to flow through you. Just go inside and allow witnessing to happen.

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GOURISHANKAR MEDITATION

Osho has said that if breathing is done correctly in the first stage, the carbon dioxide formed in the bloodstream will make the meditator as high as if an Gourisahnkar (Mt. Everest).

First stage: 15 minutes music. Sit with eyes closed. Inhale deeply through the nose, filling the lungs. Hold the breath for as long as possible then exhale gently through the mouth, keeping the lungs empty for as long as possible. Repeat this cycle.

Second stage: 15 minutes music. Return to normal breathing and, allowing the gaze to be soft and gentle, look at a candle flame or flashing light. * Keep the body still.

Third stage: 15 minutes music. With closed eyes, stand up and left the body be loose and receptive. The subtle energies within will be felt to move the body outside your normal control. Allow this (Latihan) to happen. Don't you do the moving. Let the moving happen.

Fourth stage: 15 minutes silence. Lie down, silent and still.
*The rhythmic beat of the music in the second stage is seven times the normal hearbeat. If possible, the flashing light should be a synchronized strobe.

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MANDALA MEDITATION

This powerful, cathartic technique creates a circle of energy that results in a natural centering.

First stage: 15 minutes music. With open eyes run on the spot, starting slowly and gradually, getting faster and faster. Bring your knees up as high as possible. Breathe deeply and evenly. Forget the mind and forget the body. Keep going.

Second stage: 15minutes music. Sit with eyes closed and mouth open and close. Gently rotate your body from the waist, like a reed blowing in the wind. Feel the wind blowing you from your side to side, back and forth, around and around. This will bring your awakened energies to the navel center.

Third stage: 15 minutes music. Lie on your back, open your eyes and, with the head still, rotate them in a clockwise direction. Sweep them fully around in the sockets as if you are following the second hand of a vast clock, but as fast as possible. It is important that the mouth remains open and the jaw relaxed, with the breath soft and even. This will bring your centered energies to the third eye.

Fourth stage: 15 minutes silence. Close your eyes and be still.

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WHIRLING MEDITATION

Sufi whirling is one of the most ancient techniques. It is good not to eat or drink for a few hours before whirling. It is best to have bare feet and loose clothing.

First stage: 45 minutes 

music. Keep your eyes open and feel the center point of your body. Lift your arms to shoulder height, with the right hand palm up and the left hand low, palm down. Start turning around your own axis, anticlockwise. Let your body be soft. Start slowly and after 15 minutes gradually go faster and faster. You become a whirlpool of energy - the periphery a storm of movement but the witness at the center silent and still.

Second stage: 15 minutes

silence. Let your body fall to the ground when the music stops. (It may already have happened before.) roll onto your stomach immediately so that your navel is in contact with the earth. Feel your body blending into the earth. Keep your eyes closed and remain passive and silent.

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