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| ACTIVE
MEDITATIONS BY OSHO |
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| Osho
has devised a number of meditation techniques both active and passive
keeping the modern man in mind. These techniques are illustrated in detail
in the books :
Meditation: The First and Last Freedom & The Orange Book.
Osho
says
“Take one method and play with it for at least three days. If it
gives you a certain feeling of affinity, if it gives you a certain feeling
of well-being, if it gives you a certain feeling that this is for you,
then be serious about it. Then forget the others, do not play with other
methods. Stick to it -- at least for three months. Miracles are possible.
The only thing is that the technique must be for you. If the technique
is not for you, then nothing happens. Then you may go on with it for lives
together, but nothing will happen. If the method is for you then even
three minutes are enough.”
- Vigyan Bhairav Tantra, Vol 1, Chapter #1
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| Below are some of the active meditation techniques: |
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Apart
from these active meditations HE has spoken on 112 techniques from
Vigyan Bhairav Tantra thus inviting everyone to dive in the vast
ocean of meditation. Some techniques are short & can be practiced
anywhere e.g workplace, market, traveling etc. For these techniques
Osho says
“These 112 methods that I am referring to are the most significant
ones. It is not that there are only 112. There can be thousands
of methods. Each person has to work differently on whatever technique
he is using, so there are as many techniques as there are persons.
Ultimately they all lead to the same thing, but your uniqueness
has to be taken into account. If you are to move on the path of
meditation, then even one technique will do. But it you just want
to speculate about it, then even 112 techniques will not be enough.
There is a difference between a thinker and a seeker. What I am
talking to you about is basically directed toward a seeker it is
not for a thinker. For a thinker, things will be different but for
a seeker it is meaningless how many methods there are. Only this
is meaningful: "What way is for me?"
It is meaningless what techniques others are working on. The only
meaningful thing is whether you are working on the technique that
is right for you. A seeker is scientific. He is not just thinking,
speculating. He has made his own self an experimental field, a laboratory.
He is working on himself.”
- The Eternal Quest, Chapter #2
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| Gibberish
Meditation |
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This
is a cathartic technique, which encourages expressive body movements.
First
stage: 15 minutes. Either alone or in a group, close your eyes and
begin to say nonsense sounds - gibberish. For fifteen minutes move
totally in the gibberish. Allow yourself to express whatever needs
to be expressed within you. Throw everything out. The mind thinks,
always, in terms of words. Gibberish helps to break up this pattern
of continual verbalization. Without suppressing your thoughts, you
can throw them out - in gibberish. Let your body likewise be expressive.
Second
stage: 15 minutes. Then, lie down on your stomach and feel as if
you were merging with mother earth. With each exhalation, feel yourself
merging into the ground beneath you.
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| Whirling Meditation |
Sufi
whirling is one of the most ancient techniques, one of the most
forceful. It is so deep that even a single experience can make you
totally different. Whirl with open eyes, just like small children
go on twirling, as if your inner being has become a center and your
whole body has become a wheel, moving, a potter’s wheel, moving.
You are in the center, but the whole body is moving.
First
stage: 45 minutes. Keeping eyes open whirl on the spot by turning
around your own axis in an anti-clockwise direction with the right
arm held high, palm upwards, and the left arm low, palm downwards.
Let your body be soft. Start slowly and after 15 minutes gradually
go faster and faster until whirling takes over and 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. Let your body fall by itself to the ground 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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| 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. Because it is a Sufi
meditation, it is free and non-serious.
First
stage: Sufi Movements, 30 minutes. 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.
The sequence:
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: Whirling, 15 minutes. 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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| Devavani
Meditation |
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Devavani
is the Divine Voice which moves and speaks through the meditator,
who becomes an empty vessel, a channel. This meditation is a Latihan
of the tongue. It relaxes the conscious mind so deeply that, when
done last thing at night, it is sure to be followed by a profound
sleep. There are four stages of 15 minutes each. Keep your eyes
closed throughout the whole meditation.
First
stage: 15 minutes. Sit quietly, preferably with gentle music playing.
Second
stage: 15 minutes. Start making nonsense sounds, for example "la..la..la",
and continue until unfamiliar word-Iike sounds arise. These sounds
need to come from the unfamiliar part of the brain used as a child,
before words were learned. Allow a gentle conversational intonation;
do not cry or shout, laugh or scream.
Third
stage: 15 minutes. Stand up and continue to speak, allowing your
body to move softly in harmony with the sounds. If your body is
relaxed the subtle energies will create a Latihan outside your control.
Fourth
stage: 15 minutes. Lie down, be silent and still. |
| Gourishankar
Meditation |
This
technique, for the nighttime, consists of four stages of fifteen
minutes each. The first two stages are preparation for the spontaneous
Latihan of the third stage. Osho has said that if breathing is
done correctly in the first stage, the carbon dioxide formed in
the bloodstream will make the meditator feel as high as Gourishankar
(Mt. Everest).
First
stage: 15 minutes. 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. 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
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 moving happen, gently and
gracefully.
Fourth
stage: 15 minutes. Lie down with closed eyes, silent and still.
The first three stages should be accompanied by a steady rhythmic
beat, preferably combined with a soothing background music. The
beat should be seven times the normal heartbeat. If possible, the
flashing light should be a synchronized strobe.
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| Mandala
Meditation |
This
is another powerful technique that creates a circle of energy, resulting
in a natural centering. There are four stages of 15 minutes each.
First
stage: 15 minutes. With open eyes run on the spot, starting slowly
and gradually, getting faster and faster. Bring your knees up as
high as possible. Breathing deeply and evenly will move the energy
within. Forget the mind and forget the body. Keep going.
Second
stage: 15 minutes. Sit with your eyes closed and mouth open and
loose. Gently rotate your body from the belly, like a reed blowing
in the wind. Feel the wind blowing you from side to side, back and
forth, around and around. This will bring your awakened energies
to the navel center.
Third stage: 15 minutes. 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 centering energies to the third eye.
Fourth
stage: 15 minutes. Close your eyes and be still.
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| Prayer
Meditation |
This
technique is best to be done at night in darkened room, going to
sleep immediately afterwards or it can be done in the morning but
it must be followed by 15 minutes rest otherwise you will feel as
if you are drunk, in a stupor. This merging with energy is prayer.
It changes you & when you change the whole existence changes.
First
stage: Raise both your hands towards the sky, palms uppermost, head
up, just feeling existence flowing in you. As the energy or prana
flows down your arms you will feel a gentle tremor – be like
a leaf in the breeze, trembling. Allow it, help it. Then let your
whole body vibrate with energy and just let whatever happens happen.
Second
stage: After two or three minutes, or whenever you feel completely
filled, lean down to the earth and kiss it. You simply become a
vehicle to allow the divine energy to unite with that of the earth.
These
two stages should be repeated six more times so that each of the
charkas can become unblocked. More times can be done but if you
do it less you will feel restless and unable to sleep.
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| AUM
Meditation |
AUM
has no meaning, no form, it’s a pure sound consisting of three
sounds A, U and M indicating sounds of the head, the heart and the
navel. This is the formula, one has to go from ‘A’ to
‘U’ and from ‘U’ to ‘M’. That
which kills the mind is mantra and AUM is the most powerful mantra.
For this technique a closed room, preferable small and empty, is
ideal.
First
stage: 10 minutes. Sit quietly, but before that get rid of all the
body's restlessness by dancing, jumping, skipping, running for about
ten minutes. Then sit silently, keeping the eyes half-closed to
the world and half-opened to your inwardness.
Second
stage: 10 minutes. Eyes remaining half-closed and observing the
tip of the nose, repeat AUM as loudly as possible using your full
strength, making the body bathed in the vibrations of AUM. Repeat
AUM so quickly that each repetition overlaps the previous one, leaving
no gap between them, so that the mind has no chance to intrude.
Third
stage: 10 minutes. Close your eyes. Close the mouth with tongue
touching the roof of the mouth, repeat AUM inside the mind silently,
keeping the same speed as before so as to fill the body with “omkar”,
leaving it trembling with vibrations from head to toe.
Fourth
stage: Drop your chin on to your chest, as if the head is cut off,
lifeless and try to listen to the AUM resonating within. Become
the witness. If you listen very silently you are bound to hear a
very subtle sounding not AUM but exactly like it. Maintain this
stage for as long as possible.
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