The Everyday Meditator

212 Pages·1993·23.553 MB·English

by  Osho

THE EVERYDAY
MEDITATOR
OSHO
ill
illeditation is no
I
longer a pastime
j
but a way of life.
At work, play, in
heavy
traffic, V
walking, loving, TheZlaEiN(M.mOiNscK.
•»
even eating, it is
*
possible to
i?
meditate. Doctors
are now finding
s
that meditation
has a direct Chinesemeditationaj
calligraphy
effect on health,
sleep and
longevity has
It
fierefore a direct
effect also on our
[happiness.
Tin \ns!l( KOSI Ml|i||MiiiN

THE EVERYDAY
MEDITATOR

THE
EVERYDAY
MEDITATOR
A
PRACTICAL GUIDE
OSHO
Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc.
Boston • Rutland, Vermont •Tokyo
Labyrinth Book
A
#
Firstpublished intheUnitedStatesin 1993
byCharlesE.TuttleCompany,Inc.ofRutland,Vermont&Tokyo,Japan,
witheditorialofficesat77CentralStreet,Boston,Massachusetts02109.
ProducedbyLabyrinthPublishing(UK)Ltd
IllustrationsanddesignbyCarmenStrider
Textcopyright© 1989byLabyrinthPublishing(UK) Ltd
Originalillustrationscopyright©1989LabyrinthPublishing(UK)Ltd
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedina
retrievalsystemortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,
mechanical,photocopying,recording,orotherwise,withoutpriorwritten
permissionfromthepublisher.
ISBN0-80484976-9
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber93-60090
Firstedition
ColorseparationbyFotolitoToscana,Italy
TypesettingbyLinograf,Italy
PrintedinHongKong
Thepublisheracceptsnoresponsibilityconcerning
theeffectsofanyofthetechniquesmentionedinthisbook.
Themaintextinthisbookhasbeensetintwodifferenttypesizes,
thelargertypeindicateswordsthataretakendirectlyfromtheworks
ofOSHOquotedmainlyfromthefollowingbooks:
TheOrangeBook,
Meditation: TheFirstandLastFreedom,
TheDivineMelody,
TheSearch
CONTENTS
CONTENTS
More frail and illusory
Than numbers written on water,
Our seeking from the Buddha
Felicity in the after-world.
Ikkvu
INTRODUCTION 6 High-wire tension 68 Flying high 128
Color blue 130
MORNING 16 EVENING 72 Sky blue 132
Flower-fragrance 34
1
Laughing out 18 Death: the end 74 Wake up shake 36
1
Yourown song 20 Life: the beginning 75 Voice energy 138
Funny faces 22 Paper thoughts 76
Sunrising 24 Hand-dancing 78 PART OF THE GAME .... 142
Gazing 26 Dancingas slow as I can 80
Running through 28 Double dancing 84 Breathing Ill
Stopstill 30 Minus-meditation 86 Cleansing 148
Work-wise 32 Plus-meditation 88 Music 50
1
Vice versa 34 Facing fears 90 Sounds 154
Real meeting 36 faking offthe armor 92
Golden light 38 Cosmic meditation 94 ACTIVE MEDITATION 160
Pillow-bashing 40 Oh! 96
Shhh...! 08 l)\n.uiiK 162
AFTERNOON 44 Stars inside I00 Kundalini 166
Moon swaying 102 Gourishankar 170
Open-handed 46 Love magic KM Nadabrahma 172
Inner smile 48 Vipassana 174
Smoking meditation 50 ON VACATION 112 Zazen 180
Good waiting 52 Nataraj 186
High-light 54 Follow the yes Ill Prayei I**
Looking through the log .... 56 I am not ibis 116 No-mind 190
Listening for more 58 Cut oil your held 118 The m\Mi( iose I'.'2
The ,nt ol tea 60 Running on empty 120 Whirling 196
The invisible person 62 The naked earth 122 Chakra breathing , 200
The energy pillar 64 Befiicnd a tree 124
Head-quarters 66 D.iikin^ like ,i tree 126 EPILOG! I 204
THE EVERYDAY MEDITATOR
.
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Any form of conscious meditation is not the real thing:
it can never be.
Deliberate attempt to meditate is not meditation.
It must happen; it cannot be invited.
Meditation is not the play of the mind nor of desire and pleasure.
All attempt to meditate is the very denial of it.
Only be aware of what you are thinking and doing
and nothing else.
The seeing, the hearing, is the doing,
without reward and punishment.
Krishnamurti
J.
The ink painting opposite is of Kanzan (pro- meditation "contemplation," a word which still
nouncedHan-shan)-ahappylunaticmonkofthe has something to do with thinking.
Tang Dynasty who was also a renowned Zen Even the adept oftoday - the meditator - in
(Ch'an) poet. Such ink drawings were very popu- many cases will still understand meditation to be-
lar,with fewbrushstrokesandlighttouchesofink somethingakintoanexerciseroutine-something
on a white background, representinga particular wedo,sittingonthedoor,legsfoldedintoa"lotus"
techniqueknownasthe"thriftybrush"withafru- position, the hands on knees, forefinger and
gality of ink. They were seen to represent the thumb pressed together, eves shut, for one bout
"suchness" of all things, the painter dispensing each day.
with everything unnecessary. It is very much the modern view that these
This is meditation. thingsaretobe-undertakenthrough thesame-pro-
Meditation hasbeenawayoflifein the Eastern i ess as everything else.
world for thousands ofyears. But because we, in We jogeachdav from seven t<>eight. we "woik
the West,havedevelopedourthinkingfacultiesto out"fromsix tosevenea< hevening,wehavearou-
such a fine degree, we have had little time to ap- tineforeachactivity we"lit it in" betweenallour
preciatetheothersideofthecoin - thesidewhi(It otherprocessesandactivities- meditation,there
isfundamentallydifferent from thinking- in fa< I lore, becomes one moic (lung to fill up a busy
meditation is not-thinking. dav.
Modern dictionary definitions prefer to call In this way meditation will simpl) become
THE EVERYDAY MEDITATOR
another form ofstress; something we have to do, havingkickedoutthekidsandthecats. Youadjust
and will thus only add to the exhaustion and thecushiononthefloor,youtakethepositionindi-
anxiety that is already there. cated in the book and you close your eyes...
This is not meditation. Silence.
The problem that results from slotting medi- Is it working? Am I in the right position? My
tation intoanalreadybusydayisthat inthiswayit bottom hurtsalready?Did I turntheovenoff?I'm
will never be possible to sample its true power, cold! Why can't they stop making such a row out
lakeatypicalscenario.Youareabusywomanwith there? Oh God, I forgot about that appointment
a jobthat demands yourattention for the greater change for tomorrow. Stop thinking, you're sup-
part ofthe weekday. Youalsohavea familyoftwo posed to be meditating.
childrenandahusbandtolookafterathomeeach Silence.
early morningand eveningandat weekends. You This meditation stuff is great, I feel better
go to fitness class or a gymnasium for your body. already!MaybeIcanskipmyaerobicsclassforabit
You keep your diet balanced according to some and do this instead - whoops - thinking again.
techniqueorotherwhichseemstowork. Atweek- Silence.
ends you are generally tired and yet you give the Andsoon -andsoon forever. Actuallynoone
timeyouhavetoyourfamilytocompensateforthe cansimplystopthinkingjustlikethat.Thehuman
lack ofenergy you give them during the week. race has been thinking for thousands of years -
You have heard that meditation isagoodtech- how can one person, in the midst of a highly
nique for finding a degree ofpeace and rest in a "reasonable" life,suddenlyexpecttoenteradeep
busy andanxiousworld;soyouacquireabookon state of meditation in one deliberate "sitting"?
the subject and you set asidean hourduringyour Andyetthisiswhatmostofthebooksandinstruc-
already overloaded day, to try it out. tion classes propose.
The book tells you that meditation isa matter Not-thinkingdoesn'twork.Thepurposeofthis
of stopping the thoughts that continually pass book is twofold:
throughyourmind-worry,plans,fantasies,possi- First, to kill most or all ofthe preconceptions
bilities, fears - all those things you have become that we have about meditation and to knock over
accustomedto. Infact,beforesomeonetoldyouit the majority ofmethodsthatareproposedasaids
was possible to stop thinking- to give the minda to meditation. You cannot "learn" meditation -
rest-it neveroccurredtoyouthatyouwerethink- you will only learn how to think you are meditat-
ing all the time anyway. Or ifit did, that this was ing.
ne<essarily a problem. Secondly to create a life in which meditation
But now that you think of it (!). thinking sud- existsall the time - every hourofeverv day - for
denlydoesbecomeaproblem. Worry worriesyou you. Formeditation existsall around us- weonly
morethanitdidbefore. Whenyoudon*thaveany- have to take hold ofit.
thing to worry about, you start to worry about For those who have never experienced medi-
that! tation before, there area couple ofsmall matters
So, you sit down in the appointed silent room. to be aware offrom the beginning.