Dec 21 has been declared as the World Meditation Day and it is probably the most significant step mankind has taken to sustain human life on Earth. If only every human being meditates, the world will be healed. Meditation leads to awareness and as Osho says, action taken with awareness is always right.
On Dec 21st, I participated in the Habuild Meditation world record – there were 2.87 lakh people concurrently online and meditating. I like the Habuild platform because it helps you make yoga into a daily habit. Here is my participation certificate –
The Art of Living community also was awarded the Guinness World Record for the maximum number of people meditating concurrently.
Actually the World Meditation Day should be called as Osho Day, because it is Osho who spoke extensively on Meditation and its benefits. Ofcourse listening to the Master of Masters is meditation by itself. ๐
Sharing a few excerpts from Osho’s discourse on The Dhammapada, Volume 5, discourse #3. To read the full transcript click here – What you desire you will become.
“…..Meditation is rooted in fearlessness, in greedlessness. Meditation is not begging anything from anybody, it is not addressed to anybody. Meditation is a state of inner silence.”
“….. The English word ‘meditation’ gives a wrong connotation; in English there is no word to translate the Buddhist word DHYANA. In fact, in no other language of the world is there a word which is absolutely synonymous with dhyana. It is because of this fact that when Buddhism reached China they could not translate it into Chinese; hence dhyana became CH’AN – it is the same word. The Sanskrit word is dhyana, but Buddha used Pali, another language, the language that was understood by the people amongst whom he lived. In Pali, dhyana becomes JHANA; from jhana, in Chinese it became ch’an, and from ch’an, in Japanese it became ZEN. Chinese had no equivalent, the Japanese had no equivalent. In fact, no other language has any equivalent because no other language has given birth to a man like Buddha. And without a Buddha it is impossible to give this new meaning, this new vision, this new dimension.
In English, ‘meditation’ means meditating upon something; but then it is thinking, at the most contemplation – it is not meditation. Meditation means BEING meditative, silent, peaceful, with no thoughts in the mind, a consciousness without content. That is the true meaning of meditation: a pure consciousness, a mirror reflecting nothing. When a mirror is not reflecting anything, it is meditation.”
Wanted to share a few more excerpts from Osho’s discourses on The Dhammapada. These are from Volume 5 and discourse #7, titled “You are The Source” (to read the full transcript click on the link).
Find Your Real Work – Meditation or Love ?
“…..What does Buddha mean when he says: YOUR WORK IS TO DISCOVER YOUR WORK…? A very mysterious statement, but only apparently so; otherwise simple, logical.
There are two kinds of people in the world. Just as biologically there are males and females, so spiritually there are also males and females. The biological male may not be spiritually a male, remember. There is no inevitability of them coinciding; sometimes they coincide, sometimes not. A biological female is not necessarily a spiritual female.
A man may find that deep within himself he is more feminine than masculine: more soft, more vulnerable, more receptive, more like a womb: less aggressive, less active. A woman may find deep down that she is not receptive, she is aggressive.
Just as there are males and females biologically and spiritually, so the spiritual path can be divided into two: the male path and the female path, the yin and the yang.ย “
“….I call these two types of work: love and meditation. Love is the feminine way and meditation is the masculine way. Meditation means the capacity to be absolutely alone, and love means the capacity to be absolutely together. Love means rejoicing relatedness; meditation means rejoicing solitude, aloneness. Both do the same work, because on both the paths the ego disappears. If you are really in love you have to drop your ego; otherwise love will not be possible. If you want to go deep into meditation you will have to leave the ego behind; otherwise you will not be alone. The ego will be there and the duality will remain: the being and the ego, consciousness and mind.
You will have to drop the mind if you want to go into meditation, and you will have to drop the mind if you want to go into love.
So the basic mechanism is the same, but the directions are different. The meditator goes inwards; he is introvert, he seeks interiority. And the lover goes outwards; he is extrovert, he seeks the being of the other. In love, the other becomes the mirror in which you find your face, your original face. In meditation, you need not have any mirror; you simply go into yourself and you find yourself, your reflection is not needed. These are the two basic types of work.
Buddha says: YOUR WORK IS TO DISCOVER YOUR WORK. The first thing is to discover exactly what type of person you are. Mahavira, Buddha, Lao Tzu, these are meditation types, meditative people. But Jesus, Chaitanya, Kabir, these are love types; they need a dialogue with existence. In meditation there is no prayer because there is no other; in prayer there is a dialogue of I and thou.”
“…. The function of the master is to help you to find out what your real work is, what your type is. If you cannot find out, take the help of a master. Take the help of the master to find out what exactly is meditation and love. He will show you the path, but then you have to follow and you have to follow totally. You cannot follow it in fragments, in parts; you have to go utterly into it. Then transformation is possible instantly.”
Disclaimer – I post excerpts from Osho’s books and discourses and sometimes share his quotes. In most of the posts, the link to the full audio or full transcript is given. Osho is the Master, and to understand him, please listen to him or read his books. These excerpts are my limited interpretations with my limited understanding. Nothing original and I could be totally off the mark. The highlights and italics/bold font is also done by me.
Thank You Master ๐๐ฟ