The mind seems very restless
but it can easily settle.
The key to this transcendence is witnessing.
One has to be a witness,
an observer of the mind.
One has to watch it,
just watch it.
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You have only to be silent.
To be silent is everything.
Silence does not mean absence of speech, it means
absence of thoughts.
When the mind quietens down it becomes linked to
the infinite.
Don't do anything, just sit and watch the flow of
thoughts, just watch.
This just watching dissolves thought by itself.
The awakening of witnessing brings freedom from the
modifications of the mind.
With thoughts finished, consciousness is.
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First, the mind is never sick nor is it ever healthy: the mind itself IS sickness. It is never quiet and so it is meaningless to say that it is restless: restlessness is the mind. The mind can never become mad because only one who is not mad can become a lunatic: the mind itself is madness.
The mind will always remain unsteady, because unsteadiness is its nature. If a wave does not move, it will cease to be a wave. It is called a wave because it is moving, because it remains in motion. What would a silent wave be? The existence of the wave is in its motion, in its restlessness.
Never hope for your mind to be quiet; it does not know how to be at peace. As long as the mind is there, there is certain to be restlessness. When the mind is no more, what remains is peace. The absence of mind is peace -- to be in no-mind is peace.
The mind will always be shaky, will always remain indecisive. If you wait for a decision by the mind -- if you think, "I shall do this when the mind decides" -- you will never be able to do anything. To remain in indecision is the way of the mind. It will always remain divided, broken into parts. Some parts will be for something and other parts will be against it. Within the mind there is always a civil war, there is always an internal conflict, there is always a duel going on.
What is this duality? It is important to understand its roots.
In you there are three things, three factors. One is your body. Your body is a fact; it has a material existence. And then there is the flow of consciousness within you. That is your atma, your soul. That is also a fact. Between these two is the mind. The mind is not a fact; it is a false thing.
It is a little bit body and a little bit soul -- it is a situation created between the two. It cannot be total, it is always divided, always with one side or the other. And so it remains partly with the body and partly with the soul. It is created by the union of these two, and so it can never be totally with the body.
The desire to be a saint, to be a holy person, is hidden in everyone; it is even hidden in the mind of the greatest sinner. Whenever you are going to do something terrible -- even though you may have been doing it for lives -- the mind will caution you not to. It will say, "Don't do this. It is bad." If the mind were only body, then nothing would be bad. At the body's level nothing is good or bad; neither holy act nor sin can exist. In the case of the enlightened man both disappear, and for the ignorant man neither exists. For the ignorant man, there is no possibility of the existence of good or bad, and the enlightened man has reached a place where both of these are left far behind.
When you are at prayer or at worship the mind will ask, "Why are you wasting your time?" When you are going to steal something, when you are going to commit a theft, the mind will ask, "Why are you committing a sin?" When you are preparing to give something away in charity the mind will ask, "Why are you throwing your money away unnecessarily?" Then you are in a great fix trying to figure out what the mind wants.
The mind is like a bridge joining the two banks -- the bank of the body and the bank of the soul. Half of the mind is on either side, and so there will always be a problem. If you follow the mind you will always be unsteady. Whatsoever you do, bad or good, the mind will repent it. Then you will fall into great difficulty and confusion; then you will be at a loss to know what to do.
When you are in good spirits you lean to one side, and when those good spirits have left you, you lean to the other. In between the two you are torn to pieces, just as a rock is reduced to dust between the stones of a gristmill
Mind functions in an either/or way: either this can be right or its opposite can be right. Both together cannot be right -- as far as mind, its logic, its rationality, is concerned.
If mind is either/or, then the heart is both/and. The heart has no logic, but a sensitivity, a perceptivity. It can see that not only can both be together; in fact, they are not two. It is just one phenomenon, seen from two different aspects. And there is much more than the two -- that's why I say "both/and."
And the heart is always right. If there is a question of choosing between the mind and the heart... because mind is a creation of the society. It has been educated. It has been given to you by the society, not by existence.
The heart is unpolluted.
It is pure existence:
Hence it has a sensitivity.
Look from the viewpoint of the heart, and the contradiction starts melting like ice.
be one with the universe; disappear and let existence be. just be absent so that existence can be present in its totality. But the person who has to disappear is not your reality, it is only your personality. It is just an idea in you.
In reality you are already one with existence; you cannot exist in any other way.
You are existence.
But the personality creates a deception, and makes you feel separate. You can assume yourself to be separate -- existence gives you total freedom, even against itself. You can think of yourself as a separate entity, an ego. And that is the barrier that is holding you back from melting into the vastness that surrounds you every moment.
It has no closed doors, all its doors are open. Sometimes you do feel a certain door open -- but only for a fragment of a moment; your personality cannot afford more. Those moments you call moments of beauty, moments of ecstasy.
Looking at a sunset, just for a second you forget your separateness. You are the sunset. That is the moment when you feel the beauty of it. But the moment you say that it is a beautiful sunset, you are no longer feeling it; you have come back to your separate, enclosed entity of the ego. Now the mind is speaking.
And this is one of the mysteries, that the mind can speak -- and knows nothing; and the heart knows everything -- and cannot speak.
Perhaps to know too much makes it difficult to speak.
The mind knows so little, it is possible for it to speak. Language is enough for it, but is not enough for the heart.
But sometimes, under the impact of a certain moment -- a starry night, a sunrise, a beautiful flower -- and just for a moment you forget that you are separate. And even forgetting it releases tremendous beauty and ecstasy.
When I say you have to disappear for the realization of the ultimate, I do not mean you; I mean the you that you are not. I mean the you that you think you are.
And the second statement, that only in feeling one with existence, totally dissolved in it, do you realize yourself, you realize truth... there is no contradiction for the heart, because this "you" that you realize when you are one with existence is not the old you. That was your personality, and this is your individuality. That was given by the society, and this is nature, reality, a gift of existence. You can forget it, but you cannot destroy it.
The other you, the false you -- you can create it, but you cannot make it real. It will remain a shadow, a painted face. It will never become your original face.
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But relationship never works. You are asking me: “How can two people be committed to each other?” They cannot be. Commitment is toward existence, not toward each other. Commitment can only be toward the whole, not to each other.
“How does a relationship work?” you ask. It does not work - and you can see it everywhere. It only pretends to. People go on saying that everything is okay, everything is good. What is the point of showing one’s misery? What is the point of showing one’s wounds? One goes on hiding them. It is humiliating to show one’s wounds, so people pretend that everything is going well. They go on smiling, they go on repressing their tears.
I have looked into thousands of people’s lives, their relationships. It is all misery, but they are covering it up, pretending everything is going okay. A relationship does not work, cannot work.
And you say: “I am afraid of commitment, so I avoid relationships.” You are perfectly right in being afraid of commitment and you are perfectly right in avoiding relationships, but don’t avoid relatedness. Don’t make any exclusive relationship, be friendly. Let love rise to the level of friendliness, let it be just your quality. Be loving. Don’t make it a relationship, just be loving.
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The mind and what happens after death
Since the beginning of time man has been desperately seeking answers about what happens when the body dies.
Many ancient cultures came up with complex ideas, created elaborate farewell ceremonies, wrapped bodies up to prevent decay, called upon the gods to take care of the soul of the deceased, making all kinds of preparations to make sure the last breath of the body is not the end of … what?
Traditionally such questions were rather of a philosophical nature but scientists are trying to find answers because of the many inexplicable situations that occur during cardiac arrest and resuscitation due to advanced medical procedures. Hence the world’s first large-scale scientific study of what happens when we die and the relationship between mind and brain during clinical death was launched in September 2008 at a symposium held at the United Nations, called The Human Consciousness Project (SM).
Aura
In spite of the widely read observations and studies published by Dr. Raymond Moodie, Ian Currie and Dr. Elisabeth Kuebler-Ross already decades ago, the scientific world in general still staunchly believes that the human mind, consciousness and self are only by-products of electrochemical activity within the brain, although there is no scientific back-up. Nobel Prize winning neuroscientist Sir John Eccles argued already years ago that mind and consciousness may in fact constitute a separate, undiscovered entity apart from the brain. His last book published before he died is entitled, ‘How the Self Controls Its Brain’…
Osho says,
One distinction has to be understood, the distinction between brain and mind. The brain is part of the body. Every child is born with a fresh brain but not with a fresh mind. Mind is a layer of conditioning around the consciousness. You will not remember it; that is why there is a discontinuity.
… Mind has no beginning; it has been always there with you. Then at a certain moment you drop it.
The end of the mind is enlightenment. Then enlightenment continues. It has a beginning but no end. Together they cover the whole eternity, from the past to the future.
But the brain is born every time you enter a body and it dies every time you leave the body. But its content — that is the mind — does not die; it remains with the consciousness. That’s why it is possible to remember your past lives — even when you were animals or trees or rocks. All those minds are still with you. But because psychology makes no distinction between mind and brain, and science accepts no distinction… in the English language mind and brain are almost synonymous. That’s why sometimes I forget and instead of using brain, I use the word mind.
In each life when a person dies the brain dies, but the mind is released from the brain and becomes a layer on the consciousness. It is nonmaterial; it is just a certain vibe. So on our consciousness there are thousands of layers.
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move within yourselves. your heart itself is that sea; and in its depth is the town of the submerged temples of God.
But in all respects,be calm and concentrated to be able to hear the music of those temples.
How could this music be heard where there is the loud conflict of thought and desire? Even the desire to find it becomes an obstacle in finding.DO NOT DESIRE EVEN TO DESIRE
Sometimes heart finds nearness in silence and the wounds, which words cannot fill up, are healed. Silence can cure them too. Words and sounds are a disturbance and an obstacle in comprehending the full music.
God gives treasures, immense treasures; but one has to search and dig them by oneself. There is no wealth bigger than life and one who does not see wealth even in that cannot find it any where else."
Life is as we make it. That is man's own creation. We can make it dead or eternal as we like; and this depends on no one else except our own selves. Then, death will follow on its own. There is no need to invite it. Invite life. Call the great Light itself. That you can gain only through hard work, effort, resolve and constant application.
It is easier to give up wealth but difficult to give up renunciation. But he alone who can give up renunciation can really give up wealth. It is easier to renounce the world but difficult to give up teacher. But he who can give up the teacher also can find the great Teacher.
Whether it is the support of wealth or of renunciation, of remorse or of pride of the world or of saintliness, in fact wherever there is support, there is obstruction in the way to God. As soon as the other supports fall off the supreme support is gained.
Whether I look out for the support of wealth or of spirituality, as long as I search for support, I am only searching for protection for the pride. As soon as I give up that support, as soon as I become supportless and unprotected, the mind gets submerged in the basic existence of the self. This is peace, this is salvation
If spirituality is something, it is the life itself. What relation has it with useless theories? If spirituality is something it is the realization of the self. What relation has it with useless gossip?
But the scriptures are all full of words and the minds which are called spiritual keep on travelling in dreams in the skies. Scriptures and precepts do not allow a passage for the entry of spirituality in their minds.
What is a spiritual mind?
My definition of a spiritual mind is that it should be free from all types of words, precepts and thoughts.
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Yoga: The Alpha and the Omega, Vol 1 132 Osho CHAPTER 9. PRACTICE AND DESIRELESSNESS
THE FIRST STATE OF VAIRAGYA, DESIRELESSNESS – CESSATION FROM SELF INDULGENCE IN THE THIRST FOR SENSUOUS PLEASURES, WITH CONSCIOUS EFFORT.
Conscious effort” is the key word. Consciousness is needed, and effort is also needed. And the effort should be conscious because there can be unconscious efforts. You can be trained in such a way that you can drop certain desires without knowing that you have dropped them. Unless some conscious effort is done, your crystallization never happens. You have to do something on your own. When you do something on your own, you gain something. Nothing is gained without consciousness, remember it. It is one of the ultimates. Nothing is gained without consciousness!
You may become a perfect saint, but if you have not become through consciousness, it is futile, useless. You must struggle inch by inch because through struggle more consciousness will be needed. And the more consciousness you practice, the more conscious you become. And a moment comes when you become pure consciousness the source is not anywhere else, it is within you.
If you meditate, you will find it. It is knocking every moment from within, that ”I am here!” Once you have the feeling that it is there knocking every moment – and you were creating only situations outside in which it was happening – it can happen without situations. Then you need not depend on anybody, on food, on sex, on power, anything. You are enough unto yourself. Once you have come to this feeling, the feeling of enoughness, indulgence – the mind to indulge, the indulgent mind – disappears. That doesn’t mean you will not enjoy food. You will enjoy more. But now food is not the source of your happiness, you are the source. You are not dependent on food, you are not addicted to it
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first step, mind has to be refined and purified. You simply cannot drop it, Patanjali says -- it is impossible to drop it because impurities have a tendency to cling. You can drop only when the mind is absolutely pure -- so refined, so subtle, that it has no tendency to cling.[will automatically drop]
so your job is to go on trying..to refine/purify..--dropping happens auto.
He does not say that "Drop the mind," as Zen Masters say. He says that is impossible; you are talking nonsense. You are saying the truth, but that's not possible because an impure mind has a weight. Like a stone, it hangs. And an impure mind has desires -- millions of desires, unfulfilled, hankering to be fulfilled, asking to be fulfilled, millions of thoughts incomplete in it. How can you drop? -- because the incomplete always tries to be completed.
Remember, says Patanjali, you can drop a thing only when it is complete. Have you watched? If you are a painter and you are painting, unless the painting becomes complete you cannot forget it. It continues, haunts you. You cannot sleep well; it is there. In the mind it has an undercurrent. It moves; it asks to be completed. Once it is completed, it is finished. You can forget about it. Mind has a tendency towards completion. Mind is a perfectionist, and so whatsoever is incomplete is a tension on the mind. Patanjali says you cannot drop thinking unless thinking is so perfect that now there is nothing to be done about it. You can simply drop it and forget.
This is completely the diametrically opposite way from Zen, from Heraclitus. First samadhi, which is samadhi only for name's sake, is samprajnata -- samadhi with a subtle purified mind. Second samadhi is asamprajnata -- samadhi with no mind. But Patanjali says that when the mind disappears, then too there are no thoughts, then, too, subtle seeds of the past are retained by the unconscious
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He has immense desire to experience it -- that desire is becoming a cause of his misery. That desire is the hindrance, because to desire anything means you are in the mind. All desires are in the mind, even the desire for God, the desire for enlightenment, the desire for truth, for freedom -- all desires. Desire as such is part of the mind. And mind is the barrier, not the bridge.
The last desire to leave is the desire for enlightenment
because it is the last desire it becomes very intense. All the energies involved in all other desires -- for money, power, prestige, et cetera -- all become concentrated on a single desire, the desire for enlightenment. It imprisons more than any other desire because all other desires are divided: there are many millions of desires, and your energy is fragmented. But the desire for enlightenment, your whole energy pours into it. It is the thickest and the strongest chain that keeps you imprisoned, and it is the last to give way.
And that desire is surrounding him very deeply. He has come to the last desire, and that is a great advancement
In another way, because it is only one desire and you have been able to drop so many desires, you can drop it too. But because of this desire to become enlightened he is getting caught.