No Technique Goes Beyond Mind
Beloved Osho,
Research over the past few years has suggested that certain states
of consciousness brought about by meditation techniques appear to
evoke specific brainwave patterns. These states are now being
created by electronic and auditory stimulation of the brain, and
they can be learned through biofeedback.
The traditional ′meditative state′ - sitting silently (or at least
quietly alert) is composed of bilateral, synchronous alpha waves.
Deeper meditation also has bilateral theta waves.
A state called ′lucid awareness′ has the bilateral synchronous alpha
and theta waves of deep meditation, plus the beta waves waves of
normal thought processes.
′Lucid awareness′ can be learned through biofeedback, using the most
modern equipment.
Are these kinds of stimulation and biofeedback useful tools for the
meditator? What is the relationship of these technological
techniques to the meditation beyond technique? Is this an example of
bringing science together with meditation?
I would like to experiment with these new technologies - both
personally in my own meditation, and professionally in my work as a
physician. Do I have your blessings?
It is a very complex question. You will have to understand one of
the
most fundamental things about meditation - that no technique
leads to meditation. The old so-called techniques and the new
scientific biofeedback techniques are the same as far as meditation
is concerned. Meditation is not a byproduct of any technique.
Meditation happens beyond mind. No technique can go beyond mind.
But there is going to be a great misunderstanding in scientific
circles, and it has a certain basis. The basis of all
misunderstanding is: When the being of a person is in a state of
meditation, it creates certain waves in the mind. These waves can be
created from the outside by technical means. But those waves will
not create meditation - this is the misunderstanding.
Meditation creates those waves; it is the mind reflecting the inner
world. You cannot see what is happening inside. But you can see what
is happening in the mind. Now there are sensitive instruments... we
can judge what kind of waves are there when a person is asleep, what
kinds of waves are there when a person is dreaming, what kinds of
waves are there when a person is in meditation. But by creating the
waves, you cannot create the situation - because those waves are
only symptoms, indicators.
It is perfectly good, you can study them. But remember that there is
no shortcut to meditation, and no mechanical device can be of any
help. In fact, meditation needs no technique - scientific or
otherwise. Meditation is simply an understanding.
It is not a question of sitting silently, it is not a question of
chanting a mantra. It is a question of understanding the subtle
workings of the mind. As you understand those workings of the mind a
great awareness arises in you which is not of the mind. That
awareness arises in your being, in your soul, in your consciousness.
Mind is only a mechanism, but when that awareness arises it is bound
to create a certain energy pattern around it. That energy pattern is
noted by the mind. Mind is a very subtle mechanism.
And you are studying from the outside, so at the most you can study
the mind. Seeing that whenever a person is silent, serene, peaceful,
a certain wave pattern always, inevitably appears in the mind, the
scientific thinking will say: if we can create this wave pattern in
the mind, through some biofeedback technology, then the being inside
will reach the heights of awareness.
This is not going to happen. It is not a question of cause and
effect. These waves in the mind are not the cause of meditation;
they are, on the contrary, the effect. But from the effect you
cannot move towards the cause. It is possible that by biofeedback
you can create certain patterns in the mind and they will give a
feeling of peace, silence and serenity to the person. Because the
person himself does not know what meditation is and has no way of
comparing, he may be misled into believing that this is meditation -
but it is not. Because the moment the biofeedback mechanism stops,
the waves disappear, and the silence and the peace and the serenity
also disappear.
And you may go on practicing with those scientific instruments for
years; it will not change your character, it will not change your
morality, it will not change your individuality. You will remain the
same.
Meditation transforms. It takes you to higher levels of
consciousness and changes your whole lifestyle. It changes your
reactions into responses to such an extent that it is unbelievable
that the person who would have reacted in the same situation in
anger is now acting in deep compassion, with love - in the same
situation.
Meditation is a state of being, arrived at through understanding. It
needs intelligence, it does not need techniques. There is no
technique that can give you intelligence. Otherwise, we would have
changed all the idiots into geniuses; all the mediocre people would
have become Albert Einsteins, Bertrand Russells, Jean-Paul Sartres.
There is no way to change your intelligence from the outside, to
sharpen it, to make it more penetrating, to give it more insight. It
is simply a question of understanding, and nobody else can do it for
you - no machine, no man.
For centuries the so-called gurus have been cheating humanity. Now,
in the future instead of gurus, these guru machines will cheat
humanity. The gurus were cheating people, saying that "We will give
you a mantra. You repeat the mantra." Certainly by repeating a
mantra continuously, you create the energy field of a certain wave
length; but the man remains the same, because it is only on the
surface.
Just as if you have throw a pebble into the silent lake and ripples
arise and move all over the lake from one corner to the other corner
- but it does not touch the depths of the lake at all. The depths
are completely unaware of what is happening on the surface. And what
you see on the surface is also illusory. You think that ripples are
moving - that′s not true. Nothing is moving. When you throw a pebble
into the lake, it is not that ripples start moving. You can check it
by putting a small flower on the water. You will be surprised: the
flower remains in the same place. If the waves were moving and going
towards the shore, they would have taken the flower with them. The
flower remains there. The waves are not moving, it is just the water
going up and down in the same place, creating the illusion of
movement. The depths of the lake will not know anything about it.
And there is going to be no change in the character, in the beauty
of the lake by creating those waves.
Mind is between the world and you. Whatever happens in the world,
the mind is affected by it; and you can understand through the mind
what is happening outside. For example, you are seeing me - you
cannot see me; it is your mind that is affected by certain rays and
creates a picture in the mind. You are inside, and from inside you
see the picture. You don′t see me; you can′t see me.
The mind is the mediator. Just as when it is affected by the
outside, the inner consciousness can read it - what is happening
outside - what the scientists are trying to do is just the same:
they are studying meditators and reading their wave lengths, the
energy fields created by meditation. And naturally, the scientific
approach is that if these certain patterns appear without any
exception when a person is in meditation, then we have got the key;
if we can create these patterns in the mind, then meditation is
bound to appear inside.
That′s where the fallacy is. You can create the pattern in the
mind.... And if the person does not know about meditation, he may
feel a silence, a serenity - for the moment, as long as those waves
remain. But you cannot deceive a meditator because the meditator
will see that those patterns are appearing in the mind....
Mind is a lower reality, and the lower reality cannot change the
higher reality. The mind is the servant; it cannot change the
master. But you can experiment. Just remain aware that whether it is
a biofeedback machine or a chanting of OM, it does not matter; it
only creates a mental peace, and a mental peace is not meditation.
Meditation is the flight beyond the mind. It has nothing to do with
mental peace.
One of America′s great thinkers, Joshua Liebman, has written a very
famous book, Peace Of Mind. I wrote him a letter many years ago when
I came across the book, saying that "If you are sincere and honest,
you should withdraw the book from the market because there is no
such thing as peace of mind. Mind is the problem. When there is no
mind then there is peace, so how there can be peace of mind? And any
peace of mind is only fallacious; it simply means the noise has
slowed down to such a point that you think it is silence. And you
don′t have anything to compare it with."
A man who knows what meditation is cannot be deceived by any
techniques, because no technique can give you understanding of the
workings of the mind. For example, you feel anger, you feel
jealousy, you feel hatred, you feel lust. Is there any technique
that can help you to get rid of anger? of jealousy? of hatred? of
sexual lust? And if these things continue to remain, your lifestyle
is going to remain the same as before.
There is only one way - there has never been a second. There is one
and only one way to understand that to be angry is to be stupid:
watch anger in all its phases, be alert to it so it does not catch
you unawares; remain watchful, seeing every step of the anger. And
you will be surprised: that as awareness about the ways of anger
grows, the anger starts evaporating.
And when the anger disappears, then there is a peace. Peace is not a
positive achievement.
When the hatred disappears, there is love. Love is not a positive
achievement.
When jealousy disappears, there is a deep friendliness towards all.
Try to understand....
But all the religions have corrupted your minds because they have
not taught you how to watch, how to understand; instead they have
given you conclusions - that anger is bad. And the moment you
condemn something, you have already taken a certain position of
judgment. You have judged. Now you cannot be aware.
Awareness needs a state of no-judgment.
And all the religions have been teaching people judgments: this is
good, this is bad, this is sin, this is virtue - this is the whole
crap that for centuries man′s mind has been loaded with. So, with
everything - the moment you see it - there is immediately a judgment
about it within you. You cannot simply see it, you cannot be just a
mirror without saying anything.
Understanding arises by becoming a mirror, a mirror of all that goes
on in the mind.
To be just a mirror means you are simply aware. In pure awareness
the mind cannot drag you down into the mud, into the gutter. In
anger, in hatred, in jealousy, the mind is absolutely impotent in
the face of awareness. And because the mind is absolutely impotent,
your whole being is in a profound silence - the peace that passeth
understanding.
Naturally that peace, that silence, that joy, that blissfulness will
affect the mind. It will create ripples in the mind, it will change
the wave lengths in the mind, and the scientist will be reading
those waves, those wave patterns and he will be thinking, "If these
wave patterns can be created in someone by mechanical devices, then
we will be able to create the profoundness of a Gautam Buddha."
Don′t be stupid.
All your technical devices can be good, can be helpful. They are not
going to do any harm; they will be giving some taste of peace, of
silence - although very superficial, still it is something for those
who have never known anything of peace.
For the thirsty, even dirty water does not look dirty.
For the thirsty, even dirty water is a great blessing.
So you can start your experiments with all my blessings, but
remember it is not meditation that you are giving to people - you
don′t know meditation yourself. You may be giving them a little
rest, a little relaxation - and there is nothing wrong in it.
But if you give them the idea that this is meditation then you are
certainly being harmful - because these people will stop at the
technical things, with the superficial silence, thinking that this
is all and they have gained it.
You can be helpful to people. Tell them that "This is just a
mechanical way of putting your mind at peace, and mind at peace is
not the real peace - real peace is when mind is absent. And that is
not possible from the outside, but only from the inside. And inside
you have the intelligence, the understanding to do the miracle."
It is good for people who cannot relax, who cannot find a few
moments of peace, whose minds are continuously chattering - your
technical devices are good, your biofeedback mechanisms are good.
But make it clear to them that this is not meditation, this is just
a mechanical device to help you relax, to give you a superficial
feeling of silence. If this silence creates an urge in you to find
the real, the inner, the authentic source of peace, then those
technical devices have been friends, and the technicians who have
been using them have not been barriers but have been bridges. Become
a bridge.
Give people the little taste that is possible through machines, but
don′t give them the false idea that this is what meditation is. Tell
them that this is only a faraway echo of the real; if you want the
real, you will have to go through a deep inner search, a profound
understanding of your mind, an awareness of all the cunning ways of
the mind so that the mind can be put aside. Then the mind is no
longer between you and existence, and the doors are open.
Meditation is the ultimate experience of blissfulness.
It cannot be produced by drugs, it cannot be produced by machines,
it cannot be produced from the outside.
Notes:
- Meditation is Relaxation (4 minutes audio file, listen to it online or right click and ′save link as′)