Showing posts with label Osho. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Osho. Show all posts

Monday, March 3, 2014

Enlightenment - the Express Method

Many people (especially hardcore, goal-oriented Russians:) have been asking me about spiritual growth (a heavily abused term, but what to do), 7 bodies, enlightenment and particularly "how to reach there fast and painlessly". They read nonsensical books written by people who have little, if any at all, understanding of the process, go to their seminars, network, get very inspired, start practicing a cocktail of different techniques borrowed from different masters, following several sometimes incompatible paths and happily sharing their findings. When they start having problems or feel they are stuck somewhere but not necessarily knowing where, and realize all their accumulated knowledge doesn't get them where they want to be, they get very upset because they know so much already! I usually try not to say anything unless asked, but even when asked, I still don't feel like offending them with my opinion, though oftentimes they do get offended: spiritual ego is the strongest and trickiest of all! It takes open mind (or rather heart) to realize it's not about knowledge; if you know everything about atom power but you are, for example, stuck in a snow cave and don't know how to dig snow, you will die of hunger - just because your grand knowledge is not applicable to the situation. It's completely useless where survival instincts are the most important. 



Growth is like that: you may know the entire Encyclopedia Britannica by heart but when a moment comes, all knowledge fades away and there is only one thing left: whether you're ready to jump, to trust your heart, to give up all for nothing...




Most self-proclaimed gurus (non-enlightened humans who decide to teach others how to get where they have never been) just don't have any idea and say you can get there without any 
sacrifice: just pick the most powerful techniques from this master and that master, practice them together and you will be "there" in no time. I've been witnessing a horrendous misfortune that happened due to this approach: an amazing human being who is very close to me got split in half doing exactly that. And there is nobody to blame: he wanted fast results and - voila! - got fast schizophrenia...



"Gurus" can talk all they want, and promise lots of wonderful things, including express-delivery of enlightenment right into your ajna chakra, but if they have not reached, they can't possibly know what to do in order to reach... leave alone teaching others! Will you listen to a 400lb fitness instructor (if he's not 400lb of bone&muscle of course)? He hasn't lost weight yet, hasn't done it, hasn't achieved any results, so how can he teach others?... Another scenario is when a guru has reached somewhere (most probably a very attractive place; a place you want to be at - acquired some powers, extrasensory abilities of the 4th body) but not the Ultimate; he got stuck there and is now trying to convince others that it's the final destination. 

Watch The Holy Mountain by Alejandro Jodorowski - he has some striking (and even funny) characters stuck at the bottom of the Mountain...the whole array of them, from first (physical) to the highest bodies - and I won't be surprised if he got inspired by real "gurus" while creating them. 

Theory or philosophies don't help here - one must walk the walk. And the only criterion that works here is whether one has transcended.

I will be harsh now, but here is my point: if a person has not reached the state of the Ultimate, don't waste your time reading what they have to say about the Ultimate. Rather, read or listen to enlightened masters and practice their [PURE] techniques. Without mixing anything. Without adding your own. Trust me, they have a way broader perspective than your or my comparative mind can ever muster. They've been there, they've done it, they have a method to get there. 
Walking this path on your own, without a Master, is like climbing Mount Everest without a map: it will be as hard to achieve for you as it was for the first enlightened man! A Master who has been there is offering you a map from the point of view of the apex, so he's offering the true and proven method. Now, imagine you're using several maps while climbing: you will get so confused and waste so much more time... Or if you use a map that leads to a beautiful valley rather than the top: so you will reach the valley, you might even enjoy it, but was it your initial intent? 

True Masters are few, and many of them have not uttered a word (just graced disciples and devotees with their holy presence) but there are several beings who have both transcended and left us a priceless legacy of wisdom and modus operandi. Masters of this caliber come once in a thousand years, and are often hard to understand for their contemporaries, but at least it's worth a try. If you are really interested in your growth, accept a Master into your life. Without a Master the road is unpredictable and oftentimes dangerous, if not lethal. You will be surprised how different it feels to be looked after by an Awakened One, especially when your Master is not in the physical realm.

I have only seen glimpses of the beyond, but am happy to have a wonderful enlightened master Osho to guide me, to prevent pitfalls, to move me away from misleading, though often very tempting, directions.



And, most importantly, from wasting my time and energy on express methods. Humans tend to judge everything, including enlightened beings. They assume that they have a better perspective: comparing teachings of several masters, picking and choosing from the wealth of their heritage. I, as a very curious and somewhat nerdy human being, too, like to study everything new and exciting, but mysteriously, through books, discourses, unexpected communications and sometimes even my husband, the Master shows what's true and what's not, and helps to identify mirages in the desert. Which, unfortunately, are plenty.




Here is what Osho said about fast results for the unprepared:

"So if suddenly by chance a person happens to be in a state in which the grace can descend on him or a sudden situation is created in which shaktipat happens to him without a medium, then there is every possibility of his freaking out or becoming insane. The energy that has descended on him may be too much and his capacity to hold it too little; hence he can be completely shattered. Then unknown, unfamiliar experiences of joy become painful and unbearable.

It is as if a man used to staying in darkness for years is suddenly brought out into the daylight: the darkness will deepen all the more and he will not yet be able to see the light of the sun. His eyes were accustomed to seeing in the darkness, so they cannot stand the glare of light and will close.

So sometimes it happens that such a situation can come about within you in which the unlimited energy of grace can descend unknowingly on you; but its effect can be fatal, destructive, if you are not ready. You have been caught unawares so the happening can turn into a disaster. Yes, grace can also become harmful and destructive.
In the case of shaktipat the chances of accident are very few, almost nil, because there is a person who is functioning as a medium, as a vehicle. Passing through a medium the energy becomes gentle and mild, and the medium can also regulate the intensity of the energy. He can allow only that amount of energy to flow into you which you can hold. But remember, the medium is only a vehicle and not the source of this energy.
So if a person says that he is doing shaktipat, that he is doing the transmission of the energy, then he is wrong. It would be just like the bulb declaring that it is the giver of light. Because the light is always emitted through the bulb, the bulb may be deluded that it is the creator of light. This is not so. It is not the primal source of light but merely a medium for its manifestation. So a person who declares that he can perform shaktipat is under the same illusion as the bulb" (In Search Of The Miraculous, Vol.2 p.3).


Thursday, December 5, 2013

SEVEN HUMAN BODIES: #1: PHYSICAL BODY: Discipline or Celebration?

WHY PURIFY

The thinner and purer the first (physical) body gets, the easier it is to access our higher bodies. It is virtually impossible for an alcoholic, a drug addict, a maniac or such to work on their higher bodies, since the physical addiction will require the entire energy the body can possibly accumulate to feed that addiction or mania. And the body needs a lot of energy to jump to the next level of consciousness.
The more physicality and "baggage" the body accumulates - the less possible it is to reach higher levels. Thus all the body purifications, veganism, detoxifications, and abstaining from toxic and gross substances like alcohol, drugs, meat, heavy metals, to start with.

Osho has spoken about physical purity at the very beginning, in the 60s and 70s, but once he became more popular among foreigners he switched his focus from physical body purity to global problems, human emotions and relationships. Why is that? In the very beginning, when Osho had just a few disciples, there was no need to work on their worldly problems: they were already ready for serious work, individually hand picked, and their relationships with the world have already been worked through. They were not striving for anything more than enlightenment. 

When Osho became more popular in the world, all kinds of people started to get attracted, seeing the "success" of the first disciples; most of them were not ready for the trip towards the ultimate; they were still preoccupied with the world, interested in the worldly possessions and relationships, and for the most part not ready at all to drop every attachment. To manage those people, to bring them closer to themselves, to help them become happy and fulfilled would not be possible if Osho put them on a rigorous monk routine. Most of them would simply run away! Needless to say that the whole Osho concept of Zorba the Buddha started to shape around that: a human who lives happily in the world, makes money, celebrates life and moves towards meditativeness and awareness. And to live happily in the society a human has to deal with the relationships with that society, not purify himself to such a degree that he or she cannot stand the society or any other impurity anymore... So, most Osho sannyasins took body purification and purity as something petty, unnecessary; celebrating life, often with alcohol and drugs, abundant sex, and taking everything they could from life... 


Portland Book Review

Why is it that Osho's old disciples, the ones who have received the esoteric teaching about seven bodies in the 60s and early 70s, are the ones still revered in Osho realm, and most later disciples, especially westerners, who conduct therapy groups and Osho activities, are still full of ego and weaknesses? Could lack of purity be the reason? Why in a human mind, even the mind of a sannyasin, celebration, toxic substances and overeating often go hand in hand? Why can't we learn to celebrate life just living, dancing, singing, being happy to be alive, without a glass, a plate or a smoke? It's socially accepted to share substances with friends, but when one seriously works on their energy, isn't it enough to just exchange energy with others?

I've seen many well-known therapists in Pune and around the world who, after completing a meditation camp or a deep, healing therapy group celebrated that very completion with alcohol and meat, looking utterly unaware and driven by desire. How come people who meditate almost daily for many years and do a lot of psychotherapy are so "un-enlightened"?

I've been asking myself this question for a long time until discovering 2 Osho books - The Psychology of the Esoteric and In Search of the Miraculous. Both of them consist of early Osho talks translated from Hindi. Osho hasn't spoken on esoteric topics in English mostly because the questions he'd been asked by westerners were of a different realm and not about the step-by-step bodywork on the road towards spiritual opening. The topics covered in these 2 books are mind-blowing and completely opposite of how the standard western mind understands Osho.
Inspired by the books, work and experiments we have conducted on ourselves, we decided to start a new project -"7 BODIES"- to help seekers understand the necessity and extreme importance of tactical work on all our accessible bodies. And the more we work on our grosser bodies, the more access we get to the subtler ones. This is serious work, but Osho taught to do it playfully, and to be non-serious about serious things. That helps to remain juicy, not to lose joy of living while working on ourselves. Osho looked at yogis, Buddhist monks and other "serious" spiritualists and decided this is not the way for his sannyasins. That's why he advised his followers to sing, dance and meditate doing so. It is way more difficult than sit for years in a private cell, because distractions and temptations are plenty, but this path would work out a lot of unresolved issues and "hooks" (attachments) and sky-rocket anyone who is pure-heartedly stepping onto it.

ALL OUR BODIES ARE CONNECTED.
When I started to meditate intensively, my body pretty soon denied alcohol and animal products without any effort from my side. Literally, one morning it told me "enough is enough", and I never went back since. This was another proof for me that different bodies within us are connected, and are much wiser than "us", or what we think to be "us".

When one works on their bodies, meditates and purifies, the physical body becomes more sensitive and starts to communicate its needs much better to the mind. And if one listens to their body, it becomes very easy to understand the truth about it. Not the needs imposed on us from the outside, but the actual truth about nutrients, vitamins, nourishment, liquids, physical touch, beauty, emotional connections and love, as well as poisons, heavy metals, toxins, impure foods and polluted air. Our bodies have collected millions of years of unconscious experiences and wisdom, and we will gain access to that information only if we become less gross / more subtle. To explain how to do that - is the whole purpose of our project called 7 BODIES.