The Essence of Meditation
I have always heard you say, "Stop doing; watch." Several times lately I've heard you say that the mind should be the servant instead of our Master. It feels that there is nothing to do except watch. But the question still arises: is there anything to do with this unruly servant but to watch?
Prem
Niren, there is nothing else to do with this unruly servant but just
to watch. Apparently it appears too simple a solution for too
complex a problem, but these are part of the mysteries of existence.
The problem may be too complex; the solution can be very simple.
Watching, witnessing, being aware seem to be small words to solve
the whole complexity of mind. Millions of years of heritage,
tradition, conditioning, prejudice - how will they disappear just by
watching? But they do disappear, because as Gautam Buddha used to
say, "If the lights of the house are on, thieves don't come close to
that house, knowing that the master is awake." Because the light is
showing from the windows, from the doors, you can see that the light
is on and it is not the time to enter into the house. When the
lights are off, thieves are attracted to the house. Darkness becomes
an invitation. As Gautam Buddha used to say, the same is the
situation about your thoughts, imaginations, dreams, anxieties, your
whole mind. If the witness is there, the witness is almost like the
light; these thieves start dispersing. And if these thieves find
there is no witness, they start calling their brothers and cousins
and everybody, "Come on." It is as simple a phenomenon as the light.
The moment you bring the light in, the darkness disappears. You
don't ask, "Is just light enough for darkness to disappear?" or,
"When we have brought the light, will we have to do something more
for the darkness to disappear?" No, just the presence of the light
is the absence of the darkness, and the absence of the light is the
presence of darkness. The presence of the witness is the absence of
the mind, and the absence of the witness is the presence of the
mind. So the moment you start watching, slowly, slowly as your
watcher will become stronger your mind will become weaker. The
moment it realizes that the watcher has come to maturity, the mind
immediately submits as a beautiful servant. It is a mechanism. If
the master has arrived, then the machine can be used. If the master
is not there or is fast asleep, then the machine goes on working
things, does whatsoever it can on its own. There is nobody to give
orders, there is nobody to say, "No, stop. That should not be done."
Then the mind becomes slowly convinced that it is the master itself.
And for thousands of years it has remained your master, so when you
try to be a witness it fights, because it has completely forgotten
that it is only a servant. You have been so long absent that it does
not recognize you. Hence the struggle between the witness and the
thoughts. But final victory is going to be yours, because nature and
existence both want you to be the master and the mind to be the
servant. Then things are in harmony. Then the mind cannot go wrong.
Then everything is existentially relaxed, silent, flowing towards
its destiny.
Prem Niren, you don't have to do anything else but to watch.
Mind has become accustomed to being a master. It will take a little time to bring it to its senses. Witnessing is enough. It is a very silent process, but the consequences are tremendously great. There is no other method which can be better than witnessing as far as dispersing the darkness of the mind is concerned. In fact there are one hundred and twelve methods of meditation; I have gone through all those methods - and not intellectually. It took me years to go through each method and to find out its very essence, and after going through one hundred and twelve methods I was amazed that the essence is witnessing. The methods' non-essentials are different, but the center of each method is witnessing. Hence I can say to you, Niren, there is only one meditation in the whole world and that is the art of witnessing. It will do everything - the whole transformation of your being. It will open the doors of satyam, shivam, sundram: the truth, the godliness and the beauty of it all.
(Osho - Satyam Shivam Sundram #22)