Meditation: Psychology and Mind

"By using the word "meditation" there is a possibility of moving in a wrong direction – because English has no exact word for "dhyana," meditation only comes close to it. "English has three words: concentration, contemplation, meditation. Concentration is of the mind. You focus your mind on a particular object, you exclude everything else, you just go on narrowing your vision. Hence in concentration everything can become a distraction. A dog starts barking and you will be distracted because you were excluding everything and now the barking dog has come in. Hence the concentrator is always angry because small things – a mosquito – can disturb his concentration. Anything is capable of distracting you because you are doing something unnatural. "Concentration is unnatural. It is enforced, a regimentation. It is something military-like; violently forcing the mind to remain pinpointed on one thing. And the nature of the mind is constantly flowing, moving. It is natural for the mind to move, it is a dynamic process, and you are trying to make this dynamic process stagnant. "Because it is against nature any excuse and the mind will immediately jump in and start moving. Even if you force the mind to be still for long periods you will be sitting on a volcano. It will be like a small child: you can force the child by saying, 'I will not give you food today. Sit in the corner and sit silently.' He can do it. You can tell him 'Close your eyes,' and he can. But just see: he is fidgeting, he is screwing up his eyes, afraid to open them but with every desire to. You can see the turmoil that is inside, but he is somehow holding himself back. He is in great trouble. That is the situation, when one is in the process of concentration. "Meditation is not concentration; it is not contemplation either. Contemplation means you are a little more fluid, a little more flowing, but you have to remain tethered to a particular subject. In concentration you have to remain pinpointed; in contemplation you have a little longer rope. You can roam around but you are tethered. For example, you are thinking about love. Mm? – you can go on but you are only allowed to think about love. "Certainly it has more freedom than concentration but still the freedom is limited. You are in a bigger prison, that's all, but you are imprisoned. And still distractions will come – less than in concentration but they will still come.
"In English even “meditation” gives a wrong idea; it is as if you have to meditate upon something. But “dhyana,” the word in Sanskrit out of which the Japanese word “zen” has come, means there is no object, no subject, no concentration, no contemplation. You are simply sitting silently, witnessing whatsoever is. A dog starts barking, you witness it – it is not a distraction. Music is being played, you listen to it – it is not a distraction because you are not making any effort to concentrate. You are all-inclusive, nothing is excluded. The freedom is absolute. The only thing that has to be remembered is not to get identified with anything. Listen to the music but don't become the music, remain a witness. "So meditation can be defined as witnessing, not getting identified. Now this is a totally different phenomenon; there is no question of concentration, no question of contemplation. "You are just sitting by the side of the road and watching the traffic of the mind; allowing the mind whatsoever it wants to do fearlessly, allowing it wherever it wants to go – to Timbuktu, to Toronto... wherever it wants to go. You just remain alert, aware, watchful. "And then a miracle starts happening: you start becoming aware of godliness in everything. Even the barking of the dog starts having a divine quality to it. Maybe the dog is a little bit upside-down, but still the dog is god – just written wrongly, that's all. You have to read it the other way, otherwise there is no difference. And then everything starts having a new message, a new feel, a new splendor. "When the whole is transformed through your witnessing it becomes fragrant. There is no flower but there is immense fragrance. You have entered into the unmanifest. If you meditate. first concentration will disappear and you will be feeling a little at a loss. But if you go on, by and by you will attain to an unfocused state of light — that’s what meditation is. Once meditation is attained. concentration is child’s play — whenever you need to, you can concentrate. There will be no problem about it and it will be easy and without any tension. Right now, you are being used by society. Society wants efficient people. It is not worried about your soul, it is worried about your productivity. I am not worried about your productivity: man has already too much, more than he can enjoy — there is no need to go on producing more. Now there is more need to play around more and there is more need to be more conscious. Science has developed enough. Now, whatsoever science is doing is almost futile. Now, going to the moon is simply useless. But tremendous energy is wasted. Why? Because scientists are now obsessed — they have to do something. They have learned a trick of concentration and they have to do something. They have to produce, they have to go on producing something — they cannot relax. They will go to the moon, they will go to Mars, and they will persuade people that whatsoever they are doing is tremendously important. It is absolutely useless. But this happens. Once you become trained in a certain thing, you go on in that line, blind, unless a cul de sac comes and you cannot go on anymore. But life is infinite. There comes no cul de sac. You can go on and on and on.
And now scientific activity has almost become ridiculous. Religious activity is totally different. It is not worried about being more efficient; the whole point is how to be more joyful, how to be more celebrating. So if you be with me, by and by, concentration will relax. And in the beginning you will feel afraid because you will see your skill disappearing, your efficiency disappearing. You will feel you are losing something that you have gained with so much effort. In the beginning it will happen. The ice is melting and becoming water. The ice was solid, something concentrated; now it is water — loose, relaxed, flowing in all directions. But anytime you need ice, the water can be turned into ice again. There is no problem — just a little more cooling is needed. This is my own experience. Whatsoever I say, I say from my own experience — the same has happened to me. First, concentration disappeared; but now I can concentrate on anything. There is no problem. But I don’t remain in concentration; I can concentrate and relax — whenever the need arises. Just as whenever the need arises, you walk; you don’t sit on the chair and go on moving your Legs. There are a few people who go on moving because they cannot sit relaxed — you will call this man restless!
Legs in perfect order are needed so that whenever you need to, you can walk, you can run. But when there Is no need, you can relax, and the legs will no longer be functioning. But your concentration has become almost as focused as if you are continuously preparing for an Olympic Runners in an Olympic cannot relax. They have to run a particular amount every morning and evening; they are continuously on the go. If they relax for a few days they will lose their skill. But I call all Olympics political, ambitious, foolish. There is no need. Competition is foolish. There is no need. If you enjoy running — perfectly good. Run. and enjoy. But why compete? What is the point of competition? Competition brings illness, unhealthiness; competition brings jealousy, and a thousand and one diseases. -Osho