on Longing for Psychic Powers and Psychic stages in Awakening

 

Question 4:

Is it necessary to pass through psychic stages before the explosion can happen?

 

 

No, it is not necessary to pass through psychic realms. But that does not mean that you will not pass through them. You can pass through them with such speed that you do not notice them or you can pass through them slowly, taking each and every possible step in the psychic world.

 

You have to pass through the psychic realms because they lie between you and your innermost depths -- between you as you are and you as you will be. But you can pass through them with such jet speed that you never experience them or you can pass through them at a bullock cart's pace. If you want to see the landscape it is better to ride in a bullock cart.

 

There are bullock cart methods and there are jet methods. The method I am talking about, Dynamic Meditation, is a jet method: you will pass through these realms and not know it because you will be going at such great speed.

 

But if you are longing for psychic powers, even unconsciously, then even with a jet method you will behave as if you are in a bullock cart. If you have a keen desire to develop psychic powers then as you pass them you will be caught by them.

 

We have inner longings that we are not even aware of. Our mind is basically power-seeking: whether it seeks power in the outer world or the inner, it is always seeking power. One must be careful not to seek power. The psychic realm is there, and if you are seeking powers then you will be caught in them somewhere.

 

The outer world cannot give you as much power as the inner world -- there is a great potential of power within. In fact there is so much atomic energy within a single human body that if it were to explode and release its total energy the whole world and its population could be destroyed.

 

Physicists talk about atomic energy, Yogis talk about psychic energy, but the energy is the same -- only the approach is different. Physicists approach through the atoms of the body; Yoga approaches through the atoms of the psyche. These approaches are two poles of the same thing.

 

Yoga approaches from the inner, so the Yogi talks about psychic powers. They are there, but if you seek them you will be caught in them, which will be pathetic, pitiable, because when you reach the psychic you are very near to the cosmic, to absolute bliss. You are near to the flower, but you have shut your hands on it. So one must beware.

 

In Dynamic Meditation you do not have to become alert to the psychic because it is a jet method: it goes so fast that you will pass the psychic realm without noticing it. But still, because all that we have read and heard is stored and accumulated in our minds, we must be cautious of psychic powers. They are there, but they are not of much significance in themselves.

 

The power-seeking mind can never be at ease because the power-seeking mind is basically violent. Violence needs power: we want to be above others, we want power, prestige, heights. This can happen through atomic energy or psychic energy, by becoming a political leader or a spiritual guide. But a violent mind can never be spiritual -- at its lowest the power will be physical, at its highest it can be psychic. But if one is seeking truth, bliss, if one is seeking the divine, then this power must not be sought. You must deny this power, you must be meek. As Jesus said, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."

 

But you must not be meek so that you will inherit the earth. If that is the reason, if that is your desire, then you will not be meek. A meek person means a humble person; he is not seeking power, he has left that dimension completely. He is poor in this sense: he is no one. Only one who is no one can become one who is everyone. Only one who is no one can become that one who is all.

 

Power must not be sought, must not be longed for. When it comes your way, just be a witness to it and pass on. Don't linger for a single moment because even that pause, that standing near it, will prove fatal. It corrupts. Power corrupts not because it is bad in itself but because we are after it. The saying is: "... and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Outer power cannot corrupt as much as inner power can. It is much more absolute in a sense, much more independent of others, so it can prove to be a great stronghold for the ego.

 

Outer power is always dependent on others. You are never absolute, you are never sovereign; you are always dependent. Someone somewhere far away can be the cause of your fall. Hitler achieved that power which is based entirely on outer forces. Such people build a great pyramid and stand on the peak, but they are completely dependent on the pyramid so they are always fearful. A single brick thrown out of the pyramid... and down they come.

 

Inner power becomes absolute in the sense that you are not dependent on anybody else. You are the sole master of it so it becomes more egocentric. Outer power has corrupted man, but inner power has corrupted him more. It is not power itself that corrupts, because the divine also is power; rather, it is the seeking, longing ego which corrupts. If we are corrupt, then when power comes our corruption will be exposed. Before that it remains hidden. To be corrupt we need power.

 

So one must beware of inner psychic forces. They exist, but do not look at them. Just pass them by, just be a witness to them. They will be with you, they will work in you, but they will be like shadows -- they will follow you. Things will begin to happen around you but you will not be conscious of them; you will not be strengthening your ego through them.

 

With this method you will pass through psychic planes, but with much speed. All that is between you and your innermost depths will be there, but just as a shadow following you. There will be siddhis, there will be happenings, things will begin to change, but your power will be felt by others, not by you.

 

If someone says that something has happened to him because of you, you will look up and say, "Because of him, not because of me. I am no one." When Jesus learned from people that they were healed because of his touch, he said, "Not because of me but because of Him. I am no one. I am just a servant, I am just his instrument."

 

Then there will be powers, but they will not be ego-centered: they will be God-oriented and God-centered. But you must not be concerned with them. When they come, just pass by and bid them farewell.

 

- Osho, “The Great Challenge, #3, Q4”