OSHO Vipassana

 

 

This meditation is based on a method of Gautama the Buddha. It is for practicing awareness, watchfulness, mindfulness, witnessing. The OSHO form of Vipassana enables this to be a comfortable, “juicy” experience, it is not dry.

Vipassana can be done in different ways. Following is a one-hour OSHO format, divided into two stages.

 

 

Instructions:

The meditation lasts one hour and has two stages. You will be sitting for 45 minutes followed by 15 minutes of slow walking meditation. You may also choose to continue sitting for the whole hour.

 

First Stage: 45 minutes
Find a comfortable sitting position. It is fine to change your position if you need to, moving slowly, with awareness. While sitting, your eyes are closed.

The essence of Vipassana is to watch and accept whatever is happening. While sitting, the primary object to be watching is the rise and fall of the belly, slightly above the navel, caused by natural breathing. It is not a concentration technique so while watching the breath, many other things will take your attention away. Nothing is a disturbance in Vipassana, it includes everything such as thoughts, judgments, feelings, body sensations and impressions from the outside world. Watch whatever comes up and gently return to the breath when you have the choice. Remember that it is the process of watching that is important, not so much what you are watching.

 

 

Second Stage: 15 minutes
Now the primary object to be watching is the sensation of the feet touching the ground while walking. Your attention may go onto other things. Notice what arises and whenever you have the choice, gently bring your attention back to the feet touching the ground.

Keep your eyes lowered, looking a few steps ahead. It is a slow natural walk, about half your normal speed.

 

 

Note:
If you are doing this in a group setting with a facilitator present, then while sitting you may be tapped on the head with the Vipassana stick. This is to help you to be alert and give you extra energy and encouragement for watching.

 

 

 

Osho explains about this meditation:

“Let the spine be erect and the body be loose, hanging on the spine – not tense. The body should be loose, relaxed, the spine erect, so gravitation has the least pull on you.”

 

“Vipassana simply means witnessing. And that has been my whole life’s effort: to teach you awareness, witnessing, alertness, consciousness.”

 

“When I say watch, don’t try to watch; otherwise you will become tense again and you will start concentrating on the breath. Simply relax, remain relaxed, loose. And look – because what else can you do? You are there, nothing to be done, everything accepted, nothing to be denied, rejected, no struggle, no fight, no conflict, breathing going deep – what can you do? You simply watch. Remember, simply watch; don’t make an effort to watch.”

 

“Here, Vipassana is a juicy experience; it is not dry.

“I have a few criticisms against the Vipassana that is being practiced in Buddhist lands. They have all made it very dry, desert-like; nothing blossoms, no greenery; everything is simply businesslike. I want you to learn meditation as a play, as playfulness.

“Your silence should not be the silence of a graveyard, your silence should be the silence of a garden. Once in a while a bird starts singing, but it does not disturb the silence, it deepens it. Once in a while the breeze comes with its song, passes through the pine trees, but it does not disturb the silence, it deepens it.

“I want a meditation that can laugh, that can dance.”

 

“All meditations – hundreds of techniques – are available, but the essence of all those techniques is the same, just their forms differ. And the essence is contained in the meditation Vipassana.

“That is the meditation that has made more people in the world enlightened than any other, because it is the very essence. All other meditations have the same essence, but in different forms; something nonessential is also joined with them. But Vipassana is pure essence. You cannot drop anything out of it and you cannot add anything to improve it.

“Vipassana is such a simple thing that even a small child can do it.”