Astrall
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  Added: Wed Mar 23, 2022 10:20 |  |
| ...this experience becomes the key to liberation from all problems... We are completely unfamiliar with the state where thoughts stop. We always live with thoughts—this is a familiar, known state; we follow a well-trodden path. When you first stop thinking, the endless expanses of existence open their door. They are chaotic. More than anything in the world, a person fears losing the ability to think. When you cannot think, you cannot be, because without thinking, you disappear. René Descartes is considered the father of modern Western philosophy, and his entire philosophy is based on three words: "Cogito ergo sum": "I think, therefore I am." If this implies the mind—and it is the mind—then it means that when thoughts disappear, you are no longer there. It seems as if you have gone mad, found yourself in a world of insanity, because everything that happens is beyond your control. You cannot even think, although it was always so easy. In reality, it was difficult to stop thinking. But when you finally do stop thinking, fear grips you. The first time, this is inevitable. The next time will be easier. Do not try to do anything when it happens again. Just remain in it. Just be a witness. Do nothing with it, because everything you can do will never be deep. At best, it will be a temporary measure. Everything a person can do will be on the surface. Therefore, if a problem arises and you do something, it is resolved for a while, but soon it reappears in some other form. If indecision arises, you can patch it up by doing something, but the division will resurface somewhere else. And this will continue without end. The forms of the problem change, but the problem itself remains. The point is that the problem must dissolve completely, and this can only happen if you do nothing. By observing it, you create distance, and this distance becomes larger and larger. And one day it becomes so great that you realize the problem is not yours, as if it had never been yours. Distance is necessary, and it can only be created through observation. Everything else a person can do is, in a way, doomed to failure. For example, if you are tormented by some doubt or you hesitate, you try to make some decision. But can indecision give birth to a decision? You can only decide that yes, a solution has been found, but deep inside, the indecision continues to grow. A very thin layer of deception appears over it, and it can tear at any moment in any situation. In the East, this is one of the fundamental truths—no problem can be solved by action. Moreover, problems arise precisely because a person has become a "doer." If a person can simply be and do nothing, problems disappear. In an observing consciousness, there are no problems. Problems arise only in the consciousness of a doer. Therefore, all that needs to be done is to shift the center of gravity from doing to being. So, just observe. Be detached and watch the games that the mind constantly plays. And suddenly one day, when the necessary distance is formed—you cannot create it intentionally, it will appear on its own—and a vista opens up, you will find yourself very far from the problem. And there will be no bridge between you—the problem is there, and you are here. In fact, at that moment, you won't even understand what connected you before or why you were worried about it. It is somewhere in another world and belongs to someone else; it hasn't left even a scratch on you. This experience becomes the key to liberation from all problems. So, when a problem arises, just observe. This is difficult because all Western teaching is based on analysis. Observation is a completely different dimension. It is not analysis. Western teaching consists of needing to analyze, understand, find the cause—but this process is endless. You discover one cause of the problem, then you try to find the cause of that cause, and so it continues ad infinitum. Each cause, in turn, turns out to be an effect. This can go on forever—it's the same as peeling an onion, layer by layer. But an onion ends sooner or later, while the onion called the human mind never ends; it is infinite. It constantly recreates its layers. In the East, we never resorted to analysis, because one of the deepest insights was that analysis would never put an end to this. The most it can do is push the problem back, set it aside, but it will never end it. It will still continue to exist somewhere; repression does not help. In the West, you try to overcome the problem, reduce it to a cause. In the East, we try to return consciousness to its source; we don't touch the problem at all. You try to get rid of the problem, while we try to bring consciousness home. We do not touch the problem; on the contrary, we move away from it. For example, suppose that you are the problem. In the West, I am interested in you; I try to force you to leave my consciousness, and thus the subconscious is born. In the East, you are the problem, I am the consciousness. I leave you in your place and leave myself, and then no subconscious is formed, and there is no suppression. I simply leave; I do not touch the problem. My withdrawal into the core of myself creates the necessary distance. The West also tries to create distance—by expelling the problem—but in doing so, it creates even more problems, because it is impossible to expel it. The very effort, the very struggle with the problem, binds you to it. When you analyze a problem, it is analyzed by the same mind that created it. It's like trying to lift yourself up by your shoelaces. You can jump a little, but it won't help much. You will return to the ground again. It's the same as chasing your own tail. So, just observe, and gradually a deep indifference will arise. In this indifference, everything will dissolve. Nothing needs to be done. Just sit, enjoy, be, and observe. Gradually, when the problem realizes that you are not interested in it, it will leave. If a guest was not invited, no one called them, if the host pays them no attention and doesn't even say hello, how long can they keep knocking on the door? One day they will simply leave. Any thought, any problem is a guest. Do nothing with them, but remain the host—uninterested, indifferent, and centered. Let attraction come and go; do not worry about it. When it comes, just note it and that's all, and with complete indifference. In Buddhism, there is a special practice called "triple noting." If a problem arises—for example, if someone suddenly feels sexual desire or greed, or anger—it is necessary to note the presence of this feeling three times. If anger arises, the student should say to themselves three times: "Anger, anger, anger." You must give it all your attention so that it does not pass by consciousness, and that's it. And then the student continues doing what they were doing, understand? They do nothing with the anger; they simply note it three times. This is a wonderful practice. You immediately realize the anger, note it, and it disappears. It is unable to possess you, because this can only happen if you are unconscious. This triple naming makes you so aware inside that you separate yourself from the anger. You objectify it, because it is there, and you are here. Buddha told his students to do this with all manifestations. Try it, and there is no need to worry about anything. Attraction is inherent to humans; there is no reason to suffer from guilt. It is good that you know it arises—do not suppress it. Usually, all cultures and civilizations teach us to suppress problems so that we gradually stop being aware of them, to the extent that we forget about them and think they don't exist at all. The right thing to do is exactly the opposite. Be fully aware of them—when they become conscious, when they enter the center of attention, they melt. Try this, and do not miss a single moment. Repeat three times: "Again, again, again." You should repeat this to yourself, and if it seems more effective to you, you can repeat it aloud so that your husband also knows—"Again, again, again!" This attraction will pass, and when it happens, you will feel a huge relief. You already look better. When a person is not burdened by wandering desires and ideas, they feel more innocent and pure. This fragrance envelops them, and gradually life becomes a completely different song, a completely different dance. Osho | |